Public Transportation
Video Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: If you use public transportation whether it be buses, trains, or airplanes, you should understand your legal rights regarding accidents and injuries. My guest today is Texas Personal Injury Attorney, Gregg Anderson of the Law Offices of Terry Bryant and he’s going to talk to with us about this topic. So Gregg Thanks for being here.
Gregg Anderson: Thank you, Cindy.
Cindy Speaker: Well Gregg, in talking with Terry Bryant over the last few years it seems to me that your firm has handled quite a few of these public transportation accidents, especially buses. Tell us about some of those from a legal perspective.
Gregg Anderson: We have handled quite a few bus cases. In Texas, buses are held to particularly stringent standard called the Common Carrier Standard. If for instance you’re involved in a car wreck as a driver, private driver, you’re held to the standard of ordinary care just being as careful as an ordinary person would be.
Bus companies have a different standard. It’s a higher degree of care where they’re called common carriers who carry passengers for hire. And they’re required to go beyond what an ordinary person just driving a private vehicle would do. They are required to anticipate and foresee every possible danger or hazard and protect their passengers from.
Cindy Speaker: Okay, now Gregg, in your experience, do you find that most of these accidents involve some sort of safety violations such as texting and driving? Or are they more likely to be mechanical failures?
Gregg Anderson: A combination of the two. I’m not sure we’ve not had a case exactly involving texting but for instance here in Texas there’s a lot of back and forth across the boarder into Mexico and we’ve handled several cases involving Mexican bus companies that don’t comply with American safety standards, and they run their buses with mechanical problems, they force drivers to drive longer than they should be, and would be allowed to under American law, and we run into quite a bit of that here in the state of Texas.
Cindy Speaker: Gregg, let me ask you about the Hudson River plane crash that occurred back in January of 2009. Pilot Sully and his crew are true heroes and luckily that incident ended without any significant injuries or loss of life. Nevertheless, the people on that plane were traumatized were no fault if their own. What happens in a case like that? Is there any liability on the part of the airlines and similarly in other situations involving public transportation?
Gregg Anderson: Sure, yes there is. That particular case that you sight as you say Captain Sully was a true hero in bringing that plane down with just little harm to the passengers as occurred. On the other hand, there were some folks who suffered some serious injuries and they do have the course of action against the airlines. That was a domestic flight between New York City and Charlotte, North Carolina.
That plane took off from New York and crashed in New York, so New York law would govern in that particular situation and they would have the passengers do have courses of action against the US Airways for any negligence on the part of the company in causing that plane to go down.
Cindy Speaker: Now in the case where maybe a bus driver was negligent and there’s clear liability. Why is it important that a victim consult with an experienced personal injury attorney? And secondly, how important is timing in a manner like this?
Gregg Anderson: Timing is important and here’s why. The bus companies have their safety people, their insurance people out at the scene right away. Their investigation begins immediately and frankly, their job of trying to limit recovery by injured passengers, that begins right away.
So if somebody is hurt and waits months or longer to contact a competent attorney then they’ve allowed the bus company a huge head start in investigating and working on the case. So it is important to hire an attorney as quickly as you can to protect your rights.
Cindy Speaker: Well Gregg, if someone wants more information, how can they reach the Law Offices of Terry Bryant.
Gregg Anderson: They can call us here at 800-444-5000.
Cindy Speaker: Gregg, thank you for being with us today.
Gregg Anderson: Thank you, Cindy.
Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker for State Law TV.
Construction Accidents
Video Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: Every year thousands of construction workers are injured or killed because of on the job accidents. I guess this Texas Personal Injury Attorney, Gregg Anderson of the Law Offices of Terry Bryant and he’s going to talk with us about this topic. So Gregg thanks for being here.
Gregg Anderson: Well, thanks for having me.
Cindy Speaker: Well Greg, what are some of the most common examples of construction accidents that you see in Texas?
Gregg Anderson: Well, we handle a lot of those types of cases and what we typically see is for instance residential construction situation, where the employer-contractor fails to provide fall protection or fails to ensure that the workers use fall protection. OSHA standards are pretty clear about that, that if a worker, for instance is working more that six feet above the ground, they’re supposed to wear a harness or some other type of fall protection should they be in the situation.
