Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers Blog

After a Crash, We Can Help You Prove the Other Driver’s Negligence and Rule Out Your Liability

In most states, the biggest hurdle to clear in a car accident claim is proving the other driver was negligent and the majority at fault for the crash. But in Virginia, there’s another hurdle: proving the injured driver played absolutely no role in his or her crash—especially if they were initially assigned even a small share of blame.

Because Virginia uses a contributory negligence system of fault, drivers who are assigned even 1% of fault for speeding, failing to signal, or having a brake light out can’t receive any compensation after a crash. However, fault assigned at the accident scene by police isn’t always accurate or even relevant.

For example, a driver with a brake light out who was hit head-on shouldn’t be assigned any fault for the crash if that was the only violation the responding police officer found them to have committed, because it had no role in the crash. Unfortunately, this type of situation still happens.

No matter how injured drivers are, they can’t get money for their medical bills and lost wages if the accident report notes they did anything, no matter how minor, to even potentially contribute to the crash.

At Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers, we deal with this scenario every day. Not only do we work hard to prove at-fault drivers’ negligence caused their crashes, but we also find evidence to help reduce our clients’ level of fault to zero. If you were recently injured in a crash that wasn’t your fault, we want to help. Contact our Virginia car accident lawyers today for a free consultation.

Don’t Trust Just Any Law Firm with Your Family’s Wrongful Death Claim

Wrongful death claims are among the most difficult damages claims in Virginia for two reasons. First, they require a lot of evidence and proof that shows the negligent party contributed to or caused an innocent person’s death. Second, they’re typically built shortly after a person’s death during a highly emotional time when their family is still grieving their loss.

Because of these challenges, it’s extremely important for grieving families to get the right law firm on their side to help them with their wrongful death claims. Having the right lawyer not only increases the chances of success, but it also gives families peace of mind knowing that their claims are in good hands and that their lawyers have compassion for them.

Many law firms claim to handle wrongful death cases, but they lack the experience and empathy required to handle them the way they’re supposed to be handled. That can leave grieving families feeling even worse, especially when their claims are denied and their questions and concerns are ignored or brush off by their lawyers.

If you recently lost a loved one because of another person’s or party’s negligence, we want to help. The Virginia wrongful death lawyers at Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers know what you’re going through, and we want to take some of the stress and grief off your shoulders. Contact us today for a free consultation. We’ll work hard to help your family move forward through this difficult and emotional time.

How Do You Know if You Suffered a Drug Injury?

There are few things more distressing to patients than taking a prescription or over-the-counter medication thinking it will help them feel better, only for their health to become worse than before. When that happens, it’s often because the medications they took were defective, mislabeled, or contaminated.

Patients who are harmed by medications that are supposed to be safe are often eligible to seek compensation through drug injury lawsuits, but it can be difficult to tell the difference between a drug injury and a side effect. If you suspect you or someone you love is a drug injury victim, ask yourself the following questions:

• Has the drug been recalled? When drugs are recalled because of defects and after causing new injuries or illness, there’s a good chance the patients who experienced bad outcomes suffered drug injuries.

• Was the bad outcome a known possibility? Some drugs have the potential to cause serious complications, but the manufacturers know about these side effects and publicize them. When drug manufacturers either don’t know about adverse effects or hide them, harmed patients may be eligible for drug injury compensation.

• Was the complication severe? Minor side effects or complications, even when they aren’t publicized or noted, may not result in patients being eligible for compensation. Most drug injury lawsuits involve serious injuries or illnesses that are caused by defective or dangerous medications.

At Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers, we work hard to help drug injury victims get maximum compensation. Contact our Virginia drug injury lawyers for a free consultation if you suspect that you or a loved one were harmed by a dangerous medication.

Virginia’s Personal Injury Laws Mean Victims Need Legal Representation

In most states, people who are injured in accidents can file compensation claims against at-fault parties to get money for their medical bills, lost wages, and other damages, even if they are partially at fault themselves.

