January 31, 2012 in Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Head Trauma Causes Railroad Foreman to Sue Employer

Traumatic brain injury can be deadly. It certainly alters a person’s life.

This on-the-job injury case involved a railroad worker. John Doe (whose name has been changed to protect the victim) had worked for the Kansas City Southern Railway Company for a number of years when he was involved in an accident.

The fateful event happened in 2009 when Doe, a section foreman, and his crew were removing broken rail of a section of track. Suddenly, the boom of the crane struck the ball of the rail still loaded in the rack of a railway section truck. The impact rolled it over the forks on the rack and the rail dropped like a stone to the ground. On its way down, Doe was hit and sustained severe back, neck and head injuries.

From that day forward, Doe suffered unbelievable physical pain and suffering, lost wages, mental anguish, loss of current and future earnings, diminished earning capacity and enormous medical bills that he was unable to pay. Doe hopes that his case will be successful, and that he will be able to recover enough money to take care of himself for the future.

Cases like this are tricky and may also involve worker’s compensation. In some states, a worker is not able to sue his employer because he is being paid workers’ compensation. Since this varies state by state, it is something that needs to be checked with an Austin personal injury lawyer if an accident like this takes place in Texas.

Workers’ compensation is always an issue when workers are injured on the job, but each case is different, so never assume you do not have a case or that you cannot get compensation. The details of the case need to be discussed in depth with an experienced Austin personal injury lawyer. As things currently stand, Texas private employers may choose whether or not they will offer workers’ compensation insurance to their employees. Typically, the employer is mandated to tell the worker if they have coverage or not.

Workers’ compensation pays the medical bills and covers a portion of a worker’s lost wages if they are injured on the job or are affected by a work-related illness and the employer has coverage under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act, Title 5, Subtitle A, Labor Code. It can also cover for vocational rehabilitation and retraining when an injury prevents a worker from going back to their normal job, and they need to learn a new position to be able to work with a longer-term injury or disability.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

January 20, 2012 in Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Cyclist Loses Life in Accident with a Fuel Tanker

Some accidents happen in odd ways and end in tragedy. This reported case devastated a young man’s family.

The 26-year-old man killed in this accident was out riding his bicycle on a nice day. He was an experienced rider, but that did not help him on that fateful day. The man had nowhere else to go but under a fuel tanker to try and avoid an accident. He would have made it, had the tanker not run over him.

How did something like that happen? The man was riding his bike south in the northbound lanes on a busy avenue. Alongside him was an 18-wheeler from a local fuel company, also traveling south, just about parallel to the bike rider. The trucker suddenly turned into the man’s path as he went to enter a parking lot.

There was nothing the biker could do but try and stop. He did not succeed, and his bike slammed into the tanker, sliding under the truck. A wrongful death? Yes and the young man’s family filed a lawsuit asking for compensation for medical and funeral expenses, pain, suffering and the loss of companionship of their son.

Was there negligence involved in this case? Yes, the trucker turned into the man’s path without taking due care to check his mirrors. After all, he had just been riding side by side with the cyclist minutes before he was killed. Was there something going on in the truck’s cab? There may have been, and only an investigation will tell. The trucker may have been texting, talking on a cell phone or leaning over to pick up papers on the floor of the cab.

What is painfully clear is that the family left behind is beside themselves with grief. Their son just went for a bike ride. They did not expect that they would never see him alive again. Filing a wrongful death lawsuit is one way to bring closure and move forward with their lives. Often people think wrongful death lawsuits are about revenge. They are not. They are more often than not about a family wanting to make sure a similar incident does not happen to someone else.

The family’s pain and shock often translates into concern for the welfare of others, not their own financial gain. In many cases such as this, though, there is often insurance money on the table, and the trucking company would be insured. Working in partnership with an experienced Austin personal injury lawyer would assist the family in facing the challenges to come as their case makes its way through the courts.

Never hesitate to contact an Austin personal injury lawyer if you find yourself involved in a situation like this. You need to know your legal rights, what constitutes a wrongful death, how compensation is awarded, and what to expect while you are waiting for a judgment.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

December 28, 2011 in Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Big Rig Accidents Continue to Occur on Roadways

Despite the desire to reduce the number of 18-wheeler accidents on the highways, it does not seem to be happening.

