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Research Your Potential Attorney

If you word search my blogs, I think you’d find the word “experience” pops up in almost every single one. I use it a lot because I believe it’s one of the most important aspects of choosing an attorney to represent you. Whether you’ve been hurt in a coal mining accident, a tractor trailer accident, or have suffered any number of catastrophic injuries, your lawyer’s experience is going to be the defining factor of your settlement or courtroom outcome. You can always call us here at the firm and ask us those hard questions, but I want to give you several other avenues to take in finding out if I have what it takes to be your legal representative. Our Website Like I have said many times, feel free to ask me point blank: have you done a case like mine and what were the results? I’m happy to answer those questions. But if you’re looking for a little more info, the best place to go is our webpage. We’ve streamlined it to offer as much detailed information as we can possible give you. I feel like you can actually meet me there and get to know me as a […]

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I Have A Catastrophic Injury – What Now?

We’ve talked a lot of about specific types of cases in my last few blogs, but today I want to touch on some of the more broad cases we work on, those being catastrophic injuries. These are cases that involve paralysis, burns, blindness or loss of limbs. If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident that resulted in a catastrophic injury, you should get a hold of an attorney immediately. These are usually very involved situations and it takes a lawyer with a lot of experience to understand what legal steps need to be taken. When you make that initial call to my firm, whether you are the injured party or a loved of the injured party, the first thing you are going to want to do is ask about our experience. These cases can be extremely complex and your attorney must understand the magnitude and severity. Why do I say that? Well, it’s not just doctors that are going to be involved here; you’ll have life care planners, forensic accountants, rehabilitation experts, maybe prosthetics experts. There are a lot of considerations to take and I want to make sure when people call me that they

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Helicopter and Airplane Tragedies: Let Us Protect You

Hiring a lawyer for a wrongful death case in aviation tragedy is one of the most serious decisions you will ever make for your family and for yourself. These are not simple investigations and it’s absolutely imperative that you find an attorney who has extensive experience in this part of the industry. They have to know your legal options, which agencies to contact, where to start digging for answers and so much more. Typically, a case like this will start like any other- with a call to my law firm. These individuals who have had a loved one killed in a plane or helicopter crash just want to know what their legal remedies are. I think it’s very important during that first call that you get all of your basic questions answered. You should know that my firm doesn’t charge you a dime of legal fees unless we win you money. Hopefully that will ease your mind right away. Another thing we should be speaking about during that first meeting is my experience. You should never hire a lawyer without questioning them about the types of cases they’ve done that are similar to yours. I welcome those questions. What kind

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Oil and Gas Rig Explosions: Getting A Case Started

An oil or gas rig explosion can result in incredibly severe burns, injuries or even death for workers onsite. If this should happen to you or a loved one, it’s critical that you find an attorney immediately with the experience to handle your case. Here at The Segal Law Firm, we have tried several oil and gas cases and we know exactly where to start investigating to get the information we need to protect you and your family. The very first thing you should do after an accident is call us up here at the office. Obviously, I would like you to ask questions about our experience, how we handle the cases and the fact that we don’t charge working men and women lawyer fees unless we win their case. We don’t collect money until they take a settlement or we get them a jury verdict. Once I feel like I completely understand your point of view and we have our contract in writing, I will start my investigation of the case. Let me emphasise as well that I don’t need to actually speak to the injured party. Many times, these poor folks are so debilitated that they can’t speak

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Have A Coal Mining Case? Call Sooner Than Later.

Coal mining accidents are some of the worst that we see here at The Segal Law Firm. In these types of cases, it’s crucial that we get started on the investigation as soon as possible. Unfortunately, many of the accidents are so devastating that the injured or killed parties are unable to contact us immediately. In these instances, it’s up to the spouses, children or loved ones to get on the phone and give us a call. We can get started on the case without involving the victim at all and, many times, this is what we have to do to get the information we need to protect your family. Once we are the legal representative of the injured or killed coal miner, which means a contract has been signed, we get to work right away. Now, this contract isn’t going to lead to a ton of attorney’s fees; we don’t get paid unless you do. Whether you get a settlement or we obtain a jury verdict, we will only accept money when we win it for you. Now, having said that, many people don’t realize that you don’t have to file a lawsuit to be a legal representative of

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Tractor Trailer Accidents: Call Us Right Away

