Hall Currie Lawyers - Nicholas B. Hall - Personal Injury Lawyer

11/22/2021

Hall Currie Lawyers will be closed Wednesday, November 24th through Friday, November 26th to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. We will resume normal business hours Monday, November 29th. We hope you have a great holiday!

07/22/2021

Nicholas B. Hall personal injury lawyer serving Grand Forks, ND. Contact us today at 701-352-2810 or visit our webpage!

07/01/2021

Hall Currie Lawyers will be closed Monday, July 5th to celebrate Independence Day. We will resume normal business hours Tuesday, July 6th. We hope you have a great holiday!

05/27/2021

In observance of Memorial Day, Hall Currie Lawyers will be closed Monday, May 31, 2021. We will resume normal business hours on Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Have a great and safe holiday!

03/26/2021

BURDEN OF PROOF
In legal claims before the court there are 3 distinct burdens of proof on the plaintiff.
We all know that in criminal cases the burden is "beyond a reasonable doubt". In some classes of cases, it is a lesser burden of "clear and convincing evidence". Personal injury actions carry the lowest burden, "greater weight of the evidence".
The greater weight burden is often described as "more likely than not". In practice it requires the weight of plaintiff's evidence to slightly sway the scales of justice in the plaintiff's favor. This is often a difficult concept for jurors who are accustomed to watching TV shows or movies portraying a criminal trial.

03/18/2021

NEGLIGENCE AND FAULT
In personal injury actions the injured party (plaintiff) must prove negligence on the part of defendant, causation (the negligence caused the injury) and damages.
Negligence is usually defined as the lack of ordinary care and diligence required under the circumstances. The greater the potential danger, the greater is the care required. Fault comes into play when the jury deliberates at the end of trial. Basically, fault means negligence and there could be some fault attributed to both parties.
The jury on the verdict form is directed to assess a percentage of fault to any party who committed some negligence. The plaintiff will "win" the case so long as the plaintiff's fault, if any, is less than 50%. Should the plaintiff be found 20% at fault, the plaintiffs final damage award will be reduced by 20%.

03/05/2021

MEDIATION

More and more the process of mediation is utilized to settle lawsuits before trial. Mediation can take place at anytime during the claim process--even before suit on occasion.

When the parties' agree to mediate, they must also agree on a mediator. The mediator is ordinarily an experienced trial lawyer or retired judge who has been certified through training in mediation.

Ordinarily, the mediator will have the parties' lawyers first submit a letter and documents outlining their case, including the stronger and weaker aspects. A mediation session will then be scheduled at a neutral location. The mediator will explain ground rules to the parties at the outset and then separate them in different rooms.

The mediator will discuss aspects of the case with each side and then carry offers and counteroffers back and forth. If the mediator can bring the parties to a common number, the case settles.

Some advantages of mediation include:

> Avoiding the gamble of placing the case in front of group of strangers;
> Reducing expenses incurred in trial preparation;
> Early resolution reduces stress and anxiety to claimants;

A disadvantage of mediation is that if the client's case is very strong, the client may not recover a suitable amount.

It is estimated that 80% to 90% of cases which go to mediation are settled in the process.

02/19/2021

SHOULD I SETTLE MY CASE OR GO TO TRIAL?

You deserve fair compensation for your injuries following any auto accident or other liability event causing damage. Most clients indicate a desire to settle the case soon rather than later. However, it is important to know that you have recovered to maximum medical improvement since there is only one chance at a recovery.

I agree with the statistics thrown around that at least 85% of injury claims are settled before trial. However, we often need to go right up to trial, with all of the preparation and expense involved, to achieve a settlement either by negotiation or with the assistance of a professional mediator.

Settlements are generally preferred in that you have eliminated the risk of a trial, or in other words throwing your case in front of 9 total strangers. But a settlement is not always possible. If the other side refuses to negotiate, or there are significant issues of liability, or of the extent of damages, a trial is often necessary.

We invite you to check out our website at www.personalinjurynd.com and review recent cases in which we list several verdicts and settlements we have achieved for clients, including multi-million dollar settlements for wrongful death.

02/12/2021

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

What is commonly referred to as the "Statute of Limitations" is actually a series of North Dakota provisions setting time limits on when certain actions can be commenced.

In personal injury actions in North Dakota, we are primarily concerned with a 6-year time limit for most injuries (auto collision, slip and fall, etc.). The lawsuit must be started within 6 years of the injury.

In medical cases the time limit is 2 years. However, in most cases the time starts running when an individual knows or should have known there was an incident of medical negligence. Since an injury with medical negligence is not always known immediately after surgery or the procedure, it needs to be determined by a court whether an action is timely if brought more than 2 years after the procedure.

While the same rules apply to a minor (under 18) the time limit ordinarily does not begin until the minor reaches 18 years.

Cases for wrongful death also carry a time limit of 2 years from the death.

02/04/2021

LIMITS ON LAWSUITS

Once again there are pending bills in the US Senate to reduce "frivolous lawsuits". These bills are introduced in virtually every session, primarily by republican senators. The senators listen to stories of runaway verdicts propounded by the insurance industry which spends $millions on lobbying each session. This push is not based on facts and statistics.

Research demonstrates that personal injury actions and filings have been reduced over the past decade and while the courts are flooded with litigation, those suits generally involve business lawsuits, criminal cases, and divorce.

Indeed, insurance companies have worked with the media to spread their message to all of us. By citing the McDonald's hot coffee case and others, they have created the impression, or perception, that juries are regularly making lottery winners of plaintiffs in civil actions.

When president Trump began his campaign for the presidency the Washington Post reported that he and his companies were involved, on one side or the other, in some 3,000 pending lawsuits. It is ironic that Congress would seek to limit the courthouse doors to the consumer and the little guy when our former leader is the most litigious president to have ever served.

The various bills seek to limit damages (which has already been done by several state legislatures in medical cases) and reduce fees for lawyers. The bills relate only to medical and personal injury actions and do not affect business lawsuits by the big players in any respect.

The seventh amendment to the US Constitution guarantees the right of jury trial in civil cases. It is a simple declaration without restrictions. Attempts by congress to place caps on damages in civil jury trials is an attempt to limit the seventh amendment.

To read more blogs, please visit our website www.personalinjurynd.com

Nicholas B. Hall personal injury lawyer serving Grand Forks, ND. Contact us today at 701-352-2810 or visit our webpage!

01/26/2021

Contingency Fee Cases

When a lawyer is engaged to bring a lawsuit in tort (personal injury, medical malpractice, wrongful death, product liability) the lawyer and client ordinarily enter into a contract or retainer agreement. Typically, the agreement will set a fee at a contingency rate of 33% or 40%.

The contingency fee means that the client pays nothing for the attorney services throughout the lawsuit until its conclusion. Once the case is settled or a verdict at trial is received, the attorney's fee is calculated based on the total recovery in addition to reimbursement of expenses forwarded by the attorney. Should there be no recover in the lawsuit, the attorney will receive nothing for his time and effort.

The contingency fee is an age-old method allowing plaintiffs to go forth with a claim when they are unable to afford to pay the attorney by the hour as the claim proceeds. In fact, almost no plaintiff or claimant is able to pay such fees on a continuing basis.

As a result, the contingency fee is an important factor in assisting claimants in proceeding with their injury claim.

To learn more visit www.personalinjurynd.com.