Unfortunately, even with the latest push to improve big rig safety, there are still far too many devastating accidents taking lives, and often taking them in a grisly fashion. The difficulty is that many passenger vehicles do not seem to understand or appreciate that driving a huge commercial truck is not like driving a smaller car. They are far more difficult to maneuver, do not stop quickly, and cannot see you in certain blind spots.

Most commercial trucks easily weigh more than 80,000 pounds. On the other hand, passenger vehicles may weigh about 3,000 pounds. It does not take too much imagination to realize that 80,000 pounds slamming into 3,000 pounds means a disaster, often one in which someone loses their life. Their enormous weight is why it takes them longer to stop. The forward momentum of that much weigh just keeps going until the brakes kick in.

Another factor that most do not think about is that many truckers are hauling hazardous cargo such as flammable material, making how they drive much more of a safety issue. A truck loaded with gas or other highly flammable materials stands a good chance of exploding if it is involved in an accident. This may mean death in a fire or severe burns and respiratory issues.

But these wrecks are not accidents. Most are caused by decisions made months or years earlier by trucking companies trying to maximize profits. The pressure of an employer breathing down their necks is often another reason why truckers get into accidents. The truth is that many truckers drive for too long, are tired, distracted and not fully alert and aware. So they may drift off behind the wheel.

Truckers are often expected to do their deliveries as fast as they can to make the company money, skip proper maintenance checks to make their trips quicker and falsify log books to show they had the requisite number of sleep breaks, when they did not. Similarly, trucking companies often shirk their responsibility to properly train their drivers or to hire experienced drivers in efforts to save costs. These conditions virtually guarantee an accident waiting to happen.

Even with the latest move in the trucking industry to ban cell phone usage, and calling and texting while on the road, accidents caused by these very actions are still happening. Some truckers, feeling like nothing will happen to them, are still driving while distracted. This is a recipe for an accident.

Trucking accidents may become even more of a problem for residents of Austin and other Central Texas towns. The federal government recently began allowing trucks from Mexico to travel deep into the United States. Many of these trucks, which might pose an even bigger risk than domestic trucks, will be traveling through our area along I-35.

No matter what caused a truck accident that you may have been involved in and no matter where it happened, make the first phone call for legal help to a seasoned Austin personal injury attorney. With their help, you will be able to recover the compensation you need to cope with your injuries. An Austin personal injury attorney’s job is to help protect your rights and help you through the courts to get justice.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

December 21, 2011 in Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Locker Room Caved in and Caused Wrongful Death at High School

The last thing you would expect to happen is to have a wall fall on you while you were inside a building. That happened in this reported case.

Death comes in many forms, and this bizarre case is no exception. A 14-year-old student at a local high school was unexpectedly killed in an accident when a wall fell on him. He was doing pull-ups on the wall in his locker room that had initially been built in 1990.

Even though emergency response crews got to the scene fast, the young boy’s heart stopped before he could be taken to the hospital. He was later pronounced dead.

The accident report did not indicate what possible reasons there may have been for the interior wall to cave in on the boy. The boys in the room were not fooling around or doing anything else that would have caused a wall to fall. There was one other student in the locker room at the time of the cave-in and several others rushed into the room to start removing the heavy cement blocks from the boy’s body.

The police are going to be asking a lot of questions relating to this incident, not the least of which is whether or not the walls of the locker room were regularly inspected, if there had been any leaking or shifting of the building that may have affected the interior wall, and whether there was other work happening in the building that may have affected the wall.

If any of the answers to those questions comes back that the school was aware of other issues in the building that they should have known about and/or should have known would affect supporting walls on the interior, they may well be cited as an at-fault party for their negligence in maintaining the building’s safety. Another issue the investigation will also cover is whether or not the wall was designed and built correctly in the first place with the right kind of materials, and not slapped together with shoddy cement bricks that were not up to building code requirements.

Although it is an odd case, it is considered to be a wrongful death and as such, the boy’s family may wish to consult with legal counsel about what rights they have. Even though this is a difficult thing to consider, it is a wise move for the family, as it does, in some measure, assist with closure and may serve as a lesson to others to keep their buildings maintained with safety in mind.

