Category: Blog

While you’re recovering from an injury, you are likely to replay the events in your mind. You may decide someone else’s carelessness caused your injury, and wonder if you can file a lawsuit to collect compensation for the expenses you have piling up. If your injury happened on government property, such as a park or a courthouse, you may be wondering with whom to make your claim.

The government, of course. But wait—can you really do that?

In many cases, yes. You can. You’ll have to satisfy some very specific conditions, which may vary by locality.

First Steps in Suing the Government

Because governments have very specific laws detailing what you must do before filing a liability lawsuit against them, you may need to act fast. You’ll have to file what’s called a “notice of claim”, often within 60 days of the negligent action that caused your injuries.

Retaining an experienced local personal injury lawyer will be a great help in navigating the specific deadlines and requirements involved in making a personal injury claim against the government.

3 Common Eye Injuries in PE Classes

Physical education is an important part of our children’s’ education. Particularly today, with childhood obesity  at a public health crisis level in the U.S., gym class provides our kids with a lifelong benefit. Unfortunately, it is arguably the class in which a child is most likely to suffer an injury.

Injuries to the eye are particularly troublesome. Our eyes are delicate organs, and while most eye injuries heal completely, others may cause lifelong disability. PE class, with its fast-paced activity and objects in motion, can lead to the occasional eye injury.

The three most common eye injuries sustained in PE classes are:

Eye Swelling

The eye itself, and more commonly the eyelids, can swell after an impact. When a ball, an unwary classmate’s elbow or hand, or any other object strikes the eye area, the eyelids and sometimes the eye itself will bruise and swell in response.

Most often, this is a simple black eye that will heal on its own, but it’s a good idea to see an eye doctor to ensure there’s not internal damage.

Foreign Object in the Eye

This can be a bit more serious. Depending on the size and shape of the foreign matter, you may need immediate, emergency care. A first aid eyewash will often wash away small objects such as dust or lint, but larger or sharp objects may partially or fully penetrate the eye.

Scratched Eye

The medical term is “corneal abrasion,” and this is often a result of some foreign object in the eye. This injury can vary in severity, but even a minor scratch can leave the eye open to infection. Fungal or bacterial infections in the eye can cause serious harm, even blindness, very quickly.

Any eye injury is not something to take lightly. See an eye doctor if you have any concerns after an injury to the eye, particularly in children.

Most schools and school officials take great care to ensure the safety of our children and their learning environment. However, some injuries are unforeseeable. Some may be due to negligence or carelessness in preventing safety hazards, while other injuries are unfortunate but unpreventable.

A Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help

Has your child suffered an eye injury during physical education classes? Trust the experienced legal team at Kuharski, Levitz & Giovinazzo, Esq., your dedicated personal injury law firm.

We understand the distress and uncertainty that comes with such accidents. If your child’s injury was caused by negligence or unsafe conditions in their PE class, we’re here to fight for justice on your behalf.

Contact our reputable personal injury law firm today for a free consultation. Let us help you navigate the legal process and secure the compensation your child deserves for their medical expenses, pain, and suffering.

Don’t delay—take action to protect your child’s rights and ensure a safer environment for all students in physical education classes. Call us now to get started.

Injured at a Chain Restaurant: What’s Next?

If you suffer an injury while eating or working at a large chain restaurant, you may wonder what your legal options may be. In certain circumstances, you may be able to collect damages from the chain itself, the franchisee or owner of the individual restaurant.

All businesses, whether corporately or individually owned, have a duty of care to prevent foreseeable harm to their customers and employees. What is foreseeable? Here are some examples.

Foreseeable Harm

An exposed nail sticks out from the wall in a seating booth. A customer cuts her arm on the nail while seated at the booth. This is foreseeable harm, since most reasonable people would think someone could easily cut his or her arm on that nail.

In another example, a customer spills a drink on the floor. Twenty minutes later, another customer walks by, slips and falls on the wet floor. This is foreseeable harm because while the spill was not foreseeable, the restaurant staff and management had plenty of time to notice and correct the slipping hazard.

Unforeseeable Harm

If, in the above example, the slip and fall happens immediately after the spill, that would not be foreseeable harm. One could easily argue that the restaurant did not have time to clean up the spilled drink and prevent the fall. Customers being hurt in a restaurant during an earthquake would be another example of harm that the business or property owner couldn’t reasonably foresee.

Whom Can I Sue?

The law holds the negligent party, that is, the person or company who failed to prevent foreseeable harm, accountable for damages if a customer or employee suffers an injury because of that negligence. Every case is different, and in the case of a chain restaurant, there are additional variables. In some cases, poor corporate policies can lead to accidents, while in other instances it may be the franchise owner or someone else who was negligent.

Working with an experienced personal injury lawyer is the best way to sort out exactly whose carelessness caused your injury.

Suffering a Broken Neck from Diving into a Swimming Pool

Summertime is in full swing, and many of us consider a day at the pool to be the perfect way to spend a day in the summer sun. Whether at a community pool or a private backyard swimming pool, a moment’s lapse in safety awareness can turn a day of fun into a tragic, life-changing event.

Of all injuries you can sustain at or near the pool, few are more preventable than suffering a broken neck from diving headfirst into shallow water. For this reason, the law requires home pools sold or installed in the U.S. to come with clear warning signs or decals stating that diving into shallow water can cause permanent injury or death.

Who Was Negligent?

If you or a loved one suffered a broken neck from diving, you may be wondering if you should seek legal action. The best way to answer that question is to ask yourself this: Was my injury caused by my own negligence, or was it someone else’s fault?

In other words, were there adequate warnings that the water was too shallow for diving, which you chose to ignore? If that’s the case, you may be out of luck. Of course, most people wouldn’t knowingly cause themselves bodily harm, so it’s likely that you didn’t know—and perhaps had no way of knowing—of the danger of diving where you did.

Failure to Warn of Danger

The law requires property owners to keep their premises safe. This includes homeowners as well as property managers and business owners. Whether your injury happened in a backyard, community pool or water park, your rights are the same.

If a property owner fails to post clearly visible warnings where the pool is too shallow for diving, that negligence can cause others to be harmed. If you or a loved one was harmed by unmarked dangers at the pool, including water too shallow for diving, the law may be able to help.

I Need Plastic Surgery. Can I Sue?

The short answer? Maybe.

Plastic surgery is often an elective procedure, and therefore would not be covered by insurance or compensable in a personal injury case. However, in some cases, a doctor may perform plastic surgery to repair an injury. If someone else’s negligence or recklessness caused that injury, the victim may be able to seek legal damages.

When it comes to whether you can file a lawsuit to recover your medical expenses for plastic surgery, two key factors come into play:

1. The surgery must be medically necessary to correct an injury, and
2. The injury must have been caused by someone else’s negligence or reckless behavior.

Injuries Requiring Plastic Surgery to Correct

If you suffer a disfiguring injury, you may be able to sue for damages due to mental anguish over the disfigurement. However, if a doctor can correct your disfigurement with one or multiple plastic surgery procedures, those medical expenses may also be a compensable loss. Plastic surgery can sometimes correct such injuries as:

• Excessive scar tissue
• Burns
• Broken facial bones or cartilage

Your disfigurement is a loss to you. If your doctor performs plastic surgery to correct the disfigurement resulting from an injury, the expense of the surgery is a loss. If you suffer losses because of someone else’s negligence, you can sue for damages.