San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog

If you have been the victim of a personal injury, you have the right to receive compensation for your damages. But if you go after compensation, you must be careful to avoid the pitfalls of the process. When you know your rights and understand how the system works, you will have much better chance of getting adequate compensation for your injuries. Unless your injuries were minor, you should consult with an attorney after your accident. A good personal injury attorney can help you sort through and gather important evidence, and provide valuable advice on how to document your injuries and damages. An important point to take note of is you should never talk to an attorney representing the other person in the accident or the other person’s insurance company representative, or sign any documents, before consulting with your own attorney first. After you hire an attorney, your attorney will send a demand letter, either to the other person or to their attorney or to the other person’s insurance company. The letter will provide the relevant facts about the accident, such as time, place and cause of the injury, a description of the injury and ask for a specified amount in settlement of the case. A demand letter usually gives the other parties a specific time to respond.

If your case does not settle pre-trial, then the next step is for the person who has been injured,referred to as the plaintiff, with the help of their attorney, to file a lawsuit, what is referred to as a complaint. The party being sued is called the defendant and has a specific time to reply, such as 20 or 30 days. The reply is referred to as an answer. Both the complaint and the answer, are filed with the local court, usually in the jurisdiction where the plaintiff lives or where the accident occurred, yet in some circumstances the defendant may seek to have the lawsuit moved to a different court. After the lawsuit is filed, the parties have an opportunity to get information from each other about the case, also known as the discovery phase of a case. This can be in the form of written questions, sworn testimony in front of a court reporter, and requests for documents. Before the case goes to trial, the attorneys may make various legal arguments about the case in the form of motions to the court, which usually concern the relevancy of the complaint or answer, and disputes about discovery. Sometimes the arguments of one the party are so strong that they lead to a judgment in their favor without the need for to go to trial.

If all efforts at settlement fail, the case will be set for trial or arbitration. Arbitration is an alternative to the trial process. It is similar to a trial, but is conducted before an arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators. In binding arbitration the decision of the arbitrator or panel is as final as the trial court’s verdict. The trial process is different. At trial, the parties present witnesses, cross-examine the other parties’ witnesses, present evidence, and make arguments. At the end, the jury will enter a verdict for the plaintiff or defendant.

If you or a loved has suffered an injury due to an accident or have questions about personal injury law, contact our firm for a free consultation today. Our personal injury attorney has over 10 years experience representing personal injury clients and is prepared to put the law on your side. After an accident, it is important that you contact our firm promptly so that we can act quickly to protect your rights.

Two elderly women, one of whom was 100 years old, died from injuries after a 90-year-old driver crashed into the San Jose nursing home where they resided, according to sfgate.com. Suzanne Infante, 100 and Esther Bocanegra, 88, were sitting in the common room of Amberwood Gardens at about 9:45 a.m. Saturday when a car smashed through the wall. At the time of the crash, around a dozen people were in the room. Fortunately,not all of them were injured; only four residents and one employee were injured and treated at local hospitals. Initially the two women’s injuries were, for a non-elderly healthy person, not life-threatening, but they were made more serious by their ages. Bocanegra succumbed to her injures on Saturday, and Infante died on Sunday.

Whether or not the age of the driver is the reason this accident occurred, the truth of the matter is that story serves as a reminder thatseniors need to be honest with themselves regarding their abilities and make wise choices about when and where to drive. The number of senior drivers is expected to soar over the next 15 to 20 years, but many adults are reluctant to talk with their aging parents about their driving abilities. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 30 million senior drivers 65 or older on the road today will soon need to evaluate the physical limitations that may cause them to reduce their driving or seek alternative transportation altogether. Elder Care professionals recommend the following checklist as a guide for determining if an elderly person in your life should alter their driving habits or stop driving altogether. Does the elderly person in your life:
• Drive at inappropriate speeds, either too fast or too slow?
• Ask passengers to help check if it is clear to pass or turn?
• Respond slowly to or notice pedestrians, bicyclists and other drivers?
• Ignore, disobey or misinterpret street signs and traffic lights?
• Fail to yield to other cars or pedestrians who have the right-of-way?
• Fail to judge distances between cars correctly?
• Become easily frustrated and angry?
• Appear drowsy, confused or frightened?
• Have one or more near accidents or near misses?
• Drift across lane markings or bump into curbs?
• Forget to turn on headlights after dusk?
• Have difficulty with glare from oncoming headlights, streetlights, or other bright or shiny objects, especially at dawn, dusk and at night?
• Have difficulty turning their head, neck, shoulders or body while driving or parking?
• Ignore signs of mechanical problems, including underinflated tires?
• Have too little strength to turn the wheel quickly in an emergency, such as tire failure or a child darting into traffic.
• Get lost repeatedly, even in familiar areas?

