At Rana Law Group, we have handled numerous dog bite cases. Often, the victim of a dog bite is left with pain at the site of the bite, nerve damage and permanent scarring. According to the CDC, there are 4.5 million dog bites a year, with over 300,000 nonfatal visits to the emergency room. In the unfortunate situation where someone is bit by a dog, a claim is made against the dog owner’s home owner’s insurance policy. It is important to immediately consult with a seasoned lawyer to discuss your rights, as well as contact animal control to confirm the dog is up-to-date on rabies vaccinations. Contacting animal control also generates a written report of what occurred, which is important for documentation purposes, similar to a crash report in a motor vehicle crash.
Under Missouri law, a dog owner is liable for a dog bite, regardless of whether the dog was previously vicious or whether the owner knew of any vicious tendencies. Legal defenses to a dog bite incident include the provocation of the dog and trespassing. Illinois law is similar. In both states, if the victim had a legal right to be where the incident took place (was invited onto the property or in a public place), he or she will defeat the trespass defense. Provocation is taken case by case. For instance, a child grabbing a dog’s tail could be construed as provocation but it is a weaker defense as compared to the dog bite victim instigating a bite by hitting the dog. A more common scenario is a child walking up to a dog and the dog gets surprised and bites the child. In that scenario, that would not be considered provocation and the dog owner will likely be liable for the child’s injuries.
The video library below contains important information about your dog bite case.
If you have any questions, please contact us today at 314-329-7690 for a free consultation.
Is it a good idea to hire a lawyer in a personal injury case? Fact or Fiction: the lawyer and the doctors will get all the money and I will not get nothing. Fiction! At Rana Law Group, your case is on a contingency fee, which means you do not pay us unless we collect a recovery on your behalf, however, more importantly, we promise you will get more than us because we reduce our fee, if applicable, to ensure you receive more than us. If necessary, we will also get reductions from your medical providers to ensure we maximize your recovery. After all, as the one that was injured, it is only fair that you walk away getting a fair settlement, while still having access to experts in the form of doctors and lawyers to help you with your case.
You made the right choice in hiring an expert to help you with your personal injury case. We will begin investigating your case on your behalf. Your job is to take care of yourself by getting medical treatment for your injuries. By going to medical providers, you document your injuries, which are crucial in cases such as yours.
What a case is worth is subjective. There is no book or guide out there that equates a certain injury to a certain dollar figure. The value of a case depends on many factors, including the liability/facts of the case, the severity of injuries, where the case occurred and many other factors, including who is your attorney. At the end of the day, a case is worth what a jury renders as their verdict or what an insurance company offers that you are willing to accept.
This is for clients who are two weeks into their case. At this point, you should be treating with a medical provider and documenting your injuries. Other things to consider are activities of daily living and the interference your injury may have, such as while working or at home. Lastly, how is your mental well-being? Are you having any anxiety or stress? If so, tell your healthcare professional so it can be documented in your medical records.
If you missed time from work, you can be compensated for this lost time, however, be sure it is the right option for your case. By making this claim, you will have to substantiate it, which typically involves providing the insurance company private information, such as your tax returns or paycheck stubs. Additionally, it must be documented by your employer as time missed for your injuries from a personal injury, as well as documented by your medical professionals that you are unable to work as a result of the injuries from your injury.
This video is to help clients who are two months into their case. It is important to continue treating, if you need it. This is the only opportunity you have at recovering a fair amount for your injuries and everything else you went through as a result of this case. This is why it is so important to get the medical care you need and get better.
This video is for clients who are three months into their personal injury case. hopefully you are starting to feel better and are working towards a medical release. If, however, you are still in pain, it may be time to consider diagnostic testing (MRI, etc.) or a referral to a specialist. This is important both in determining why your pain is still lingering while also helping to maximize the recovery in your case.
This is for clients who are four months into their case. Hopefully your treatment has been successful and you are getting better and closer to a release. If, however, you are still not getting better, it is time to discuss getting to a specialist or a diagnostic test to determine why the pain is still present.
This video is for clients who are released from medical treatment. During this time, our team is in the process of gathering your medical records and bills. It is important to monitor your health during this time because you may start to regress when you are not actively receiving medical treatment. If this happens, please let our office know. Otherwise, we will continue working on your behalf and be in touch as soon as we are ready to proceed to the next step.
Unfortunately, sometimes it takes longer to get your medical records and bills. This can be because the providers are taking longer than anticipated or there may have been an issue with the medical request we sent in. If it is the provider, we contact them with increasing urgency to be a thorn in their side until they give us the records. If the issue is with our request, we immediately fix it and resend it. Please know we are on it and will continue to work to progress your case.
Congratulations, we are finally at the stage of your case to send a demand package to the insurance company for settlement negotiations. Before we can send everything in, a few things need to be verified. Are you still feeling better? If not, this is the last opportunity to change course and resume medical treatment before we send this information to the insurance company. It is better to ensure you are completely done before sending in information. You should receive additional information via email or mail regarding the medical providers, dates and amount of bills. It is important to compare this information to your calendar, notes and medical bills to ensure no one was missed. Once you review everything, call our office to discuss with the attorney assigned to your case to finalize this process and get your demand package out the door.