Articles

Published on: January 25, 2009

Premises Liability – A Common, but Challenging, Area of the Law

Premises liability is a bit of a strange duck in the legal arena, and proving slip, trip and fall injuries is sometimes hard work.

Oddly enough, premises liability deals with personal injuries. On the surface one would think it is about a landowner, and obviously the conduct of the property owner needs to be examined. However, this area deals with cases involving injuries to others while on the property owner’s premises.

These injuries are most commonly slip and fall, or trip and fall incidents, but may also involve cases where the property owner has failed to provide adequate security against known hazards; for example, criminal conduct – where there is a history of criminal activity that the property owner knew about or should have known about.

Published on: January 25, 2009

Deadly Motorcycle Crashes

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

While many people view motorcycle riders as a few pennies short of a full bank, the real truth of the matter is that car/motorcycle crashes are often the fault of the car, not the biker.

If you take a good look at some of the traffic accident statistics, the first thing you will notice is when it comes to a “car meet motorbike collision,” it is usually the fault of the car driver. There are a variety of reasons for this, ranging from the bike was in the driver’s blind spot to the car driver wasn’t able to accurately judge the speed of the motorbike.

The most interesting facts and figures have come forth from a study done by the University of Southern California. They found that in nearly three quarters of motorcycle collisions, the other vehicle was – you guessed it – a passenger automobile. In most instances it was the car driver that infringed on the rights of the motorcycle’s right-of-way. Other factors are bad road conditions, alcohol, speeding, undivided roads and riding skills.

Published on: January 25, 2009

When It Blows It May Be Deadly

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

The last thing people seem to pay any attention to is their tires, which is inexplicable since the tires are the very thing that gets them from point A to point B. Much like the old saying “No foot, no horse,” it is a fact that without proper tires the risk of a fatal accident is extremely high.

In general, all types of vehicles use tires of one sort or another, and really, anyone is vulnerable to tire problems from time to time. However, big rigs (those large semi tractor-trailers) have more than their fair share of tire blowouts simply due to the enormous amount of weight they haul. Usually, if they’re going to experience a tire problem, it will be with a blowout or tire tread separation.

It’s not only heavy-duty wear and tear that causes tires to go bad. Blemished tires are often the culprits. In fact, unsound tires have been the cause of some really serious personal injury accidents and deaths. What usually happens is the driver experiences a sudden and unexpected blowout, skewing the car sideways and ripping the wheel out of their hands.

Published on: December 21, 2008

The Safety Issues with Children’s Toys

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Of all the things in this world that you would think should be safe for your children, you would think toys would be. In most instances they are; in others, they can cause untold harm.

What is this world coming to when we cannot even rely on the safety of innocent toys for our kids? Things aren’t so innocent anymore; we read in the news more and more about toys being yanked off the shelves for causing serious harm or death.

Think about it – lead paint on toys, poor design that causes a toy to malfunction and cause injuries, and magnets that could be swallowed. What a terrible litany of disasters. Imagine how a parent feels when they discover that a toy they thought was safe may cause a great deal of harm. What’s a parent to do when faced with a situation like this?

Published on: December 21, 2008

When What You Eat Makes You Sick

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Dining out can be a lot of fun. What may come later might not be.

These days it seems that you have to really watch what you are eating and where you are eating. Kind of takes the fun out the experience, doesn’t it? The fact of the matter is that eating out has become a little like a round of Russian roulette, you never know when you might wind up with food poisoning.

In the US alone,the Center for Disease Control indicates that spoiled food is the reason for 76 million illnesses; 5,000 deaths; and over 325,000 stays in hospital yearly. Those statistics are quite scary. It puts a whole new light on staying at home and enjoying your own cooking, so long as you follow safe food preparation procedures.

Published on: December 21, 2008

Professional Misconduct Means Malpractice

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Often we read stories in local papers about professional misconduct of a person in an organization or group. We shake our heads and wonder about what motivates people to do such mindless things. Often people don’t relate professional misconduct with its other term, malpractice.

Professional misconduct is best shown by an example of a doctor treating a man for an infection by giving him antibiotics that are not suited for that particular bacteria, and the patient dies. Although the doctor intended to treat the person, s/he killed him as a direct consequence of professional misconduct/malpractice.

Put another way, malpractice is about the behavior of a professional (doctor, dentist, chiropractor, nurse; accountant or auditor) doing something that doesn’t live up to the standards of his or her profession. That “something” usually results in harm to patients or clients. That “something” also may be due to an omission, negligence, intentional fault, or ignorance of information the person should have known.

Published on: December 1, 2008

Professional Malpractice Screw-Ups

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Professional malpractice is generally thought to be when a doctor makes a mistake of some sort, or a hospital doesn’t treat a patient correctly and the consequences are very serious or life threatening. Professional malpractice is more than that and actually covers dentists and lawyers.

The question when dealing with the issue of professional malpractice is how to identify it. In addition to that is determining if what we are seeing, hearing or witnessing is actually negligence. While you may feel what was said or done was not professional and has a result you didn’t like, it may not always be the result of professional malpractice.

When it comes to lawyers, the advice given must be knowingly provided in such a way that it is not in the best interest of the client. The proof is in the pudding – so to speak – and the client must prove there was an attorney client relationship. Then, they must also prove what the attorney did had an adverse effect on them. The key here is that the act would foreseeably cause the client harm.

Published on: December 1, 2008

Whoops – Slip Trip Fall Law

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Slip, trip and fall law is a bit of an odd duck legally speaking, as it deals with a landowner maintaining property in a safe manner. Where the difficulty comes into play in proving this type of a lawsuit is what constitutes negligence on the part of the property owner.

Various conditions could lead to a slip, trip, fall accident such as broken stairs, wet surfaces, icy and snow packed areas, cracked pavement or even bad lighting. The key here is whether the owner knew about these things and then did nothing to correct them. In other words, if the landowner did nothing to fix the hazards, s/he may be found negligent and thus at fault for another’s injuries.

If you have any doubts about whether or not you may be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit, speak to a competent attorney who will be able to assess your case. Not all instances of slipping, tripping or falling qualify to be taken to court. Ask first before assuming an outcome that may not happen.

Published on: December 1, 2008

What to do if Filing a Medical Malpractice Suit

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

Knowing what to do if faced with filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is the first step to resolving a difficult situation. Medmal is usually regarded as conduct that is immoral or improper, a mistake due to ignorance or even carelessness.

The first thing you need to know is what medmal is defined as. It’s normally conduct considered to be immoral or improper, a mistake that was caused by ignorance or carelessness.

It may have been caused intentionally or happened because of another incident. So it boils down to medmal being the result of unskilled handling of a case or negligent handling of duties to treat a patient.

Published on: December 1, 2008

Slip Trip Fall: The Responsible Person

By Stephen M. Ozcomert

In many cases if a person slips and falls at the home or business of another person, the home or business owner may be responsible for any injuries.

As a general rule of thumb, if someone slips and falls on badly constructed stairs or trips over a patio block and falls on pavement, the property owner is legally responsible for any injuries incurred. However, there are instances when the owner is not responsible for the accident.

The various exceptions to the law will be laid out by an attorney, such as Stephen Ozcomert of Decatur, Georgia, prior to anyone making a decision to file a slip, trip, fall lawsuit.