If you’ve ever been in a life or death situation, you know how there’s often little time to act before something catastrophic happens. In some cases, there are those good-willed individuals who are willing to risk their safety to come to the aid of others. When this happens, there are often legal questions that arise after the fact as to whether or not the rescuer should be owed compensation for injuries they sustained because they were acting voluntarily. The answer to this question is yes.

According to the Rescue Doctrine, a rescuer can recover damages from a defendant when the rescuer is injured while helping someone. In order for an injured party to seek compensation through this doctrine, however, they need to be able to prove four specific elements. If you’ve been in a situation where you helped someone in an accident and were hurt as a result, our lawyers may be able to help you prove you are owed monetary damages for your losses.

If you’ve filed a personal injury claim after suffering catastrophic injuries, you may be eligible for compensation from the negligent party that caused your injuries. Calculating that compensation can be difficult if your future cost of care or future lost wages need to be taken into consideration. This is where the concept of present value comes into play.

In order to understand the concept of present value of future losses, you first need to understand how compensation works for personal injury claims. The legal term for compensation is damages. In a typical personal injury case, damages are separated into economic and noneconomic categories.

Economic damages refer to the monetary expenses related to your injury. These can be calculated exactly and there is no limit to the types of claims that can be made or the amount a person can be awarded. The most common types of economic damages include loss of earning, loss of future earnings, medical expenses, cost of future medical care, costs associated with canceled plans, and household expenses.

When you call for emergency services, you’re primarily concerned with the problem at hand. You’re worrying about how soon it will take for emergency medical services to get there and then if they’ll be able to treat you or the person who’s injured. What you don’t necessarily plan for is negligence. When a medical professional is negligent, the results can be devastating. You or a loved one could sustain terrible injuries, and sometimes negligence results in death. In some cases, gross negligence may have occurred. These are the situations where filing a medical malpractice claim may be in your best interest.

We understand how terrifying a situation regarding medical negligence can be. It has the potential to turn your life upside down. But we will fight for your rights and do everything to get you the compensation you deserve.

It’s important that you know how complex a medical negligence case can be, which is even more complex when you’re trying to prove gross negligence. Let’s take a look at gross negligence and what it entails.

It’s likely you know someone who was in a car accident. You, yourself, may have gone through the experience and are looking for options to aid in your recovery. Auto accidents are a common occurrence. Every day, there are thousands of car accidents all over the country. As a result, 20 to 50 million people are injured, and around one million victims lose their lives. But, how many times in your life will you be involved in a collision?

It’s not always possible for a driver to avoid a wreck with another vehicle. There are factors, like poor road conditions and inclement weather, that make it difficult or impossible for drivers to control their vehicles. In most situations, however, wrecks are completely preventable and occur as a result of human error or negligence.

In a serious accident involving injury or significant property damage, having a police report filed is an important part of making sure the details of the event are accurately recorded. Once you’ve contacted the authorities, they’ll investigate the scene and file their report. It’s important to understand how to find out if a report has been filed and how to access it, as the information on there can help you build a case against the other driver if you’re seeking compensation for the crash.

When are Police Reports Filed for Car Crashes in Maryland?

In Maryland, car accidents aren’t typically investigated by law enforcement when the only consequence is minor property damage – so drivers involved in crashes like that do not need to contact the police or file a report. Instead, drivers are required to move off the road and exchange information with each other. The Maryland State Police provides a Collision Information Exchange Form to make the process easier.

Finding yourself dealing with the ramifications of a car accident is bound to be stressful – especially if you’ve been injured. If, however, you’re the victim of a hit-and-run accident, the experience is likely to be that much more frustrating. Whether you were in the vehicle at the time of the accident or not, you’ll need to contact your insurance company and try to resolve the matter as efficiently as possible.

Drivers involved in crashes are supposed to stop their vehicles, assess the situation to determine if medical attention is required, share contact information with the other driver(s), and contact the police so an official report can be filed. In Maryland, it is illegal for drivers to leave the car accident scene without completing those steps. Punishments, depending on the severity of the wreck, may range from fines to point removal on their driver’s licenses, or even jail time.

