Las Vegas Injury & Accident Attorney Blog

Q: Hi, my daughter passed away on 1/9/09. She had been ill, and so I took her to the Doctor on 12/10/09. I told him she was having nose bleeds, and he looked and asked if she was doing cocaine. No was the answer to that. He never did blood work and sent her home. She had panic disorder and had just lost her job so I guess everything was put off to that. He told her she was healthy and just needed to take care of the panic disorder. One month later she was found dead in her home of a massive gastrointestial hemorraghe. He will not release her medical records without a letter from a lawyer. I am her mother and she left two small boys. What to do? Can you give me a free consultation, or do you think I have no case? Thanks, and please respond.

A: I am sorry to hear of your loss.  I am happy to sit down with you and discuss your case.  We can help you get the medical records and review the merits of the case.  Based on the lack of care, and especially the failure to do any blood work, I suspect a basis for the case;  we will however, need to get a medical expert to review the case which we can provide.

Talk to you soon,
Joe

Share and Enjoy

Brain injuries are the most serious of all problems in acute car accident cases.  The tragedy not only causes physical limitations, but mental issues that sometimes are irreversible.   Head trauma can be linked to cerebral hemorrhage  and can take several forms including Intracerebral hemorrhages. This is bleeding inside the brain. The symptoms and prognosis of an intracerebral bleed vary depending on the size and location of the bleed.

Subarachnoid hemorrhages: This is bleeding between the brain and the membranes that cover the brain.
Subdural hemorrhages: This is bleeding between the layers of the brain’s covering (the meninges).
Epidural hemorrhages: This is bleeding between the skull and the covering of the brain.

According to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,  for people under the age of 50, this is the most common cause of hemorrhage inside the skull. In the elderly, subdural hematoma after relatively minor head injury is not uncommon.  It is important that even slight head injury be treated seriously as the brain can swell and put pressure on the brain.

A catscan of the head should be immediately performed and surgery immediately thereafter to alleviate any brain pressure.  The skull will be removed and placed in the abdomen for up to six weeks until the pressure subsides.  This procedure is life saving.  Permanent brain damage can cause serious implications for an injury victim and is a life long concern. Proper guidance of a brain injury claim must be thoroughly explored and navigated to the best brain experts and physical therapy.  The expert brain injury attorneys at Benson & Bingham can help you or a loved one navigate the path of a horrific brain injury case.

Share and Enjoy

Statistics from the insurance industry show that 80% of all motor vehicle claims settle at $5,000 or less, 90% settle for $15,000 or less, and that less than 1% settle for $100,000 or more, yet insurance premiums are rising at the fastest pace ever.

The way insurers evaluate motor vehicle cases. Most major insurers now break claims down into five different claim sections. Most lawyers don’t know what these sections are, or how insurers handle cases differently from one type of case to the next. Out of those claims, bodily injury computer software, which insurers conceal, (such as Colossus) evaluate approximately 70% of all claims in the United States.

In the past, a human adjustor doing traditional claims analysis would have evaluated them. Most lawyers know little or nothing about the software that evaluates most of their client’s cases. Few realize that a different kind of demand letter could get much higher offers. But Benson & Bingham are leading experts on Colossus who will teach you how you can substantially impact claim value by presenting the correct information to the insurer. 

The injuries involved in your cases. What would happen if lawyers who knew what to look for in terms of more serious injuries, considered all of those $5,000 case settlements more carefully? The goal is to help you, by educating you about the most common serious traumatic injuries that most personal injury lawyers miss. These injuries can make what appears to be a $5,000–$10,000 “soft tissue” case worth $100,000 or more. Most lawyers have these cases right now, and don’t even know what they are missing for their clients.  The Law Firm of Benson and Bingham is well versed in understanding the way insurance companies evaluate injury claims.  Call Today.

