Category : Personal Injury

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Dog Bite Attack: What are my options?

Dog bite attacks can be very serious, often resulting in injuries as well as permanent damage. Our personal injury lawyers have seen the result of dog bite attacks that range from multiple scratches to permanent disfigurement.

Ohio’s dog bite law states that the owner of the dog is liable for the injury of another individual if it is caused by the dog. This means that if you are attacked by a dog and suffer injuries, you can pursue legal damages against the owner of the dog. However, most people cannot pay for medical bills and injuries, so unless there is home owners or renters insurance, most lawyers will not take the case because they will be unable to get you compensation. Usually the dog bite lawyers at our office would refer those individual to small claims court.

Dog Bite Claim

When involved in a dog bite attack, there are certain steps that our dog bite lawyers recommend taking in order to ensure that your claim will result in the compensation that is deserved.

Seek Medical Attention for a Dog Bite

The first thing t do after a dog bite attack is to seek medical attention. Generally most people choose to visit a doctor or emergency room for their dog bite injuries. This puts you in a better position for your health and they can professionally clean the wounds.

Take Photos of the Dog Bite Injuries

Take photos of the dog bite injuries before and after receiving medical attention. This will show evidence of the harm that the dog caused you after your injuries begin to heal. You will also want to present these photos to your personal injury lawyer.

Generally, if you go to the emergency room, they are required to report the dog bite.

File a Police Report

Filing a police report after a dog bite is required by Ohio law. This helps to support your dog bite injury claim, as well as prevent the dog from attacking another individual in the future. You can visit your local police station to file the report of where the dog bite attack happened, the date and time of the attack, where you suffered injuries, and the name and address of the dog owner.

Dog Bite Lawyers in Ohio

The personal injury lawyers at Contrada & Associates have helped dog bite victims to receive compensation for their injuries and the effect that the dog bite attack had on their lives. If you would like to speak to a personal injury lawyer about your dog bite attack, call our office at 419.841.4400. We will help you to file a dog bite claim and ultimately receive justice for your injuries while preventing the same thing from happening to another individual.

12 Aug 2014 Continue Reading

Can I handle my personal injury case myself?

There are many forms of personal injury that an individual can suffer from, one of the most prevalent being injuries sustained in a car accident. When someone is injured and pursues a personal injury case, they should do so under the guidance of an experienced personal injury attorney. Filing a personal injury claim allows an injured individual to receive compensation for the injuries sustained to cover things like medical bills, time off work, emotional distress, and pain and suffering. Personal injury claims can also include missing out on things such as family weddings and get-togethers, losing vacation due to the injury, and having to pay for service that wouldn’t be needed otherwise, such as housekeeping and transportation. If a professional is not working on your behalf, you may not receive the compensation that you deserve.

Paying a Personal Injury Attorney

What many people do not realize about hiring a personal injury attorney is that the attorney doesn’t get paid unless you do and the money that the attorney receives from working on your case is based on the settlement amount. Therefore, you will not find yourself in a position in which you have to pay an attorney for their services with money that you do not have. An attorney will likely help you to ultimately receive more compensation than you would otherwise, even after they receive their payment. This type of payment is referred to as a contingent fee. Most attorneys base their services off of contingent fees since most working people could not afford to pay their lawyer on an hourly basis. Contingent fees are good for the client of a personal injury case because they will not have to pay their attorney until the time of the settlement. These fees are also good for the attorney because they are motivated to get their client the most favorable settlement possible as their payment is directly associated with the compensation that is received.

Personal Injury Attorney in Toledo

If you have been involved in an accident that has resulted in a personal injury and you would like to pursue a case, your best option is to contact a personal injury attorney. Having a professional working on your behalf will help you to receive the most compensation in the long-run and will make the entire personal injury legal process much easier. To speak to a personal injury attorney at Contrada & Associates, call 419.841.4400. When calling our office, you will not only be able to review your case with an attorney, but also receive the advice and guidance to help you with your case.

30 Jul 2014 Continue Reading

What is my personal injury case worth?

