Giving Back
McCutcheon and Hamner, several years ago represented the family of a fine young man from our community who was killed by a logging truck. His name was Jeremiah Johnson. One of the things that impressed us the most learning about Jeremiah is how friendly he was and how much he at his young age gave back to the community by his volunteer efforts. We admire that spirit and we have always provided free wills for people who serve our community in the capacity of the military, police and fire protection.
Our volunteer service pales in comparison in the time and energy spent by a person as young as Jeremiah. He gave his time and service for part of his life for the Anderson Fire and Rescue Department. McCutcheon and Hamner have started a memorial fund in his memory to help the Anderson Fire and Rescue Department to buy things that they need to service the community and as a reminder of Jeremiah’s service in our community. Jeremiah’s service in this community deathe at a young age, our investigation of this accident reminded us once again how much we owe people that do volunteer work. Not only have we started the memorial fund, we want to remind those out there who are volunteer fire fighter. policeman, solider or sailor, we will provide free wills for you . Call our lawyers with McCutcheon and Hamner, Accident and Injury Lawyers (256) 333-5000 for us to serve you today.
Dog Bite Law
For over 100 years,there has been a body of law that deals with people who keep animals. Partof that law deals with people wh elect to keep wild animals. Other parts of the law deal with animals that have been domesticated.
People who elect to keep wild animals do so at their own risk. No matter how safe the owner attempts to make an enclosure or how strong a cage is, if a wild animal escapes and harms someone the person who kept the animal is absolutely responsible for the harm caused by the wild animal.
The law is different for animals that have been domesticated,such as dogs. Traditionally, the law has been that “every dog gets one free bite”. What that means,for example, is that if a person has a beagle dog that has been a good pet and gentle for yearsand out of the blue the dog attacks someone,the owner is not responsible for that first attack. On the other hand,if that dog had shown dangerous tendencies in the past and was known to be dangerous, then the owner is responsible and is always responsible for injury caused by the animal after the owner knows the dog has bitten someone in the past. Many trials center on the owner’s knowledge, or lack thereof,of their dogs previous history. If it is shown that the owner knew the dog had bitten someone in the past and chooses to keep the animal after that,they are responsible for the injuries caused by the animal.
If you or a loved one have questions about dog bite law, call an experienced dog bite lawyer at the Accident and Injury Law firm of McCutcheon and Hamner (256) 333-5000.
Workers Compensation Medical Records
The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals has released an opinion dealing with medical records in relation to on the job injuries. This opinion over ruled a trial court’s determination that a worker suffer an on the job injury. This is unusual because the Appellate Courts generally recognize that a trial court is the best position to see,hear and evaluate a witness. The Court based its opinion in large measure on the medical records of the injured worker which did not reflect that the treatment was the result on an on the job injury.
The medical record in the personal on the job injury reflected that the injury preceded the date given by the worker. The worker lost his right to have his medical bills paid and compensation for his work injuries because of the disputed accuracy of the injured workers medical records.
Jurors, like judges, want to see consistency in the medical records. With the many cases we see here at McCutcheon and Hamner,these are two(2) major problems we encounter with medical record keeping.
First, doctors and nurses are busy. The demand for their time is relentless. The reason doctors and nurses are doctors and nurses is to help give comfort, aid, and appropriate medical treatment for the healing of their patients. People in the medical professions want to treat illness and injuries. The ability for them to understand and write down how an injury occured is limited by the patient’s ability to state when, where and how the accident or injury happened. Understandably, when someone is hurt that is more important than how they were hurt. Understandably, when someone is hurt their ability to give an accurate history of that injury is limited. Too bad that defense lawyers prey upon this fact every time they can.
Second, there is a new legal mandate for electronic medical records. This causes doctors and nurses to be more prone to check a box that is already provided than to write down the ins and out of how and accident or injury occured. You end up with a medical record that focuses on the major complaint but may leave out secondary complaints that prove to be more persistant than the original complaint. The fact is that if you are bleeding, that is more important at the time than the fact that your shoulder hurts. However, if you later need shoulder surgury be prepared to be called a liar by the insurance company lawyer.
If you are hurt or injured through someone’s negligence or through an on the job accident or injury, make certain that your medical records are accurate. If you are in doubt, call McCutcheon and Hamner (or another law firm that practices personal injury litigation) and we will talk with you about your workplace accident injury case at no charge. We will advise you on whether you have a case and whether we would take it and if not, why not. If we do take your work place accident injury case, we will obtain your medical records and call to your attention any potential errors that may exist so that problems may be avoided.