Share and Enjoy

Each year in the Las Vegas Valley residence are alarmed by the number of accidental drownings. Due to the high temperature during the summer months, many residences have pools or access to public swimming pools. Even under the most watchful eyes, children are often the victims. Once a child goes under the water, a drowning is virtually a silent death without warning. However, all drownings are preventable. If you or a family member have been involved in a drowning it is important you contact Benson & Bingham to discuss your case. Again, Every drowning is preventable.

Share and Enjoy

Immediately!  If you have been involved in a motor vehicle accident contact an experienced car crash attorney.  Victims who wait often allow evidence crucial to their case spoil.  At Benson & Bingham we use our knowledge coupled with experienced investigators to ensure your auto accident case is preserved.  Often a car wreck, skid marks, yaw marks, and debris on the road will dissipate.  Such evidence may be crucial for our accident reconstruction experts to observe in order to establish liability.  A contested liability automobile accident demands immediate attention.  Get the experience your motor vehicle accident deserves.  Contact Benson & Bingham.

Share and Enjoy

Dog bites are the most horrific of childhood injuries.  Often they leave scarring and permanent disfigurement, and emotional damages ranging from the victim to the parents. We have handled cases involving facial bites, leg bites, lip lacerations, cheek punctures, to the most severe- an actual nose detachment.  Recently, some facts surrounding dog bites came to light in a recent edition of Otolaryngology. Family pets cause 27 percent of dog bite injuries. The most common sites of bites to the head and neck were the cheeks (34 percent), lips (21 percent), and nose and ears (both 8 percent). Sixty-four percent of the children suffered dog bite wounds in more than one location, and the average wound size was 7 centimeters. As expected, Pit bulls were the breed most commonly involved in attacks. (per the March 2009 issue of Otolaryngology; Head and Neck Surgery). In the United States, dog bites account for about 1 percent of all emergency room visits, including 44,000 cases per year of facial injuries.

Implementation of more accurate and timely reporting of dog bites to local health officials can help educate medical professionals on how to identify dog bite trends and develop prevention strategies, the study  said. They recommended the following items to signs of provocation; adequacy of child supervision; breed and sex of dog; spay-neuter status; history of prior aggression; dog restraint; time of event; patient’s previous history of dog bites; length of dog ownership; location where injury occurred; disposition of dog after the event; and dog’s vaccination history. The Summer can increase the risk as more children are outside, etc.  The personal injury lawyers at Benson and Bingham specialize in dog bite and other animal attack cases.

Share and Enjoy

Las Vegas has plenty of attorneys and plenty of personal injury attorneys some of who have practiced for decades. The problem is those lawyers are so beaten down and tired that they only get excited if a “big case” comes through the door. The other issue with those decade old attorneys is the lack of energy— like an old car it just doesn’t perform anymore. The flip side to that, are all the personal injury lawyers emerging that are so young trying to get into the game and lack the necessary experience. I’m not sure what is worse. I’d hate to be a client with an attorney who is so green, walk into court and realize that he has no idea what he’s doing. Likely he’d make a mistake before you got to court. That may just mean game over. Just the same, a jury can pick up on a senior citizen attorney who constantly repeats himself because he forgot he told them that fact already—signs of dementia. These kind don’t understand the notion of retirement. Like airline pilots, they should have mandatory retirement at age 60. Truly, there is a balance between too old and too young. That balance is the personal injury law firm of Benson and Bingham. With a combined 18 years of exclusive personal injury experience, Joe Benson and Ben Bingham are aggressive middle-aged attorneys with experience and the “know-how” to get results.

