What is No-Fault Auto Insurance?

No fault automobile  insurance  policy covers stated risks no matter of fault and relates to medical coverage named as “Medical Payments Coverage”. Not every states hold “no-fault” statutes.

No fault auto coverage covers stated risks no matter of fault and relates to medical coverage named as Medical Payments Coverage. For example: states like Florida, Texas, New Jersey, etc required no-fault which costs all of the time a lot more. Additionally, in Florida mandatory to hold Personal Injury Protection (commonly $10,000 of insurance coverage) in any case, one end up with as if triple  insurance  coverage whenever one gets a good medical policy, PIP and Uninsured Motorist coverage.

Uninsured Motorists coverage called for the elementary truth that it as well provides for lost wages and a pain and suffering benefit. It’s needed to carry uninsured motorist coverage in a no-fault state.

In a few states as Texas, you could refuse the no-fault in writing, another state like Maryland you can’t refuse it regardless, you’re required by state law to have in order to continue your car  insurance .  A Maryland personal injury lawyer can answer all the questions you may have.

Not every states holds”no-fault” statutes, while nearly every insurers provide some kind of medical coverage for their Auto Policies, medical insurance coverage is when you’re insured on medical bills. Essentially, whenever you’ve an accident for which you are not at-fault, and you reside in a “no-fault” state, your personal insurance has to pay off for your medical expenses. The “no-fault” partially arrives by the reality that even though somebody, bump into the back of your vehicle when you were stopped at a stop light, your personal carrier have to pick up the ambulance, hospital, rehabilitation, and so on.

Commonly it is grounded on the total of the medical expenses or the weighting of the at-fault party’s auto. A lot of folks who live in “no-fault” states often believe they could disallow their carrier from paying off their expenses (on the supposal that they do not require any payments made under their insurance policy just in case their rates arise), “no-fault” medical insurance coverage is primary, and the first-party insurers’ carrier has to pay it.

In the end, a lot of people who acknowledge they live in a “no-fault” state frequently think this is something to do with physical damage to a car and liability. That isn’t the case. “No-fault” refers just to the medical coverage. Whenever somebody bumps off your car, and he’s at-fault, he’s still lawfully susceptible to pay up for the harms to your car.

For accidents that happen in Maryland be sure to contact a Maryland personal injury attorney.

By Brent A. Kenny
Published: 2/20/2008

Contributory Negligence in Maryland Personal Injury

The Doctrine of Contributory Negligence adversely affects many personal injury plaintiffs in the State of Maryland. Basically, if a victim is found to share in the responsibility for an accident, the victim is completely bared from recovery. This doctrine, only found in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. frustrates many deserving injury victims and their lawyers.

In most states, recovery or compensation is based upon the Doctrine of Comparative Negligence. Comparative negligence, a much fairer standard, comes into play when it is contended that two or more parties failed to act in a reasonable standard of care. For example, suppose one person was driving too fast and hit a car that that failed to stop completely at a stop sign. In this situation-where each party has some degree of negligence in causing an accident-the responsibility to the other person(s) is reduced by the others’ degree of negligence.

For example, suppose a jury decides that the driver going too fast was 10% responsible for the accident, while the driver who blew through the stop sign was 90% responsible. If the driver who was driving too fast is awarded $10,000, his recovery would be reduced to $1,000 because of his 10% contributory negligence.

Maryland Personal Injury

Foran & Foran handles Personal Injury cases in Maryland as well as Medical Malpractice, Worker’s Compensation, Product’s Liability and many other types of cases.

High-Low Agreements in Personal Injury Cases – Maryland

Generally, I dislike trying personal injury cases with high-low agreements that contain the size of the verdict. If you are going to force us to take the case to trial, I would prefer to have the chance of the upside. My gut level reaction is no deal.

But the problem with this bravado is clients. Our law firm has a decent volume of personal injury cases which means our lawyers are able to spread the risk of the possibility of a bad outcome at trial. Clients have just one case, so their risk calculus is very different. An added force of inertia for high-low agreements that tends to make the numbers more reasonable for injury victims is that insurance companies do want to limit the possibility of a verdict in excess of policy limits.

If you are going to make a high-low agreement, it is important to make sure everyone is crystal clear on what the agreement is. Not most, but a good number of high-lows are made during trial while the jury is out.

Reduction In Ethics Complaints

The Daily Record reports that ethical complaints made against all Maryland lawyers dropped 24 percent in the last six months of 2008 as opposed to the same period in the preceding year.

More specifically, the complaints against Maryland personal injury lawyers dropped from 48 the year before to 37 for 2008. Keeping in mind that I graduated from a liberal arts college, my math says that is a 33 percent drop.

That is refreshing to see. I am a big proponent of continuing legal education and participation in professional associations because I think raising the skill level of the plaintiff’s bar as a whole is good for our profession and our clients. I think every Maryland personal injury lawyer should be a member of the Maryland Association for Justice, and should regularly attend continuing education programs.

Five Books Every Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer Should Own

Here are five books I use all the time that I think every Maryland personal injury lawyer should have:

1. Pleading Causes of Action in Maryland, by Paul Mark Sandler & James K. Archibald.

2. Maryland Rules Commentary, by Paul V. Niemayer & Linda M. Schuett.

3. Maryland Automobile Accident Deskbook, Editors: Debora Fajer-Smith & H. Patrick Donohue.

4. David Ball on Damages: The Essential Update, by David Ball, Ph.D.

5. Appellate Practice for the Maryland Lawyer: State and Federal: Paul Mark Sandler & Andrew D. Levy, Editors.

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