Arizona Accident Lawyer Blog

A new study by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) shows that fireworks-related incidents were responsible for two deaths in 2009 and about 9,000 emergency room visits for injuries. According to the CPSC, throughout the 30 days near last year’s holiday, about 6,000 injuries involving fireworks were reported in which half of the injuries related to firecrackers, bottle rockets, and sparklers.

Consumers below the age of 20 are the most susceptible to fireworks injuries; however, the risk of serious injury or even death is still a reality for anyone within close range of fireworks or other pyrotechnics. Some frequently occurring fireworks injuries and hazards include:

• Burns of the face, head and hands


• Lacerations


• Loss of limbs


• Residential fires


• Wrongful death

Parental supervision is extremely important if and when legal fireworks are being used. Never allow young children to ignite or tamper with fireworks or other gadgets. It is also crucial to never throw or point fireworks at another individual. For more information on how you can help prevent serious injuries related to fireworks this Fourth of July holiday, please refer to the CPSC’s website for consumer fireworks safety tips.

The Arizona personal injury attorneys at Breyer Law Offices, P.C. cannot stress enough the importance of consumer safety during the Independence Day holiday. Take every necessary safety measure to keep your loved ones out of harm’s way.

In theory, an Arizona personal injury claim is a relatively simple process. A claim generally starts when an injured person requests money for injuries they have incurred after enduring an accident, abuse, or neglect. Most of the time, this involves filing a claim with the insurance company of the party responsible for the injury. If the claim is not settled at that point with an offer from the insurer, a lawsuit is usually the next step.

Filing a lawsuit is the beginning of what is known as the litigation process. For victims of injury, the first task in litigation is responding to your own lawyer’s questions so he or she becomes familiar with the facts of your case. This is known as discovery.

Next, the injured party must give a sworn statement, in which the questions posed by the lawyer of the at-fault party-- or the at-fault party’s insurance company-- are answered. This is called a deposition. A deposition is given under oath, and statements given in a deposition can be used in court.

Ultimately, the next step is to take the case to trial before a judge and jury. But it’s uncommon for the case to reach that point. Most cases settle long before a jury trial takes place, which we will detail shortly. But other cases require a jury to decide what the case is worth; the amount of money that could possibly be won at trial is at the discretion of the jury.

Being involved in any type of accident can often be a traumatic experience. When another person’s negligence causes such devastating incidents to take place, injury victims have legal rights that deserve to be protected. If you’d like to learn more about your options so that you can decide what the best course of action is for your specific situation, please give our Mesa injury lawyers a call for a no-obligation, free consultation.

As personal injury lawyers in Peoria, we see many injured victims make the mistake of not going to the doctor when they need more treatment or are in pain. Many times, they think the injury is not a big deal and that the pain will go away. We certainly hope so, but this isn’t always the case. But if the pain gets worse and the injury turns out to actually be more severe, then the victim just made a huge mistake by not seeking treatment.

For example, someone may experience minor back pain following an auto accident. They may simply think it’s not a big deal and it will go away on its own. Then it gets to the point where the pain is excruciating, so they finally see a doctor. The doctor diagnoses them with a cracked vertebrae and says they need surgery. In most cases, the defendant will use this delay in treatment to claim that the victim’s injuries weren’t caused by the accident, but by some other event that happened after the accident.

If you’ve been injured in an accident in Peoria, or anywhere else in Arizona, please seek medical care immediately, whether you think your injuries are severe or not. If you waited to get care, and the defendant is trying to deny your claim, please contact the Arizona injury attorneys at Breyer Law Offices. We can answer your questions and discuss how to go about proving your injuries so you can win the compensation you deserve.

It is not impossible to predict the outcome of a personal injury case with at least some degree of accuracy. Experienced Phoenix accident lawyers will have a good idea what a jury may do in certain circumstances. That is good enough reason to hire a veteran Arizona personal injury attorney. Hiring an attorney who has a background in the type of case in which you are involved is the next best thing to having a crystal ball. Anyone without a crystal ball who says with certainty what a jury will do in a specific case is being dishonest.

Juries in Arizona are made up of eight randomly selected people, and different juries will not always agree on a verdict. This is the way people are. Individual people think differently and, because of this, each jury will have a unique dynamic and sometimes come to dissimilar conclusions. For this reason, no one knows for certain what a jury might do, though an expert personal injury lawyer will usually be able to determine what type of verdict to expect, based on past experience and other verdicts by jurists in similar cases.

It is for this reason that as experienced Arizona injury attorneys, we do not try to determine what is fair in any specific personal injury claim, but rather try to determine what a jury is likely to do. Speaking to an honest and experienced lawyer about a personal injury claim will help those who have been seriously injured due to someone else’s negligence decide whether or not to pursue their claim.