The value of a personal injury case depends on a variety of things. There are many factors that will affect the compensation that may be received in a personal injury settlement, ranging from the cause of the personal injury (i.e. car accident), to the severity of the injuries sustained.

Factors Affecting a Personal Injury Settlement

Below Attorney Contrada has listed the common factors that go into determining how much a personal injury case is worth.

  • The incident – The incident that caused the personal injury affects the worth of the case. For example, if a car accident caused your personal injuries, there will be several things considered, such as the seriousness of the accident, the impact of the collision, liability (who is at fault) and property damage that resulted. A car accident attorney can help you to gain a better understanding of how the car accident you were involved in will affect the worth of your personal case.
  • Injuries – The injuries that may result from an accident vary. An individual in a vehicle may suffer severe injuries after a collision, while another passenger in that same vehicle could only suffer from minor injuries. For example, a past case that attorney Charlie Contrada handled involved a car accident with four boys in on of the vehicles – two of the boys suffered no injury, one suffered whiplash, and the fourth died in the accident. The injuries that are sustained are specific to each individual and play a major role in the worth of the personal injury case.
  • Medical Expenses – Just as the severity of the injuries affect the worth of a case, so do the medical expenses. If multiple surgeries are required and the individual must undergo months of physical therapy, their personal injury case may be worth more in order to cover those expenses. Pre-existing conditions can also play a role in the value of the case. For example, someone who has a bad back prior to a car accident then aggravates the pre-existing condition in the accident. While their symptoms worsen as a result, the value of the case lessens because it is a pre-existing condition. To ensure that the proper compensation is received to cover all the medical expenses from an injury, it is imperative to hire an experienced attorney to guide you through the process.
  • Lost Wages/Time off Work – When an injury causes an individual to take time off of work, resulting in lost wages, the value of their personal injury case increases. Oftentimes individuals must take time to recover after injuries, resulting in either lost or reduced pay. There are also instances in which an individual can no longer return to their job at all. This lost earning potential plays a major role in the value of a personal injury case, however it does depend on the career of the individual.
  • Pain & Suffering – Injuries sustained in a car accident can cause significant pain and suffering for an individual. This includes many things, such as the inability for a parent to attend their child’s sporting events due to their condition, or no longer being able to travel long distances to see family members due to pain experienced from the injury. A car accident attorney can help to document the effects of your accident, which then affect the value of your personal injury case.
  • Emotional Distress – The emotional effects of a personal injury can cause a significant impact on an individual’s life. This is also considered to be a factor when determining the value of a personal injury case.

Hiring a Personal Injury Attorney

It is very important to your personal injury case that you have an attorney representing you. With so many factors affecting the value of a case, having a professional working on your behalf increases the chances that you will receive a favorable settlement.

The personal injury attorneys at Contrada & Associates have helped countless personal injury victims to receive the compensation that they deserve. Attorney Charlie Contrada has over 30 years of personal injury experience, helping clients throughout Northwest Ohio. If you would like to speak to attorney Contrada about the incident that caused your personal injury, call 419.841.4400. You will be able to speak directly with Charlie, explain the accident that occurred, and receive guidance on the steps that you should take regarding your personal injury claim.

8 Jul 2014 Continue Reading

Premises Liability: Injured on Neighbor’s Property

If you are injured on your neighbor’s property, there two different ways in which you can receive compensation for your injuries.

Homeowner’s Insurance: Medical Payments

The first avenue that an injured individual may receive compensation after being injured on another individual’s property is through the medical payments portion of the homeowner’s insurance. This portion of homeowner’s insurance typically reimburses up to $5,000 of medical bills for injuries that occur on the homeowner’s property. This may or may not cover the full amount of medical bills that result from the injury.

If the neighbor’s property is rented, there is often no recourse. 

Liability Insurance

Another way that an individual can receive compensation for an injury that occurs on a neighbor’s property is if they can find fault of the homeowner. The types of injuries that can be caused by fault are those that occur due to faulty areas of the property. For example, if an individual is injured on a broken step, or falls due to the fact that a railing is not properly installed, fault can be found on behalf of the homeowner. If a homeowner is aware of an area of their property that is not safe, or they have knowingly installed something ineffectively and someone else is injured as a result, they can be deemed at fault.