Another thing we often see is failure to have guardrails up in place. Again, OSHA is very strict about that that if there are floor openings say for instance, for a stairwell or there’s an open wall, there are supposed to be guardrails in place and we frequently see cases where that has not been done and worker will forget exactly where he or she is and back up over an opening.
Cindy Speaker: Okay, now Greg, you mentioned OSHA. What is OSHA?
Gregg Anderson: OSHA is a federal agency that’s in charge of workplace safety in the United States and they promulgated requirements for all sorts of industries including the construction industry.
Cindy Speaker: Well, how common is it that these accidents involve a violation of safety issues?
Gregg Anderson: Pretty common. Construction companies are like any other entity or person for that matter. There are lots of really good ones out there that follow safety standards and run very safe workplaces. On the other hand there are a lot of bad ones out there that don’t really seem to care about that. Their main concern is getting the job done and if someone gets hurt along the way that’s just sort of a cost to doing business. There are companies and contractors that seem to cut corners with regularity.
Cindy Speaker: Now Gregg, is worker’s compensation the only recourse here?
Gregg Anderson: No, not at all. If an employer has workers’ compensations, certainly in Texas, I would imagine in most, if not all states, the workers bard from suing the employer. That trade off the whole idea behind workers’ compensation. It’s a sure recovery if there’s an incident and the employee doesn’t have to prove negligence against the employer. However, if there are other entities involved, like for instance, an employee of a subcontractor is hurt, because of the negligence of a general contractor then the employee is allowed to go after the general contractor.
Also, if an employer doesn’t have workers’ compensation the employee then can go after the employer.
Cindy Speaker: What can the injured worker actually recover for if he files a claim?
Gregg Anderson: In Texas, the standard personal injury categories of damages are lost wages, both past and future, past and future medical bills, pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, things like that.
Cindy Speaker: Well Gregg, if someone wants more information, how can they reach the Law Offices of Terry Bryant?
Gregg Anderson: They can call us here at 800-444-5000, we’ll be happy to answer any questions.
Cindy Speaker: Gregg, thank you for being with us today.
Gregg Anderson: Thank you.
Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker for State Law TV.
Nursing Home Negligence
Video Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: With an aging population that is living longer, nursing home negligence is becoming more prevalent. My guest today it’s North Carolina personal Injury attorney, Michael A. DeMayo with the law offices of Michael A. DeMayo. And he’s going to talk with us about this topic. So Michael, thank you for being with us today.
Michael A. DeMayo: Thank you for having me.
Cindy Speaker: Well Michael, what are some examples of nursing home negligence and abuse?
Michael A. DeMayo: Well unfortunately, Cindy, this is a fairly common occurrence in this day and age because as our population ages, oftentimes we have to put our mothers, our fathers, our brothers or sisters in care facilities. And unfortunately, many of the care facilities, not all, but many are under staffed and are not able to provide adequate care and supervision. Some injuries that we see that are fairly common are decubitus ulcers which for a layman is basically a bedsore. And that is someone who’s not being turned or properly positioned or is being left positioned for significant amount of time. Falls are very common. Fractures are fairly common.
If there’s tremendous amount of abuse, sometimes the injuries can result in death or significant brain injury for someone who’s not given the proper care because remember, the reason that most folks are initially put in these care facilities is because they can no longer take care of themselves.
Cindy Speaker: Well Michael, for the children of parents that are in nursing homes, what should they do if they suspect that their loved one maybe a victim of neglect or abuse in a nursing home environment?
Michael A. DeMayo: Well, there are a couple of steps they can take. Certainly, they can go to the state. There are different state entities where they can look for information and contact the specific governmental entities that are responsible for the supervision and licensing of these facilities. But obviously the first thing to do is to go into the facility, sit down with the administrator, and have some serious talks with them, and if possible talk to some of the caregivers, and/or any of the residents that will talk.
If the injuries are fairly obvious and blatant, I generally recommend that you move that individual to another facility as quickly as feasibly possible. And then obviously if the level of injury rises to the level of very serious, then they may want to get in touch with the personal injury attorney who does work in these types of cases.
Cindy Speaker: Well Michael, I know you handle nursing home abuse cases. Why is it important for the family to consult with the personal injury attorney in these types of situations?
