Category: Injuries

I’m sorry to hear about your torn meniscus. A meniscus is a layer of hard cartilage that conforms to the shape of the end of the thigh and shin bones. The meniscus is there to distribute the weight evenly across the leg bones and to help keep the knee joint stable. If it is torn, there can be pain, swelling, and limited movement of the knee.

A meniscus can tear for two main reasons. The first is a natural degeneration that can occur in older adults. The second is through injuries. This normally occurs when the knee is bent and then twisted, and is common in car accidents, falls, and construction accidents.

When a meniscus tears, the symptoms are often immediate. There may be pain and a popping sound, followed by swelling. If a torn meniscus is suspected, a doctor normally examines the knee and may use an MRI to confirm that there has been a tear. The treatment depends on how injured the knee is and on the patient. Some people may choose not to have surgery and may simply try to allow it to hear with rest. However, many people need surgery. Although surgery can help many patients, for some it is only a temporary fix, and they may need a full knee replacement later in life.

If you have suffered a torn meniscus in an accident in Los Angeles, you likely have the right to compensation for your injuries. You should speak with an attorney to learn about all of your legal options. Call me, Conal Doyle, California personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. Call today to learn more or to schedule your free consultation.

Drivers don’t expect to be hit by large objects suddenly while they are driving. However, drivers share the roads with many large cargo trucks that are loaded with products that may come loose at any time if they aren’t properly secured. When large trucks lose all or part of their cargo, it can cause serious damage to the vehicles in their path.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has set specific regulations on the proper loading of cargo. It is necessary for both the company that loads the truck and the truck driver to ensure that all the cargo is correctly loaded and secured before it hits the road. Cargo must be able to withstand acceleration, backing, and turning forces. Some commodities such as logs, pipes, and other large items must be strapped down in specific ways. Federal law also has a minimum number of tie downs, which depends on size and weight.

If cargo comes loose and causes an accident, it may not be simple to determine who is liable. The truck driver, the trucking company, and the warehouse where the cargo was loaded could all potentially be liable. Each of the potentially responsible parties may try to blame the others in order to avoid liability.

If you have been harmed in an accident caused by falling cargo, it’s critical that you have legal representation to investigate which parties are liable, and to ensure that you are properly compensated for your losses. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. My team can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

Ride share companies have been under fire recently for their employment practices. A lawsuit filed in California recently accused Lyft of using negligent hiring, training, and retention programs, which it says resulted in a driver ejecting a passenger on the side of a freeway. He was later struck by another vehicle and killed.

Over the summer, two women in Tennessee sued Uber, claiming that the company was negligent in failing to fire a driver who had been previously accused of sexual assault. The lawsuit claims that the women were attacked by an Uber driver on separate occasions last year. The driver allegedly locked the first woman in the car when they arrived at her destination. He then forced himself on her until she threatened to scream. She reported the incident to law enforcement and to Uber. Two weeks later, the same driver allegedly assaulted another female passenger. He requested a “threesome” with her and her boyfriend after he arrived at her house, and then tried to prevent her from leaving the car. The woman escaped and reported the man to police and Uber. The driver later called and harassed her.

The lawsuit claims that Uber failed to adequately vet its drivers and took no action against the drive despite the first woman’s complaint. The lawsuit alleges that the company showed an intentional or reckless disregard for the physical and emotional safety of the passengers.

A CNN investigation found that over 120 Uber and Lyft drivers have sexually assaulted passengers over the last four years. According to Uber, the driver has been permanently removed from the service. The women are seeking compensation for their damages.

If you have been harmed by an Uber or a Lyft driver, you should speak with an attorney. If you are in Los Angeles call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more about your legal options.

The popularity of electric scooters is on the rise. Three companies, Lime, Bird, and Skip, have aggressively expanded into cities across the U.S. These companies offer scooters for rent. Users can locate and unlock the devices with their smartphones. However, scooter companies require little training for first-time riders. One company offers an instructional video, but it does not require riders to watch it before using. Many riders are surprised by how fast they can go and how quickly they can accelerate.