For most seniors, not being able to drive means they are less independent. For this reason, communities need to learn to work with elders by helping them find the appropriate counseling when they give up driving, and promote senior driver safety through better educations, self-evaluation skills, refresher driving courses, and more options for public transportation. Several organizations have developed special training courses for older drivers. The American Automobile Association, AARP and the National Safety Council offer refresher courses for seniors several states require re-examination if a driver is determined to be unsafe or mentally or physically unfit.

If you or a loved one suffered injuries due to a car accident, regardless of the age of the person behind the wheel of the car that hit you, contact our firm for a free consultation. We have over 10 years experience helping car accident victims and their families receive the compensation they deserve.

On Friday, June 24, an Amtrak train bound for Emeryville from Chicago, crashed in Nevada, killing at least 6 people. It has been reported that a truck crashed into the side of the train, though a team of 18 investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board ("NTSB") has not yet been able to determine how and why the crash occurred. The driver of the truck unfortunately died in the crash, however, leaving certain key questions unanswered.

In California, a party may bring a lawsuit in a variety of venues. Under California law, a party may file a lawsuit in the County where an injury, or the injury causing death occurs, or in the County where the defendants, or some of them reside, at the time the lawsuit is filed. Though this terrible train crash took place in Nevada, an injured person or the loved one of a person whose life was lost in this tragedy, may be able to pursue their claim in the State of California. Speaking with an experienced attorney is the best way to understand your rights. If you, or a loved one has been injured in this terrible Amtrak crash, or in any other train crash, please contact the Brod Law Firm for a free consultation.

Yesterday a crash at 19th and Valencia Street in the Mission District in San Francisco sent one person to the hospital with minor injuries. The crash occurred at 7:15 a.m. and involved three vehicles, according to sfexaminer.com. One car actually overturned, trapping the driver inside. The driver was taken to San Francisco General Hospital to be treated for minor injuries. The other two drivers were not hurt. Today a big-rig overturned on an off-ramp from southbound U.S. Highway 101 in San Francisco, also according to sfexaminer.com. The big-rig overturned at around 9:40 a.m. on the eastbound Cesar Chavez Street off-ramp from southbound Highway 101. No other vehicles were involved, and the driver of the overturned 16-wheeler was not injured.

Many accidents are caused because vehicles are driven in unsafe ways or in unsuitable conditions. In general if vehicle is overloaded and drives to fast around a corner, then it will more than likely overturn. A driver who does not wear a seatbelt and overturns in an accident is more likely to suffer an injury than drivers who do. In order to avoid overturning, drivers should remember to follow the speed limit and with caution on wet, slippery roads, when driving down steep slopes, or when approaching curbs and sharp turns. Also, drivers should make sure the loads they carry are appropriate for their vehicle, as overloaded or unevenly distributed loads can make a vehicle unstable, making it difficult to steer and brake.

Relatively speaking, it can be common for a serious accident to result in a vehicle overturning. When a vehicle overturns, it can cause serious injuries, such as head trauma, brain injury, neck and spinal injuries, and broken bones. Even vehicles driving at low speeds can experience a rollover and incur serious damage to both the vehicle and driver. Sometimes the drivers are at fault and sometimes the vehicle manufacturer is responsible. If you or a loved suffered an injuries due to a rollover accident, please contact our experienced rollover accident attorney today.