Claims against Maryland EMTs and paramedics for improper medical care are extraordinarily difficult due to a law known as the “Fire and Rescue Act” that providers emergency medical responders limited immunity from claims for medical negligence. In order to obtain recovery, the patient must present evidence that the first responders were guilty of “gross negligence.” Our courts have defined gross negligence as a conduct that represents a “wonton and reckless disregard for human life.” This is the same standard required in negligent homicide cases brought against criminal defendants who lack the intent to kill but whose conduct is so reckless as to expose them to liability for homicide should their conduct cause someone’s death.

Alan J. Belsky and Thomas X. Glancy, Jr. of the firm have now prevailed twice in such a case and are pleased to report the details of their hard-fought victories in the case of Estate of Butler v. Stracke.

Their first victory came in the form of a jury verdict against Baltimore City Fire Department EMTs Joseph Stracke and Paramedic Stephanie Cisneros against whom the jury awarded $3.7 million in March 2017. That verdict was overturned by Baltimore City Trial Judge Althea Handy who deemed the evidence of gross negligence insufficient despite the jury’s conclusion that the evidence was sufficient.

Their second victory came on October 1, 2018 when the Maryland Court of Special Appeals reversed the trial judge’s decision and ordered that the jury’s verdict be reinstated. In so ruling, the appeals court found “substantial evidence of gross negligence. The court’s ruling is summarized below:

On March 2, 2011, Kerry Butler Jr. (Mr. Butler), a 28-year-old man, suffered a heart attack after waking up. As instructed, his wife, Crystal Butler (Ms. Butler), called 911 to report the event and seek emergency medical attention. When the medics arrived, Ms. Butler claimed they showed up without a medic bag or stretcher. They did not ask questions about Mr. Butler’s symptoms or medical history, and Butler was made to walk to the ambulance. The medics’ report contradicted the wife’s report.

Per the 911 call, the medics were aware they were being dispatched to respond to chest pain; however, they did not follow proper protocol and concluded Mr. Butler was stable in the ambulance. Mr. Butler was taken to Harbor Hospital, where he later suffered a heart attack and passed away. As a result, Mr. Butler’s estate filed a suit against the City and the medics involved, alleging gross negligence (i.e. acting with wanton and reckless disregard for others) due to their emergency response.

A police report can play a major role in how your insurance company views your car accident claim. While police officers are not dispatched for every accident, they are sent when someone has been injured, when the accident is blocking traffic, when any of the drivers are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or if the parties are fighting about what happened.

When the police officer arrives, they will talk with the involved parties, investigate and assess the accident scene, take photographs, talk to possible witnesses, and generate their report. The reports contain a variety of information; however, it’s important to understand that no two reports are the same. Every police department is likely to have their own form and their own way of generating the reports.

If you’ve been in an accident in Maryland, it’s important to understand how the information on the police accident report can affect your settlement offer. Let’s take a closer look at police accident reports in our state, so you have an idea what to expect in the event you’ve been in an accident.

In the past few years, concussions and other brain injuries suffered by football players have been much in the news. However, football and other contact sports are in the minority in terms of causing serious brain damage.

Vehicle accidents are at fault for many more cases of traumatic brain injury across the country.

Understanding the two forms of TBI

Even in a low-speed, rear-end collision, serious brain trauma is possible. There are two forms of traumatic brain injury: open and closed. An open head injury refers to a skull fracture or an incident in which a foreign object penetrates the skull. A closed head injury, which is much more common, is caused by a blow to the head; no open wound is involved. This could happen, for example, if the impact of a rear-end collision causes a person’s head to strike the steering wheel or dashboard.

A disengagement letter guards against legal malpractice

Say you expected your attorney to represent you in a real estate dispute, but he declares he is no longer providing representation to you. He insists that your attorney-client relationship has ended.

This is news to you. You had originally retained the attorney to draft a real estate contract, and you had no idea that his services were no longer available to you.