Injuries
Since graduating from the University of Miami Law School in 1978, Attorney Michael R. Friend has represented numerous cases involving:
Personal Injury
Personal Injury falls under Tort Law. Personal Injury involves civil law cases where you are trying to obtain compensation for an injury you sustained to your person. Physical injuries to your person could arise from being involved in an automobile accident, a railroad accident, airline or other common carrier accident, a construction or other workplace accident, being injured as a result of a dangerous or otherwise unsafe product and other injury-causing situations. However, personal injuries don't even necessarily have to be physical—they could be psychological. Psychological personal injuries are typically caused by psychological trauma associated with life-threatening and/or disfiguring physical injuries, or as a result of witnessing trauma in others, or following personal escape from serious injury following a traumatic event. Before you can collect an award, your personal injury lawyer will have to prove that the defendant is liable. To prove liability, the attorney must also establish negligence.
A tort is a civil wrong recognized by law as grounds for a lawsuit. Torts fall into three general categories: intentional torts (e.g., intentionally hitting a person); negligent torts (causing an accident by failing to obey traffic rules); and strict liability torts (e.g., liability for making and selling defective products - See Products Liability ). These wrongs result in an injury or harm constituting the basis for a claim by the injured party (tort litigation). While some torts are also crimes punishable with imprisonment, the primary aim of tort law is to provide relief for the damages incurred and deter others from committing similar harms. The injured person may sue for an injunction to prevent the continuation of the tortuous conduct or for monetary damages. Among the types of damages the injured party may recover are: loss of earnings capacity, pain and suffering, and reasonable medical expenses. They include both present and future expected losses.
Products Liability
Products Liability , like personal injury, falls under Tort Law. (See Personal Injury for more information on torts and tort law.) Products liability law deals with the liability of any party or all parties involved with the manufacture of a product for damages caused by it. Products liability claims can be based on negligence, strict liability, or breach of warranty of fitness depending on where the claim originates. Most of the time, products liability is considered a strict liability offense. This means that the plaintiff only has to prove that there is a defect in the product. Then, the manufacturer or supplier causing the damages is considered to be 100% responsible regardless of any degree of carefulness on their part or any lack of care by the consumer, nullifying any possibility of comparative or contributory negligence.
There are three types of product defects that can incur liability for manufacturers and suppliers: design defects, manufacturing defects, and defects in marketing. Design defects are inherent defects that exist before the product is manufactured. Manufacturing defects occur during the construction or production of the product, and defects in marketing involve improper instructions for safe use or operation of the product and/or failures to warn consumers of latent dangers in the product.
Products defects not only cover tangible products, like an automobile, but also intangibles (e.g., gas, asbestos or other chemical substance), naturals (e.g., pets), real estate (e.g., house or land) and writings (e.g., navigation charts).
A lot of people know that the manufacturer would be held liable for damages and injuries caused by a defective product. But, most people don't know that sellers of the product (including everyone between the manufacturer and reseller, such as wholesalers and distributors) may also be liable for the damages even if they didn't know of or cause the defect.
Medical Malpractice
Medical Malpractice is negligence committed by a professional health care provider—a doctor, nurse, dentist, dental office or staff, pathologist, neurologist, oncologist, cardiologist, toxicologist, pharmacologist, technician, nursing home or staff, hospital or hospital worker—whose performance of duties deviates from a standard of practice of those with similar training and experience, resulting in harm to a patient or patients.
Most medical malpractice cases are based on the concept of negligence—that is, the patient was harmed because the health care provider failed to meet the required standards of skill and care, in accordance with generally accepted standards. The prescribed standard of medical care may vary from state to state. Because health care providers cannot guarantee the results of medical treatment, a patient's malpractice claim is not valid just because his or her treatment was not successful. Instances of malpractice might include cutting off the oxygen supply during surgery, misdiagnosing an injury or illness because routine tests and procedures were not followed, or prescribing an illegal drug or one not approved or appropriate for the patient's condition.
Wrongful Death
Wrongful Death law is an area of law that seeks to provide financial compensation to the heirs of a person whose death was caused by the negligent, willful, or wrongful act, neglect, omission, or default of another.
Each state has drafted its own set of civil "wrongful death statutes," and some form of wrongful death claim action exists in all state jurisdictions today. While they all follow similar principles, each state jurisdiction is unique, so laws will vary from state to state. There are no federal statutes for wrongful death.
A wrongful death could occur as a result of a variety of situations, including:
- Medical malpractice that results in decedent's death.
- Neglect or abuse on the part of a nursing home that results in descendant's death.
- Automobile, bus, train airplane or other common carrier accident.
- Occupational exposure to hazardous conditions or substances (exposure to asbestos, etc.).
- Death during a supervised activity (sports tournament, field trip, etc.).
An action for wrongful death alleges that the decedent was killed as a result of the negligence (or other liability) on the defendant's part, and that the decedent's immediate family members (often called "distributees") are entitled to monetary damages as a result of the defendant's conduct. The most common distributees are surviving spouses and children, and sometimes parents. A suit for wrongful death may only be brought by the personal representative (executor) of the decedent's estate. But, actions for personal injury (survival actions), conscious pain and suffering, or expenses incurred prior to the decedent's death are also typically brought.
Pecuniary (financial) injury is the main way damages in a wrongful death action are awarded. Courts have interpreted "pecuniary injuries" as including the loss of support, services, lost prospect of inheritance, and medical and funeral expenses. Damages also typically include interest from the date of the decedent's death. Punitive damages may also be awarded in cases of serious or malicious wrong-doing to punish the wrong-doer, and/or deter others from behaving similarly.
Any damages awarded belong to the estate and pass as directed by the decedent's will or by state law if such things are not specified in the will.
