What is PIP? How Does Baltimore Personal Injury Protection Work?
Personal injury protection [PIP] benefits are ‘no-fault’, ‘first-party’ insurance benefits. ‘No-fault’ means that you get these if injured in a an automobile accident, no matter what the blame for the accident is. [Of course, you’re not eligible if you intentionally caused the this automobile accident, or if you were committing a felony that led to the... Read more »
If I Hire A Personal Injury Lawyer Do I Pay A Retainer or Anything Up Front?
Most personal injury victims are, at the end of the day, concerned primarily not with the ultimate value of their claim, but rather with the amount of the total recovery that they get, i.e. the “net”. That is, after all costs, fees and expenses are deducted -what hits their pocket? Understandably, that is really all that... Read more »
Do Some Insurance Companies Deny More Claims Or Pay Less Than Others?
Another valid question. A few years ago, a lawyer’s group now know as the American Association for Justice, put out a fascinating publication called the ’10 Worst Insurance Companies in America’. [https://www.justice.org/…/AAJ_Report] It’s a safe bet to say that most people know many insurance companies are massive, and profitable. It’s probably a safe bet to... Read more »
Example of Contributory Negligence? Do I Lose My Baltimore Accident Case?
Seasoned Baltimore personal injury and accident lawyers have seen the law imposes a duty on every driver to see everything they should have seen [even if they didn’t] had “they properly exercised his faulty of vision”. Colmes v. Zamoiski, 294 A.2d 120. There, the court noted that a driver who fails to see what they... Read more »
What is The Maryland Boulevard Rule?
The Maryland Boulevard Rule has been described as rigid, inflexible, and even unfair in some applications. This doctrine is frequently invoked by an insurance company as a basis to deny a financial recovery to someone injured in an accident that could have been primarily the fault of another. Maryland law divides intersecting roadways into two... Read more »
Can I Sue the Bus or Taxi Company for Personal Injury?
The law imposes stricter requirements for those organizations in the business of transporting people- called “common carriers”. There are additional duties imposed on these common carriers: As Attorney Eric T. Kirk will tell you. The utmost degree of care, skill and diligence in everything that concerns its passenger’s safety.1 A common carrier is one who engages... Read more »
What Happens If An Insurance Company Does Not Offer Its Policy Limits?
The possibility of obtaining a financial recovery beyond the limits of any possible insurance coverage clearly has an enormous impact on the value of the case. Maryland has relatively modest minimum motor vehicle liability coverage minimum requirements of just 30,000. A rather surprising number of drivers carry only the minimum. The best Baltimore personal injury... Read more »
What is The “Last Clear Chance” Doctrine?
Under Maryland law, those that contribute to the happening that causes them injury do not have a claim against anyone else that contributes to that same event. This is called contributory negligence, and it is a bar to recovery. This age-old principle can operate to preclude and prohibit a financial recovery, even where the other... Read more »
Can The At Fault Party’s Insurance Company Deny My Claim, Delay My Settlement or Disclaim Coverage?
A crucial fact for any injured person to recognize, and be prepared to deal with, is that an involved insurance company does not want to compensate you. Perhaps it is counter-intuitive. Insurance is designed to provide compensation for a loss. That’s what the insured person pays for- coverage for a loss. So, when a loss... Read more »
Contributory Negligence: Can I Recover for an Accident if I’m Negligent, Even in the Smallest Way?
The law of five jurisdictions, Alabama, District of Columbia*, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, contains the doctrine of “contributory negligence”. An experienced Baltimore car and automobile accident lawyer Attorney Eric T. Kirk will advise clients that this principle, a leftover vestige from the common law of England, hundreds of years old, operates to deny any financial recovery... Read more »
How Much Is My Case Worth? Will You Make a Good Witness at Trial?
Is there a subjective component to how much compensation you recover? You bet there is, which highlights some of the inherent complexities in assigning value to a case. Seasoned Baltimore personal injury and accident lawyers that try their cases have no doubt heard a defense lawyer say after a deposition: “Your client will make a good witness”, or,... Read more »
Do I have to Have A Permanent Injury to Get A Settlement?
I’ve talked in other chapters of these guides about the effect, good or bad- of the testimony of the injured person on the outcome of the trial. Even seasoned Baltimore personal injury and accident lawyers that try their cases have likely had a case come off the wheels at one time or another. One potential problem... Read more »