Continue reading "Toss the Crystal Ball - Phoenix Accident Attorney Addresses Decision to Settle a Case" »

In personal injury cases in Scottsdale, and throughout the U.S., witnesses play a very important role. They provide the most credible testimony about what happened at an accident. But a witness can truly make or break the case. For example, a case could be lost because the personal injury victim and their lawyer cannot get a hold of a witness or the witness isn’t willing to testify. On the flip side, a personal injury case can be just as easily won by a witness who gives strong and credible testimony in favor of the plaintiff.

Besides witnesses to the accident, there are also other kinds of witnesses. For example, there are witnesses who can testify to the impacts the injuries have had on the victim’s life. While the injured person will testify as to the impact of the injuries on their own life, they are a biased source. So testimony coming from someone other than victim that verifies the victim’s claims can be very compelling.

If you’ve been injured in a Scottsdale car accident and have questions about witnesses, please contact a skilled Scottsdale auto accident injury lawyers who will evaluate your claim, answer your questions, and give you an honest assessment of all your legal options.

A plaintiff in a personal injury case and Rocky Balboa, from the Rocky movies. Those aren’t usually two people you’d read about in the same sentence. But they actually have a lot in common.

First of all, when we first meet Rocky in the movie, he’s going through some difficulties and is down on his luck. This is similar to the position that many plaintiffs in personal injury cases find themselves in. They have been badly injured in a car accident and are experiencing life-changing injuries.

Also, in case you forgot, Rocky lost the big fight at the end of the movie. But he was stubborn and willing to persevere, even when things didn’t look good. Again, this is similar to a personal injury plaintiff. Unfortunately, many people seem to think that Arizona personal injury victims are quitters and are taking the easy way out by filing a personal injury claim. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Continue reading "What Do Personal Injury Plaintiffs and Rocky Balboa Have in Common?" »

As experienced auto accident attorneys in Tucson, we’ve seen the devastating impacts of negligent drivers time and time again. One of the causes of these accidents that appear to be on the rise is texting. Texting and driving is not only dangerous, it’s also potentially criminal if it leads to an auto accident and it has personal injury lawsuit ramifications.

In Arizona, the Supreme Court has ruled that punitive damages are appropriate for drunk drivers who cause accidents. However, people who cause an accident by mistake and had no intent to cause the accident are not responsible for punitive damages.

What that means is that people who drink and drive are not only responsible for paying for things like medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering, but they can also be fined a large amount as a punishment and to send a message to the general public.

Continue reading "Information about Personal Injury Lawsuits in Tucson Involving Texting & Driving" »

Many people injured in Mesa car accidents make the mistake of not following up with their doctor when they need additional treatment or when they are in pain. They simply think they will get better. We hope so – but in many cases, they don’t, which is why it’s important to have all the injuries and pain and suffering documented for a Mesa personal injury case. Otherwise, the defendant can later claim the victim wasn’t actually suffering the injuries and pain they did in fact suffer from.

What’s worse is when injuries are more severe than they seem to be at first. For example, someone may experience some shoulder pain following an accident and not think it’s a big deal. They may wait to see a doctor, until they’re in excruciating pain. When they do see the doctor, they find out they have a torn rotator cuff and require surgery. The defendant will then try to claim that the injury wasn’t caused by the accident since the victim waited so long to seek treatment.

Continue reading "Be Sure to Document Your Medical Treatment for Your Mesa Personal Injury Case" »

As auto accident attorneys in Phoenix, we’ve seen many personal injury cases where the victim’s family didn’t know what to do after their loved one was seriously injured. The victim should focus on getting better. However, there are steps that a family can take to preserve evidence and help strengthen a potential personal injury case.

First, take lots of pictures. When you think you’ve taken enough pictures, take more. Take pictures of anything that could be later disputed by the defendant, such as the car, where the accident took place, anything near the accident, skid marks, the hospital rooms, and the injuries sustained. Every single photograph counts because the defendant and the insurance company will try to dispute the claim.

Another helpful thing you can do is to ensure your loved one is following doctor’s orders. Make sure they take their medicine and make it to their appointments. Taking this step will help to reduce the likelihood of a long legal battle over an issue that could have been proven by a single notation on a medical chart.

If your loved one has been injured in an auto accident in Arizona and you’re looking for help, please contact Breyer Law Offices. We’re just a phone call away and can give you the information you need to ensure your loved one’s injury claim is properly documented.

When a bad car accident happens in Tucson, or anywhere else in Arizona, documentation of the injuries begins right at the scene of the accident by first responders. Whether the injured victim is transported via ambulance or helicopter, documentation of injuries continues by the EMTs. Upon arriving at the hospital, further notes are taken by the medical staff documenting the person’s injuries. So within 45 minutes of a car accident in Tucson, there are usually at least three sets of notes describing the injuries – all of which end up in the victim’s medical records.

