HOW MUCH IS MY BALTIMORE WORKER'S COMPENATION CASE WORTH? What worker's compensation benefits are available?

Personal injury lawyers in Baltimore routinely secure worker's compensation benefits for their clients. Available medical benefits are explored in another chapter. Wage loss, or "indemnity" benefits are explored in some more detail in other chapters, but, generally come in 4 varieties: temporary total disability- where a doctor has an injured worker "off-work", that worker will get 2/3 of what they made prior to getting hurt; temporary partial disability- where a doctor has an injured worker on "light-duty" work, and they are not earning as much as before getting hurt, that worker will get a portion of the difference; permanent partial disability- where an injured worker has suffered a permanent injury, they are entitled to a monetary award based on the severity of the injury; and, as personal injury lawyers in Baltimore know, the big dog- permanent and total disability, where an injured worker cannot work, at any job for which there is a reasonable market, in any capacity; they will get 2/3 of what they made prior to getting hurt for so long as that disability persists.

HOW MUCH IS MY BALTIMORE PERSONAL INJURY CASE WORTH? Can a law enforcement officer assault and batter me?

Well, let's look at the context. If an officer is acting with legal justification i.e.  probable cause, he or she can generally place you under arrest. Now, if you're being arrested for something, you've likely got bigger problems that whether or not you've been properly arrested. Personal injury lawyers in Baltimore know that a law enforcement officer is authorized to use force, even force that amounts to a civil battery, to effect an arrest. However, if that officer acts with an intent to harm you, and you suffer bodily injury, a Baltimore city lawsuit is a possibility.  Many personal injury lawyers in Baltimore have successfully litigated claims that an officer acted with "excessive force" or malice when arresting or detaining and individual. In those instances, the privilege to use reasonable force to effect an arrest does not apply.

HOW MUCH IS MY BALTIMORE PERSONAL INJURY CASE WORTH? Surely I don't have to let someone assault me.

That seems consistent with common sense, and, personal injury lawyers in Baltimore will advise you that is also the law in Maryland. We've discussed in other chapters the concepts of civil assault and civil battery- so called 'intentional' torts. The assaulter, or batterer, must have intended to cause the contact or fear of contact. Unintentional contact that cause personal injury, e.g. a Baltimore car accident, may be pursued as a negligence claim. Is every person that batters another answerable in damages to the person battered? Seasoned personal injury lawyers in Baltimore know that all Marylanders possess a privilege to use reasonable force, including battering another, to defend themselves, their property, third persons, or the property of their employer. 

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF MY BALTIMORE PERSONAL INJURY CASE? That man hit me, but was trying to hit the guy next to me?

I recent chapters we explored the concepts of civil assault and battery. Personal injury lawyers in Baltimore know that these are called 'intentional' torts. In other words, the assaulter, or batterer, must have intended to cause the contact or fear of contact. Unintentional contact that cause harm, e.g. in a Baltimore car accident, may be pursued as a negligence claim.  What about a situation where a person intends to strike, or throws or shoots something at one person,  the intended target, but through bad aim, hits a bystander. Experienced personal injury lawyers in Baltimore know that the doctrine of 'transferred intent' [from the intended victim to the actual one] supplies the necessary degree of willfulness to make the assault or battery actionable for damages.

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF MY BALTIMORE PERSONAL INJURY CASE? That man said he would physically hurt me. Can I sue him?

A high percentage of all civil lawsuits filed in Baltimore involved allegations of negligence, i.e. a victim sustained injury because another failed to use the proper degree of care. What if a person sustains injury due to the intentional conduct of another? Knowledgeable personal injury attorneys in Baltimore are familiar with the legal theories that permit a victim to recover money damages in these situations. A civil assault is a threat, made through words or conduct, to hurt another. The person making the threat must appear to have the ability to carry it out, and the recipient must actually fear some kind of imminent harm.Personal injury attorneys in Baltimore caution their clients that this is an action that must be brought quickly, as the statute of limitations on a civil assault is but one year.

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF MY BALTIMORE PERSONAL INJURY CASE? That man hurt my feelings. Can I sue him?

Knowledgeable personal injury lawyers in Baltimore are familiar with the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress. There is no separate claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress, but how someone's negligence effects another's psyche is an element of the damages assessed in a negligence action, e.g. a typical Baltimore automobile accident. The seasoned personal injury lawyer in Baltimore knows that intentional infliction of emotional distress is notoriously difficult to prove. The conduct of the defendant must be "outrageous", "opprobrious", "beyond all bounds of possible decency" and "utterly intolerable in a civilized community". KFC v. Weathersby, 607 A.2d 8.

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF MY BALTIMORE PERSONAL INJURY CASE? What is negligent hiring?

Employers must employ "fit" employees. Henley v. PGCo., 503 A.2d 1333. Knowledgeable personal injury lawyers in Baltimore are aware that en employer has an affirmative obligation refuse to employ those who may put their customers "at risk" or injury. A plaintiff injured by an employee, who wants to recover from that persons employer must show 1] the employee was incompetent and this incompetence put customers at foreseeable risk, 2] that the employer knew, or should have known, or the incompetence 3] the employee did something that injured the customer, and 4] which the seasoned personal injury lawyer in Baltimore recognizes as the most difficult hurdle, show that the hiring was the "proximate cause of the injury" [MPJI 19:4]. There must be a "nexus" between the negligent hiring and the subsequent harmful act. Henely. The courts look to whether the harm was "foreseeable" with respect to the type of harm, and the identity of the plaintiff.