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Tatum Law Firm

Archives for June 2014

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Personal Injury Claims in North Carolina – How do you know if you have a claim & how do you prove it?

Accidents occur daily and in various forms, whether it is a car accident, a slip and fall, a product defect, or even a workplace mishap. Unfortunately many of these accidents also involve some kind of injury; this may mean a physical injury or injury to your property.

What is Negligence?

Negligence claims help those who have been injured in an accident receive damages to make them whole again. Ultimately, if you think you have been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence, a good question to ask is whether a reasonably prudent person would have acted the same in similar circumstances? If the answer to this question is no, it is likely worth your while to pursue your options with an experienced personal injury attorney in your area.

How do you prove negligence?               

To be able to be compensated for your injuries, plaintiffs (the injured parties) have the burden of proving four elements in a negligence claim – duty, breach, causation, and damages. [Read more…]

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Ammonia Leak at Smithfield Packing Plant in NC Leads to Injured Workers

Just after 11 a.m., June 17th, a water heater tank collapsed severing an ammonia line at the Smithfield Packing Plant in Tar Heel, NC, causing the evacuation of the entire plant.   The Smithfield Packing plant is the largest pork-processing plant in the world, with over 2,000 people working at the time of the leak. Fortunately, the ammonia leak left only eight of those 2,000 workers injured on Tuesday morning.

According to WRAL, not only was the plant evacuated, but authorities also closed Highway 87 for a stretch of about five miles so the hazmat teams could contain the leak and make the scene of the accident safe.

The Plant has had an ammonia leak before, in 2012, where six workers inhaled the fumes of the ammonia and five of those workers were hospitalized. Tuesday, eight workers were taken to Cape Fear Medical Center in Fayetteville due to minor inhalation or heat-related injuries.

[Read more…]

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South Charlotte Man Loses Life after Accident, Others Rush to Help

53-year-old James Johnson died June 14, 2014, after being hit by an SUV while driving through the intersection of Providence and Wendover Road. Johnson, traveling on Wendover Road, proceeded through a green stop light at which point the driver of the SUV, traveling the opposite direction on Wendover Road, proceeded through a flashing yellow light and hit Johnson. Johnson did not have a pulse at the scene according to persons interviewed by WSOCTV.

The air was heavy at the intersection, and rightfully so. One onlooker who lives close to the intersection stated “by the time I got there – he had no pulse. So, it was a little terrifying, but I tried to help as much as I could.” Adding that she wishes she could give her condolences in person. The driver of the vehicle is praying for Johnson’s family as well.

[Read more…]

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Elderly Woman Falls at Doctor’s Office Breaking Hip and Shoulder

On November 5, 2007, an 86 year old woman entered Graystone Ophthalmology for a routine vision examination and left the doctor’s office with both a fractured shoulder and a fractured hip along the right side of her body. In an effort to receive help with some of the costs for treatment and rehabilitation of her injuries, the woman proceeded with a lawsuit against the doctor’s office.

When filing a lawsuit, there are many different levels of review for your claim. In this situation, the first level of review – the trial court – granted summary judgment in favor of Graystone. But what does this mean? Every claim has a certain number of elements that must be proven in order for you to win your lawsuit. For example, negligence (what the injured party is claiming) has four elements: (1) Duty, (2) Breach of that Duty, (3) Proximate Causation, and (4) Damages. Essentially, if the person that is trying to dispose of the case (in this matter, the doctor’s office) can show that the injured party cannot prove one of those four elements, the case will not proceed.

However, this is not the end of the line. In this case, Graystone was successful at the trial level and was granted summary judgment, but the plaintiff appealed to the next level of review – the Court of Appeals (“COA”). The COA in this case determined that the trial court was incorrect and reversed the decision. Both parties agreed that Graystone Ophthalmology owed the patient a duty (satisfying element one) and that the patient did in fact receive damages or injuries (satisfying element four).

[Read more…]

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Charlotte Accident Involving Drunk Driver & Two Motorcycles Resulting in Serious Injuries

Just after 2:30 pm on June 3rd, a crash occurred in Charlotte involving a drunk driver and two motorcycles. According to WBTV news, the two motorcycles laid their motorcycles down in an attempt to protect themselves from the oncoming driver, but the car continued forward and hit both of the motorcycles and one of the parties driving the motorcycle. The motorcyclist that was struck was considered seriously injured, and the other motorcyclist suffered from minor injuries.

speed-of-motorcycle-1016169-mA study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found, “[i]n 2012, there were an estimated 5,615,000 police-reported traffic crashes in which 33,561 people were killed and 2,362,000 people were injured; 3,950,000 crashes resulted in property damage only.” Fortunately, no one in this accident was killed; however these two motorcyclists now fall into the almost 2.5 million people who are injured yearly as a result of a car accident.

While the driver of the car has been charged with felony serious injury by vehicle, driving while license revoked and reckless driving, these charges do not allow for the compensation of victims who have been injured. For this reason, certain accidents involve both criminal and civil liability.

[Read more…]

We serve the following localities:

Cabarrus County including Concord and Kannapolis; Catawba County including Newton; Gaston County including Belmont and Gastonia; Iredell County including Mooresville and Statesville; Lancaster County including Lancaster; Lincoln County including Lincolnton; Mecklenburg County including Charlotte, Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Matthews, Pineville, and Mint Hill; Rowan County including Salisbury; Union County including Indian Trail and Monroe; and York County including Fort Mill and Rock Hill.

Address

6135 Park South Drive, Suite 510

Charlotte, NC 28210

Phone: (704) 307-4350

Fax: (704) 754-4140

 

Mailing Address

P. O. Box 220517

Charlotte, NC 28222

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331 E. Main Street, Suite 200

Rock Hill, SC 29730

Phone: (803) 220-3440

 

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Carolina Accident Attorney - Tatum Law Firm