If you have been in similar situation, or have been injured because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, take the first step in seeking justice by calling an Austin personal injury lawyer. Accidents like this may look like one thing on the surface, but on closer inspection be something else entirely. An Austin personal injury lawyer knows this and will listen as you recount the details of how you sustained the injuries.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

November 28, 2011 in Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Military Personnel May Benefit From Blood Testing When a Traumatic Brain Injury Is Suspected

Traumatic brain injuries account for more than 1 million emergency room visits annually in the USA.

One million head trauma cases in the USA every year is a sign that something needs to be done to reduce the occurrence of this type of injury. Something also needs to be done to speed up the diagnosis of a brain injury, other than by visual signs so the victim does not wind dead.

There is some exciting news out of Cleveland about a new test that could indicate the presence of concussion, and if it lives up to its potential, military personnel may benefit from it too. Far too many of our young men and women are returning from various wars and victims of head traumas and concussions from IEDs. Since it is an unseen injury, cognitive behavior is often attributed to post traumatic stress or other things. If there was a way to confirm what was going on inside their brain, it may help them get the proper treatment faster.

Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic are running blood tests on local college football players for a protein that indicates a concussion. This new test screens samples to find out if they have a protein that is known to leak into the blood after a head injury. Should the study confirm the predictive value of that protein, it could mean just a simple blood test to confirm concussions, instead of a very expensive trip to the ER and an entire battery of tests.

While this test has the potential to revolutionize a traumatic brain injury diagnosis, it does not address how the players got a concussion in the first place. There are certain risks inherent in playing sports, but those risks should be revealed and discussed with players. Although players are becoming more aware of what concussions mean, there is still a long way to go to educate coaches, owners, players and parents about the real risks of multiple blows to the head.

Until the sports world as a whole decides to banish the macho image of athletes, players will continue to get hurt, sustain concussions and end up with cognitive difficulties at some point in their life. They may even commit suicide as recent events in the NHL have shown. Will education win the day? That is a hard question to answer, as there will always be those who think that fighting, tackling and head shots are cool, and that nothing will ever happen to them.

But when it does happen to them, they will need the expert advice of a seasoned Austin personal injury lawyer about how to file a lawsuit. If a player has been hurt and put back into play, it is time to discuss the situation with legal counsel.

Same goes for military veterans who deserve to know about their injuries. It is better to know where you stand before the trauma takes its toll. Making a call to an Austin personal injury lawyer will update you on the latest in this area of personal injury law. It is a call well worth making.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

November 23, 2011 in Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Head Injuries and Concussions Can Be Dangerous If Athletes Play Too Soon After an Injury

Brain trauma is nothing to mess with, and players with a concussion must be sidelined until they recover.

Unfortunately, with the current attitude in many sports that playing through pain is a given, too many players are placed back into risky situations despite the presence of concussions and other brain injuries.

This is a problem that occurs in many sports. It could happen in soccer, football, polo, basketball and volleyball as well as cheerleading. Lately, consistent concussions over a period of time and the consequences for athletes have been making the news, and not in a good way. National Hockey League enforcers Wade Belak, Rick Rypien, and Derek Boogaard died as a result of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

CTE causes depression and all three enforcers, not to mention other notable players, have suffered the detrimental effects of CTE. Some are still alive to discuss how they cope with the mental and emotional issues they have. Others, like Belak, Rypien, Boogaard are dead. Their brains were examined for the presence of excess tau protein, a telltale sign of CTE.

Concussions happen all the time when kids and older adults are playing contact sports. It’s the manly thing to do, and they accept that they will get hit hard every now and then, including their head. But this is far more serious than the nonchalant reference to concussions being disorienting. It can kill, and the latest research points out that it may not even take a concussion to trigger a CTE.

It was once thought that continuing to play after sustaining a concussion was the major cause of CTE and other dementias. Now, the latest information from a Purdue University study in the Journal of Neurotrauma is that if a player sustains multiple blows to the head, every game played even without concussion symptoms, can still cause a CTE and long-term brain problems, including progressive dementia.

