Vermont & New Hampshire Injury Blog

New Hampshire Weakens Graduated Drivers Licenses (GDL) Law

COLLISION BETWEEN MILK TANK TRUCKS CAUSES FATALITY

Montpelier, VT  A tragic three-vehicle collision took the lives of two people Monday morning, January 25th,  in Vermont. Two milk tanker trucks  and a car collided when the first truck jackknifed in the road. The accident happened in the south bound lanes of Route 89 in the Montpelier vicinity.  One of the truck drivers, identified as 43-year-old Christopher Trivento, did not survive the crash. One of the passengers in the car, identified as 62-year-old Linda Hall, was also killed in the fiery wreck, while her husband, 66-year-old John Hall survived and was treated and released from an area hospital.

The driver of the jackknifed tanker was 59-year-old David Dike. He survived the collision and was treated at the hospital. Vermont State Police reported that both lanes of the interstate were shut down between Middlesex and Berlin for hours. The northbound lanes reopened at 630 p.m. while the southbound lanes remained closed for investigation and cleanup until 5:30 p.m. The milk that the trucks were carrying was taken via another tanker.

It is still unknown whether icy conditions were a contributing factor.  However road crews are reporting that the highway was ice free at the time of the collision

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Questionable Claims Make It Harder For Serious Personal Injury Cases

Here’s one for the books. It appears that a California woman is suing Southwest Airlines over a dispute concerning the use of her cell phone. Any of us who travel by air know the rules. There comes a time when you’re sitting on the plane right before take-off that you must turn off your cell phone. I just assumed it was some kind of safety measure and never had a problem turning the thing off when they asked me to and turning it back on when they said it was ok. Well, I guess it wasn’t ok for Norma Stiener and she wound up getting arrested for disorderly conduct after she refused to turn off her phone when asked by the flight attendant.

Now, here’s the kicker Norma Stiener is suing Southwest Airlines for false imprisonment and asking for 2 million dollars in damages. I don’t know any details of the case, but it seems to me that if the airline wants you to turn off your cell phone for safety reasons and you refuse, then maybe you should face the consequences. Not only am I amazed that she is suing for 2 million dollars, I am amazed that a lawyer even took this case. To learn more about it, see the article in USA Today . The details may tell a different story, but  in my opinion, on its face it looks like one of those law suits that give lawyers and the legal system a bad name. This makes it only harder for my firm to serve the interests of seriously injured personal injury victims. Ed Van Dorn

Upcoming meeting with an attorney? What to expect in your first interview.

Do you have a meeting scheduled with an attorney at Van Dorn & Curtiss to discuss the merits of a potential personal injury claim? If you don’t, and would like to schedule one, please contact us.  If an appointment is already scheduled, you may be wondering what to expect or what information the attorney is going to ask you. The first meeting between you and your lawyer could be the most important meeting in your case.  During your initial interview, your attorney will typically discuss several factors that may play a role in your potential personal injury claim. These factors include the statute of limitations in your case.  Specifically, your attorney will need to determine when the statute of limitation begins to run on all your potential claims, and when it ends. Your attorney will also discuss issues bearing on liability.  This is where details are very critical, and the attorney may spend a significant amount of time walking through the events step by step.  For example, in an automobile accident case, your attorney will need to know how the accident happened, a description of the scene of the collision, the location of all vehicles involved in the collision, the point of impact, and other details such as speed, time, and road markings.  Your attorney will also discuss damages.  Damages may include out-of-pocket expenses, lost income, future expenses, medical bills, as well as intangible harm such as pain and suffering.  Other potential topics to be discussed include the client’s background, other parties involved, potential witnesses, potential defenses, physical evidence, paperwork, the client’s goals, and the steps going forward. There is one important thing to should keep in mind: tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  Don’t tell your lawyer what you think is important.  It is crucial that you tell the entire story, making sure to include all facts that you might think are negative or harmful to your claim.  This is the only way to ensure that your attorney gives you the best and most candid advice.

The Sources of Tort Law

A tort is a civil wrong resulting in injury or harm to another person. The tort, or civil wrong, provides the grounds for a lawsuit. For more information on torts, see What is a Tort? A brief overview of Negligent Torts, Intentional Torts, and Strict Liability.   At Van Dorn & Curtiss, we specialize in personal injury litigation and helping injured people get monetary compensation for the harm they have suffered.  One of the ways in which we provide outstanding legal service to our clients is by being familiar with the sources of tort law and the current developments in tort law. 