According to different reports put out over the past week by sfexaminer.com , a few traffic collisions sent many to the emergency room. The most recent occurred over the weekend when a man was struck and killed by vehicle at the intersection of 18th and Mission streets on Saturday morning. Witnesses say a man driving a minivan fled after hitting the victim at around 10:3a.m. In a separate accident involving a pedestrian, an elderly woman was struck by a mail truck on Saturday morning at the intersection of 19th Avenue and Quintara Street in the Sunset district. She was taken to San Francisco General Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Last Monday a paratransit van was broadsided in Bernal Heights that morning, sending eight people to the hospital for precautionary reasons.

When you mix high volumes of traffic and large numbers of pedestrians in the same area, such as we have here in many districts in San Francisco, it is inevitable that someone gets hurt. According to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, there were more than 800 collisions involving pedestrians in 2008; pedestrians typically account for half the people killed in traffic collisions in San Francisco; more pedestrians are involved in collisions at intersections, on Fridays, during the month of December between the hours of 3:00p.m. and 6:00p.m; and the leading cause of non-fatal pedestrian injury collisions is motorist failure to yield. Consequently, the SFMTA has begun to implement a variety of measures to improve pedestrian safety, including installing new pedestrian signs, improved crosswalk markings, leading pedestrian signal intervals, pedestrian only signal phases, stop signs, audible pedestrian signals, red zones to improve sight distances, and traffic calming improvements.

If you or a loved one suffered an injury as a pedestrian, please contact our firm for a free consultation today. Our personal injury attorney understands how and why pedestrian accidents occur and is prepared to put the law on your side. After an accident, it is important that you contact our firm promptly so that we can act quickly to protect your rights.

According The Bay Citizen, earlier this week seniors were protesting at a dangerous intersection in San Francisco, the intersction at Third Street and Yosmite Street. On Wednesday of this week, a group of seniors stood at the intersection and held protest signs, demanding more senior-friendly crossings in all of San Francisco, not just that one. In fact, that intersection they protested has been the site of just one accident in the last five years, but that does not change the fact that seniors feel many intersections in the city, like that one, do not allow enough time for seniors to cross. All along Third Street it is dangerous to cross. Most seniors who cross third street only make it to the median, which is just a cement sliver in between tow sets of Muni tacks where the T-Train travels.

The protest comes on the heels of a national report that found seniors and minorities were the most likely to be hit and killed while walking on the strets. The study found that ove the past decade there were nearly 7,000 pedestrian deaths in California, and nearly 700 in San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont. A spokesman for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency says that crosswalk times are set by federal guidelines based on the length of the crosswalk and the type of intersection. He said that the agency has no plans to change the signal time. The signal at the Third Street intersection gives 20 seconds for pedestrians to cross five lanes of traffic, not an easy task for some seniors. Needless to say, many seniors are aftraid of crossing the street, regardless of the statistics and federal guidelines. Simply put, it is dangerous for them to cross large, busy intersections, and they risk their lives when they do.

If you or a loved one suffered an injury due to crossing at an unsafe intersection, please contact our qualified pedestrian accident attorney for a free consultation. Our firm has over 10 years experience representing injured pedestrians of all ages and helping them receive the compensation they deserve.

This week Kellogg Corporation was issued a warning letter by the Food and Drug Administration after the agency found some serious health violations—the pooling of water, wet insulation, and Listeria--at the Augusta, Georgia plant during their inspection back in February. The FDA said that out of all of the samples it took, 15 tested positive for the dangerous Listeria pathogen, 7 of which were taken from locations with direct food contact. The FDA’s warning letter did not state that food from Kellogg plant was contaminated, yet it did state that the positive Listeria testing pointed to unsanitary conditions and that those conditions could cause food contamination. The warning letter also states that FDA inspectors discovered over 100 flies at the plant and pointed out that Listeria was discovered along the production line that has direct contact with food. Kellogg has promised to remove pipes to control the dirpping problem and to use pressurized aerosol insecticide on the flies. The FDA will determine during its next inspection whether the remedies used by Kellogg are sufficient. The FDA said Kellogg had 15 working days following receipt of the letter to provide documentation outlining what it plans to do to correct the violations.