The word is getting out about this and you can see that in the latest court cases. For example, in July 2010, 75 former NFL players sued the league, suggesting they knew about the long-term effects of many blows to the head for at least 90 years, and it did not warn them or adequately protect them. Furthermore, the suit also suggested that it was not until 2010 that the league indicated that concussions can lead to CTE, memory loss and dementia.

You can expect to see an increase in lawsuits in this area of the law as more information becomes available on the causes and effects of CTE. If you have sustained a head injury or concussion, nothing was done about it, and you were put back into the game, talk to an Austin personal injury lawyer about your options, particularly if you are having cognitive difficulties. It is too important not to take action and find out about your legal rights.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

October 7, 2011 in Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Head Injury Training Program a Step in the Right Direction for Youth Sports

Playing sports is a right of passage for many kids. But kids can suffer serious head trauma and jeopardize their future.

It goes without saying that playing sports is a big part of going to school. Volleyball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer are some of the most popular sports. Kids risk sustaining serious injuries if they have a concussion while playing sports. A pattern of concussions during youth has an impact on cognitive functions later in life. Those who continue to play sports face the reality of dying if they get hit once too often.

Although head injuries seem to be quite prevalent in just about any sport, there is not a lot being done about it. It is talked about and many people worry; yet, there is not much in the way of training and education about the seriousness of head injuries and prevention.

New Jersey recently introduced a bill into the legislature that would mandate athletic coaches to actively participate in a head injury prevention training program. It is about time. Kids are our future, and we need to not only protect them from serious head injuries, but train and educate them about what traumatic brain injury is, how to recognize it, avoid it if possible and how to deal with it should they get hit. With enough people supporting the bill in New Jersey, the program may start to be utilized in other states, even Texas.

While it is true that anyone may sustain a head injury, athletes are more likely to get thumped in the head because of the nature of the games in which they participate. Most often, head injuries are the result of a blow to the head or even being violently shaken. Any blow to the head has the potential to result in a concussion, which is an injury that alters the way the brain works. Even if the injury is mild, there are still long-lasting repercussions. Moderate to severe injuries have the potential to lead to a vegetative state and death.

Will the New Jersey bill do what it is intended to do? That is a tough question, but so far it looks like it may be off to a good start. However, the bill excluded cheerleaders because what they do is not considered to be a sport, but is classified as an activity. That is odd, given the well-documented fact that cheerleaders many protests.

For instance, many will recall the pyramid stunt and the media frenzy in 2006 when Kristi Yamoaka sustained a fractured vertebra after she fell from a human pyramid and hit her head doing this stunt. She suffered a concussion and badly bruised a lung. Although she eventually recovered, not everyone is as lucky. Thankfully, the protests paid off and cheerleaders were subsequently included in the bill. If every state had a bill like this, head trauma incidents might just decline.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

September 29, 2011 in Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Traumatic Brain Injuries a Long-Term and Challenging Condition

Personal injury lawsuits involving traumatic brain injury typically have higher jury awards, as this kind of injury does not heal over time.

Just recently, the state of Alaska conducted an analysis of the number of traumatic brain injuries in that state. It seems the state has a significant record of being the region with the highest hospitalization rates for this kind of injury and that Natives are more likely to suffer brain injury than other Alaskans. This particular study triggered a widespread concern for ensuring that long-term treatment options were in place since traumatic brain injuries do not heal, and victims need to know how to cope with it.

Traumatic brain injuries are not just like other medical conditions, in that you are cured in a hospital and leave with a clean bill of health. That is not the case. Brain injuries are chronic and may haunt a person for the rest of their lives. It takes a lot of work over a long period of time to recover from a brain injury and be able to manage it.

Traumatic brain injuries typically result in higher damage awards in accident cases, largely because the person’s life has been dramatically altered, and in some cases catastrophically altered. Unable to care for themselves and perhaps even cope with daily living tasks, victims of traumatic brain injury have a long and frustrating challenge ahead of them. While they may successfully achieve partial recovery, the fact is that brain damage is permanent.

Head trauma does not just happen in a car accident. It may be the result of riding a snowmobile, ATV or motorcycle. It may come about as the result of a slip and fall, or it may be the result of an injury sustained playing sports. If the injury is the result of someone else’s negligence, that person needs to be held responsible for monetary damages.

