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A new record created in the history of Gordon County; Tort Claim of $2,345,940 rewarded.
In a historic decision taken by Superior Court of Gordon County, Calhoun, Georgia that reminds of a scene of the 1982 Paul Newman movie, "The Verdict," the jury after three hours of deliberation sent a handwritten piece to the judge inquiring if they were limited by the amount being claimed by the plaintiff . Gordon County personal injury lawyers firm after closing the final argument had put demand for a verdict of approximately $1.2 million for their client's permanently disabling leg injury.
The firm won a $2,345,940.17 jury verdict against a Pennsylvania trucking company in the Superior Court of Gordon County, Calhoun, Georgia. The final break up of the verdict was:
Compensatory Damages: $1,742,845.70
Attorney fees due to bad faith in the transaction: $580,948.57
Expenses of Litigation: $ 22,145.90
Medical Expenses: $112,228
Surviving a serious accident or disabling injury is no assurance that the same person won't be further injured through a later act of some other person's negligence. Oregon personal injury lawyers say that in reality frequent medical treatments, multiple prescriptions, and facing physical or mental challenges create greater weakness in disabled persons. This can further pose increased danger of incurring a new disabling injury - one that can make the difference between independence and severe restrictions in mobility, productivity, and family life.
If you or some other individual has been disabled and then suffered a subsequent injury-causing accident it is suggested that those persons contact a personal injury lawyer of Oregon, attorneys who can properly handle and represent people with serious disabilities. Oregon disability claim attorneys specialize in handling the following cases:
- Injury or disability due to prescription of contra-indicated medications
- Negligent or careless treatment in an assisted living facility
- Injuries occurring from product defects in adaptive technology devices fitted inside a car, at the place of work, or in home
- Injuries taking place due to inadequate medical treatment or surgical negligence aggravating any previous injury or creating a new one
- Premises liability claims in cases involving injury caused or exacerbated by the defendant's failure to accommodate the plaintiff's physical condition
- Injuries related to defective medical products, implants or prosthetic devices
What is Oregon Tort Law?
Comparative Fault-Oregon is a modified comparative fault state. In order to qualify for recovery, a plaintiff must demonstrate that a defendant is at least 50% at fault. If a defendant fails to establish 50% fault the suite is rejected and there is no recovery. There are some cases where pure comparative apply as is followed by the states like Washington and some other states. Some examples of these are the Employer Liability Act and certain maritime claims.
There are two categories in which your personal injury lawyer in Oregon can file claims for damages, economic and non-economic. Oregon has a statutory limit of $500,000 on noneconomic damages, which is enforceable for wrongful death claims but is not applicable to personal injury claims.
Punitive Damages are also included in Oregon tort law. Injuries resulting from voluntary intoxication are admissible but gross negligence do not qualify. Recovery of punitive damages requires a higher standard of proof. Only a specialist personal injury attorney of Oregon can establish those damages by collecting clear and convincing evidence. There is also a special distribution schedule which fixes a limit on the amount of money the claimant will receive.
Amount of punitive damages can also be reduced after its reward by the court if it feels that some factors have not been complied. These important legal points are:
- Amount is outside the range that a rational juror would award based upon the record as a whole
- The defendant has adopted remedial steps to insure that the problem does not reoccur
- Previous judgments have been entered based upon the same conduct
Liquor Liability Law
Liquor liability laws depict circumstances where a person can be held financially responsible for serving alcoholic beverage to an apparently intoxicated person. The laws are also called Dram Shop Laws. Currently, every state have their own liability laws. Some states hold a bar owner and bartender liable for the harm caused by serving a drink to a drunk person. Liquor liability attorneys of Oregon give the argument that Liability could be assigned to restaurants, liquor stores, clubs and private events like home parties. That party could be held liable if the intoxicated person performs a law breaking activity.
Liability laws also apply to the following cases:
- Selling liquor without a license
- Selling liquor to minors
- Selling liquor after permissible hours
Oregon imposes liability pertaining to the sale and services of alcoholic beverages under statutory and common law grounds. The law is equally applicable to both a purveyor of liquor and a social host. For example, in an automobile case it must be clearly demonstrated by Oregon liquor liability lawyer that an adult patron was served alcoholic beverages while visibly intoxicated. Liability for serving a minor can be fixed only when there is sufficient evidence to show that proof of identification should have been requested or it is determined that a sensible adult would have realized that identification was changed and did not accurately describe the minor.
Oregon Statute of Limitations
The statutes of limitation relevant for most tort claims are:
Bodily Injury: 2 years
- Injury to personal property: 6 years
- Medical malpractice: within two years from the date of wrongful act
- Product Liability suite: within two years of plaintiff having suffered injury
- Any claim against the government (Claim notice within 180 days after the occurrence) is entertained within 2 years of the injury
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