Sadly, this is not the first time Kellogg has faced such issues. The bakery in Augusta was found to have faulty ingredient storage practices after an inspection by the FDA in January of 2010. During the same year, Kellogg issued a massive recall of cereal due to an unusual waxy flavor and smell. Also, a recall was issued in 2009 for some Keebler cookies and Special K protein bars. It should be pointed out that eating food contaminated with bacterium listeria monocytogenes can cause a dangerous infection called listeriosis, according the Centers for Disease Control. Symptoms may include diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms, such as fever, muscle aches, stiff neck, confusion and convulsions. It is estimated that 1,600 people become seriously ill with listeriosis each year and around 260 succumb to the infection.

If you or someone you love fell victim to an unsafe product, please contact our product liability attorney today. Our firm has over 10 years experience representing people who have been injured by dangerous and defective products throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. We understand the devastating effects a dangerous product can have on our clients lives and the lives of their families, and we will work on a contingency basis, meaning our clients pay no fees or costs unless a recovery is made.

Policyholders give insurance companies billions of dollars every year in the form of premiums to protect them from the risk of paying huge out of pocket expenses after an injury. But the sad fact is that many don’t receive anything when that risk becomes a reality. Insurance companies are notorious for denying, delaying and refusing to pay valid claims, solely to keep premiums and increase their bottom lines. Some of the biggest offenders are the larger insurance companies. Sadly, these companies have been known to deny valid claims in an attempt to boost profits, reward employees who successfully deny claims and engage in fraud to avoid paying claims. Long term care insurance companies are arguably the worst when it comes to bad faith tactics. It should be pointed out that, in some cases, insurance companies make money when they don’t pay claims and that they will do anything to avoid paying, because they know-- if they wait long enough-- the policyholders will eventually die.

The truth of the matter is that an insurance company has a duty to handle claims promptly, reasonably and in “good faith and fair dealing.” That basically means that your insurance company must adjust your claim by either paying it or denying it within a reasonably prompt time. Also, they must cooperate with you regarding the claim by responding to your letters and phone calls. And if they deny your claim, they must tell you in writing precisely why they are denying the claim specifying each contract term or provision upon which it relies. On top of that they must attempt to find a basis to pay the claim rather than find reasons to deny it. Lastly, they must, as stated in the title, “play fair”. That does not mean they have to pay your claim if they have a good reason to deny it. If they don’t play fair then you will have to prove that the insurer injured you by not paying your claim when it should have. If you feel you have been treated unfairly by an insurance company and would like to recover a bad faith claim, please contact our experienced bad faith insurance law attorney for a free consultation.

According to streetsblog, on December 10, 2004, as Katie Liddell was walking to her Portside apartment at Harrison and Main in Ricon Hill, she noticed emergency vehicles surrounding the intersection near there. As she approached, she came upon a terrifying scene: her neighbor had been hit and killed, and lie in the middle of the street with a tarp covering her body. The force of the big rig truck had thrown 63-year-old Beverly Kees out of the cross walk so violently that the impact killed her. Kees was a SF State journalism professor who had recently retired and lived across the street from Liddell in the Bay Crest Towers. The dog she had been walking was also hit and injured. It turns out that Kee’s doctor told her that she needed to walk more, so she asked her neighbor if she could walk her dog. Her neighbor walks a lot too and feels, like most San Franciscans who enjoy walking in the city, that pedestrians are considered an inconvenience.

The intersection of Harrison and Main is the kind of place that is dangerous in the one of the city’s densest neighbor hoods. Harrison serves as a four-lane westbound thoroughfare that carries 12,600 drivers daily, most of whom are headed to the bay bridge. During peak-hour traffic, drivers are continually seen speeding and blocking the crosswalk. Three people have died there since 2003, and many others have been injured. Voters are expected to vote on a street bond measure in November. If they approve the bond measure, some of that money will be directed to pedestrian safety improvements in District 6. The SFMTA is also planning some engineering measures that they expect to improve Harrison and Main, which include:
• A head start for pedestrians crossing Harrison Street.
• The flashing red hand will now count down from 15 seconds instead of the current 9 seconds for pedestrians.
• Painting white continental crosswalks at the intersection.
• Pursuing legislation for No U-Turns for eastbound Harrison Street at Main Street.