If you care to hire an accident attorney who has no idea what is going on—then you probably don’t care about your case or your insurance claim. The personal injury lawyers you see on television usually are more concerned with making commercials than practicing personal injury law. A true personal injury lawyer has the skills and required knowledge acquired through experience to handle a personal injury matter. The lawyers at Benson and Bingham are those men. Don’t forget we are in tough times—those itsy bitsy law firms just might encourage their clients to settle a case when they shouldn’t (called a conflict of interest) causing a breach of the duty owed to the injured victim. “Scared to press the case, and scared to invest in the case.” It may be a good idea to make sure the law firm chosen is not only financially sound, but been around long enough to be financially stable for your case. Again choosing these personal injury lawyers to represent you requires some due diligence on your behalf. Investigate the following:

• Experience. How many years have they practiced? Have they represented a victim that has your same facts.

• Trial work. How many trials have they performed? When was the last trial performed?

• Interview. Consult with more than one personal injury attorney regarding your matter and decide who feels just right.

• Bar number. (Nevada bar numbers range from 100 to 12,000) Benson and Bingham’s are 7276 and 7278 respectively. Many of the bar numbers in the 100-500 range are deceased! From 9000 and up are still green!

Share and Enjoy

What does it take to be #1? Give content that matters, and discuss relevant topics. Anyone can blog, but real personal injury lawyers give content that is on point and addresses issues that the public needs to hear. This blog focuses on personal injury law, relevant news, and quality tips relating to accident representation. To be the top blog requires hard work and lots of reading to stay on top of the issues Las Vegas needs most. We are here for you Las Vegas!

Share and Enjoy

Nevada and other states have now been granted some help by the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court recently ordered that Federal Laws do not preempt State’s laws when it comes to personal injury. As the long battle between Federalism and State’s rights continue to brew, the Court reasoned that FDA warning labels do not take precedence over the right to sue in State Court. The Vermont woman sued the pharmaceutical company Wyeth, winning a $7.4 million judgment causing a debate even amongst the US Supreme Court Justices. Even some of the conservatives on the bench bent their normal routines. The justices debated Wyeth’s contention that the lawsuit should be dismissed because federal law preempts such state court claims.

“This is a wonderful result for injury victims–no longer can manufacturers of products hide behind the protectionism of federal agencies like the FDA… ,” stated local personal injury attorney Joseph L. Benson II, Esq. “The need to make new drugs and encourage innovation needs a checks and balances system to ensure what they are pushing on American patients is in fact safe.  We can’t rely solely on the FDA, the greedy pharmaceutical industry, or the money hungry doctors–we need personal injury trial lawyers to constantly threaten the old way of doing business to create safe drugs.  It’s not cutting edge pharmaceuticals if it causes more serious problems then the illness the drug was originally designed for.”

The issue heard was:

“ Whether the prescription drug labeling judgments imposed on manufacturers by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) pursuant to FDA’s comprehensive safety and efficacy authority under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq., preempt state law product liability claims premised on the theory that different labeling judgments were necessary to make drugs reasonably safe for use.”

See the whole argument here:

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/06-1249.pdf

Share and Enjoy

There are only a few Elevator service companies in the world–one is Otis Elevator.   Their elevators are installed in many of the hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada, and they occasionally malfunction in their operation.  For example, they may close or open at the wrong time; they may stop abruptly causing the occupants to fall or hit the walls of the elevators.  These are common problems from either poor maintenance or computer error.  The law firm of Benson and Bingham has handled many cases against Otis elevator.

Some accidents are so severe that they required back surgery; others were minor simply causing PTSD or anxiety in a senior citizen.  In either case, they can be nerve racking, especially if the doors don’t open and the elevator is filled to passenger capacity.  Chlosterphobia can occur in tight spaces and cause panic attacks.   It is usually unlikely that an elevator will slam down many floors without stopping like one might see in the movies, as the elevators have spring emergency brakes that come on–this does not mean a slamming or abrupt stop will not occur however.

Elevator specialists must be utilized in any case involving elevators or escalators as the key is usually the computer control system that reads the belts and timing devices.  This is especially true in the older elevators installed in the older casinos.  If you need an elevator attorney or a personal injury attorney with elevator and escalator experience please call Benson and Bingham.

Share and Enjoy