Motorcycle Accidents

Published on: February 10, 2018

What to Expect in Meeting A Lawyer for the First Time

Front-End-Damage-1-300x225 So you were in a car collision (we don’t call them accidents at trial, because it makes them sound unavoidable, or gives the impression that it was minor), and you’ve looked online, talked to friends, interviewed lawyers on the phone, and found one you like.

What is going to happen in that first appointment? What should you bring with you to prepare? What questions should you ask? What questions will your lawyer ask you?

Things to bring (don’t worry if you don’t have all of this—bring what you have):

Published on: July 6, 2014

Proving Permanent Injuries

By Posner & Cord, LLC

A permanent injury lawsuit is different from a garden variety injury case. In most cases (which are typically filed in the district courts), there is a car accident, an injury, discrete treatment for a up to about 6 months, and then the victim has fully recovered. In a permanent injury lawsuit, however, the victims will never recover, and will continue to have the effects of the accident for the rest of their lives.

Those effects may include an inability to work, or need for a lifetime of future medical or nursing care. The way we prove these to an insurance adjuster, judge or jury is through experts.

Common to most of these cases are the types of experts that required to prove the claim. These experts will typically come to trial and testify directly in front of the jury, or else their testimony will be recorded a few days or weeks before the trial, and played back before the jury.

Published on: June 8, 2014

Value of a Fingertip

By Posner & Cord, LLC

Our firm recently received a referral from another law firm–it was a case that the insurance company would not settle, and the victim believed (rightly so) that her legal claim was higher than the offer.

The injury was a simple one–my client’s right forefinger was hurt in an automobile accident–she was a passenger on a motorcycle, the defendant made a left-hand turn in front of the motorcycle, and a collision predictably occurred. When the motorcycle fell, my client attempted to brace herself, and her finger was injured.

That injury was masked for a couple of weeks in light of more immediate and visible injury to her wrist and hand. However, as the swelling went down in her wrist and hand, she realized that her finger was not right.

Published on: May 13, 2013

Finding a Good Lawyer For Your Personal Injury Lawsuit

By Posner & Cord, LLC

Norwood jury box 2.jpg Because accidental injuries are unexpected, the need for a good lawyer can be immediate and unplanned. Too often people randomly select lawyers based on a television ads, phone book ads, or internet marketing. Selecting a lawyer solely on the basis of advertising precludes a well-balanced understanding of the lawyer’s actual capabilities.

However you find your potential list of lawyers–whether from advertising, a referral from a friend, or even a lawyer you used long ago, it’s a good idea to dig a little deeper to make sure that the lawyer is best equipped to help with your problem. Here are five things to look for:

Number 1: A Lawyer Who Handles Your Kind of Case

Published on: January 14, 2013

Maximize Your Auto Accident Non-Economic Damages

By Posner & Cord, LLC

Headache 2.jpg Maryland allows auto accident victims to recover for non-economic damages. These are injuries that cannot be easily calculated, and they include items as stated in the typical jury instructions:

In an action for damages in a personal injury case, you shall consider the following:

The personal injuries sustained and their extent and duration;

The effect such injuries have on the overall physical and mental health and well-being of the plaintiff;

The physical pain and mental anguish suffered in the past and which with reasonable probability may be expected to be experienced in the future;

The disfigurement and humiliation or embarrassment associated with such disfigurement;

The medical and other expenses reasonably and necessarily incurred in the past and which with reasonable probability may be expected in the future;

The loss of earnings in the past and such earnings or reduction in earning capacity which with reasonable probability may be expected in the future.

In awarding damages in this case you must itemize your verdict or award to show the amount intended for:

The medical expenses incurred in the past;

The medical expenses reasonably probable to be incurred in the future;

The loss of earnings and/or earning capacity incurred in the past;

The loss of earnings and/or earning capacity reasonably probable to be expected in the future;

The “Noneconomic Damages” sustained in the past and reasonably probable to be sustained in the future. All damages which you may find for pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement, loss of consortium, or other nonpecuniary injury are “Noneconomic Damages”;

Other damages.

