What to do after a Santa Monica Dog Bite

If you have been injured in a Santa Monica Dog Attack, please contact us right now for your no fee, confidential assessment with a skilled Santa Monica Animal Attack lawyer.

The First Things to Do After Being Attacked

It is very important identify the animal that attacked you, because if it is a stray and you are not able to identify it, you’re dealing with the potential of having to submit to treatment for rabies, which can be painful.

Also, if you were attacked by a dog or any wild animal being kept by a person, you most likely are entitled to receive compensation from the animal’s owner, and you also may possibly really need that compensation to pay for your medical charges, reimburse you for lost income, pay for plastic surgery later on, as well as help you conquer the pain and being affected by your injuries.

After that, get medical attention. You are going to be in very good company, because 1,000 Americans show up in emergency rooms every day of the year as a result of dog bites alone!

Should you be injured on the face, demand treatment by a plastic surgeon because emergency room doctors are amazing at keeping men and women alive but not always the very best at making stitches and wounds look nice. After that, be sure to keep to the instructions of the physician and take all of the prescriptions which are prescribed (except for the painkillers, which usually are usually your discretion).

You may also be required to stay out of the direct sun light, use sunscreen, use scar reduction ointment, change bandages, go in for follow up treatment, go in for removing stitches, massage the recovering locations, etc. If that’s the case, do it!

The decision as to whether or not you will need rabies shots has to be left to your physician. Shots are not always called for, because rabies may not be within your geographic area. Don’t be frightened if your doctor informs you that you do not need to have this painful treatment.

If you have been seriously injured in a Santa Monica Dog Bite, please give us a call today for a free, private assessment with a knowledgeable Santa Monica Dog Attack attorney.

If the animal owner is insured, you might get a phone call from an insurance company representative. Make sure you question him or her for the following information:

•  Name of insurance carrier
•  Address of his or her business office
•  Telephone number
•  Claim number
•  Name of the individual who is covered
•  The amount of money designed to pay medical bills (not everything, just medical charges)

DO NOT…

•  discuss money, payment of money, repayment, damage value or whatever else regarding money
•  set up a consultation
•  write a letter or a memo
•  permit yourself to be tape recorded
•  allow the sufferer to be photographed
•  discuss who is accountable
•  accept money

Measures to Protect Your Legal Rights

If you have been injured in a Santa Monica Animal Bite, please call us now for your no fee, private assessment with a knowledgeable Santa Monica Animal Bite lawyer.

A dog attack victim needs to do the following things to preserve his or her legal rights:

• Identify the dog. In a very serious case, this might entail obtaining and analyzing a DNA sample, which will require an attorney’s involvement.
• Get the name and address of the owner of the dog, when possible. When you can, acquire the dog license details.
• Get the name, address and telephone number of any prospective witnesses. You may need to go back to the accident scene, and knock on the doors of neighborhood homes and companies. You should also revisit the scene of the incident a couple of times at the same time when the incident took place, because individuals may have a habit of coming to the same places as section of their daily regimen.
• Take pictures of all of your injuries, bruises and bloody garments.
• If attainable, get insurance information from the dog owner.
• If skin was lacerated or more serious, or in the event the damage was to the facial area, or if the victim was a child, you can and should consult an attorney for free.
• Get your attorney started while the info is new! The facts of your claim need to be proven; the extent of your traumas must be recognized.

As obvious as the information and injuries might be to you, they will not likely be obvious to an insurance adjuster sitting at a desk in an office building a few weeks or months following your attack.

On top of that, physicians are keen on treating you than proving the nature and magnitude of your injuries to an insurance carrier, so the proper paperwork must be asked for from them at the suitable times.

Your lawyer will acquire the essential evidence and monitor your treatment, so that the insurance adjuster will fully grasp exactly what happened, and will give you a sufficient amount of money, when possible.

• Retain your attorney prior to starting any kind of proceeding relating to the dog! The laws of most cities, counties and states permit local authorities to determine whether a dog is dangerous and, in that case, the fate of the dog. Often this is known as a “dangerous dog hearing,” however it goes by some other names as well.

Because “dog court” procedures may accidentally compromise the victim’s rights, she should not communicate with animal control authorities until her attorney reviews the city and county ordinances, gets the department’s commitment as to which laws and processes they will be following, and is satisfied that the issues addressed below will be resolved fairly.

If the victim gets a subpoena, her testimony is required, making it even more critical to promptly consult with with a lawyer — because a subpoena must be obeyed, to its letter.

If you have been seriously injured in a Santa Monica Dog Attack, please call us now for a free, private consultation with an experienced Santa Monica Animal Attack lawyer.

The victim should NEVER…

• sign anything! Yes, you normally can sign the clinic entry forms (provided that you were not bitten in the clinic itself). However, sign nothing presented by any insurance company, the owner of the dog, or the property manager or other owner of the property where the assault occurred. Do not write to, or make a report for, any insurance company, dog owner, or landlord or other property owner.
• Do not hesitate to consult an attorney! There are laws called “statutes of limitations.” They say that you eliminate all of your rights unless you report a court case within a specific amount of time after sustaining a bodily injury. Therefore, contact a lawyer without delay.