The process of starting a tractor trailer case is pretty simple; you’ve got to call me. A lot of times the victims of these accidents have been severely injured or, unfortunately, even killed. In these cases, it is absolutely permissible for the spouse, child or loved one to call us on behalf of the injured party. It is imperative that we get involved as soon as possible. There are crucial steps that must be taken early on to ensure that you or your loved one get the help you deserve. The first thing I’m going to do, after I feel like I fully understand your point of view, is get the police report. Even if the victim is in a coma or unconscious, I can get to work. A lot of these trucks are equipped with black boxes, much like those of an airplane. They have recovery data systems that can help us understand what the driver was doing before the wreck and what warning signs were available. I need to get that information before it is destroyed. I am also going to get my hands on the drivers’ log books, which they are required by law to keep. This

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Coal Mining Dangers: Required Safety Measures to Prevent Disaster

The most serious danger to a coal miner underground is methane gas – the natural by-product of mining coal. There are very specific safety measures that the Federal and State government require to protect miners. And you’ll find that disaster after disaster after disaster, certain things were not done that should have been done to protect the coal miner. Proper Ventilation First, improper ventilation – All ventilation in an underground coal mine must be approved by Federal and State inspectors. Proper ventilation keeps the air moving away from the coal miners and takes any methane or noxious gases away from the miners’ face. It’s typically referred to as “out by” work. Skilled workers that know how to keep the air moving in the right direction must perform it. Rock Dusting Second is rock dusting – When there is an explosion in a coal mine, very fine particles of coal dust fly into the air and make more tiny explosion. You get a chain reaction. The explosion gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and it goes throughout the entire mine because it’s just feeding itself. Rock dusting is when limestone is sprayed all over the mine to keep the

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Back Injuries in the Workplace

Back Injuries can occur in any work place. These are questions that a lot of people could have – no matter their career:           1. What are the most common causes of back injuries in the workplace?           2. How are back injuries in the workplace handled legally? Is the Injury a Worker’s Compensation Case? The back injury situation, with regard to workplace injuries, is a complicated one. First of all, if they suffer a back injury while they are working for their employer and it is no one else’s fault, it is a workers compensation case. Now on the other hand, if you hurt your back working at a power plant, a chemical plant or an industrial facility while working for your employer, you may have a different type of lawsuit. Timing is Important It’s important that you call early, tell us what happened, who you were working for and see if we can figure out a way to help. A lot of times people hurt their backs in a situation where they are either being required to lift too much or lift something in a confined space where they can’t possibly do it safely. Other times it can be a

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How Did I Get Mesothelioma?

Here at The Segal Law Firm we have a lot of experience working with mesothelioma clients, most of them being industrial workers who have worked in power houses or chemical factories over the years. But it doesn’t stop there. The asbestos used in these plants was so toxic, that it affected not only the workers, but their spouses and children as well. We’ve also seen multiple cases at the firm where the victim has no idea why they are infected and how it happened. It’s our job to figure that out. One of the first things you should do if you get a mesothelioma diagnosis is contact an attorney, even if you don’t know how you were exposed. For example, I got a call from a physician who had developed mesothelioma and had no idea how it was possible. I started asking him questions and it turns out, for two summers he worked at steel mill to pay his way through medical school. Two summers! That’s all it took for the asbestos to infect him. Another client was a professor at a university. Sure enough, he worked one summer at a chemical factory scraping old asbestos off factory pipe. Because

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Personal Injury Claims in West Virginia: What You Need to Know

Most top-of-the-line law firms begin with a thorough interview and meeting with the client. The client needs to understand what the lawyer can do for them, how they’re going to do it, how long its going to take and, last but not least, how much is it going to cost. What the Segal Law Firm Will Do for Our Clients We work on a contingency fee basis. That means, until we get our client’s  money and case settled, they don’t owe us any money. If we are not successful in their case, then they don’t owe us any attorney fees. It’s that simple. The Investigation Once the lawyer is in place, the investigation begins. In a simple accident, that may only take a few days. In a complex trucking case or a complex coal-mining explosion or death case, it could be a few weeks or several weeks. Sometimes, if you’re waiting on the NTSB – the National Transportation Safety Board – the wait can be as much as six to nine months. The Complaint The next step is the filing of a complaint. Sometimes an insurance company or major corporation will approach the Segal Law firm quickly and ask us to provide

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