Michael A. DeMayo: Well, as in other situations, the number one is obviously to stop the abuse or to put an end to what is occurring not necessarily with this individual because often times the damage has been done, but potentially with any individuals that would be part of that facility in the future. Obviously from a legal standpoint if there are injuries and there has been negligence, if there’s been gross negligence or failure to adequately supervise, then they’re potentially is a course of action that can be brought either on behalf of the individual and/or the family members if it’s wrongful death.
So we just actually represented an individual and it was a wrongful death case and resolved the case very favorably to the family obviously from a monetary standpoint, it was favorable. Their brothers would have been obviously that their mother is still be with us had the abuse have not occurred but unfortunately, there’s only so many things we can do in a particular instance. But there’s a variety of different options if there has been an abuse. But obviously one of the most common ones is that we would make a claim and then a lawsuit depending on the response from the appropriate facility.
Cindy Speaker: And in most situations, do you recommend that the individual be moved from that facility to another facility?
Michael A. DeMayo: Well again with the caveat, I mean it depends on what’s happening and what the level of abuse has been but if there’s any kind of significant neglect, I know speaking from the standpoint of someone who has a family member in a facility of that sort were I to get any report of any kind of abuse or neglect, my first move would be to move him out of that facility. And then my next move would be basically to have some sort of reckoning with the facility that they even allow that to occur.
Cindy Speaker: Michael, if someone has specific questions, how can they reach your office?
Michael A. DeMayo: They may do that, Cindy in three different ways. They can call us toll free anywhere in the United States at 877-333-1000. They can also get on the web at demayolaw.com and they have a variety of different ways to get in touch with our office through the web. And then we have a third option which is they can actually text the name DeMayo to the number 333-100 which is essentially our number less a zero and they will be given a variety of options within which to contact our office by text.
Cindy Speaker: Thank you, Michael.
Michael A. DeMayo: Thank you for having me.
Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker from Main Street Law.
Traumatic Brain Injury – DeMayo
Video Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: A traumatic brain injury can completely change the life of a person and those closest to him. My guest is North Carolina Personal Injury Attorney, Michael A. DeMayo, of the Law offices of Michael A. DeMayo. And he’s going to talk with us about the legal aspects often associated with traumatic brain injuries. So Michael, thanks for being here today.
Michael A. DeMayo: Thank you for having me.
Cindy Speaker: Well Michael in your experience of dealing with traumatic brain injury, what do you typically see as the most common causes?
Michael A. DeMayo: Well Cindy, the most common cause that we see at least in our line of work is either an injury or an accident in an automobile or at work. And unfortunately, sometimes you can have a traumatic brain injury without even striking another object. People sometimes think that you have to actually hit your head on something to have a brain injury but it is possible based on deceleration in g-forces for you to have a brain injury with actually not having impact with any other object. Well that’s – those are the most common obliviously significant falls in, you know, some sort of impact at the job and then a severe or significant automobile accident or truck or trailer accident are often causes for or result in brain injury.
Cindy Speaker: Now what is the treatment for a traumatic brain injury patient?
Michael A. DeMayo: Well often times, depending on the level of injury to the brain neuropsychologist, neuropsychiatrist, they’ll go to a treatment facility where a number of cognitive tests are done and a number of rehabilitative practices will be implemented so that the person can theoretically retrain the brain or at least the parts of the brain that are still working to function in society. But depending on the severity of the injury, that often times dictates the level that they will or will not be debilitated and will be able to function in society either with care and assistance or on their own.
Cindy Speaker: Michael, where does your team start in handling a traumatic brain injury case? And why is it important to consult with an attorney in these types of cases?
Michael A. DeMayo: Well generally the first thing that’s done with the traumatic brain injury is you try to get to the significance or the level of injury that is present. Then based on that, we generally will employ experts that will give us an evaluation of future medical needs, future attendant care needs, and that is generally in the from of what’s called the life care plan. Often times, it’s more important to be able to project what the person’s needs are in the future than just to get the medical bills they’ve incurred, and try to resolve the case in that fashion because that’s essentially doing the individual a tremendous disservice because they’re going to have significant future medical needs, significant future medical care needs in the future that need to be addressed and that need to be accounted for.
Cindy Speaker: Michael, do insurance companies typically do a life care plan or do you need a lawyer to do this rather complex assessment?
