Category: Blog

Have you been injured in a car crash caused by another driver?

Under Georgia’s fault-based insurance system, the at-fault driver is liable for any injuries or property damage from the accident.

That means you can contact the other driver’s insurance company to obtain compensation. You can still contact your insurance company, but they will seek compensation from the at-fault driver’s insurer.

No matter which insurance company you contact, they will assign an insurance adjuster to your claim. This person will contact you to review the accident and determine the value of the damages you suffered.

You should cooperate with the adjuster and provide information about the accident, including:

• Medical documentation of your injuries
• Police report
• Contact information of witnesses
• Property damage caused by the crash

However, there are several things you should keep in mind when talking to insurance adjusters:

• To the adjuster, the insurance company’s best interests are more important than yours
• Adjusters are trained to be nice to prevent you from hiring a lawyer
• Adjusters have no legal obligation to you
• An adjuster’s job is to minimize your claim

You have to be careful what you say because the adjuster can use it against you. Adjusters work for insurance companies and they want to spend as little of the company’s money as possible so they can look good on their next performance evaluation.

Do not let an adjuster convince you that your injuries are not as bad as they seem or you should accept a smaller settlement than you feel you deserve.

If the adjuster asks to record your conversation, politely decline. You are under no obligation to record the conversation and anything you say on the record could hurt your chances of recovering fair compensation.

If you feel overwhelmed at the prospect of handling negotiations with a claims adjuster, you should consult a skilled auto accident attorney. Our experienced Savannah car accident attorneys can handle negotiations with the adjuster, making sure your rights are protected and you receive all of the compensation you deserve.

If we are unable to obtain a fair settlement from your insurance company, we may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver. Georgia’s no-fault insurance and liability system allows such lawsuits.

We have a proven track record of obtaining just compensation for our clients, including a $1.2 million settlement for a victim of a catastrophic car accident.

The Nye Law Group’s Savannah office is located at 114 Barnard Street, across the street from Telfair Square and just 10 minutes from the beautiful historic district.

Contact our team of Savannah injury lawyers today by calling 855-856-4212 or completing our Free Case Evaluation form.

Not only do you have to establish that a medical professional was negligent in providing medical treatment, but you also have to prove the medical professional’s negligence caused you to suffer damages.

The Savannah medical malpractice lawyers at The Nye Law Group will fight to hold negligent physicians and medical professionals accountable for the damages they have caused.

Below are the five elements of a Georgia medical malpractice claim.

DOCTOR-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP

This means the medical professional accused of negligence agreed to provide treatment or diagnose your illness or medical condition. You must show that this relationship existed on the date of the alleged malpractice.

This aspect of a medical malpractice claim often goes unchallenged. It is usually easy to provide medical documentation or testimony proving:

• An agreement to treat or diagnose you
• You were examined or treated by a medical professional without an agreement

However, it is still a good idea to obtain medical records showing the complete course of treatment. If the accused is able to show there was no doctor-patient relationship when the alleged malpractice occurred, the relationship does not exist.

NEGLIGENT CARE OR TREATMENT

The doctor-patient relationship gives rise to the physician’s duty of care. This requires the health care practitioner to act as another healthcare professional with similar training would have if he or she were in a similar situation.

Another way of saying it is that medical professionals must provide care that fits within accepted standards in the medical community.

Expert witnesses may be used to establish what competent care would have been in your situation according to standard medical practice and how the doctor failed to deliver care to that standard. You may also need to use clinical practice guidelines from medical professional groups to establish what the standard of care was in your situation.

There are many examples of failing to perform within medical standards, including:

• Failing to diagnose an illness
• Diagnosing a patient with the wrong illness
• Making a surgical error caused by negligence 
• Operating without a surgical plan
• Medication errors
• Failing to order necessary tests
• Incorrectly analyzing medical tests
• Failing to take a patient history
• Anesthesia errors
• Failing to monitor a patient for signs of distress

Under Georgia law, you are required to file an affidavit accusing the defendant of at least one negligent act. The affidavit must be prepared by a medical expert who is qualified to testify under Georgia law. This person must provide a factual basis for the allegation of negligent care.

INJURIES WERE CAUSED BY NEGLIGENCE

Proving that the physician provided substandard care is not enough. You must prove that the doctor’s actions directly caused you to suffer injuries.

Expert testimony may be used to link your injury or worsening medical condition to the substandard care you received. This is crucial because the defense will probably try to attribute your injuries to an underlying medical condition that was not caused by a medical professional.

PROOF OF DAMAGES

You are required to provide details about the damages caused by your injuries, whether they are physical, financial or emotional.

Damages in a malpractice case could include:

• Additional medical care
• Lost wages due to your inability to work
• Physical pain
• Emotional suffering
• Physical therapy
• Rehabilitation

PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE

This means the medical malpractice claim is more likely to be true than not. This means the jury will make a decision in favor of the plaintiff if there is at least a 51 percent chance his or her claims are true.

It is easier to satisfy this legal standard than the legal standards used in other cases. For instance, in a criminal case, the plaintiff’s claims have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

OUR EXPERIENCED SAVANNAH MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ATTORNEYS ARE READY TO HELP

Given the complexities of medical malpractice cases, it is best to consult an experienced Savannah medical malpractice attorney to file a claim.