Here at the Brod Law Firm, we fully support any effort to change a dangerous, traffic clogged neighborhood and make it better for everyone, especially the pedestrains who reside there. We hope to see some positive changes soon. Every neighborhood needs this kind of advocacy and change. For now it remains a small step in terms of improving the quality of life in San Francisco neighborhoods, but it speaks volumes in terms of city officials waking up to the need for change. If you have been injured in an accident in San Francisco, please contact our firm for a free consultation. Whether you were injured while walking, driving, or cycling, our personal injury attorney has the experience to handle any type of claim. We have over 10 years experience helping injured clients successfully settle their claims, and we will work hard to get you the compensation you deserve.

Many consumers are beginning to realize that they can tap into class action court settlements reached with manufacturers and service providers via the internet. This a good thing for consumers since judges usually require that as many people as possible are notified about a class action settlement. It is also a good thing for attorneys because now they can reach more witnesses than when their only method to do so was through mail and or print media. Because people use the internet as their primary source for finding information, the courts are beginning to realize that they could use the internet as the main way they send information to a class. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we are finding the internet can significantly improve our ability to notify class members that they may be entitled to a recovery in a settlement, and the internet is becoming the place consumers turn to for all class action settlements.

Class action lawsuits are a good way to keep businesses honest and help consumers find justice in the marketplace. No one likes being ripped off, even if the amount of money lost is a small amount. Consumers sometimes feel a small amount doesn’t justify legal action and/or is not worth fighting on their own. Consumer class action suits provide a means to deal with this type of situation, and they provide a sense of justice on behalf of the frustrated consumer. When that small amount is multiplied by all the people who have been ripped off, then there are thousands or millions of dollars that the company must pay back to all the members of the class, in addition to the company paying a penalty. Also, class actions draw public attention to instances when businesses have not treated the consumer fairly, and force those businesses to take responsibility. It is not fair when a company fails to deliver on a promise. If you have been wronged by a company, please contact our firm for a free consultation and share your case with us. We have over 10 years experience investigating wrongdoing and fighting for our clients in court.

Ford has introduced an innovative solution to reduce car accidents and curb congestion—intelligent vehicles that combine technologies, like WI-FI, GPS, and radar-based safety features, to create vehicles that wirelessly “talk” to each other and warn of possible hazards. Hailed as the new frontier of collision avoidance innovations, intelligent vehicles are expected to revolutionize the driving experience and hold the potential of helping reduce many crashes. Prototypes were recently brought to Southern California to demonstrate the real-life benefits of the technology.
The auto maker believes, when combined with existing technologies already available on Ford models, advanced vehicle-to-vehicle communications will be able to automatically assist a driver in preventing a collision. They also claim, intelligent vehicles could help warn drivers of numerous potential dangers such as a car running a red light but blocked from the view of a driver properly entering the intersection. Also, the cars are expected to reduce traffic delays by providing up to date traffic information, allowing drivers to avoid congested roadways.

Ford is also partnering with other automakers and the federal government to create a common language that will ensure all vehicles have the ability to talk to each other based on a common communication standard—cars that simply rely on GPS and a wireless data connection to beam their location and speed to each other. Some predict that intelligent cars of the future could be intelligent enough to avoid pedestrians, bicyclers, and others who are not driving automobiles. But can we really trust cars to do our thinking and reacting for us, and expect they will make our lives easier and safer? Time will reveal the answer. However, as we see the need for newer safety measures and ways to decrease traffic congestion continue to grow, it is undeniable intelligent cars are one of the more innovative attempts, we have seen thus far, toward finding safer, more sustainable ways of commuting.

If you or a loved suffered injuries from a car accident, please call our firm for a free consultation today. Our firm is dedicated to helping injured clients and their families in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area.

Last month, according to Bloomberg.com, a Philadelphia jury awarded $10 million to the family of a teenage girl who developed Stevens - Johnson syndrome after she took Children’s Motrin. According to the Mayo Clinic, Stevens Johnson Syndrome is a sever sensitivity reaction that can be caused by many drugs. Stevens-Johnson syndrome attacks the skin and mucous membranes. It can cause the top layer of the skin to separate from the lower layer of the skin in affected areas. The condition can even spread to internal organs, and it can cause scarring and even blindness. Sometimes the disorder can affect more than 30% of the body, when that happens the condition is usually referred to as toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), which typically requires treatment in hospital burn units. According to the Maya family lawsuit, Brianna was left blind in one eye and suffered burns over 84% of her body after taking Children’s Motrin in 2000 for a cold and fever. Her family argued that a warning for Steven Johnson Syndrome was not included on the medication’s labeling that year.

The jury in the case found that Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit “was negligent for not providing a proper warning about Children’s Motrin’s risks and that failure was a factual cause of the girl’s injuries.” However, the jury did not agree with plaintiff’s claims that Motrin was defective, or that McNeil officials’ conduct warranted an award of punitive damages. Johnson & Johnson and McNeil added warning about “severe allergic reactions” which could present with “rashes and blisters” to over-the-counter ibuprofen products, but no specific mention of Stevens Johnson syndrome is made. Patent advocates say that the current drug allergy alert on labels of many over-the-counter ibuprofen medications don’t adequately warn users about the risk of Stevens Johnson Syndrome. Parents in cases involving these types of claims argue that manufacturers of over-the-counter ibuprofen products, especially those for children, should have adequate warning labels placed on their products, informing users to discontinue the drug if symptoms show.

If you have suffered injury or a loved one has died or been injured as the result of a defective drug, you may be able to recover damages. To find out if you have a claim, you should have our case evaluated by a qualified our experienced product liability attorney. Our firm can tell you if you have a case and how to go about filing a lawsuit. Pharmaceutical lawsuits are too complex for a consumer to handle alone, however, as pharmaceutical companies have enormous resources and an arsenal of high-power defense attorneys. Also, it is important to note that California has laws that set a time limit for filing different types of lawsuits, so we recommend you have your case evaluated as quickly as possible. We recommend you seek the aid of an attorney with experience in this type of litigation. Whether we settle out of court or have to go to trial, we will fight hard to get you the compensation you deserve.

Be careful driving this weekend. The roads will be wet. Pay special attention when you are driving on the Golden Gate Bridge, as accidents there can cause a car to move accross into traffic traveling in the opposite direction. Last month, a man from Colma was placed under arrest for allegedly causing a drunken driving crash on the Golden Gate Bridge that injured several people and briefly shut down the bridge, according to today's news. The man--37 year-old Syed Ali-- was speeding in his 2007 Mercedes roadster and rear-ended a vehicle driven by Mara Lefkowitz in the southbound lane. The impact forced Lefkowitz to spin out of control and hit the west curb of the bridge, at which point she moved back across southbound lanes into the northbound lanes and hit the east curb of the bridge. At that moment, another vehicle driving in a northbound lane crashed into Lefkowitz’s car. Ali’s vehicle also crossed into a northbound lane and sideswiped a van, causing the driver of the van to lose control and overturn. The driver of the van and Lefkowitz were taken to the hospital with moderate injuries.

According to the CDC, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among those ages 5-34 in the U. S. More than 2.3 million adult drivers and passengers were treated in emergency departments as the result of being injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2009. The economic impact is also notable: the lifetime costs of crash related deaths and injuries among drivers and passengers were $70 billion in 2005. In addition to that, alcohol-impaired driving kills about 11,000 people and costs nearly $110 billion a year. Every day, 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 48 minutes, and one in 3 motor-vehicle crashes involve an alcohol-impaired driver. The following are ways all of us can prevent alcohol-impaired driving and its consequences:
• Designate a non-drinking driver in your before you go out drinking.
• Don’t let your friends driver impaired—take their keys away if they don’t listen.
• If you have been drinking and don’t have a ride, call a taxi.
• If you’re hosting a party where alcohol will be served, make sure all guests leave with a sober driver.

Alcohol impaired driving is a serious public health issue and hope that no is injured by a drunk driver. However, if you or loved suffered an injury from an accident in which impaired driving was involved, please contact our firm. We have over ten years experience helping car accident victims receive the compensation they deserve. Our firm accepts cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning we do not charge clients any fees until we recover financial compensation.