Redondo Beach Dog Attack Lawyer

What to do after a Redondo Beach Dog Attack

If you have been injured in a Redondo Beach Animal Bite, please give us a call today for your no fee, private consultation with an experienced Redondo Beach Dog Bite attorney.

The first things to do after being attacked

It is important to identify the dog that attacked you, mainly because if it is a stray and you cannot identify it, you’re dealing with the possibility of having to undergo treatment for rabies, which can be painful.

Also, if you were bitten by a dog or any wild animal being kept by a person, you probably are eligible to receive compensation by the animal’s owner, and you may possibly genuinely need that compensation to repay your medical charges, reimburse you for lost income, pay for surgical treatment later on, as well as make it easier to conquer the pain and being affected by your injuries.

After that, get medical attention. You will be in good company, because 1,000 Americans arrive in emergency rooms every single day of the entire year because of animal bites alone!

Should you be harmed on the face, insist upon treatment by a plastic surgeon because emergency room doctors are fantastic at keeping people alive but not always the very best at making stitches and wounds look great.

After that, make sure to keep to the guidelines from the physician and take every one of the medications which are prescribed (with the exception of the painkillers, which usually are at your discretion).

You may additionally be directed to remain out of the direct sun light, use sun block, use scar reduction lotion, change bandages, report for follow up treatment, report for removing stitches, massage the healing areas, etc. If that’s the case, do it!

The decision as to whether or not you will need rabies shots must be left to your doctor. Shots are not always called for, because rabies may not be within your geographic region.

You shouldn’t be frightened if your physician tells you that you do not need to have this painful treatment.

If you have been injured in a Redondo Beach Dog Attack, please contact us today for your no fee, confidential assessment with an experienced Redondo Beach Animal Attack lawyer.

If the animal owner is covered by insurance, you may get a call from an insurance carrier representative. Make sure you question him or her for the following information:

• Name of insurance carrier

• Address of his or her office

• Telephone number

• Claim number

• Name of the person who is covered

• The amount of money available to pay medical expenditures (not everything, just medical expenses)

Do not do any of the following:

• Do not discuss money, payment of money, settlement, personal injury value or anything else relating to money

• Do not set up a meeting

• Do not write a letter or a memo

• Do not permit yourself to be tape recorded

• Do not permit the sufferer to be photographed

• Do not go over who is liable

• Do not take any money

Actions to protect your rights

If you have been injured in a Redondo Beach Dog Bite, please contact us now for a no cost, confidential assessment with an experienced Redondo Beach Animal Attack lawyer.

A dog attack victim has to do the following things to protect his or her rights:

• Identify the dog. In an incredibly critical scenario, this could entail obtaining and analyzing a DNA sample, that will call for an attorney’s involvement.

• Get the name and address of the owner of the dog, when possible. When you can, acquire the dog license details.

• Get the name, address and telephone number of any prospective witnesses. You may have to go back to the accident scene, and knock on the doors of nearby homes and companies.

You also should revisit the scene of the accident several times at the same time at which the accident occurred, because people often have a habit of coming to the same spots as section of their daily routine.

• Take photographs of all of your injuries, bruises and bloody clothing.

• If feasible, get insurance details from the dog owner.

• If skin was lacerated or more serious, or if the harm was to the facial area, or if the victim was a young child, you can and really should consult an attorney free of charge.

• Get your lawyer started when the info is new! The facts of your lawsuit need to be proven; the severity of your traumas need to be recognized.

As noticeable as the specifics and wounds may be to you, they will not likely be evident to an insurance adjuster sitting at a desk in an office building a couple weeks or months after the attack.

Furthermore, physicians are interested in treating you than proving the type and magnitude of your injuries to an insurer, so the proper documentation needs to be requested from them at the proper times.

Your lawyer will acquire the essential evidence and keep an eye on your treatment, so the insurance adjuster will comprehend exactly what happened, and will provide you with an acceptable amount of money, whenever possible.

• Retain your attorney before starting any proceeding relating to the dog! The laws of most cities, counties and states make it possible for local authorities to determine whether a dog is dangerous and, if so, the fate of the dog.
Often this is called a “dangerous dog hearing,” but it goes by some other names as well.

Because “dog court” procedures may unintentionally compromise the victim’s legal rights, she should never talk to animal control authorities until her lawyer compares the city and county ordinances, obtains the department’s commitment as to which laws and procedures they will be following, and is pleased that the issues addressed below will be solved fairly.

If the victim receives a subpoena, her testimony is required, making it even more important to instantly consult with a lawyer — because a subpoena must be followed, to its letter.

If you have been injured in a Redondo Beach Animal Bite, please give us a call today for a complimentary, confidential assessment with a knowledgeable Redondo Beach Animal Bite lawyer.

The victim should never do the following:

• Do not sign anything! Yes, you typically can sign the clinic entrance files (given that you were not bitten in the clinic itself).

However, sign absolutely nothing offered by any insurance company, the owner of the dog, or the property manager or other owner of the property where the attack happened.

Do not write to, or make a report for, any insurance company, dog owner, or property manager or other property owner.

• Do not hesitate to consult a lawyer! There are laws called “statutes of limitations.”