For example, if a driver gets hit from behind by another driver who was following them too closely, but the first driver’s brake lights weren’t working, they may be assigned partial fault, but not enough fault to make them ineligible for compensation.

But in Virginia, being assigned even 1% of fault makes injured victims ineligible to get ANY compensation. That’s because the state uses a contributory negligence system for injury claims. Only Virginia, Alabama, Maryland, and North Carolina use this model, and it makes it very tough for victims to file claims, as small amounts of fault can be assigned in many cases.

It’s important to have an experienced personal injury lawyer on your side in any state, but it’s particularly important in contributory negligence states. At Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers, we not only prove other parties injured our clients, but we also prove they weren’t at fault for their injuries.

We do this by collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses, reconstructing accident scenes, and more. There are no steps we won’t take in our quest to clear our clients’ names and their paths to maximum compensation.

If you were recently injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault, but you were assigned partial fault anyway, we want to help. Contact our Virginia personal injury lawyers today for a free consultation.

Who Pays for a Dog Bite Injury Claim?

Dog bites are more common than you think. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, more than 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year in the U.S., and more than 800,000 need to get medical attention for those bites.

When people are bitten by dogs owned by family, friends, or even strangers, they’re often hesitant to file claims against the owners for two reasons. First, they don’t want anything to happen to the dogs that bit them. And second, they don’t want the owners to have to pay for their expensive medical bills and lost wages out of pocket.

It’s important to note that there’s no law dictating that dogs must be euthanized or given to an animal shelter or rehomed after a bite, even if it results in a civil lawsuit. And in most dog bite cases, insurance picks up the tab for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. These expenses are rarely paid out of pocket by dog owners.

The most common type of insurance to cover dog bites is homeowners or renters insurance. Because most people who own a home or rent an apartment or home are required to have homeowners or renters insurance, dog bite victims shouldn’t feel bad about filing claims against the owners of the dogs who bit them. If victims don’t file claims, they don’t get compensation—and they’ll be forced to dig into or even use up their own savings for medical treatments.

If you need help with a dog bite claim, Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers is here for you. Contact our Virginia dog bite attorneys today for a free consultation.

Injured as a Passenger on Someone Else’s Motorcycle? You May Be Eligible for Compensation.

Unlike being a passenger in a car, truck, or SUV, being a passenger on a motorcycle is an active experience. It requires you to hold on to the driver or bike itself tightly, to lean during turns, and to brace for acceleration and braking. In addition to being a much more demanding role, it’s also a much more dangerous role. Just like motorcycle drivers, motorcycle passengers are often severely injured in crashes.

If you or someone you love was recently injured while riding as a passenger on someone else’s motorcycle, it’s important to review all of your options for getting compensation. Your medical bills may be significant, and you may be facing weeks or months out of work while you recover. Filing a compensation claim can help you get the money you need to move forward with your life, and as an injured passenger, you may have multiple sources of compensation.

If another driver hit you, you may be able to sue him or her for your accident-related expenses. If the operator of the motorcycle you were riding on was negligent and caused the crash, you may be able to get compensation through his or her insurance. And if both another driver AND the driver of the motorcycle were negligent, you may be able to sue both.

The Virginia motorcycle accident lawyers at Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers have decades of experience handling motorcycle crash claims, and we want to help you, too. Contact us today for a free consultation to discuss your options.

We Help Protect Nursing Home Residents’ Rights

Nursing home administrators and staff members are supposed to take good care of their residents. Not only do residents and their families pay large amounts of money every month to ensure they’re well taken care of, but nursing home residents are also granted many rights via state law in Virginia.

The rights that nursing home residents are granted in Virginia are extensive, and they must be known and followed at all times by nursing home administrators and staff members. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen.

When nursing home residents’ rights are disregarded or violated, their quality of life and health can suffer, and they and their loved ones may be eligible to file nursing home abuse or neglect claims. At Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers, our Virginia nursing home abuse attorneys use Virginia Code 32.1-138 to help build many of the claims we handle for our nursing home abuse clients.

