by diazlaw | Jun 18, 2018 | Personal Injury
Personal injury lawsuits in Mississippi are like they are in any other state. They are designed to compensate an innocent victim of an injury for the harm that the injury has caused. Occasionally, the victim may have suffered from a wrongdoing that was particularly deliberate and intentional. If this can be proven, then the plaintiff may be awarded a separate payment on top of any others that have been paid out as a result of the lawsuit. This extra payment is known as punitive damages and its main purpose is to punish the wrongdoer for his or her actions, or for the actions of a company, if this is the wrongdoer. Economic and non-economic damages in a Mississippi personal injury lawsuit Punitive damages are not regarded as non-economic damages in Mississippi, even though like these damage awards, the amount awarded cannot have an easily determined monetary value, like medical treatment, the use of an ambulance or the repair to a vehicle or other property. Generally, a personal injury claim for damages is divided up between economic damages and non-economic damages. Economic damages are the easier of the two categories to define and show evidence for. The usual economic damages in a personal injury lawsuit include: medical treatment, including an amount for any future treatment if needed; transport costs related to the injury, especially if the plaintiff has lost the use of his or her vehicle after a car crash; lost earnings, wages, etc. as a result of not being able to work as normal including future lost earnings if necessary; repair or replacement of personal property damaged at the...
by diazlaw | Mar 22, 2018 | Blog, Personal Injury
If you have been injured anywhere in Mississippi and consider that you were not to blame for the accident that caused the injury, you may think that you are entitled to file a personal injury lawsuit against the person or organization at fault. Injuries can be expensive if you are left having to pay for medical treatment and then there is the worry about your means of employment. If you miss time off work because of your injuries you could end up being seriously out of pocket. The worst case scenario is that you are so seriously injured that you lose your job altogether. While a personal injury claim is certainly an important option you will need to discuss the circumstances thoroughly with a Mississippi personal injury attorney before you file a claim. The attorney will run through the details of your case and make certain that there is a good chance of proving negligence, an important prerequisite for having a successful outcome. Each state has slightly different personal injury laws so it is worth acquainting yourself with some of the limitations that are used in Mississippi as they may have a bearing on your ability to make a claim. The statute of limitations Every state puts a time limit on making a personal injury claim. To be honest, the sooner you make a claim the better. This is not so much because of the statute of limitations but because it is simply easier establishing fault earlier rather than later. Witnesses are harder to find and become less reliable. Evidence that could have been used to support your claim...
by diazlaw | Oct 27, 2017 | Blog, Personal Injury, Truck Accidents
If you pass a truck accident on a stretch of highway, or more likely, find you are stuck in a queue of blocked traffic because of yet another truck accident, you probably don’t even think what the truck was carrying. Some of the worst potential accidents are caused by trucks carrying hazardous materials. The danger of one of these truck accidents rolling over or bursting into flames could happen and affect other road users. The product being carried could potentially cause far more damage to buildings and to people near the scene of the accident. Hazardous truck accident examples in Mississippi A typical hazardous truck accident happened the other day on US 49 in Simpson County MS near the town of Legion Lake. The truck veered off the highway and overturned. The driver was apparently not wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the truck as it overturned and was killed on the spot. The truck was carrying propane, a potentially flammable product. In this case the only fatality was the driver and the only nuisance factor was a blockage of the highway for an hour before the crash was investigated and the truck removed. Another recent hazardous material truck accident happened near the Mississippi town of D’Iberville on Highway 10. In this accident, the truck apparently collided with another vehicle. Both the two drivers were killed. Driver error the most likely cause of all truck accidents It has not yet been determined what the cause of these two accidents was. In the majority of truck accidents it has been found that the driver is usually at...
by diazlaw | Sep 22, 2017 | Blog, Personal Injury
These days, surgical mesh implants are being used more and more in hernia repairs. Not all of the products are safe, however, and a number of them have been recalled after hernia patients complained of a number of symptoms, some of them severe, like internal bleeding. Where surgical implants have been used to repair a hernia problem and the implant proves to be a serious health risk and must be removed, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit against either the mesh implant manufacturer or the medical personnel who inserted the mesh. The role of hernia mesh implants If hernia mesh implants are such a problem, why are they used at all? That’s a good question. In fact, in most cases, the right hernia mesh implants can make a lot of difference to the person with a hernia. However, there is a certain amount of discussion in medical circles about whether hernia mesh implants are used too much and whether other surgical procedures can be used instead, especially with smaller hernia intrusions. Also, there is disquiet about some of the products on offer and that disquiet has grown as the number of complaints has risen and the number of lawsuits have followed suit. Hernias are very uncomfortable protrusions of part of an internal organ through the abdominal muscle or connective tissue. Every hernia is different, and there are no hard and fast rules about what causes them, although vigorous exercise, awkward posture, heavy lifting and genetics all play a part. Sometimes, a hernia patient will be monitored by a doctor for some time before surgery is...
by diazlaw | Jul 30, 2017 | Blog, Personal Injury
Dogs can be unpredictable. Even when an owner thinks that his or her dog is a “friendly” dog, it can still attack and bite a stranger. The chance of biting and seriously biting a small child or baby is even more likely. The question is whether anyone can sue the dog owner if they are injured by the dog. The answer is yes and no. Yes. The dog attack victim can sue the dog owner under certain conditions in Mississippi. There is no specific statute in Mississippi as there is in other states that makes a specific ruleing on dog bites or dog attacks. Dog attacks come under more general rules of negligence. If the victim and his or her attorney can prove that the dog owner was negligent in some way, then a lawsuit may be successful. Negligence may be proved in a number of different situations. The dog was released from its leash or allowed to run free in a public area where dogs were either forbidden or at least required to be on a leash. The dog was known by the owner to have previous dangerous tendencies. This might include the fact that the dog had already attacked or bitten other people before the incident under question. It might be because the dog was of a particular breed that had a known record of being dangerous, e.g. a pit bull terrier or mastiff. Mississippi’s legal stance on dog attacks or dog bites is sometimes referred to as the “one bite” rule, even though there is no statute in Mississippi that actually has that name or description....
by diazlaw | May 15, 2017 | Blog, Personal Injury
If you have been using talcum powder or talc regularly for several years you should be aware that there have been numerous concerns raised about the possible link between the use of the powder and some cancers. The link is tenuous but is strongest between the regular use of talcum powder and ovarian cancer in women, especially if the powder has been used in the genital area. The link has led to numerous lawsuits against one of the most important manufacturers of talcum powder, Johnson & Johnson. Some of these lawsuits have been successful, while some have not. There are many thousands of lawsuits still waiting to be heard, some of which have been grouped into a single multiple litigation and are now going to be heard by a federal court. The case against talc Talc is a naturally occurring substance that is composed of a compound containing magnesium, silicon and oxygen. It has been used in powder form for at least a century and probably a lot longer as a drying agent. It is one of the softest of any known minerals, hence its value as a cosmetic. Most commercial talcum powder, such as Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder, has been perfumed. It remains a popular cosmetic product but it does seem that the use of it is declining, probably because of negative publicity about its use. Johnson & Johnson, despite the number of lawsuits it has had to contend with, has been adamant that its product is entirely safe. The most convincing evidence was discovered in the 1970s, which was the discovery of talc in ovarian cancer...