The Dog Attack Victim’s Right to a Lawyer

A dog attack victim may incur numerous different kinds of damages and losses, from medical debts and psychological harm, to loss of the chance to gain income in the future because of disfigurement. A victim may be eligible to get back these losses from another individual and that individuals insurance company, provided that the victim provides the required proof, first to the insurance company and then possibly in a court of law.

There are two sets of laws the victim needs to adhere to, particularly those spelling out who is accountable for the injuries and losses, and those imposing strict rules of facts and process to create that liability.

If you have been seriously injured in a Santa Monica Dog Attack, please give us a call today for a free, private consultation with an experienced Santa Monica Dog Attack lawyer.

Parents have particular criteria whenever their children are wounded. An injured individual and his or her loved ones are not emotionally able of vigorously enforcing their privileges. The most important task they experience is ensuring that the victim heals.

In death cases, the loved ones grieve; it is not going to assemble facts and prepare legal briefs. In cases short of death, the victim and his or her family must be upbeat, so the tendency is to decrease the suffering, even ignore it wherever possible.

Nevertheless, it is there, and it may continue to be there for a while — for good, if wounds turn into ugly scars. Therefore, a vigorous advocate is a necessity.

A lawyer with experience in representing people with these injuries brings value to your claim. He or she has studied the results of dog bite injuries, how to collect the proof vital to completely prove not only what took place in the past but also what the future consequences will be, the techniques and steps of insurance firms when dealing with serious circumstances like these, and the best way to effectively examine these situations to ensure that the victims get what they deserve.

An attorney with experience has the ability to objectively look at both the strengths and the weaknesses of a lawsuit. Furthermore, a lawyer is the only person that can turn a claim into a lawsuit if you are not being taken care of fairly. Without the presence of threat of a lawsuit, you’re at the mercy of the insurance company.

Furthermore, the treatments frequently followed by animal control departments in “dog court” proceedings could unintentionally endanger the victim’s rights. A victim and her family therefore should not speak with animal control authorities until her lawyer reviews the city and county ordinances, obtains the department’s dedication as to which laws and procedures they will be following, and is content that the challenges dealt with in other places in Dog Bite Law will be managed reasonably.

If you have been injured in a Santa Monica Animal Bite, please call us right now for a complimentary, private assessment with a skilled Santa Monica Dog Attack lawyer.

The Dangers of Not Retaining a Lawyer

If you are working with the insurance firm without a lawyer, then, as seriously as you are taking your injuries, the insurance carrier isn’t — you can be assured of that.

People with very similar injuries have retained attorneys to show their lawsuits to that very same insurance carrier. One point that all people have in common is an frame of mind of importance about what happened to them, and a driving wish to ensure they are dealt with fairly.

The insurance company will pay the suitable amount to those individuals, but not the ones who don’t take the preliminary step of defending their privileges by keeping an attorney.

The person at the insurance company that you are doing business with (called the “adjuster”) might well appear honest and sympathetic — a very, excellent person, a caring person.

However, he or she needs to report to other people you will not talk to: a supervisor, a lawsuits examiner, a regional manager, and finally the corporate office. The adjuster is paid an income and has a family. He or she wants to carry on working for that company, and maybe get a raise and a promotion. None of that will be risked for you.

Even if the adjuster needs to help you, because of some rapport that you believe has developed among the two of you, you will not always be handled fairly by the supervisor, claims examiner, regional manager, and corporate office. These people don’t know you. To them, you’re nothing but a person with out an attorney.

You aren’t working with the adjuster, you are dealing with a faceless company, and to that firm you are nothing but a file, a liability, someone that needs money which otherwise might be dispersed to the investors as profit.

If you don’t retain an attorney, you’re on your own, against all those people at the insurance firm, and all of its lawyers. When was the last time that you heard a happy ending to that story?

The costs of making a claim are actually somewhat small, compared to the amount of money which will be obtained. In an common lawsuit, they might come to between $1000 and $2000. However, cases that are being arranged for trial end up being very expensive — tens of thousands of dollars. Fortunately only 2% of claims actually go to trial, so there is no significant risk of the costs “eating up” the recovery.

It should be noted that the contingency fee system is exclusively American and that it has been under attack in recent years. Because it enables regular residents to obtain legal help, the corporate world — insurance companies and other industries — continues to be seeking to pass laws to abolish or cripple it.

These laws take a number of distinct forms, such as an arbitrary limit on the quantity that a victim’s lawyer can charge. Note that only the victim’s lawyer would be subject to any limitation, while the insurance industry’s attorneys would continue to not only charge their usual hourly rates but also rely upon the vast monetary coffers of their prosperous customers.

The tort program exists for the benefit of regular individuals rather than the interests of the business world, and consequently the program and its essential players (the victims and their lawyers) consistently experience attacks and constantly need to fight for their rights.

If you have been seriously injured in a Santa Monica Animal Bite, please give us a call right now for a complimentary, private assessment with an experienced Santa Monica Dog Bite lawyer.