It is a relatively simple matter to show what the economic damages are–lost wages and medical expenses can often be calculated with exactitude. But non-economic damages are fuzzy–their value will depend on two things–how well the auto accident victim testifies at trial, and the feelings of the decision-maker (either a judge or jury).

Published on: October 3, 2012

How Much Will Maryland Save With Scooter Helmet Law?

By Posner & Cord, LLC

50cc scooter.jpg We posted recently about the new law requiring moped and scooter riders to wear helmets, procure insurance and have their vehicles titled (Maryland Helmet Law Now Extends to Scooters). An interesting question is what this will do for Maryland’s finances?

One article cites that there are 3,500 scooters in Maryland–with a price tag of $25 for the title and decal, that means the state should get about $194,000 in net revenue.

But wait, there’s more! The requirement to wear a helmet means that some injuries will be prevented entirely, and others will be less serious. It is estimated that it will save Medicaid $120,000.00 per year. That’s money that they won’t have to spend on serious, long-term care of people who were injured. Though, one wonders if there might in fact be more injuries–a rider without a helmet might be killed, though a rider with a helmet in the same accident might have a severe and permanent brain injury. It’s hard to know where these estimates come from. Only time will tell, and that’s only if someone comes in and analyzes the data.

Published on: October 1, 2012

Maryland Helmet Law Now Extends to Scooters

By Posner & Cord, LLC

50cc scooter.jpg Effective today, moped and scooter riders must wear helmets.

Maryland has proudly required motorcyclists to wear helmets since 1992 (though, the law is not without its detractors, who try to repeal it at every opportunity).

This makes sense, of course: we require seatbelts, carseats and booster seats in cars, and the occupants there have two tons of steel to protect them other vehicles, trees, and the roadway. In a motorcycle accident, the sheer size and weight of any vehicle, compared to the slight size and weight of a motorcycle, can cause terrible injuries in what would otherwise be a minor impact. Motorcyclists are easily ejected from their bikes, and suffer a range of serious and permanent head injuries, if not death. There seems to me to be little difference between a motorcycle and a scooter or moped.

Published on: August 21, 2012

$250,000 Per Leg: Texting Motorcycle Accident Case Settles

By Posner & Cord, LLC

distracted driving accident attorney.jpg The New Jersey couple who were hit by a texting driver while riding their motorcycle settled their case against the driver for $500,000. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kubert, who were on the motorcycle, lost a leg because of the motorcycle accident.

We wrote about this story in May (Distracted Driving Lawsuits: Suing the Sender, and Lawsuits Against Text-Senders: Conclusion). There, the trial judge ruled that the plaintiffs did not have a case against the person who sent the text message, only the driver who read it. The lawyer in the case is appealing that decision, though I still wonder how he will get paid if he wins.

The $500,000 settlement only applies to the driver of the car. It looks like that is the policy limit, so the driver’s insurance paid everything it had.

Published on: August 6, 2012

Should You Hire A Lawyer For Your Maryland Auto Accident Case?

By Posner & Cord, LLC

Car Accident (2 people)(11-22-11).jpg This post won’t go into detail about whether you can or should handle a Maryland auto accident lawsuit by yourself–that’s a post for a different day (for information about filing a lawsuit on your own, see the legal Self-Help section of our website).

Instead, this is to help answer whether you should settle your case on your own, or whether you should hire a lawyer to do it for you. The analysis will depend on where you are in the process:

I Was Recently In An Accident And I’m Not Finished With Medical Treatment

Published on: May 29, 2012

Lawsuits Against Text-Message Senders: Conclusion

By Posner & Cord, LLC

Judge David Rand.jpg Our last post on Distracted Driving Lawsuits: Suing the Sender ended with one question: what will happen?

As predicted, the New Jersey trial judge dismissed the sender of the text message. The judge stated that it was reasonable for text-senders to assume that text-receivers will act responsibly. He also noted that drivers must deal with numerous distractions: phones, GPS devices, and road signs, to name a few.

Were I to extend this duty to this case, in my judgment, any form of distraction could potentially serve as the basis of a liability case.