The horrific experience of La Rosa Carrington recently made national headlines. Ms. Carrington’s health insurance carrier threatened to cut off her health insurance coverage while she was going through chemotherapy for leukemia. The reason was not that Ms. Carrington had not paid her health insurance premiums; she had in fact paid, but her insurance carrier had erroneously determined that her payment was 1 cent short. Fortunately for Ms. Carrington, her insurance carrier ultimately found that she had paid the correct amount and stopped their threats to end her coverage. But what if they hadn’t sufficiently investigated and had actually ended her coverage? What if Ms. Carrington was left to try to find new insurance coverage while seriously ill and receiving expensive treatment? The result could have been a bad faith insurance lawsuit. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Accidents & Injuries’ Category
Bad Faith Insurance Lawsuits
Friday, August 20th, 2010
Your Rights if You’re Injured By a Dangerous Product in California
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010Say what you will about the number of lawsuits filed in California, but the truth is that lawsuits are one important reason why many manufacturers have put more effort into making the products that we use in our everyday lives safer. But with so many products on the market, all too often consumers are still injured by dangerous products.
Many unsafe products make it onto the market and into consumers’ homes, only to cause serious and even fatal injuries. Sometimes manufacturers and sellers don’t do enough to ensure safety because they don’t want to cut into profits or delay sale of the product. (more…)
California Civil Lawsuits: How Much Do You Know About What Happens Before Trial?
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010You hear a lot about eleventh-hour settlements reached just before a jury delivers its verdict, and about lawyers’ courtroom arguments and questioning of witnesses, but what about the many different stages and preparation that a lawsuit goes through long before a California trial is begun? If you’re a prospective plaintiff or defendant, you can be spared the specifics of California procedures and local San Diego court rules governing lawsuits since that will be handled by your attorney, but you should know what you can generally expect to happen as your case moves forward. Every case will be different and vary in complexity, and there can be overlap in the stages a lawsuit will go through as it progresses. Despite the differences, it’s no surprise that the beginnings of a lawsuit are always the same: something went wrong. This could have been virtually anything. You may have been in a car accident and suffered a personal injury, the business you dealt with may have breached a contract, or your business may be accused of violating the ADA and California disability laws, and so on. At some point, the problem at hand could turn into a legal dispute, and at this stage it’s essential to hire an experienced lawyer to evaluate potential liability, negotiate, and advise you on what you can reasonably expect. If a fair settlement isn’t reached, then a lawsuit will be filed, but this doesn’t mean that negotiations are over, as attempts to settle will probably continue well after any trial begins in a San Diego superior court. (more…)
Has Your Claim or a Claim Against You Expired? Why You Should Befriend or Beware of California’s Statutes of Limitation
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009Depending on whether you’re a potential plaintiff or defendant, you may either love or hate California’s statutes of limitation. A statute of limitation is a law created by the legislature that sets a specific period of time in which a claim can be brought, and vary from state to state. Different time limits will apply to the different legal bases that are alleged in a lawsuit. As you’ll see from the following general examples, these California time limits can vary greatly:
- A breach of contract lawsuit must be brought within 4 years from the date of breach if the agreement is in writing, or within 2 years if you had an oral agreement, but it may be possible to shorten the period by contract
- A claim for fraud must be filed within 3 years from the date the fraud was actually discovered
- A defamation case (libel or slander) must be filed within 1 year
California Accident Law: What Happens If You Were Partly At Fault?
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009It’s not always clear who was at fault in causing an accident, and if you were partly to blame, do you know how that will affect your case under California law? It’s a frequently asked question, and for good reason. When there’s been an accident, determining who’s at fault and by how much is at the center of proving your case and how much you’re owed.
For instance, what if the other driver involved in a car accident was driving in the wrong direction, but you were distracted while talking on your cell phone and didn’t see him coming. Depending on where you live, even if you were found to be only 1% to blame, and the other driver was 99% at fault, you would generally recover nothing, thanks to an old English rule known as “contributory negligence.” (more…)
