Your Rights if You Were Injured in a Sightseeing Crash

For many people, a sightseeing tour of the Nevada desert, or a skywatching trip to this remote area, is the trip of a lifetime. An Las Vegas airplane accident or a tour bus crash, instantly transforms this dream into a nightmare. Instead of reflecting over cherished new memories, these victims must ponder a large pile of medical and other bills they cannot afford to pay.

An airplane crash and other injury victims have important legal rights in these cases. But these rights are simply words on paper unless an airplane accident lawyer in Los Angeles enforces them in court. This enforcement means holding at-fault parties responsible for the injuries they negligently cause. This process also includes a separate financial responsibility proceeding, at least in most cases.

Common Injuries in Airplane Accidents

When small, sightseeing planes crash, these victims often sustain serious injuries which are difficult to diagnose and treat. Some examples include:

• Head Injuries: The brain conceals its own injuries. Therefore, many crash victims sustain serious head injuries, yet they say they “feel fine.” Since doctors then dismiss symptoms like disorientation and confusion as accident shock, these victims have untreated and degenerative head injuries.
• PTSD: Similarly, symptoms like hypervigilance, anger, and depression could be signs of normal stress response (NSR), a temporary condition that quickly dissipates. Or, these symptoms could be evidence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a much more serious condition that, for the most part, is untreatable.
• Internal Bleeding: Airplane crash scenes are incredibly chaotic. Frequently, emergency responders are so busy treating visible physical wounds, like broken bones and deep cuts, that they overlook internal injuries. As a result, these victims continue losing blood even after they leave the hospital or emergency room.

The nature of these injuries underscores the need to partner with a personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles in these cases. Attorneys have professional connections with doctors who know how to diagnose and treat injury-related conditions.

As a bonus, these doctors normally charge nothing upfront for their professional services. This arrangement reduces financial stress, so victims can concentrate on getting better.

Legal Issues

Accident-related medical bills, like all other accident-related bills, must be paid eventually. In a perfect world, the responsible party would voluntarily step forward and accept responsibility for the accident. Since we don’t live in a perfect world, a personal injury attorney typically uses the ordinary negligence doctrine to obtain compensation for victims.

This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.

Ordinary negligence is basically a lack of care. Pilots, mechanics, and flight controllers are the most common negligent parties in Las Vegas airplane accident matters.

Pilots have a duty of care to inspect their airplanes before flight and deliver passengers safely to their destinations. Mechanics have a duty of care to fully address all mechanical issues. Flight controllers have a duty of care to bring all their training and experience to bear in every interaction they have with pilots.

Your Claim for Damages

As mentioned, personal injury attorneys in Los Angeles must normally file court actions to obtain compensation for victims. These actions normally go through three phases.

After victims file actions, insurance companies normally file procedural motions, hoping the judge will throw the case out of court. As long as an attorney diligently collected evidence, such as witness statements and information from the flight data recorder, these motions almost always fail.

Discovery comes next. Both sides must lay all their cards face up on the table. For victims, discovery usually means submitting to medical examinations and depositions. Discovery also gives a lawyer access to the best evidence in the case, like a “smoking gun” email the insurance company tries to hide.

With the best evidence available, attorneys are well-positioned for the third phase, which is settlement negotiations. Occasionally, informal settlement negotiations bear fruit. Usually, however, the judge appoints a mediator to oversee talks and ensure that both sides negotiate in good faith.

The settlement delay is frustrating but necessary. If a Las Vegas airplane accident claim settles too early, the settlement might not reflect all future medical expenses. If that happens, the victim is financially responsible for these costs.

Consult a personal injury lawyer for more help!

Sightseeing crash victims have important legal rights. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in California, contact the Law Offices of Eslamboly Hakim. Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available.

Recently, the crime rate in the Golden State has increased significantly. Assault, property crime, and other crime victims are only witnesses in the criminal court system. They have no sway over the cases themselves. Furthermore, the criminal court system punishes offenders. By design, it does not fully compensate crime victims.

In short, if you are a crime victim, a prosecutor is not “your” lawyer. Because of their reduced status, many crime victims feel lost in the criminal court system. A crime victims lawyer in Los Angeles gives crime victims a voice in a system that all too often overlooks or ignores them. As outlined below, a lawyer also makes resources available to crime victims they may not otherwise have.

Finally, in many cases, a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer obtains maximum compensation for a crime victim’s serious injuries.

A Voice

Los Angeles Accident Attorneys keep victims apprised of the status of criminal cases. Then, when these cases approach the resolution phase, an attorney gives crime victims valuable legal advice.

Usually, prosecutors only interact with witnesses on a limited basis, generally if they want something. They typically ignore status requests and other such communications. So, until the case reaches the resolution phase (more on that below), crime victims are often completely in the dark.

Many Los Angeles personal injury lawyers have prior professional relationships with many prosecutors. So, they have access witnesses do not have. Furthermore, when they reach out to prosecutors with questions, personal injury lawyers often get professional courtesy in return.

State law does not require that prosecutors interface with victims before they make or accept settlement offers. Even if this communication occurs, most victims have no idea if the proposed punishment fits the crime.

Lawyers evaluate criminal case settlement offers and determine if the offers are fair to all parties concerned, given the available evidence and other factors.

A Resource

An attorney guides crime victims to available recovery resources, such as the California Crime Victims Compensation Fund. A lawyer also maximizes these resources.

The California Crime Victims Compensation Fund (CalVCB) provides financial assistance to victims of violent crimes and their families. Funded primarily through fines and penalties paid by offenders, CalVCB helps victims recover from the physical, emotional, and financial impact of crime. It covers expenses that are not reimbursed by other sources, such as medical insurance or court-ordered restitution. Eligible victims may receive compensation for:

• Medical and dental care
• Mental health counseling
• Lost income
• Funeral and burial costs
• Relocation expenses
• Crime scene cleanup

The program also supports child care and home or vehicle modifications for victims with disabilities resulting from a crime.

To qualify, the victim must have reported the crime to law enforcement and cooperated with investigations and prosecution. Usually, victims must file CalVCB claims within three years of the crime, though exceptions exist for minors and special circumstances.

This compensation helps victims rebuild their lives without facing financial ruin. The California Crime Victims Compensation Fund is a necessary supplement to the criminal courts system, because it promotes justice, healing, and recovery for individuals and communities affected by violence.

This all sounds good, but this resource is out of reach in many cases. When crime victims have legal representatives, they’re more than just numbers or names on file folders.

A Check

Many assault or other violent crime victims have additional recourse through the civil court system, thanks to the negligent security doctrine.

Hotel, restaurant, and other business owners have a legal duty to ensure their properties are reasonably safe. This duty includes a responsibility to provide reasonable security.

We should explain that last bullet point a bit further. A topless bar on a busy street probably requires tight security that includes armed bouncers. A bakery on a side street probably requires little or no security, aside from perhaps a camera or two.

Significantly, compensation is only available in negligent security cases if the assault or other incident was foreseeable (possible). Evidence of foreseeability includes prior similar instances in that area, the type of business, as outlined above, and the neighborhood’s crime rate.

Most negligent security cases, like most personal injury cases in general, settle out of court. These resolutions benefit victims/plaintiffs because when defendants settle cases, they immediately write checks. A court verdict, on the other hand, could be tied up in appeals courts for years. Crime victims need money now, not later.

Contact our California crime victims lawyers today

The criminal court system might overlook crime victims, but they still have legal options in California. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney in California, contact the Law Offices of Eslamboly Hakim.

Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available.