Electrical Accident Articles

Do I Need a West Virginia Lawyer?

“If I’m from out of state and am hurt in West Virginia, is it necessary to have a West Virginia lawyer?” I don’t think I’d use the word ‘necessary,’ but I certainly think it’s in your best interest.   A West Virginia lawyer with the kind of experience the we have at The Segal Law Firm is going to know West Virginia law, West Virginia judges, and West Virginia juries better than an out of state lawyer. But is it absolutely necessary? The answer is no. The thing is, if you get an out of state lawyer, they’re going to have to hire a West Virginia lawyer anyway because they can’t practice law here unless they happen to be licensed. It’s not unusual for us to work with out of state law firms to help clients who have been hurt in West Virginia.   Right now I’m handling a case for a Canadian woman who was severely injured in a motorcycle accident here in West Virginia. Her Canadian lawyer called me and asked me if I would be willing to help. Once I realized how badly she was hurt I, of course, agreed. So, in the end, you are going […]

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What is a Mass Tort Case?

The answer is pretty simple: a mass tort case involves a large group of people who were hurt by a singular event. The most famous one in West Virginia was probably the Upper Big Branch disaster, which took the lives of twenty-nine people as a result of one explosion. Another example would be the asbestos that has poisoned thousands of West Virginia workers since the 1940s. Mass tort cases in West Virginia are handled by mass litigation panels that help experienced lawyers move the cases through the system with great efficiency.   If you have the disease mesothelioma, which was caused by the asbestos used to insulate factories in the forties, fifties, sixties and early seventies, your case will be handled as a mass tort case in West Virginia. It will be streamlined by the mass litigation panel. There’s one judge on this panel who tries mesothelioma cases four times a year, which is usually about fifteen to twenty cases each time. As a result of that, we know what discovery needs to happen and what documents we need to prepare in order to get your case to trial.   The Segal Law Firm knows what information is required by

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Class Action Cases: A Vehicle for the Masses

Class action lawsuits are a vehicle for several people with a similar type claim to bring a case against the same defendant all at once. Usually it involves everyone getting hurt by the same medicine or getting overcharged by the same financial institution. The good news is, you’re offered plenty of protection as part of the class action.   Let’s say the bank overcharges you five cents for a check. Well, you can’t sue the bank for five cents or even five hundred dollars! In fact, it would cost you more to hire a lawyer. But if all the people who use that bank and those checks got together in a class action, they would be able to afford to sue the bank and get that money back. That’s why you see a lot of class actions against financial institutions, lending companies and credit card companies.   It can also involve certain types of medicine. If a drug is put on the market that is dangerous and the FDA had been misled by the drug company, groups of people can ban together to bring a class action. They might ask for things like medical monitoring, which is a certain type

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Is There a Difference Between Accident Lawyers & Injury Lawyers?

If you are seeking the services of a lawyer, it may be confusing when you see lawyers who call themselves accident lawyers or injury lawyers, and you may wonder how they differentiate between the two. In my opinion, there really is no difference and although lawyers may state they specialize in specific areas, what really counts is their experience. You need to ask how many injury cases they have tried to a jury; or if they claim they are an accident lawyer, then exactly how many cases have they investigated, filed and resolved, either by mitigation, settlement or winning a case in a trial. If they tell you that you will be their first one – run! For example, if you were in need of a doctor to perform a procedure, you would definitely want to know if they are experienced with that procedure, and it’s no different with lawyers, because your lawyer needs to be experienced with your specific type of case. In the state of West Virginia, a lawyer cannot call himself a specialist; they can tell you their level of experience and the types of cases they have filed, discovered and tried, but they cannot tell you

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Average Settlement Amount in Electrical Accident or Injury Cases

If you or your family are seeking advice regarding an electrical accident or death, the Segal Law Firm doesn’t believe in cookie-cutter averages. We don’t feel it is fair to a client to hand over a number which might not actually have anything to do with your case at all. Some of our clients have settled in the area of $100,000 to $300,000 and others have settled for multi-millions of dollars. We prefer to examine each case individually and determine what sort of injury you received, or if death was the result of an electrical accident. By nature, electrical accidents can cause everything from simple burns to limbs being completely burned off, gruesome scarring, blindness, loss of motor function and death. If a client needs debridement, this is a difficult procedure and they must then go down a very long road to recovery. A case we handled a few years ago was the result of someone literally having their arm blown off from electricity and it also required amputation of their leg. More often than not, the Segal Law Firm has had great success in finding large amounts of insurance or even big companies who are responsible for these injuries

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Everyday Accident Prevention – Slow Down and Use Common Sense

In your everyday life it’s important to use precautions that are available and are there to help protect you. Take your seatbelt, for example. Nobody should be driving, even to the store, without being sure that their seatbelt and those of their children are being properly used. Kids should not be allowed to put the shoulder harness behind their back. They need to keep their seatback straight up, as should you as an adult. Obviously, staying off your cell phone, not texting and doing other things that will distract you is also important. I don’t know how many times I’ve had clients come in where the person who hit them was adjusting the radio. Or doing something inside the car that diverted their attention from the road. The Speed limit is the limit. That is the most you should drive. But there are a thousand reasons to drive slower. Exercise common sense and slow down rather than drive the speed limit when there’s too much traffic, it’s raining, it’s foggy, it’s snowing or there are kids in the area. The law in West Virginia says adults must anticipate that children will act childishly. So if you see kids in the

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Don’t Wait Two Years- Evidence Disappears

You may have two years to file a lawsuit, but trust me when I say that you don’t want to wait that long to call an attorney. The fact of the matter is- evidence disappears. The longer you wait to call, the harder and harder it gets to bring your case. It doesn’t matter what type of case it is; tractor trailer, coal mining or mesothelioma. You need to call The Segal Law Firm as soon as you’ve been in accident so that we can make sure critical evidence doesn’t disappear right out from under you. Tractor Trailer Wrecks If you’ve been in a tractor trailer accident, it’s imperative that you or a family member call us immediately after you wake up in the hospital. We’re going to want the black box from the truck, the driver’s log books, the GPS information and the home office data about where the truck was and how fast it was going. Those are all pieces of evidence that are going to disappear pretty quickly it you’re sitting around waiting for two years to give us a call. Coal Mining Accidents When it comes to coal mining accidents, we’ve got to be a part

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Do I Have a Case Due to My Spouse Being Electrocuted?

One of the saddest things we see as lawyers at Segal Law Firm occurs when a man or woman comes to us and tells us they’ve lost their spouse due to being electrocuted. Without question, our heart goes out to these victims. Electrocution Causes Electrical mishaps result in thousands of injuries and deaths each year in the United States.  Many of these injuries and deaths occur in the workplace.  At both work and home, some electrocutions involve negligence or actionable conduct such as unsafe working conditions, insufficient training, manufacturing or design defects in tools or appliances, shoddy workmanship by a repair person or failure to fix or repair a damaged power line.  The leading causes of electrocutions are contact with overhead power lines, wiring, transformers and other electrical parts.  Often, tools, appliances or light fixtures are involved as well. Electrocution Injuries Exposure to electricity can result in a wide array of injuries including internal and external burns, abnormal heart rhythm and kidney damage.  In some circumstances, electrocution can cause damage to the nerves and to the brain resulting in seizures, short-term memory loss and personality changes. Electricity provides us great comfort.  Life as we know it would cease to exist

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