A liability claim can be made in addition to a medical payments claim. This allows the injured victim to receive the full amount of compensation that is deserved for their injuries, covering things such as medical bills, time off of work, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Premises Liability Claim

If you or a loved one has been injured on a neighbor’s property and you would like to learn what your legal options are and if you are able to make a liability claim, it is imperative that you contact a personal injury attorney.

When making a premises liability claim, the guidance of an experienced personal injury attorney is necessary to ensure that you end up receiving the full settlement that you deserve. Many individuals do not have experience in this area of the law, so hiring a professional who will work on your behalf to ensure that you receive the proper amount of compensation is crucial.

To speak to a personal injury attorney at Contrada & Associates, call 419.841.4400. You will have the opportunity to speak directly with an attorney about your legal options and ensure that you premises liability claim ends in a favorable settlement.

3 Jul 2014 Continue Reading

Child Injured While Playing Sports

Many parents get their children involved in sports at a young age as a way to begin an active lifestyle and to teach discipline. While sports are not considered incredibly dangerous at a young age, there is a risk that exists as children get older and become more involved in contact play. For example, Pop Warner football leagues do not have the high-intensity collisions that high school football leagues do.

One of the things that both parents and children assume as they become involved in sports is that there is a risk for injury, whether it is due to overuse or to contact with another individual on the field. When an individual is injured on the field during play, they are not able to pursue legal action due to what is defined as the Sports Assumption of the Risk.

Sports Assumption of the Risk

A participant in a sporting event is expected to be knowledgeable that there is a chance that they may become injured. If an individual is then injured during play with another participant, even if they violate a rule of the game, there is no legal liability available. Any person who engages in a sport is expected to have assumed the risk of injuries that exists with other participants.

Injured out of Normal Assumption

Instances do exist in which an injury may occur outside of the normal assumption of risk. In these rare situations, there is a possibility to pursue legal action due to the dangerous conditions or actions that caused the injury.

Examples of things that fall out of the normal assumption of the risk include the below:

  • Dangerous playing fields – dangerous conditions of the field/court (i.e. corner of end zone on a running track )
  • Improper coaching – practices that fail to follow OHSSA guidelines (i.e. dangerous drills, player-to-player contact)
  • Failure to recognize illness – if a trained coach fails to recognize signs of illness, resulting in health issues (i.e. dehydration)
  • Assault – contact outside of play (i.e. altercations when shaking hands)

If your child has suffered injury due to something that falls outside of the normal assumption of risk, it is wise to seek a personal injury attorney as legal action can likely be pursued. Hiring an experienced personal injury attorney is key to successfully receiving compensation for such injuries as they will take the proper legal steps on your behalf. Cases of this nature can be very confusing without the guidance of a professional.

To speak to attorney Charlie Contrada about a sports injury that can be attributed to an incident that does not fall under the normal assumption of risk, call 419.841.4400. Attorney Contrada can help you and your child pursue legal action and receive the compensation that is deserved for the injuries and pain and suffering that has resulted.

26 Jun 2014 Continue Reading

What is Premises Liability?

Commonly referred to as slip, trip or fall accidents, premises liability involves the legal responsibility that the owners of a property have in the event that someone is injured. If an individual would slip and fall on the property, the owner could possibly be held responsible for any resulting injury.

If a property’s conditions are dangerous or hazardous and an individual is injured, the owner of the property could be held legally responsible. Examples of dangerous conditions include a wet floor, unstable ground, and even poor lighting.

Slip and Fall Accident

If a slip and fall accident occurs and the individual suffers injury, they may be able to seek compensation for the injury. There are however certain factors that must be met in order for the owner to be considered at-fault for the accident and injury.

If you have suffered from a slip and fall accident and are wondering if you can file a premises liability claim, at least one of the below factors must apply to your accident.

  1. The owner of the property, whether it is an individual or a place of business, or an employee of the business caused the hazard or condition that resulted in the slip and fall accident (i.e. an employee spilled milk in an aisle of the grocery store).
  2. The owner of the property or an employee of the business knew about the hazard and did not do anything to resolve it. (i.e. an employee knew about a spill on the ground but failed to mop it up or place a warning sign).