Michael A. DeMayo: Generally, you need a lawyer – in answer to your first question, if insurance companies did what they were supposed to, I wouldn’t exist. So unfortunately, the answer to that is no. Insurance companies generally do not step up to the plate and say, “We’re responsible, we’re going to pay, we’re going to make sure that we take care of you for the rest of your life.” What they will do in regard to the life care plan is they will generally get a corollary life care plan that no shock or surprise, generally accounts and says that there’s less care needed, there’s less medical care needed, and it’s going to cost a lot less than what’s projected from the experts that are generally the treating experts.
So the people that are going to be most familiar with that individual’s needs and care needs in the future, they generally will get someone to try to refute that but no as a general rule, though insurance companies don’t offer to pay for these type of cases voluntarily. So that’s why it is always very, very, very important that you get a personal injury attorney who’s experienced in TBI.
Cindy Speaker: And if someone wants to reach your office, how can they do that?
Michael A. DeMayo: They can reach us in three different ways, Cindy. They can call us, toll free anywhere in the United States at 877-333-1000. They can contact us via web at our website at demayolaw.com. And ultimately we now have a third option which is they can text the word DeMayo to the number 333-100 which is basically our number less a zero and they will be given a series of options to either communicate with us or to send us messages by text and we’ll be able to help them in that manner.
Cindy Speaker: Very good. Michael, thank you for your time today.
Michael A. DeMayo: Thank you.
Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker from Main Street Law.
Spinal Cord Injury
Video Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: When a spinal cord injury occurs it often severs communication between the brain and the body resulting in significant impairment. My guest today is North Carolina Personal Injury Attorney, Michael A. DeMayo of the Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo and he’s going to talk with us about the legal ramifications often associated with the spinal cord injury. So Michael, thank you for being with us today.
Michael A. DeMayo: Thank you very much for inviting me.
Cindy Speaker: Well, Michael what exactly is a spinal cord injury and what kind of damage typically results from this type of injury?
Michael A. DeMayo: Well, unfortunately spinal cord injury is generally your most serious injury or it can affect a variety of different areas of your body, it can affect the functions of your brain and it can affect the ability for you to mobilize. A lot of times people that have severe — you hear severe spinal cord injuries. They are paralyzed either from the waist down or the neck down. So unfortunately oftentimes this type of injury is unfortunately not correctible, there’s not anything you can really do to help that person get any better and it’s generally permanent in nature and the injuries tend to be fairly debilitating and serious.
Cindy Speaker: Well Michael let me ask you this, for those who had survived this type of serious injury what is the recommended treatment?
Michael A. DeMayo: Well, there is some experimental treatment. I think folks that might be familiar with the gentleman who used to play Superman, Reeves who was a big proponent of pushing for stem cell research and a number of different types of research. But unfortunately the recommended treatment is probably learning how to adapt with the disability as opposed to being able to foresee any kind of significant improvement and at least until science changes or medicine changes. A lot of times the recommended treatment is obviously you’re dealing with a bunch of neurosurgeons and neurologist and maybe orthopedic surgeons but from a practical standpoint you know there’s not a whole lot of treatment that someone can receive for this type of injury unfortunately.
Cindy Speaker: So, unfortunately most spinal cord patients require lifelong care of varying degrees which I’m sure is very expensive.
Michael A. DeMayo: Absolutely. Generally, when we have a client who has these types of injuries we will put together something called the Life Care Plan and what that would do is it will forecast their needs medically and potentially caretaking throughout the course of their life and so while they may have some significant medical needs and medical surgeries that would be required in the future, there’s obviously also going to be a component that deals with their care more than likely or oftentimes they’re going to need 24-hour care seven days a week, and whether that’s in-home or whether that’s in some sort of supportive care facility, obviously the cost can be astronomical.
Cindy Speaker: So the Life Care Plan is foundational to determining the value of a spinal cord injury case. Now, you said something that the family can put together on behalf of their loved one?
Michael A. DeMayo: Yeah. It would be ill advised, is that a nice way of putting it? It would be ill advised for someone with this type of injury or family member with this type of injury to try to handle this on their own. There’s a level of sophistication and a level of experience and knowledge that is really required for this type of case, this type of injury, and for someone to try to go alone without the experts and the knowledgeable individuals who deal with this on a fairly regular basis would be full hearty in my opinion.
Cindy Speaker: Well Michael, if someone has specific questions how can they reach your office?
