After using a settlement formula to calculate your damages, you should generally ask for a settlement that is up to two or three as high as the formula’s results. This request is made in your demand letter. This letter is the beginning of settlement negotiations. By asking for more than what you are likely owed, …
After an 18-wheeler accident, victims can expect the trucking company and its insurer to try to settle the case. These parties will try to downplay the victim’s injuries and exaggerate the victim’s role in causing the crash. As evidence is uncovered, settlement talks will heat up. While most accident cases settle out of court, a …
Medical liens get paid out of a personal injury settlement or judgment. When accident victims are unable to pay for the costs of their care, some healthcare providers may choose to provide that care in exchange for a medical lien. They then recover the costs of that medical care from the defendant if the victim’s …
Wrongful death settlements can be paid out either as a lump sum or in a structured settlement. Lump-sum settlements are paid out all at once. Structured settlements provide regular payments to the deceased’s loved ones over time. The parties to the lawsuit have to agree on how the settlement is paid. With exceptions, the settlement …
You generally cannot appeal a conviction stemming from a plea of guilty or no contest. But you can make a motion to withdraw a guilty plea or no contest plea. If a judge grants the motion, you are then given the chance to withdraw the prior plea and substitute it with a plea of not …
The top 3 legal defenses to arson charges are for you to show that: you did not act with criminal intent, the fire was started by something other than arson, and you were falsely accused. The criminal laws of most states say that you commit the crime of arson if you intentionally and willfully set …
In general, a defendant in a criminal court proceeding should not talk to a witness. This is because: the judge usually orders the defendant not to have contact with any witnesses, and speaking with a witness could lead to charges of intimidating or dissuading a witness, any statements a defendant makes to a third party …
Most states say that a felony charge is a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment for a term of one year or longer. The most serious felonies, such as murder and rape, can even be punished by life imprisonment or the death penalty in some jurisdictions. Felonies are more serious than misdemeanors, which are punishable by up …
After a car accident, insurance companies use a formula to estimate how much compensation you deserve. This formula is usually your economic damages, plus your economic damages times a multiplier of between 1 and 5. The multiplier is used to estimate your non-economic damages, and is based on the severity of the crash and your …
Numerous factors surrounding a car accident can be used to tell who was at fault for the crash. Some of these are the location of the damage on the vehicle, statements by the drivers and any witnesses, skid marks, and video of the accident. Pieces of evidence like these are used to show who is …
Generally speaking, no. This means if you are stopped on suspicion of DUI and asked to perform field sobriety tests (FSTs), you can lawfully refuse to do so. In fact, most criminal defense attorneys and DUI attorneys recommend that you politely refuse to take FSTs because they are more likely to hurt than help your …
If you are charged with California DUI and plead guilty to California “wet reckless” as a plea bargain, then you may find that you are unable to travel to Canada. Travel to Canada with a DUI can be difficult or impossible, because Canadian immigration law prevents anyone with a serious criminal conviction from entering the country. …
Amazingly enough, the answer is yes. Under California law, you could theoretically receive a county jail sentence for squealing your tires. Vehicle Code 23109(c) sets out the crime of “exhibition of speed.” This “crime” consists of nothing more than accelerating or driving at an unsafe speed in order to show off or impress other people. …
Identity theft occurs when someone acquires and uses another person’s private identifying information. Both California, as well as federal law, imposes punishments for identity theft. It is possible for individuals to be prosecuted for the same act of identity theft under both state and federal law. Both California Penal Code 530.5 PC and California Penal …
Individuals who have been the victim of police misconduct in California may file a criminal complaint. However, various types of police misconduct could constitute a crime, civil cause of action, or both. Victims may consider filing a civil rights lawsuit in order to be financially compensated for the harm they suffered if a police department …
There is no specific law in California that makes public urination a crime. However, a person who is caught urinating in a public place could be charged with public nuisance, public intoxication or indecent exposure. Penal Code 640 PC prohibits urinating or defecating in a system facility or vehicle, other than a lavatory, unless it …
If you are severely intoxicated on private property in California, can you be charged with being “drunk in public” under Penal Code 647(f) PC? If the private property is “open to the public,” the answer is: absolutely. Private Property “Open to the Public” California Penal Code Section 647(f) makes it a crime to be in …
If that donut or sandwich you’re eating on your morning commute to work in California causes you enough distraction to affect the safety of your driving, you could be pulled over and charged with the crime of reckless driving. When most people think of “distracted driving,” they think of people using hand-held cell phones and …
It is estimated that fewer than 5 percent of slip and fall cases go all the way to trial. Most are resolved short of trial, with many being settled out-of-court. Your case may be more likely to go to trial if there is an unwillingness to settle, if you were seriously hurt, or if you …
Electric skateboards and so-called “hoverboards” are increasingly popular amoung young people. But while a California law makes these boards legal, it also makes riding one under the influence a crime. In October 2015, then-Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 604 into law. Effective January 1, 2016, the law allows people 16 and older to ride electric …
Subject to certain age restrictions, someone from out of state can legally drive in California as long as: The driver has a current, valid license from the state in which he/she resides, and The license is valid for the type of vehicle the person is driving in California (such as a car, truck, motorcycle, etc.). …
The California DMV can suspend or restrict a license due to a driver’s cataracts or macular degeneration. But it may only do so if the condition actually affects a driver’s ability to drive safely. And even when driving ability is affected, cataracts and macular degeneration don’t always result in a lost license. Sometimes a driver …
Assembly Bill 2138 was signed into law by Gov. Brown in September 2018. According to the bill, a licensing board cannot take away, or deny, a license on the basis of a criminal conviction if the following is true: The conviction is seven years or older; and, The conviction is not substantially related to the …
5 things to look for in a slip and fall doctor are: whether he or she will provide treatment on a medical lien, whether the doctor is in your insurance network, the doctor’s experience treating injuries that will lead to a lawsuit, the doctor’s experience with workers’ comp cases, if you slipped and fell on …
With so many telemarketers ignoring the Federal Trade Commission’s National Do Not Call Registry, many people have begun taking matters into their own hands. Techniques we have seen touted on the internet include: Deliberately wasting the telemarketer’s time, Cussing, Blowing a whistle or air horn into the phone, Threatening the telemarketer, and Talking dirty to …