Some of the most important rights that nursing home residents are granted are:

• The right to be fully informed of medical treatments and the right to participate in the planning of their medical treatment
• The right to voice grievances against nursing home facility staff
• The right to manage personal financial affairs
• The right to freedom from mental and physical abuse, as well as physical restraints unless authorized in writing by a physician for limited period of time and for a specific purpose

These are just a few of the rights that residents are granted in Virginia. If you suspect that your loved one’s rights were violated, we want to hear from you. Contact us today for a free consultation.

Let Us Help You Build and File Your Workers’ Compensation Claim

Workers’ compensation gives injured workers a lifeline when they get injured on the job and can’t earn the paychecks they and their loved ones depend on. And while the requirements for getting workers’ compensation seem simple—suffer an on-the-job injury or illness that results in medical bills and/or lost wages—many injured workers see their claims denied.

The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission (VWCC) has strict requirements when reviewing and approving claims, and it’s common for first-time applicants to be denied. Reasons for claim denials can range from missing forms and incomplete paperwork to a lack of evidence and missed deadlines. It can be hard to keep up with all of the requirements for filing a successful claim, especially when you’re stressed and in pain after getting hurt at work.

At Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers, our Virginia workers’ compensation lawyers have many years of experience building claims for injured workers, and we know what the VWCC looks for when reviewing claims. When you contact us, you’ll get peace of mind knowing that your claim is in experienced hands. In addition to ensuring that no errors jeopardize your claim, we can also use our knowledge of the VWCC to get your claim approved faster, which means less time waiting for benefits to kick in.

Contact us today for a free consultation if you or someone you love was injured at work. It’s our goal to help you get the workers’ compensation benefits you’re owed.

Hurt in a Multi-Vehicle Pile-Up? We Can Help.

When car accidents involve more than two vehicles, the consequences from both an injury standpoint and a compensation standpoint can be much more serious and complex. Multi-vehicle pile-ups often involve vehicles being struck multiple times and from different angles. Each collision puts drivers and passengers at a high risk of suffering a serious injury.

When it comes to getting compensation for those injuries, victims may be unsure of which drivers are at fault and which drivers crashed into them through no fault of their own. Or, they may be wondering if multiple drivers are at fault and they can get compensation from more than one. The chaotic nature of multi-vehicle crashes can make it difficult for victims to file compensation claims, especially when police are also unable to clearly establish fault.

At Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers, our Virginia car accident attorneys know how to help people who were hurt in multi-vehicle crashes. We know how to analyze evidence to determine which driver was initially at fault in causing the crash, and we can also determine which additional drivers were victims themselves or were also negligent and contributed to the crash.

Multi-vehicle accidents are almost always traumatic, painful, and expensive for victims. You don’t have to suffer alone or get less money than you’re owed—especially when more than one driver may be liable for your damages. Contact us today for a free consultation to find out how we can help.

When Accidents Cause Brain Injuries, the Stakes Are Much Higher for Victims and Their Families

At Lowell Stanley Injury Lawyers, we believe that any type of preventable injury that’s caused by another person’s negligence is unacceptable. Many types of injuries can result in permanent disability and even life-threatening complications, but there’s one type of injury that can change victims in a way that other injuries can’t: traumatic brain injuries (TBIs).

When victims suffer TBIs, they’re often changed in subtle or dramatic ways. Victims may lose cognitive ability and control over their emotions, or their personalities and relationships with their loved ones may change. These changes can be highly distressing for both victims and their loved ones.

In addition to changes affecting their mental and emotional states, many TBI victims lose fine motor coordination and skills. They may be unable to do their jobs correctly or at all, which can mean permanent disability and loss of paychecks. Treatment may involve expensive physical therapy, which isn’t always successful.

The devastating outcomes of many TBIs is why victims and their loved ones need an experienced Virginia brain injury lawyer on their sides right away after accidents that affect the brain. The costs and stakes are simply too high for victims to count on getting fair settlements from insurance companies on their own—or to do nothing and pay out of pocket for all their injury-related expenses.

If you or someone you love suffered a TBI, contact us today for a free consultation with our experienced legal team.