Michael A. DeMayo: Well there’s three ways they can reach our office. They can call us toll-free at 877-333-1000. They can go on the web, we can be reached at DeMayoLaw.com and then now we have another option which is by texting us. If they text the word De Mayo which is my last name and they use the number 333-100, so just one zero off of our main number, they’ll actually have some options within which they get in contact with someone from our office.
Cindy Speaker: Very good. Michael, thank you for time for today.
Michael A. DeMayo: Thank you very much Cindy.
Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker from the Main Street Law.
3 Steps Following a Motorcycle Accident
Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: If you’re involved in a motorcycle accident it’s important that your loved one exercise some critical steps to ensure that your legal rights are protected. My guest today is Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney, Peter Steinberg, of Steinberg and Spencer. And he’s going to tell us what these three critical steps are. So Peter thanks for being with us today.
Peter Steinberg: Well, you’re very welcome Cindy. It’s always a pleasure to be with you.
Cindy Speaker: Well, Peter why don’t you start off by telling us what you consider to be the three critical steps that should be taken following a California motorcycle accident?
Peter Steinberg: Well, from my perspective, and I’ve handled motorcycle accidents for literally, probably three decades, the most important thing is to make sure that you’re okay. Motorcycle accidents can be extremely serious, you might be knocked off your motorcycle and just feel like you’re bruised but within five, ten, fifteen minutes, some serious pain can set in. And I would say, a number one priority is make sure that you are okay. It’s probably a good idea to sit down or lie down and let some people take care of you and not think that you can walk around and do a whole sort of things.
I say the second thing to do is to make sure that you have—if you are able to move at all, get some names, addresses and telephone numbers of witnesses. So that would be very important. And lastly, if you’re able to move around, get some photographs of the position of the vehicle that struck you as well as your motorcycle.
Cindy Speaker: Okay, now when you say that picture of the scene, tell me a little more about what you mean by that. How important is it to have pictures of the scene?
Peter Steinberg: Well, photographs of the vehicles are extremely important. You may have a car that has crossed over the center line and has stopped right where it hit you, that type of thing. So that would be important and where your motorcycle comes to rest would be important. And if you can get some pictures of the actual accident site, that would be helpful too. I mean the site likely is not going to change but it will set the stage for the background for the position of typically the automobile and the motorcycle.
Cindy Speaker: Okay, Peter let me ask you this. If someone’s involved in a motorcycle accident, and there’s minimal damage or injury, is it still important to call the police or is that not important?
Peter Steinberg: Well, actually Cindy, it’s critically important because very, very, very frequently whether it’s an automobile and particularly when it’s a motorcycle accident, injuries may seem minor at first but by moments, hours or days later, you can be in a lot of pain. You can be actually unable to move. So it’s extremely important to contact the police and have a report made.
Cindy Speaker: Okay and how do you get that report, Peter? Do you go to the Police Station to get that or do they give it to you at the scene of the accident?
Peter Steinberg: Well, they never give you a report at the scene. My recommendation is that you contact an experienced motorcycle attorney and the lawyer knows how to get the police report. Typically, it’s a function of writing to the particular police department and paying a fee and I’ve seen these fees range from $3.00 to $24.00. Most of the time, the police departments will give you a little card here in California, about a 3×5 card and it will give you a report number and an address and you can do it yourself but the prospect of handling your own motorcycle is daunting to me. I would not recommend it to anybody. Insurance companies just don’t like to pay out on any claims in particularly, motorcycle claims which can be very sizeable. So don’t get it yourself, let a good motorcycle accident attorney get it for you.
Cindy Speaker: That makes sense. And Peter, as you said, you handle a lot of those claims. So someone with specific questions, how can we reach you?
Peter Steinberg: Well, we can be reached in one of a couple of ways. Our toll free number is 1800-350-8888. Again that’s 1800-350-8888, while our website is steinbergspencer.com.
Cindy Speaker: Okay. Well, Peter thank you for your time today.
Peter Steinberg: Oh, Cindy great to have talked to you as always.
Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker from Main Street Law.
Motorcycle Safety Gear
Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: If you are a motorcycle enthusiast it is important that you’d be aware of proper safety gear. My guest today is Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney, Peter Steinberg at Steinberg and Spencer. And he’s going to tell us about some of the gear that he recommends. So Peter thanks for being with us today.
