Bluestein Attorneys | Blog

Today's blog comes to us from Frank D. Butler, a Personal Attorney who practices in the area of maritime law, including cruise ship injuries and other maritime concerns. You can reach Frank D. Butler to request a consultation at (888) 262-8529 or contact him online at any time.

In 2018, it is projected that 28 million passengers will cruise on one of the numerous cruise ship options.

For many residents of South Carolina who choose to cruise, it will be from Charleston—which now offers nine cruises through Carnival Cruise Lines. Other South Carolina residents will choose to go to Florida and leave on a cruise ship from Jacksonville, Port Canaveral, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale or Miami.  

For the last ten years cruise ship passengers have increased from 18 million passengers in 2009 up to the 28 million passengers projected for 2018. Florida offers a range of cruise lines—like Disney, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Celebration—more than any other State.

Having handled cruise ship injury cases for 25 years throughout Florida from our Tampa Bay law office, we have seen the cruise lines continue to add more passengers on ever larger vessels with ever larger numbers of crew to service the passengers. Accidents do happen on cruise ships. The cruise ships have been called “floating cities”—which have their own medical staff, police force, restaurants, movie theaters, casino, shops, spas, community pools, etc. It is a matter of statistics that placing 4000 to 6000 people on a vessel every five days is going to lead to potential injury claims.

Car wrecks that cause injury can come in many forms — vehicle collisions, wrecks involving tractor trailers, motorcycle wrecks, and more. After you've exchanged car insurance information with the at-fault party, called your own insurance company to notify them to start the claims process, and sought medical care for your injuries, you may be wondering — who pays the medical bills after a car accident, and how can you be sure your medical care will be paid for?

Let's take a look.

Whether you've been involved in a car wreck, have been bitten by a dog, were injured by a defective product, or you've been subjected to some other form of Personal Injury, odds are good insurance companies will end up involved when trying to recover the costs associated with treatment and recovery.

Quite often, the initial settlement offer from an insurance company will be significantly less than the final costs associated with medical treatment and time off work. It's worth it to prepare before discussing specific monetary amounts to ensure you're in the best possible position to negotiate a personal injury settlement.

Let's walk through the settlement negotiation steps.

While many collisions between vehicles involve minimal or fairly easily repaired damage, sometimes the damage to the car will be so extensive that your insurance company will declare the car totaled.

Your vehicle will be determined to be a "total loss" following a collision, single-car accident, or other damaging event either if it is unrepairable, or if the cost of repairs would exceed a certain percentage of the value of the car. 

If that's the case, your insurance company will prepare a claim settlement, payable to the owner of the vehicle, that is meant to reflect the value of the car at the time of the collision.

If the value of the settlement is significantly lower than the actual value of your car, you do not have to accept the settlement.

If you can prove a discrepancy between your car's true value and the claim settlement offered by your insurance company, you may be able to receive a larger settlement more in line with your expectations.

We have a few steps to take when proving your car's value to your insurance company after a total loss:

Even a dog that has never shown signs of aggression can end up in a situation where they bite a human being. If you are the owner of that dog, you may find yourself dealing with insurance claims, medical bills, and even potentially litigation as a result of your dog's actions.

What should you do if your dog bites someone? We have a few ideas for how to defuse the situation and what to do next.

Nursing homes and "senior living centers" are growing, as the aging Baby Boomer generation begins to seek out assisted-living facilities designed to provide medical and personal care.

When we move an elderly or infirm loved one into a nursing home facility, we are putting an incredible trust in the facility to provide that person with physical safety and emotional as well as physical care.

The idea of your loved one being injured or sickened as a result of elder abuse in nursing homes may feel like a total betrayal of your trust.

Elder abuse and nursing home neglect are increasingly in the news these days, and we understand that you may be wondering, what should you do if your elderly parent is injured in a nursing home. Today, we'll take a look at types of abuse and what steps you should take if you begin to suspect your elderly loved one is being abused.

One of the hardest choices a family has to make is when to move an older relative permanently into an assisted-living community or nursing home that has the care of the very sick or elderly in mind. 

Unfortunately, with age or illness comes vulnerability. Even if your family member is not subjected to intentional cruelty or abuse, they may still fall prey to nursing home neglect.

Today, we'll take a look at the difference between abuse and neglect, how to spot the signs of nursing home neglect, and what to do if you believe your relative is being mistreated by an at-home aide or in their nursing home community.

When you've been injured by a defective product, it may be hard to know where to turn. Should you simply try to return the product for the money you initially paid for it, taking on the cost of medical care for your injuries by yourself? Should you sue? In South Carolina, those who have been injured or made ill due to defective products they purchased have the ability to bring a products liability claim to court.

Let's take a look at the basics of defective product liability in South Carolina, what you'll need to do to prove your claim, and what steps you should take in the event of injury or illness in this situation.

Whether you've been the victim of a dog bite, your car has been damaged (or you've sustained injury) as a result of a vehicular collision involving a car, motorcycle, or tractor trailer, you or a family member has suffered due to medical malpractice, or any other personal injury matters, you may find yourself looking to hire a personal injury lawyer in South Carolina.

Trying to decide how to get started on hiring an attorney to represent you in a court of law can be intimidating. We'd like to help make it easier by giving you a few tips on what to do when you're preparing to meet with a personal injury attorney for the first time.

While traumatic brain injuries may make the national news headlines when it involves beloved NFL players, what's often lost in these news articles is the reality that traumatic brain injuries are shockingly common and have many different causes. These injuries can leave the injured and their loved ones wondering what they can do if they've suffered a traumatic brain injury in their own lives.

Today, we're going to take a few minutes to walk you through TBI, its possible effects, and steps you may be able to take to help your injured family member or loved one in their fight to protect their rights.