When pursuing a premises liability claim, you must be able to overcome the “open and obvious” doctrine. This doctrine states that if you slip, trip or fall over something you could have seen, but simply did not see, you lose.

Falls at your Rental Property

If you are the tenant at a rental property, you have special rights against property owners. If you have a slip, trip or fall injury where you rent your apartment, there are special exceptions that may apply if there are violation of the building codes.

For instance, if there are not proper handrails or the elevations of the treads on stairs are the wrong size, there may be a basis for a claim to be successful.

Snow and Ice

Recent Supreme Court decisions have declared that slipping and falling on a natural accumulation of snow or ice eliminates your right to compensation for injuries caused by that fall.

You can only recover snow and ice slip and fall accidents if it is an unnatural accumulation (manmade).

Presmises Liability Lawyer

If you were the victim of a slip and fall accident, the type of lawyer that you should contact is a personal injury lawyer.

Contrada & Associates has helped victims of slip and fall accidents to receive compensation for their injury. If you suffered an accident to the dangerous condition or hazard on someone else’s property and the characteristics of the accident meet one of the three conditions above, call our law firm at 419.841.4400. You will have the opportunity to speak directly with attorney Charlie Contrada about your slip and fall accident and the legal options that you have.

12 Jun 2014 Continue Reading

Injured on Defective Exercise Equipment

People are known to suffer injuries at the gym, but these are generally sports-related injuries that are caused by overuse of an area of the body, or even improper form. No one expects to be injured by a piece of exercise equipment, but unfortunately this is known to happen.

When visiting a gym or fitness facility, a member should not have to worry about whether or not the equipment is kept up-to-code or safe to use. Attorney Charlie Contrada has first-hand experience with defective exercise equipment product liability cases and can help those who have suffered injury while at their gym to seek compensation.

Defective Workout Equipment

If a piece of workout equipment is defective and an individual becomes injured on it, they may pursue legal action against the manufacturer of the defective exercise equipment. There have been reports of certain models of equipment being recalled due to product defects, putting those who use the equipment at the gym at risk. 

If the injured individual chooses to do so, they may also file a legal claim against the gym or fitness facility. A products liability attorney can help the individual decide if they should pursue legal action against the facility or not, as oftentimes the gym or fitness facility does not have prior knowledge of the defective equipment.

Filing a Claim for Faulty Equipment

There are numerous recalls every year for different types of exercise equipment, some of which are purchased by gyms and others that are purchased by individuals for their home.

There are different reasons for product defects so it is advised for those injured on such equipment to seek the guidance of a products liability attorney. The attorneys at Contrada & Associates have experience with product liability, including defective exercise equipment and can provide the necessary steps to take in order to receive the deserved compensation for injuries.

To speak to attorney Charlie Contrada about the experience that you have had with faulty exercise equipment, call 419.841.4400. Attorney Contrada will review the situation with you and offer his advice regarding the proper legal steps to take.  

22 May 2014 Continue Reading

What is considered Personal Injury?

When an individual suffers a personal injury, it is one caused by someone else’s failure to act responsible. Oftentimes you will hear the word negligence associated with personal injury, which is not the reasonable or expected behavior outlined by the law. Negligence is the legal word for fault.

The life of an individual can be disrupted after suffering a personal injury. Injuries can result in ongoing sessions of physical therapy and may require time off from work to recover. Personal injury prevents many people from going about their daily lives as they have before and can at times cause emotional damages in addition to the physical injuries.

Types of Personal Injury

While many people attribute car accident injuries to the bulk of personal injury claims, there are a variety of situations that are involved in this area of the law. Below we have listed the types of accidents that would fall within the personal injury category.

  • Vehicle accidents – If you are in a car, truck, or riding on a motorcycle, an accident can result in serious or fatal injuries. Our law office has extensive experience with vehicle accident claims, having helped countless victims seek compensation to cover their medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
  • Dog bites – Many people do not realize how serious a dog bite can be, causing permanent emotional and physical damage to those who have been attacked or bitten. A dog bite has the potential to cause scarring and disfigurement that remains with the victim, resulting in an emotional trauma that can affect them for the rest of their lives.
  • Slip and fall injuries – If you slip and fall on someone else’s property, there is a potential to suffer injury. Our law office handles these cases by investigating the scene of the accident and helping the individual to receive compensation for their injuries, whether the claim is against a single party or entity.
  • Workplace accident – Many workers have been injured while on the job due to defective equipment or machinery. Our attorneys help these individuals to receive compensation from the third party responsible for the accident.
  • Medical negligence claims – If you are injured through the fault of a medical provider or medical device, it would be considered a form of medical negligence. Our law office helps victims of medical negligence to file claims against the appropriate individual or entity.
  • Mesothelioma – Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer who’s only known cause is asbestos exposure. Contrada & Associates is the only law office in Northwest Ohio to process mesothelioma claims, helping victims and their families with the legal process.

Northwest Ohio Personal Injury Attorney

If you have suffered an injury from any of the above accidents, it is important for you to contact a personal injury attorney. There are several factors that affect personal injury claims, making it imperative for you to have a professional working on your behalf to ensure that you are following the right steps toward a settlement.

To find a personal injury attorney in northwest Ohio, call Charlie Contrada at 419.841.4000. With over 35 years of experience handling personal injury cases, he can help you to file a claim after your accident, allowing you to ultimately receive compensation for your injuries. You can also fill out the contact form on the Contrada & Associates website explaining your accident and injury, and attorney Contrada will contact you to review the legal options that you have.

 

8 Apr 2014 Continue Reading

Charles Contrada: Personal Injury Lawyer with Integrity

Honest & Trusted Personal Injury Lawyer

Attorney Charlie Contrada has practiced law for nearly 35 years. As an experienced and trusted lawyer, Charlie Contrada believes in representing clients who have integrity and gives personal attention to all individuals he represents. In an area of law that sees many types of accidents, victims, and injuries, attorney Charlie Contrada maintains a client base comprised of individuals who he believes are seeking justice with no ulterior motives.    

Contrada & Associates: Personal Attention

Contrada & Associates is a law firm with integrity, and in order to maintain the ethical character of the firm, we attempt to represent clients who are open and honest about their accidents, injuries, and resulting conditions. In fact, many of the clients that our law firm represents have said that they never initially planned on hiring a lawyer after their accident, but due to the insurance company’s unfairness, they were forced to. We believe it is remarkable how consistent this complaint is, which is why Contrada & Associates works to help these injured individuals.

If you have been injured in an accident and choose to pursue a personal injury claim, it is very important to have a partnership with your lawyer. For a successful outcome, the client and the lawyer must be on the same page, have the same goal, and be 100-percent open throughout the course of the lawsuit.

When clients visit the law firm of Contrada & Associates, they not only receive legal guidance and representation for their case, but they also enjoy personal attention. The service our law firm provides is unsurpassed by other large firms serving the area, particularly those located in the Akron or Cleveland area.

An issue that many people do not realize exists is that there are several law firms who advertise in the Toledo area, but their offices are not located here. Those who choose a lawyer from a law firm that is not local, face the probability of not meeting with a lawyer in person when they deserve to, which oftentimes results in confusion throughout the legal process. At Contrada & Associates, clients receive personal attention; they build a trusted relationship with their lawyer, and ultimately have the best chance at receiving a favorable personal injury settlement.

Toledo and Southern Michigan Personal Injury Lawyer

If you are searching for a personal injury lawyer with integrity, contact Charlie Contrada. When working with our law firm, you receive personal attention and legal guidance, allowing you to understand your options. You are not just a client at Contrada & Associates, you are a person, and we treat you with the respect and understanding that you deserve. 

To speak with attorney Charlie Contrada about your personal injury case, call 419.841.4400. You will be able to have a one-on-one phone call with attorney Contrada and he will explain the steps that you can take toward pursuing a personal injury claim. 

4 Mar 2014 Continue Reading