Peter Steinberg: You’re very welcome Cindy.
Cindy Speaker: Well Peter why don’t you start off by telling us what you suggest in terms of motorcycle safety gear?
Peter Steinberg: Well there’s three or four thing. First of all, the full face helmet Cindy, that’s the most important thing. A good heavy duty, probably a leather jacket would be great and also some really sturdy boots to protect your feet and ankles and of course a very, very good pair of gloves because typically when you are struck on a motorcycle you’re going to go down and the first thing you’re trying to do just instinctively is put your hands down and you can really get some serious road rash injuries that are extremely painful.
Cindy Speaker: I bet. Well Peter as you know I’m in Philadelphia, your in California, but let me ask you this, what do you see out there in terms of riding apparel. My guess is there are a lot of people out there in shorts and flip-flops.
Peter Steinberg: Well you don’t see it that often Cindy but I have seen flip-flops, I’ve seen people riding without helmets and even though that’s the law here in California and I’ve seen people riding in shorts too, and it doesn’t happened that often because the public is getting educated as to the severity of motorcycle accidents. But I’m sure everybody has seen it all. And since it’s well known that motorcycles are frequently not seen by other automobiles, the odds of being in a motorcycle accident at some point in the driver’s or rider’s life are fairly high, so you really want to defensively protect yourself with great clothing and helmets etcetera.
Cindy Speaker: Well Peter I know that you’ve handled motorcycle and cases in the Los Angeles area, if someone has specific questions relevant to an accident how they can reach you?
Peter Steinberg: Well Cindy, you’re right. We’ve been handling motorcycle accidents for about 30 years and it’s really simple to reach us. We have two ways. One would be our toll free number 1800-350-8888, again 1800-350-8888 and the other way is through our website where we can be reached 24/7 its www.steinbergspencer.com, again www.steinbergspencer.com. Very simple to reach us and we are incredibly responsive to motorcycle accidents victims.
Cindy Speaker: Very good. Peter thank you for your time today.
Peter Steinberg: You’re welcome Cindy, pleasure to be here.
Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker from Main Street Law.
Dangers of Big Trucks on the Roadway
Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: What are some of the dangers associated with big trucks on the road way? That’s our topic on this episode of Main Street Law. My guest is North Carolina Personal Injury Atty. Michael A. DeMayo of the Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo. So, Michael, thanks for being here today.
Michael DeMayo: Thank you for inviting me Cindy
Cindy Speaker: Well, Michael, what are some of the dangers associated with these big trucks on the roadway?
Michael DeMayo: Well, Cindy, there are number of different issues that occur when we deal with tractor trailers on the roadway. Unfortunately, one of the biggest ones is that a lot of the industry standards are meant to or designed to push some of these drivers pass there limits of physical ability because they have certain deadlines. As you know, tractor trailers account for a significant majority of the vehicles on the roadway. And from a practical standpoint, there are a number of things that we should be concerned about.
If you are involved in an accident with the tractor trailers, statistically, you are going to be either severely injured or killed, and that is just physics 101. Because from a practical reality, no matter how big your vehicle, you are actually going to be up against a vehicle that outweighs you 50 to 60 to 70 times, depending on the load that they are carrying. So from a practical standpoint, if you have any kind of interaction with a tractor trailer on the highway, and as a general rule, you are going to come in contact with a tractor trailer on some sort of interstate. So generally you are going to have speed as a factor of 70, 65, 55 miles per hour. You combine all those factors, there is a potential for very, very significant injuries and/or death when we are dealing with tractor trailers.
So there is a number of different issues, different than just a regular personal injury claim dealing with an automobile that you have to be aware of.
Cindy Speaker: Okay. And along those lines, I believe there were a number of federal regulations that govern big trucks, is that correct?
Michael DeMayo: Well, federally there are, there is an entire booklet. They are called Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations that govern interstate tractor trailers or trucking vehicles on the roadway. A number of issues are they regulate the amount of time that a driver can be in service. You will have to keep what is called drivers’ logs to specifically delineate when you have been on duty, when you have been off duty. There is a number of different maintenance issues that you have to have regular inspection much more so than an automobile. And obviously, the very common one is you can’t be over loaded or overweighed. Sometimes when you hear about tractor trailers jackknifing or sliding around, sometimes the load has been inappropriately or improperly loaded on the tractor trailer. So there are serious regulations that are mandated by the Federal Government that are supposed to insure the safety of consumers out there that are innocent—consumers that are traveling up and down the road ways.