We will also aggressively help you with your claim to ensure it is properly handled to meet Georgria’s two-year medical malpractice statute of limitations and pursue the compensation you deserve.

Our team of Savannah personal injury attorneys are dedicated to protecting the rights of our clients and will work on a contigency fee basis. This means we never charge clients upfront for our services and only get paid if we recover compensation for your claim.

Call 855-856-4212 or complete our Free Case Evaluation form.

Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed a rule requiring any new light-duty vehicles to have vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology.

The rule would also standardize V2V technology into a single format and programming environment. Regulators believe standardization will allow this technology to be adopted more quickly.

If the NHTSA proposal is put into full effect, V2V technology could save more than 1,300 lives per year, according to NHTSA estimates.

V2V technology allows nearby vehicles to exchange basic data about location, direction, speed and braking status. These systems then decide whether or not to warn drivers about potential hazards or situations that could result in a crash.

This technology would be especially beneficial for left turns and passing through intersections. The NHTSA estimates that assisting drivers with these two maneuvers could reduce deaths, injuries and crashes by up to 50 percent.

If the NHTSA approves the proposal, it would take effect over a two to four-year period. That means if a final rule is issued in 2019, there would be a phase-in period beginning in 2021. All new vehicles would have to be in compliance with the rule by 2023.

The NHTSA proposal is set to be published on Jan. 12, with a 90-day comment period to follow. You can submit comments here.

Even if V2V technology is implemented across the board, there could still be traffic accidents that cause severe injuries or deaths. Victims of these accidents need aggressive legal representation to ensure their rights are protected and they receive all of the compensation they are entitled.

The car crash injury attorneys at The Nye Law Group have the experience you need following an accident. We have helped many victims of crashes obtain the compensation they need to help them recover from their injuries and move forward.

Call our Savannah injury attorneys today at 855-856-4212 for your free case review.

If you believe the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was wrong to deny your application for veterans’ disability benefits, you can appeal by filing a Notice of Disagreement (NOD).

The Savannah veterans’ disability attorneys at our firm can help you every step of the way. Contact us today for a free legal consultation.

However, you have one year from the decision date to file an NOD, otherwise the VA’s decision is final and cannot be changed.

Take the time to carefully review the VA’s notification letter before filling out a NOD form so you can determine all of the areas where you and the VA disagree. Take note of the VA’s reasoning and explanation of evidence you need to provide to be granted a higher disability rating.

Once you determine the specific decisions you disagree with, you are ready to begin filling out the checklist on the NOD form.

The checklist has boxes for each area of contention. For example, if you disagree with a decision about one of your disabilities, you can check the box for that condition and also check a box indicating the aspect of the decision you disagree with, such as:

• The VA rating of your disability
• Effective date for awarding benefits
• Connection of the disability to your service

The NOD form also contains a narrative section, which is the most important part of the form. This is where you can point out any issues or details the VA missed or failed to consider. You can add extra pages to include medical documentation, test results or other evidence to make your case.

If you disagree with the VA’s ruling that your disability is not connected to your service, you will need to provide evidence showing your injuries occurred in the military. Evidence could include private treatment records, the write-up for a medal or other official documentation.

If you want to file a NOD, you should consider seeking help from an experienced veterans’ disability attorney. An attorney can help make sure your NOD form is submitted on time and includes all of the necessary evidence to give you the best chance of overturning a denied application.

The Nye Law Group’s Savannah veterans’ disability attorneys are thoroughly familiar with the veterans’ disability process and we know what it takes to be successful. We offer a complimentary case evaluation and only charge legal fees if your case has a favorable outcome.

Contact us today by calling 855-856-4212.

If you want to file a personal injury lawsuit to obtain compensation for injuries you suffered in an accident, you have to prove your injuries were caused by negligence.

This occurs when someone acts in a reckless or careless manner and causes others to suffer injuries. Examples of negligence include reckless driving or manufacturing a dangerous drug or defective product.

There are four elements of negligence you have to establish in order to file a personal injury claim and have a chance to obtain compensation:

• Duty of care – This means the defendant had a responsibility to take reasonable steps to prevent injuries to other people. For example, drivers must follow traffic laws to prevent accidents that could cause other drivers to suffer injuries.
• Breach of duty of care – This occurs when an individual does not fulfill the responsibilities of his or her duty of care. For instance, when a property owner fails to clean up a spill and a guest slips and falls, a duty of care was breached.
• Breach of duty of care caused you harm – You must prove the breach of the duty of care was the primary cause of your injuries. This can be tough because insurance companies and attorneys for the defense will assert that your injuries were caused by something else.
• Your injuries caused damages – You have to show that your injuries resulted in physical, financial or emotional damages. This could include medical bills, lost wages or emotional trauma.

The more facts and documentation you have, the better your chances of proving negligence. That is why you should work with an experienced personal injury attorney on your claim.

The Nye Law Group’s personal injury claim lawyers in Savannah, GA and other great southern states have years of experience gathering evidence and investigating negligence. We also have a long track record of obtaining fair compensation for people who have been injured by another person’s negligence.

Our attorneys offer a free, no obligation legal consultation and do not charge legal fees unless your claim has a favorable outcome.

Call us today at (912) 200-5230 or live chat with a representative.