They say that you lose all of your legal rights unless you report a court case within a specific amount of time after sustaining a bodily injury. For that reason, call a lawyer as soon as possible.

The dog bite victim’s right to a lawyer

A dog attack victim may have several various kinds of injuries and losses, from medical bills and emotional destruction, to loss of the prospect to gain income in the future because of disfigurement.

A victim may be eligible to get back these losses from another individual and that individuals insurance company, given that the victim presents the necessary proof, first to the insurance company and then possibly in a court of law.

There are two sets of laws the victim needs to follow, namely those spelling out who is responsible for the injuries and losses, and those imposing tough guidelines of evidence and procedure to identify that liability.

If you have been seriously injured in a Redondo Beach Animal Attack, please give us a call right now for a no cost, confidential consultation with a knowledgeable Redondo Beach Animal Bite attorney.

Parents have particular factors whenever their kids are injured.

A wounded individual and his or her loved ones are not emotionally equipped of intensely enforcing their privileges. The most critical task they face is making sure the victim heals.

In death cases, the relatives grieve; it doesn’t gather evidence and put together legal briefs. In cases short of death, the victim and his or her family must be upbeat, so the tendency is to decrease the suffering, even ignore it wherever possible.

Nevertheless, it is there, and it may continue to be there for quite a long time — permanently, if wounds turn into ugly scars. Therefore, a vigorous advocate is a must.

An attorney with expertise in representing people with these kinds of injuries brings value to your claim.

He or she has studied the results of dog bite injuries, how to accumulate the proof required to completely prove not only what happened in the past but also what the long term side effects will be, the techniques and procedures of insurance providers when dealing with critical circumstances like these, and the best way to effectively assess these situations to ensure that the victims receive exactly what they deserve.

An attorney with experience has the ability to objectively analyze both the strengths and the weaknesses of a lawsuit.

Furthermore, an attorney is the only person who can turn a claim into a lawsuit if you are not being cared for fairly. Without the threat of a lawsuit, you’re at the mercy of the insurance carrier.

Furthermore, the treatments normally followed by animal control departments in “dog court” hearings may unintentionally compromise the victim’s rights.

A victim and her family members therefore must not speak with animal control authorities until her lawyer reviews the city and county ordinances, obtains the department’s determination as to which laws and procedures they will be following, and is content that the challenges addressed somewhere else in Dog Bite Law will be fixed fairly.

If you have been seriously injured in a Redondo Beach Dog Bite, please give us a call right now for your free, private consultation with a skilled Redondo Beach Dog Bite lawyer.

The challenges of not retaining an attorney

If you are dealing with the insurance company without a lawyer, then, as seriously as you are taking your injuries, the insurance company isn’t — you can be assured of that.

Other people with related injuries have retained attorneys to present their claims to that very same insurance company.

One point that all those individuals have in common is a frame of mind of seriousness about what happened to them, and a driving desire to ensure they are cared for fairly.

The insurance firm pays the proper amount to the individuals, but not people who don’t take the initial step of safeguarding their legal rights by maintaining a lawyer.

The individual at the insurance company that you are interacting with (called the “adjuster”) may appear sincere and sympathetic — a very, very nice individual, a nurturing person.

However, he or she needs to report to others you will not talk to: a supervisor, a lawsuits examiner, a regional manager, and lastly the corporate office. The adjuster is paid a salary and has a family.

He or she wants to continue working for that business, and maybe get a raise and a promotion. None of that will be risked for you.

Even if the adjuster would like to aid you, because of some connection which you believe has developed between the two of you, you will not always be taken care of fairly by the supervisor, claims examiner, regional manager, and corporate office.

These people are not familiar with you. To them, you are nothing but an individual without an attorney.

You are not dealing with the adjuster, you are dealing with a faceless corporation, and to that company you are nothing but a file, a legal responsibility, a person who wants money that otherwise would be dispersed to the investors as profit.

If you don’t retain an attorney, you are on your own, against all people at the insurance company, and all of its attorneys. When was the last time that you heard a happy ending to that story?

The fees of creating a claim are often comparatively small, compared to the amount of money that will be received. In a common claim, they might come to between $1000 and $2000.

However, cases that are being put together for trial become very expensive — tens of thousands of dollars. Fortunately only 2% of claims actually go to trial, so there is no considerable risk of the expenses “consuming up” the recovery.

It needs to be noted that the contingency fee system is uniquely American and that it has been under attack in recent years.

Because it enables ordinary individuals to obtain legal help, the corporate world — insurance companies and other industries — continues to be trying to pass laws to abolish or cripple it.

These laws take many distinct forms, such as an arbitrary limit on the amount that a victim’s lawyer may charge.

Note that only the victim’s lawyer would be subject to any limitation, while the insurance industry’s attorneys would continue to not only charge their usual hourly rates but also rely upon the substantial monetary coffers of their wealthy customers.

The tort system exists for the benefit of normal individuals rather than the interests of the business world, and consequently the program and its major players (the victims and their lawyers) consistently experience attacks and constantly need to fight for their rights.

If you have been injured in a Redondo Beach Animal Bite, please call us right now for your no fee, confidential consultation with an experienced Redondo Beach Dog Attack attorney.