As a Newport Beach personal injury victim you have two years to settle a claim or file a lawsuit. There should be no regrets when you look back at your personal injury claim. Avoiding fatal mistakes that can wreck your claim will be critical in order to receive a fair settlement.

One of the fatal mistakes a number of accident victims have made is not keeping detailed records. As many catastrophic injury lawyers and accident victims can tell you, keeping detailed records is imperative to maximizing your settlement.

Economic Vs. Non-Economic Damages

In a personal injury claim you will have two types of damages. The first is referred to as economic damages and the second are called non-economic damages. Economic damages are monetary losses that have been caused by your personal injury accident. Non-economic damages are damages that are not easily summed up with a dollar value.

Receiving Economic Damages For Your Personal Injury Accident

Your personal injury claim will include a number of different economic damages. Keeping a detailed record of your damages will help you to recover the maximum settlement value. Some of these damages will include medical bills, lost pay, services that you are unable to perform because of your injuries, any loss of property, and loss of future wages.

Recording Non-Economic Damages For Your Personal Injury Claim

As mentioned earlier, it is important to keep detailed records throughout your personal injury claim. Non-economic damages will include intangible harms such as severe pain, humiliation, and loss of companionship, and physical and emotional distress. There may have been opportunities you have lost due to your injuries. There may be trips you can no longer take, or hobbies you can no longer complete.

Be Honest When Recording Your Personal Injury Damages

When recording your damages it is important to be honest. Exaggerating your damages could disqualify you in the eyes of a jury.

Learn More About The Fatal Mistakes That Can Wreck Your California Injury Claim

If you would like to learn more about “The Seven Fatal Mistakes That Can Wreck Your California Personal Injury Accident visit the BISNAR | CHASE Personal Injury Lawyers website. This book is valued at $14.99 and offered at no cost to California personal injury victims.

Richard Auger, of Ottowa’s Auger Hollingsworth law firm, is an aggressive, results-driven lawyer who achieves success for his clients.

Richard practices medical malpractice, personal injury and wrongful death. He represents clients who have been injured or died as the result of a vehicle accident or a medical mistake made by a doctor or nurse.

Richard is also a skilled and experienced advocate at public inquiries and inquests. He has represented many key figures in national political proceedings.

Richard is well known for his meticulous preparation, his fearsome cross-examinations and his relentless research of the law.

Since his call to the Ontario Bar in 1997, Richard has represented clients in countless trials and administrative hearings on health and other issues. He has also represented clients charged with a wide range of offences. As a result, Richard is uniquely positioned among lawyers to respond to clients’ needs in both the criminal and civil litigation arenas, where most lawyers limit their practices to one area or the other.

Click here to read Richard’s tips to finding a great criminal defense attorney.

If you have been injured in one of these common bicycle accidents, you will no doubt want to better understand what has happened to you. Here, you can find information about the most common bicycle accidents, and how to avoid them.

The drive out

This collision occurs when a driver enters a road from a cross-street or a driveway and fails to yield to a bicyclist. This can be caused by driver inattention, or if the driver misjudges the speed or distance of the cyclist. This can also be caused by a cyclist “coasting” through a stop sign, or if the cyclist is riding in a place where a driver is not expecting (and looking for) oncoming traffic. These types of crashes are most common when cyclists are riding the wrong way (against traffic) or on the sidewalk.

There are a few ways to avoid this crash. First, never ride against traffic, and always obey the rules for traffic on the road. While many cyclists do not stop at stop signs, and many drivers expect that you won’t, you should never assume that a driver is expecting you to ride through a stop sign. Going through a stop sign without stopping may also ruin your chances of proving that an accident was the fault of the other driver.

The ride out

This collision occurs when a cyclist enters the roadway from a cross-street or driveway and fails to yield to a vehicle. This is a common crash for children.

To avoid this crash, you should use caution at every intersection or driveway that you exit. If you are used to judging when to pull out based on driving a car, you will need to re-adjust your timing for riding a bike. When in doubt, don’t pull out.