Two deaths recently occurred involving electric scooters, and they are believed to be the first deaths in the U.S. in which rental electric scooters were involved. One man was riding on a Lime scooter and an SUV struck him in Washington, D.C. Another man was riding a Lime scooter in Dallas and fell off, suffering blunt force trauma injuries. Doctors in 12 cities recently reported an increase in injuries in emergency rooms caused by electric scooters.

Recently, Governor Brown signed into law a bill that allows users to ride electric scooters without helmets. The law also gives cities the authority to let scooters operate on streets with speed limits of up to 35 miles per hour, which is an increase of 10 miles per hour.

Many electric scooter riders are reporting accidents because of malfunctions. Some of the most common are the brakes not working and the accelerators sticking. Riders typically have to agree to release the company from liability for injuries in order to use the scooters. However, many say that the companies cannot absolve themselves from liability for gross negligence in maintaining their scooters.

If you have been injured in an accident with an electric scooter, including one from Lime, Bird, or Skip, you should speak with an attorney. If you are in Los Angeles, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule your free consultation.

Actions you take immediately after an accident that is caused by someone else are critical. They can help not only your physical recovery, but also your legal case. In most cases, hiring a personal injury attorney is required, especially if there are physical injuries, large amounts of damages, or if liability is disputed.

Information from the scene of the accident is very important. You may not have been able to gather evidence for a possible lawsuit at the time of the accident. If you are able to take pictures of the scene, you should. Pictures of the scene can be helpful for your case. You should get contact information for any eyewitnesses, as well as a copy of the police report.

If you suffered injuries in the accident, you should seek medical treatment as soon as possible. Go to all follow-up exams and take all of the recommendations from your doctor. If you fail to comply with your doctor’s orders, your injuries may not be taken seriously. Keep paperwork from all of your doctor’s visits, including receipts and your medical records. If you anticipate you will need future medical care, document that care. Your doctor may need to write a care plan.

Finally, if you have had to take time off work for doctor’s appointments and due to your injuries, you need to keep records of your missed time. You may need to provide your attorney with paycheck stubs, time records, or a written document from your employer stating the days you missed from work.

If you have suffered injuries in an accident, you should speak with a personal injury attorney. An attorney can help build a strong case for you. If you are in Los Angeles, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule your free consultation.

I’m so sorry to hear about the attack. Pit bulls are both powerful as well as sometimes aggressive. They are responsible for many attacks every year in the U.S. Many of their victims require emergency medical treatment. In some cases, the victims are killed or suffer from lifelong injuries.

Owners of pit bulls have the responsibility to take steps to keep the general public safe. Although not all pit bulls are aggressive, owners of the dogs should be aware of the risk they can pose to other people. Pit bulls have the potential to cause very serious injuries if certain steps are not taken to train them and secure them.

Pit bull attacks may last only seconds or minutes, but they can still cause very serious injuries or permanent disabilities in their victims. Some common examples of injuries caused by pit bulls include broken bones, lacerations and bruises, scars, torn ligaments, and nerve damage. If you have been the victim of an attack by a pit bull, you should seek immediate medical attention and file a police report. The police report should include any information you have about the owner, where the attack occurred, and a description of the dog.

Pit bull attacks in Los Angeles are not only physically and emotionally very painful, they can also be very expensive for the victim. The victim may be stuck with large medical expenses and may be unable to return from work for some time. The victim may also need counseling to help recover from the attack.

If you have been the victim of a pit bull attack in Los Angeles, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. My team can help. You may be entitled to compensation for your medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, and permanent disability. Call to learn more.

I’m sorry to hear about your torn ACL. If you tore your ACL because of another party’s negligent conduct, you should speak with an attorney about your legal options. A torn ACL can be very painful and normally takes surgery to heal, followed by months of therapy.

The ACL is one of two ligaments that help connect the shin bone and the thigh bone. The ACL helps support the knee joint by holding the bones together. The ACL also helps stabilize movement. If an ACL is torn, stability is lost, and medical treatment is needed.