Cindy Speaker: And if someone is hit by a tractor trailer, who is it that is held responsible? I mean, is it the truck driver himself or the trucking company, the manufacturer of the product the truck was carrying? Who would it be?
Michael DeMayo: In a typical scenario when we handle a fair amount of tractor trailer cases, the coverage is going to be derivative from both the carrier, the owner of the vehicle of the tractor trailer, it could be the shipper and as a general rule, if it is a big corporation, there are layers of insurance or umbrella coverage. In a commercial environment, which is what you’re dealing with from an insurance standpoint on a tractor trailer, there is usually layers of coverage that would cover that individual, depending on whether or not the tractor trailer is empty, that is called deadhead where they are actually traveling to go pick up a load. So usually, you do need a fairly sophisticated, experienced personal injury attorney who specializes in tractor trailer accidents to get to that information because it is not something that is going to be readily apparent or available to you just by perusing the accident report.
Cindy Speaker: That is so clear. This is obviously a very complex area of law. Now, if someone wants to reach your office, how would they do that, Michael
Michael DeMayo: Well, what they would do is they would contact us by phone, toll free (877) 333-1000 or if they would rather contact us through the internet or at least look at our firm’s qualifications for these type of cases, they can go to www.demayolaw, that is a one word, D-E-M-A-Y-O-L-A-W dot-com and someone they can actually look at our qualifications and some of the checklist items that we have, specifically for tractor trailer cases. Also, there is an ability, while they are on line, if they want to engage with one of our employees, or a subsidiary of our employee to get some basic information to see if it is something we can help them with.
Tractor trailer accident cases need to be investigated immediately, because right after the incident occurs or the accident occurs, you better believe they are flying down their lawyers, their accident reconstructionist and a team of investigators to, if you will, solidify and secure the accident scene. We have seen in every single case where there have been significant injuries. And even though we get hired, sometimes a week or two weeks after the incident, sometimes we are still behind the eight ball because they’ve already had so much lead time with regard to getting facts and information about the incident.
Cindy: Excellent information. Michael, thank you for being with us today.
Michael DeMayo: My pleasure.
Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker from State Law TV.
What is Workers’ Compensation
Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: What is workers compensation? That’s our topic on this episode of Main Street Law. My guess is North Caroline Personal Injury Atty. Michael A. DeMayo of the Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo. So Michael, thanks for being here today.
Michael DeMayo: Always a pleasure.
Cindy Speaker: Well, Michael, what is workers’ compensation?
Michael DeMayo: Workers’ compensation is exactly what it sounds like, it is a scheme, an administrative scheme that covers individuals if they are injured on the job. It’s not liability base, so it doesn’t really matter, there doesn’t have to be an at fault component, it just has to be that someone is employed and working and on the job at the time of the accident. So it’s fairly simple and basic. There are some limitations as to who is covered, but generally, very, very small companies of two employees or less are ones that are not required in our state to have coverage. But for the most part, if you are working and you are injured on the job, you would be entitled to workers’ compensation.
Cindy Speaker: Okay. Well, let me ask you this. Does an injured employee have the option of opting out of the workers’ compensation system and instead suing their employer?
Michael DeMayo: In essence, the answer is no. There is a very, very, very, very small minute exception to the exception, they’re called Woodson’s claims where gross negligence has to be shown on the part of the employer to make a separate third party claim. But in the last four to eight years, the Supreme Court of North Carolina has eviscerated even the Woodson claim somewhat so that they are none existent.
So in essence, the short answer is no. Workers’ compensation as a general rule is your exclusive remedy if you are injured on the job. Now, that is as with regard to the employer. If you are injured on the job and you happen to be in an automobile accident and you are on the job but there is a third party defendant, you do have the potential to make two claims. One is the workers’ comp claim and one is the personal injury claim. But if the only liable defendant potentially in you claim is the employer, workers’ compensation will be your only remedy.
Cindy Speaker: Very good. Now, are there any injuries that are not covered by workers’ compensation?