For more on common bicycle accidents, check out Common Accidents Involving Bicycles

The Rasansky Law Firm has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the mother of a girl who choked to death last year at a day care center in Dallas, Texas. According to the lawsuit, 2-year-old Isabella Estep choked on a small rock, unnoticed by the employees at the Woodbridge Day School in Dallas.

On October 31, 2008, the girl began choking on a small rock and collapsed inside the school. She remained unnoticed by school employees for 5-10 minutes, despite the gathering of other children around her. She was unconscious, her lips blue, by the time teacher Mia Jennings found her. Isabella died after she was taken to the hospital.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (TDFPS) investigated the incident, finding evidence of neglectful supervision by both teacher Mia Jennings and the school’s owners at the time, Neyse Hall and Robert Hall. According to the investigation report, Ms. Hall was aware that Ms. Jennings did not have first aid training or a high school education, both violations of Texas state law. TDFPS also found 20 violations of state-mandated requirements at the school, including deficiencies related to choking hazards.

Attorneys for Isabella’s family assert that in addition to the neglectful supervision, the owners of the school sold the school in an attempt to take advantage of a loophole in Texas law that would prevent the release of the investigation results. Under state law, deficiencies and violations of day care facilities are listed on the TDFPS website for two years after the finding. If the school is sold to new ownership, however, the listings are removed. “We hope to play a part in bringing about change to this unfair loophole in Texas day care licensing,” says attorney Jeff Rasansky, “so that some justice can come out of this unimaginable tragedy.”

The Rasansky Law Firm, which specializes in day care injury claims, has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Isabella’s mother, Marcelina Osorio. The suit charges that the day care center failed to provide the minimum degree of competency and good judgment as required by state law, and seeks unspecified monetary damages and expenses.

If you have injuries sustained in a car accident, and your case is going to trial, you may be feeling overwhelmed and unsure. The purpose of this article is to outline the general form your trial will might take.

Exactly when your trial will take place is difficult to predict. The date of your trial depends on the number of cases waiting to be heard in your particular county or jurisdiction, as well as the number of judges available. Nonetheless, your lawyer should be able to tell you approximately when your case will reach trial. In most jurisdictions, it takes roughly a year. You will receive plenty of notice and your attorney will help prepare you for the process.

The trial generally follows a relatively predictable format, but it will not resemble anything you’ve seen on television. Most trials begin with the judge calling the lawyers, clients and prospective jurors into the courtroom. Once the jury is selected, the trial will commence with opening statements from both sides. An opening statement provides a “roadmap” for the case—a summary of each side’s argument and the evidence that will be presented. The two opening statements—given by your attorney in the defendant’s attorney—will tell two different stories of what happened, who is at fault and, as a result, what the proper outcome should be.

After the opening statements are complete, it’s your lawyer’s job to present your case. Generally, the case will begin with you coming to the witness stand for direct examination. Following your attorney’s questions, you will be cross-examined by the defense attorney. This allows the other side to ask questions designed to elicit responses that reflect the defendant’s view of the case. Other witnesses will also testify on your behalf, who may include your doctor, employer, friends, family and any witnesses who can testify about the incident or your injuries. Nonetheless, your testimony is critical—it sets the tone of the case and establishes your credibility in the eyes of the jury.

After your attorney has finished presenting your case, the defense lawyer is then allowed to present their side by calling witnesses for the defense. The defense lawyer presents the witnesses through direct examination and, in a similar fashion, your attorney is then allowed to cross-examine them.

Once both attorneys have finished calling all their witnesses and presenting all their evidence, the judge will instruct the jury on the law and its application to your particular case. After instructions, the attorneys will be given the opportunity to present closing arguments, which summarize the case and request that the jury return a particular verdict. Your lawyer will be allowed to go first, followed by the defense attorney, after which your lawyer will be offered a brief time to present a rebuttal.

The jury will then be allowed to deliberate your case in a closed room. Although it is impossible to say how long it will take for the jury to reach a verdict, the trial ends when the judge calls everyone back into the courtroom and the verdict is announced. You’ll learn at that time whether or not you have won your case and how much money, if any, the jury has awarded you.