There are a number of ways that an ACL can be torn. An ACL can be torn in a collision. It can be torn by sudden stops or suddenly changing directions. It can also be torn by landing the wrong way after jumping. It’s possible to only partially tear an ACL, but in most situations they are completely torn. A torn ACL usually results in a popping sound, which is followed by swelling, pain, and a loss of leg stability.

Surgery must be done in order to repair a torn ACL, although some elderly patients opt for therapy only instead of surgery. A torn ACL cannot be sutured back together, and instead must be reconstructed. After surgery, the patient normally requires physical therapy and must also use crutches and a knee brace. It can take four to six months for the knee to be fully functional again.

If you have torn your ACL in an accident that was caused by another person’s negligence, you should speak with an attorney. You likely have had to deal with a great deal of pain and time off work, and you are entitled to compensation for that. If you are in Los Angeles, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney at 310-385-0567. I can help. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.

I’m so sorry to hear about your accident. The period after an accident can be a chaotic time, with a great deal of confusion and stress. You may not know the best steps to take to protect yourself and your loved ones. You may wonder if you have any legal options at all.

Without knowing the details of your situation, it can be tough to know whether you have a case. Every accident is different, and every case is handled differently from others. Some of the unique details of your accident that can greatly impact the value of your case include: which party was at fault, how seriously you were injured, how long you were in the hospital, any past or future surgeries, any scarring or permanent damage you have suffered to your health, your future medical expenses, how much time you took off work, any damage you had to your property, and the evidence from the accident.

In most personal injury cases, your attorney will receive a percentage of any settlement or judgment you receive, so you don’t pay anything to the attorney up front. It’s important to speak with an attorney quickly after your accident. Personal injury cases normally don’t strengthen over time – instead, the longer the amount of time that passes the more difficult they can become to pursue.

If you have been injured in an accident and you believe that you may need to speak with an attorney, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. I can provide you with a free consultation. Call today to learn more.

It’s easy for many accident victims who suffer soft tissue injuries to disregard them or to not take them seriously. Any injury that has been caused by someone else’s negligence should be viewed as serious, even if it seems minor at the time.

Some common soft tissue injuries include strains, sprains, and contusions, and may be caused by automobile accidents, slip and fall accidents, and accidents in the workplace. Even though you may consider yourself lucky that you only suffered a soft tissue injury, those injuries still need medical attention and can cause the victim to take time off work. They can also be very painful.

Soft tissue injuries generally involve the tendons, ligaments, and muscles that surround the bones in the body. Many accident victims who receive soft tissue injuries live with the pain and never seek medical assistance or compensation. They may consider the injuries too minor to complain about. However, these injuries can require medical treatment, can cause time off work, and can be very painful. The injuries may also become worse over time and can leave the accident victim paying for the expenses if the accident victim did not make a claim at the outset.

If you have been injured in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence and suffered a soft tissue injury, you should speak with an attorney. Your injury is likely painful and probably requires medical treatment. In addition, it may be permanent. Call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles automobile accident attorney at 310-385-0567 to learn more about your legal options.

If you have been involved in an accident that put stress on your body you may have ended up with a broken bone or a fractured bone. If you break a bone, you may need to speak with an attorney, depending on the circumstances involved. Some common accidents that are caused by negligence and may result in a broken bone include slip and fall accidents, car accidents, bicycle accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, and on-the-job accidents.

If you have broken a bone because of the negligence of another party, you are entitled to recover compensation for your current and future medical expenses, pain and suffering, and for any permanent disability you may suffer. Normally, how severe the break is depends on the victim’s physical condition as well as the type of accident. If the accident victim is elderly, even a minor bone break can have catastrophic consequences. Children also can easily suffer bone breaks. Their bones normally heal much more quickly, but if the break is bad enough, it can have an impact on their growth.

You should speak with an attorney if you have suffered a broken bone in an accident caused by the negligence of another party. An experienced personal injury attorney can help build your case in order to ensure that you receive the maximum amount of compensation after the accident.

If you have suffered a broken bone because of someone else’s wrongful actions in Los Angeles, call me, Conal Doyle, Los Angeles personal injury attorney, at 310-385-0567. I can help you recover compensation after your accident. Call today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation.