Civil litigation revolves around questions of whether the named party or parties were negligent and whether the defendant or defendants caused the injury. There is less of a general discussion around another element that must be proven: damages. It is easy to assume that if someone was injured, he or…
As school and extra-curricular activities pick up around the state of Massachusetts, concern over serious and permanent injuries may arise among parents. Even with the best of care and protective gear, accidents can happen on sports fields or while in a bus on the way to an activity. No parent…
To succeed in a Massachusetts personal injury case, an injured person must show that the at-fault party was more than 50% responsible for the injuries suffered. In negligence actions, the defendant must owe a duty to the injured person, and the injured person is required to show that the defendant…
When you seek medical care in Massachusetts, you expect the procedure or treatment to help you heal. However, if a physician’s or hospital’s actions lead to medical malpractice, it can worsen prior health conditions or result in death. A 2014 Federal First Circuit Court of Appeals case, Sanchez v. United…
Under Massachusetts law, there are several types of damages an injured person can recover through civil action: economic damages, which cover medical expenses, continuing medical care, lost wages, and inability to earn future income; and non-economic damages, which include pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment, and disfigurement. In recent news,…
In Massachusetts, if someone dies due to the negligence of another, recovery for damages like lost wages, loss of companionship, and funeral expenses may be available through the Wrongful Death Act. The Wrongful Death Act allows recovery if a willful, wanton, or reckless act caused the death of a person…
When any personal injury case goes to trial, the client’s medical records and itemized medical bills must be certified in order to be introduced into evidence. Without this mandated certification, the judge will throw out the medical records and bills. A certification is a document that the doctor or authorized…
According to the Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Act, Medicare automatically has a lien on your settlement for reimbursement of all injury-related medical expenses it paid on your behalf as a result of your accident or injury. This means that Medicare is legally entitled to a portion of your settlement proceeds.…
Recently a man was found guilty of workers’ compensation fraud after a private investigator filmed him at the gym doing some serious weightlifting. Apparently he had a doctor’s note stating he could only lift 10 lbs. Well, this video proves him wrong. A picture may be worth a thousand words,…
If, like so many of us, you post your everyday activities and updates on social media sites, step back, pause, and let’s think about this. Increasingly, defense investigators and attorneys routinely check and monitor sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, GooglePlus, MySpace, etc., to easily compare claimants’ activities with their injury…