Michael DeMayo: Generally, no. There are some—generally, workers’ comp covers any injury on the job regardless like I said of liability. There are some exclusions if you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs that is a reason to deny workers’ complementation coverage. Obviously, if it’s not a accident, then you’re not covered under the workers’ compensation scheme. But anything from exposure to repetitive motion, like carpal tunnel, those are all covered. So as a general rule, if you are uncertain about whether or not you have a potential legitimate workers’ commensuration claim, it is generally advisable to consult an inexperienced workers’ comp attorney to give you some advice and some council as to whether or not there is coverage there.
Cindy Speaker: And Michael, if someone wants to speak with you, how can they reach you?
Michael DeMayo: Well, they probably won’t speak to me because we have a team of dedicated professionals of over 84 employees, but we do have an entire department that just as workers’ comp, three attorneys specifically, two that are board certified and what they would do is they would contact our office, they can either call us toll free at (877) 333-1000 or they can go to our website which is www.demayolaw, all one word, D-E-M-A-Y-O-L-A-W dot-com and certainly, we can give them information and/or if we can assist them, get them singed up so we can start working on their case.
Cindy Speaker: Excellent. Michael, thank you so much for your time today.
Michael DeMayo: My pleasure.
Cindy Speaker: This is Cindy Speaker for State Law TV.
Carolina Law Book-Michael A. DeMayo
Transcript:
Cindy Speaker: My guess today is North Carolina Personal Injury Atty. Michael A. DeMayo of the Law Offices of Michael A. DeMayo and he has just written a very informative book on Carolina Injury Law. So Michael, thanks for being here today.
Michael DeMayo: Thank you for inviting me.
Cindy Speaker: Well, Michael, I have read your book and this is really an indepth look at Carolina Injury Law. Tell us what prompted you to do this because it’s really a very big undertaking.
Michael DeMayo: Well, it was a significant undertaking Cindy. Myself and a number of attorneys, experienced personal injury attorneys across the country, collaborated on this book. And the idea was to give kind of a simple step-by-step answer, question and answer, example of what you can expect if you’re involve in an automobile accident or personal injury. And in our specific instance in North or South Carolina, we find that many times, people either have the wrong information or they have a lot of insecurities or unanswered questions that cause them sometimes to make the wrong decision and/or no decision, which on occasion can be the wrong decision.
So we decided and I decided that I thought it might be a useful resource if we could put together this book with basic concepts and basic information so that someone even without any kind of legal training or experience could get kind of a rudimentary understanding of kind of a baseline of what to expect if they’re involve and injured in an accident.
Cindy Speaker: Okay. Can you give you us a couple of examples as to what is included in this book?
Michael DeMayo: Well, specifically, there are some tips on what to do with the insurance company or more importantly, what not to do with the insurance company. There is some examples as to how to get treatment, what to say and do with regard to the facts of the accident. It certainly tells you from a specific standpoint that your injury is obviously the most important component of the case and getting the proper treatment and care is very critical not only to your well being but ultimately to a successful resolution of the case. Often times, there are situations where someone is really not hurt, they get checked out at the hospital and that’s really all they’re going to need. They really don’t need an attorney but they could use this book as a reference. Even though we give this or we will be offering this book in a variety of different ways, if the person is severely injured, not withstanding what I think is a fairly comprehensive read on what they should do, I still give them the opinion that they do need an experienced personal injury attorney to help them obtain the best results possible.
Cindy Speaker: Okay. Now Michael, how can someone get a copy of your book?
Michael DeMayo: Well, the best way, Cindy, is to go to our website. You’ll be able to go to our website which is www.demayolaw, that’s all one word, D-E-M-A-Y-O-L-A-W dot-com and you’ll be able to download a copy of the book. If you don’t want to do that or you’re not able to do that, the book is for sale. It can be purchased at Amazon.com and alternatively, if you’re either unable to print it off the web or unable to pay for a copy at Amazon.com, we ask that people contact our office directly and we’ll be happy to provide them with a courtesy copy.
Cindy Speaker: Now, if someone is listening to this and they have been injured and have specific questions, how can they reach your firm?
Michael DeMayo: Cindy, the best way to contact our office is toll free anywhere in the United States and that’s 1-877-333-1000 or they can go to our website at www.demayolaw.com.
Cindy Speaker: Great information. Thank you, Michael.
Michael DeMayo: Thank you.