Reporting Injuries On The Job
McCutcheon and Hamner represents people who are injured on-the-job, which is commonly referred to as workers compensation cases. Our attorneys have been honored to teach portions of workers compensation law to other lawyers for the Alabama bar Institute for Continuing legal Education. The experienced attorneys with McCutcheon and Hamner have handled hundreds of workers compensation cases at every level from settlement through trial and appeal.
The law limits the fees charged by lawyers to 15% in workers compensation cases and the attorneys who defend these cases are specialists by and large within the law who largely limit their practice to defending insurance companies in workers compensation cases.
mcCutcheon and Hamner works on workers compensation cases every day. We talk to numerous people who have potential workers compensation cases each week. We always want good workers compensation cases.
The single largest factor that makes an otherwise good case a bad case is the natural reluctance of an injured worker to report an on-the-job injury. When you add that reluctance to an employer’s reluctance to learn of an on-the-job injury, you have created a situation where injury cases go unreported. Somtimes they are reported and no record of the injury was made and the employer later denies that the accident happened. Often workers try and tough it out and end up hurt worse worse than they thought and no way to get the help they need. Workers compensation insurance does not have to pay for an unreported injury and personal health insurance does not have to pay for an on-the-job injury.
Not only must the work injury be reported,but the courts tend to look at the description of the injury as contained in medical records. So, if an on-the-job injury occurs, the injured worker needs to tell every healthcare provider of the details of the on-the-job injury. The state of Alabama law specifies in Code of Alabama 25-5-78 that in Alabama that the injury event requires notice within 5 days in writing and in no event later than 90 days after the date of the accident. Written notice is not required where the employer has actual knowledge of the accident. Oral notice of the accident injury is sufficient if in a timely manner is given to the right person.
We see on-the-job accident reporting problems far too often in our office. If you or a loved one gets hurt on the job have them contact an experienced workers compensation attorney.
McCutcheon & Hamner concentrates on accident and injury law. If someone gets hurt on the job,we want the case. If you are injured and do not choose our law firm, make sure you choose an attorney who has knowledge and experience in the law.
Alabama Truck Accident Attorneys
When commercial semi truck drivers have accidents, the truck drivers have a plan to limit or contain the trucking companys liability damage. Often big rig semi trucks are equipped with cameras and the trucks are always equipped with instructions to call the trucking company. This means that that the trucking company will have their own investigator, especially in the case of a serious injury on the way to the tractor trailer accident sometimes before the police are on the way to the truck crash scene.
While a victims family is grieving over the loss of a loved one, a trucking company insurance company is making certain that deserved compensation to the victims family is contested. Because McCutcheon and Hamner handles trucking accident cases and only personal injury cases, we know what to do in handling complex truck wreck cases. We are not suggesting that lawyers who handle divorce work or DUI cases do not know what to in handling truck wreck cases. What we are saying is here at McCutcheon and Hamner, Accident and Injury Lawyers have a tried and tested team of truck accident reconstructionists that is on call 24 hours a day/7 days a week that we call immediately in truck wreck cases, this system has resulted in millions of dollars paid to our clients.
Most commercial cars and trucks, like airplanes have “black boxes”. These are known as Event Data Recorders and they record certain vehicle information. Commercial vehicle data measurement varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Tractor-trailer accidents involve two or three major black box manufacturers, these commercial vehicle black boxes record several days back in time of use, average truck speed, vehicle speed at the time just before the last braking event occured. This is information the trucking company often does not want you to have if you are involved in an accident with their vehicle. (like one of the last cases we had where the truck was traveling 13 mph in excess of the posted speed limit before the driver lost control)
It is very important that the trucking company receive a “preservation letter” so that our truck accident expert can be present when the commercial vehicle data is downloaded and so that the semi truck remains in the same condition it was in at the time of the accident. We have seen cases where truckers used mismatched brakes from the left to right side and other cases where tractor trailer brakes were not within the specifications required by the Department of Transportation(DOT). Obviously, trucking companies do not want people injured in accidents with their vehicles to know these facts.
Cars can have EDRs(black boxes) and some give changes in speed, brake action, accelerator action and whether or not seatbelts were buckled or airbag deployed, when an accident occurs. Obviously, these facts are important when investigating vehicle accidents. Time is of the essence when a serious injury or death occurs in connection with an accident.
If you or a loved one is involved in an accident with a commercial vehicle or any vehicle, call 911-then contact the Accident and Injury team at McCutcheon and Hamner, Personal Injury Lawyers-(256) 333-5000.