Tort law is state law based upon common law and statutory law.  Common law is also known as law created by judges while statutory law is that which is enacted through the state legislature.  Both New Hampshire and Vermont have adopted state statues which apply to civil actions based on tort law.

Many judges and lawyers also refer to the Restatement (Second) of Torts.  The Restatement (Second) of Tort is published by the American Law Institute and is considered a secondary authority (as opposed to a primary authority such as a state statute). 

In addition, Federal law, such as the Federal Tort Claims Act is an important statute, which permits private parties to sue the United States in a federal court torts committed by persons acting on behalf of the United States. 

The Elements of Negligence

Negligence is the failure to exercise reasonable care with harm resulting. Reasonable care is generally defined by what the average person in our society would do or not do under the same circumstances. In a civil case, such as a personal injury case, including automobile accident cases, medical malpractice cases, product liability cases and premises liability cases to name a few,  there are specific elements of negligence that must  be established to make the case. . These elements are “duty”, “breach”, “causation”, and “damages” and are explained in more detail in the article on our website. To continue go here

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Vermont Personal Injury Law Blog

As clients and friends of our firm, and visitors to our website know Van Dorn & Curtiss is a personal injury law firm practicing in both Vermont and New Hampshire. In fact our attorneys sit on the Board of Governor's of Both the Vermont and New Hampshire Trial Lawyer's Associations. We consider this a great honor.

Personal injury law in Vermont has increased in complexity over the years. This is due to overall developments in the law and a tougher litigation environment. The basic premise of Vermont personal injury law remains the same. If someone is careless or negligent and that careless or negligent conduct causes harm to another then the negligent actor is responsible for the harm they cause. The harm is measured in what the law refers to as damages. Damages in Vermont personal injury claims can include: medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, temporary and permanent disability and loss of quality of life. Spouses of injured parties may have claims for loss of consortium.

There are many complexities to a Vermont personal injury claim. Medical liens are a good example and will be addressed in a seperate blog. The bottom line is if you have a Vermont personal injury claim it is very important that you choose an experienced Vermont personal injury lawyer to represent you. As we say on our website "Choosing the right lawyer for your serious personal injury claim may be one of the most important decisions you ever make."

Personal Injury Lawyers and Advertising

It should come as no surprise that there is an epidemic of personal injury lawyer advertising. We see it on TV, the Yellow Pages, we even hear it on the radio. We hear the empty slogans: "Make it a fair fight" "LawPower" "We hate to lose". What does it all mean. Mostly, the empty slogans mean nothing. They are nothing more than advertising gimmicks. They have nothing to do with whether the advertising lawyer is competent and accomplished. They having nothing to do with whether that lawyer is the right lawyer for your personal injury claim. The slogan of the website for Van Dorn & Curtiss is "Choosing the right lawyer for your serious personal injury case may be one of the most important decisions you ever make." This is a true statement. The more serious the claim, the more important it is to choose the right lawyer. In the library section of our website you will find more information on this topic, including a checklist you can use to help choose the right lawyer for your claim. If you or a loved one has had a serious personal injury please don't make the mistake of hiring the wrong law firm for your case.

The Economic Downturn and Personal Injury Law

            Someone asked recently whether the economic downturn may effect the rights of personal injury victims. There are two areas where victims rights may be effected.

            The first involves the investment losses suffered by insurance companies. When insurance companies receive premiums they invest those premiums in the market place. When the investments do well the profits of the insurance companies rise. And vice versa when the investments due poorly insurance companies suffer losses and sometimes must scramble to make up those losses. One of the areas where they scramble is paying out claims. Where in a normal economy many standard personal injury claims have a certain value and a certain time expectation for when the claim will be paid, in an economic downturn the insurance company may try even harder than they normally do to avoid paying fair value on claims to make up for investment losses and also delay paying claims so they may earn more interest on the claims money during the delay. This makes it all the more important to have an experienced personal injury law firm during an economic downturn. This leads to the second point.

            During economic downturns many lawyers who normally make their living doing real estate closings, business contracts and the like, will see that part of their business dry up. Since the number of people injured or killed by the negligence of others is not impacted by the economy, some of the business lawyers will try their hand at personal injury law. In other parts of this website we explain at length why it is important for victims with serious personal injuries to be only represented by experienced personal injury lawyers. So in an economic downturn it is even more important for the victim to do their homework when choosing the right lawyer for their case.

            As I often say to my friends and loved ones, I hope you never have the need for a personal injury lawyer. But if you do it is extremely important that you hire a lawyer with the necessary background, experience, training and reputation for successfully handling serious personal injury claims.