Cases like this are tough, largely because they involve a great deal of medical detail. Plaintiffs are often upset and frustrated with their new reality and frightened at the prospect of not being able to care for themselves. For those who have sustained a brain injury, don’t wait to talk to a competent Austin personal injury lawyer. That one phone call will ensure you know your rights, how to proceed to court and what to expect in terms of compensation.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

September 26, 2011 in Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Traumatic Brain Injury Comes in Many Guises

Traumatic brain injury can come about as the result of a tornado. If the trauma is dealt with in the correct manner, the victim may have a chance at recovery.

Recovery from traumatic brain injury is often a long and exceedingly slow process, if it can be accomplished at all. Time is of the essence in cases like this, but in special cases, like this reported case, the damage is done and the victim is left to wait for medical help later.

The 14-year old boy who needed skull surgery to piece his skull back together was a victim of the EF-5 tornado that ripped through Joplin in May 2011. He had to wait for his surgery and in doing so lived for a while with two sections of his skull. He also needed to have four inches of his brain removed due to severe damage. Doctors were not certain how well he would do, as they estimated his mental acuity as being that of an 8-year-old child.

This child is at a point where surgeons can attempt to reattach the shattered pieces to protect his brain, which swelled after the initial injury. It’s one more step closer to the boy’s dream of being able to ride horses once more and play his favorite sport of soccer. This boy isn’t the only one that sustained severe head trauma as a result of that horrific storm. There are many other children facing similar surgeries.

Surgeries like this one are high risk. That is a virtual given before anything is attempted. But what other options might there be for kids like this one? They need medical help and they need to get on with their lives. If the medical assistance and surgeries go well, the child may have a good prognosis for the duration. If something goes wrong during surgery, such as a wrong medication, too much or too little anesthesia, improper monitoring, a slip of the surgeon’s knife or an operation conducted on the wrong patient, the patient is then the victim of medical malpractice or a wrongful death.

Don’t take the chance that your child may have been harmed or killed by a negligent doctor, nurse or hospital. If you have questions, doubts, fears and need answers, make your first point of contact an Austin personal injury lawyer. Your first meeting is free of charge and you can find out what you need to know by asking the Austin personal injury lawyer what medical malpractice is and how it relates to a wrongful death lawsuit.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

April 27, 2011 in Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Pedestrian Killed While Crossing in a Crosswalk And Driver Fled Scene Indicated Austin Personal Injury Lawyer

You would think if you were crossing the street in a designated crosswalk area that you would be safe. Think again.

It seems no matter where one goes or what one does these days, there is a need to be alert and aware at all times, whether driving or crossing the street. Without that cautious awareness, the ultimate price may be death. That is what happened in this disturbing hit and run case.

Hit and runs are perhaps the most reprehensible of all pedestrian versus car accidents. If the victim dies, the family will have trouble filing a wrongful death lawsuit if the police are not able to track down the guilty driver. Unfortunately, that happens far more often than we would like to think. We would like to think that justice would be done in all cases of a wrong being perpetrated. That does not always happen.

In this case, a 19-year-old woman was crossing the street in a designated crosswalk area when she was hit by a new white or gray SUV. There were two witnesses at the scene who were able to tell the police that the van appeared to be new and either white or gray. They were not 100 percent certain as to the color, as the accident happened at 10:30 p.m.

The van’s driver did not stop and sped away from the area, leaving the young woman to die in the middle of the street. She was dead when the EMS crews arrived. No doubt her family will want to pursue this case with a personal injury lawyer. This wrongful death should never have happened. But for the negligence of the van driver, this young woman would still be alive today.

In wrongful death cases like this, the family will want to know what they need to do to bring their case to justice. They will want to hold someone responsible for the death of their family member so that it will not happen to someone else. Wrongful death lawsuits are rarely about getting even with the defendant. Instead, they are about the family seeking emotional, mental and financial relief to be able to move on with their lives.

Often, insurance money is an issue. Without the help of a skilled Austin personal injury lawyer, a plaintiff may not get the financial award they deserve. Do not wait too long to speak to an Austin personal injury lawyer if you have been in a similar situation. There is a statute of limitations running from the time of the accident. Ask your lawyer what that is during your first free consultation. You will leave knowing exactly what needs to be done to move forward with your life.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.