by diazlaw | Mar 29, 2021 | Blog
Most kids are naturally curious and adventurous, and it’s often hard for parents to keep an eye on them all the time. Kids often get injured and most of the time they get over it and learn from any mistakes they made. What parents worry about more is when their children are injured through no fault of their own. Bicycle and pedestrian accidents are all too common in Mississippi and kids are often the victim of someone else’s negligence. Most adults understand that if they have been injured because of someone else’s negligence, then the party at fault may be required to pay the injured person’s medical expenses, lost wages and often an extra payment for pain and suffering experienced. The same basic rules extend to minors who are injured through the negligent actions of others but with some understandable differences in procedure. Who files a personal injury claim if a minor is injured? Most minors cannot be expected to file a personal injury claim all by themselves, although this does depend on the age of the young person concerned. In Mississippi, the definition of a ‘minor’ is anyone under 21, three years older than in most other states. By the time someone gets to that age, they should be able to understand how to proceed with a claim, preferably with the help of an experienced personal injury attorney. However, parents or guardians of any minor are able under state law to file a claim on behalf of that young person. The usual damages claimed are similar to the damages claimed as an adult, with slight differences. Damages might...
by diazlaw | Feb 26, 2021 | Blog
The Diaz Law Firm is privileged and proud to provide legal services to the Madison City and County community as well as the wider Jackson community. Madison is the location of the Diaz Law Firm’s office and the city and surrounding county has been confirmed by numerous sources of evidence to be the safest, happiest community in Mississippi. For folks who are not familiar with Madison, here’s a snapshot of our back yard. · Madison lies just over 10 miles North of the Jackson CBD. · Although it is geographically an outlying suburb of Jackson, you would hardly recognize it as such. Madison has a small town sophisticated feel about it in a setting of rural serenity that sets it apart from other Jackson suburbs. · Madison has a population of around 25,000, growing slowly but consistently. · Statistics set it apart as the healthiest, happiest county in the Magnolia state. They show that Madison has one of the highest home ownership rates in the state. around 1% unemployment; the highest levels of educational achievement and high levels of health based on the low rate of smoking, obesity and alcohol abuse as well as use of facilities catering for fitness enthusiasts. · Madison has a plethora of enjoyable outdoor facilities, including an outdoor learning center, sporting fields, public parks, walking and cycling trails. · The county has one of the lowest crime rates in the country. · The city and county has a relatively high median income, around double the state average. · A cost of living that puts living in Madison at around 8% less than the national...
by diazlaw | Jan 31, 2021 | Blog, Personal Injury
If you are told by your employer to depart from work early so you can take some parcels to the post office, and you are involved in an auto crash and you injure someone, your employer could be held liable for any injuries you have caused. This sort of accident in Mississippi comes under the vicarious liability theory. What is vicarious liability? Respondeat superior in Latin means “Let superiors answer.” It is typically referred to as vicarious liability and is applicable in circumstances when a single person is held liable for any damages due to the negligence of someone else. It is used for employers who are responsible for any negligent act committed by an employee. This includes Mississippi employers’ responsibility for any auto accidents that take place due to their employees’ negligence when the employees have been asked to use their personal auto for business reasons. If you decide to agree to a request made by your employer to take some parcels to the post office and you have a devastating auto accident on the way, you are most likely acting within the capacity of your employment because your employer appears to be benefiting from what you are doing by taking the business’s parcels to the post office in your own motor vehicle. You are classified as being at work. However, if you dropped the parcels off and then called into a restaurant for dinner and are by that time on your way home when an accident takes place, driving home after you have had dinner will have been of no benefit to your employer and by that...
by diazlaw | Nov 30, 2020 | Blog, Personal Injury
The huge pharmaceutical company, Johnson & Johnson, insists that its talc based baby powder, sold for decades, is completely safe as long as it was used appropriately, despite the fact that it withdrew the product last year and has now had to settle more than a thousand individual lawsuits against it. It has agreed to pay 100 million dollars to settle some of these lawsuits which alleged that the talc in the baby powder caused cancer. Two types of cancer have allegedly been caused by talc based health products The majority of the lawsuits filed against the company, the world’s largest manufacturer of health products, were by women who alleged that prolonged use of the baby powder led to them developing ovarian cancer. A smaller number of lawsuits filed also alleged that the talc in the baby powder contained traces of asbestos which causes a more aggressive and dangerous cancer known as mesothelioma. Johnson & Johnson have refuted both allegations and insist that their product is not carcinogenic and does not contain asbestos, even though there is evidence that asbestos can be found in similar places to where the mineral talc is mined. Johnson & Johnson recalled 33,000 bottles of baby powder last year without admitting liability. At the time they said that they were acting out of an “abundance of caution.” The talc based baby powder is no longer available for sale in either Canada or the U.S. and has been replaced by a product that is based on cornstarch. Other manufacturers of talc based health products have also recently switched to using cornstarch rather than talc. The...
by diazlaw | Jun 30, 2020 | Blog, Personal Injury
You might think that traffic accidents have decreased in Mississippi because of the restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Generally, that’s probably true right across the U.S., but as states like Mississippi open up, it’s possible that the accident rate will go up again and it might even go higher. That’s because there are genuine fears about traveling using public transport because there is more risk of contracting Covid-19 from fellow passengers in the more confined spaces in these large vehicles. That means buses around Jackson and other Mississippi cities are likely to have less use. Long distance travel by bus (Greyhound), train and air is also likely to be down. That translates into more people attempting to use their own vehicles rather than risk using public transport. One of the least reported causes of traffic accidents on U.S. highways is fatigue. Drowsy driving is close to alcohol and drugs as a cause of accidents. It’s easy to see drowsy driving increasing across the U.S. as people opt for driving in their own vehicles rather than risk potentially risky air, bus or train travel. Fatigue the main cause of up to 10% of traffic accidents Drowsy driving is a danger whenever drivers attempt to drive too far in one hit without proper amounts of rest. It has always been a problem in the U.S. where distances can be huge. It has been estimated that around10% of all traffic accidents are caused by drowsy or fatigued drivers. That translates into around 7,500 fatalities a year in a normal year, caused by fatigue. In a disturbing study undertook by the...
by diazlaw | Apr 28, 2020 | Blog, Personal Injury
With well over six hundred thousand cases of COVID-19, 26,000 deaths and no sign of an end to the crisis, it is inevitable that people across the nation will be wondering just how we got into this mess and if any of those deaths could have been prevented. Of course, no-one can blame the virus. It is just taking advantage of a golden opportunity to spread. However, a quick look around the planet reveals glaring differences between the way the U.S. and many other countries have handled the spread of the virus. Although it’s not easy comparing different countries, there is evidence that those nations where action was taken earlier and where government officials listened to health experts, have managed to contain the disease better and with far fewer fatalities. Clear, early, fact based information available to the public may also have made considerable difference elsewhere. It’s inevitable that there are going to be many people here in the U.S. who will be wondering just how many of their loved ones have died needlessly. Already, there has been a number of wrongful death lawsuits filed against cruise ship companies. Cruise ships have been a particular casualty around the world, including those based on the U.S. east coast, with many of them having become floating incubators of disease. Lawsuits filed by family members of deceased cruise passengers have alleged that cruise companies may have deliberately covered up incidences of passengers with flu like symptoms onboard, resulting in far more illness and deaths because of the speed and ease of transmission in these crowded environments. Lawsuit against Fox News alleges misinformation...