The medical records continue to grow, as the victim is treated for their injuries. Medical staff do their best to properly document injuries, however these records are oftentimes inaccurate due to time limitations, communication issues, and a host of other factors. Overcoming such errors can be difficult when considering the faith people put in medical charts.

Continue reading "An Attorney Experienced in Going through Medical Records is Critical to Your Tucson Personal Injury Case" »

Most people who have never dealt with an insurance company before just assume the company will treat them fairly. They have no qualms about contacting the negligent driver’s insurance company directly and think they can handle the case on their own. But insurance companies will not act in their best interest.

After all, they have shareholders and a bottom line to protect. So they will do whatever it takes to save money. In addition, when an injured victim contacts an insurance company directly, the company may try to twist their words and use those words against them. They may even claim the victim said things that they did not say.

As Peoria personal injury attorneys, we are obviously a biased source. But we deal with injured victims on a regular basis who are being denied fair compensation by the negligent driver’s insurance company. That’s why we encourage injured victims to first consult with an Arizona injury attorney.

Continue reading "Don't Talk to the Insurance Company First - Talk to a Peoria Personal Injury Attorney" »

Those who have suffered serious personal injury or who have lost a loved one in a wrongful death will often try to make the insurance claim on their own. Far too often, people believe that the insurance company will deal honestly and fairly with them if they make a claim. However, it is important for people to understand both the risks and benefits of making an injury claim against an insurance company without the help of a lawyer.

Not every injury victim that wants to make an insurance claim against a negligent driver needs to hire a personal injury lawyer. We expect that the best Scottsdale personal injury lawyers will always be honest with people and explain to them that there is no law requiring that an attorney help them in making an insurance claim.

Making an insurance claim can some times be as easy as notifying the insurance company of an accident, providing them with the information, and providing them with the details of the injuries or damages that were suffered. After that, a settlement may be obtained.

Continue reading "Can a Scottsdale, Arizona Insurance Claim Lawyer Help Me?" »

In Part One of our discussion of the various forms of evidence you may need to provide to the insurance company after being in a car accident in Arizona, we emphasized the importance of getting pictures of the accident scene. The importance of doing this coincides with taking photographs of somebody who's been seriously injured. We certainly understand how morbid this can sound. It can be very uncomfortable to take pictures of a loved one who has been seriously injured. Nobody wants to remember their loved one in that condition. It can be very difficult for the person who has been seriously injured to even look in a mirror at times, let alone have someone else take those photographs. However, what if those photographs were the difference between obtaining a life-changing and fair settlement offer and never receiving any compensation for the injury? Well, unfortunately very often that can be the case.

And of course, it is not just about photographs. There are experts who can measure skid marks and look at the debris field after an accident. There are experts who can collect evidence and documentation that can help put together or piece together who is at fault for a case. The top personal injury lawyers have experience in seeking out all the different types of documentation and other evidence that can help support a claim days, weeks, months, or even years after the fact.

Continue reading "Types of Evidence I Need to Give to the Insurance Company after an Auto Accident: Part Two" »

Many people understand that they need to have sufficient evidence in order to have a chance to receive fair compensation for their serious Scottsdale, Arizona personal injury claim. Some people believe that the insurance company will deal with them fairly as long as they provide certain evidence. Well, on the one hand that is true. At least it is true that you can count on the fact that if you have not collected all of the evidence you need to prove your claim, the insurance company is very unlikely to deal "fairly" with your case. It is probably then a leap of faith to believe that even if you have secured all of the necessary evidence that you can count on the insurance company to deal fairly with you in every case.

Insurance companies are for-profit businesses. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. We expect companies to work towards making a profit. People who buy stock in the insurance companies expect those companies to do everything that they can in order to make that profit. However, the profit the insurance companies make far too often come at the expense of people who have suffered very serious personal injury cases and who will never return to the life that they had. Far too often, people who have lost loved ones in an accident that was caused by somebody else do not receive a fair settlement offer because the insurance company is hoping that they can increase their profit margins.

It is for this reason that the collection of evidence can be so vital. Many people are extremely uncomfortable with taking photographs of an accident scene. However, it is important to make sure that anything that can be photographed is photographed in order to preserve the evidence. Please refer to our next blog post for Part Two of this topic and to learn more about what kinds of evidence you can gather to help bolster any potential injury claim you may make.

As a popular suburb of Phoenix, Mesa is situated in Maricopa County and has a history that dates back two thousand years to the Hohokam people’s arrival when they built the city’s original canal systems. Mesa has definitely progressed since then and is now the third-largest city in Arizona with an estimated population of 460,155 in 2006. With so many residents and visitors utilizing a large quantity of businesses and a wide range of properties, slip and fall accidents, as well as other incidents caused by unsafe or poorly managed premises, take place from time to time in Mesa.

Many people do not realize just how serious a slip and fall accident can be for an injured individual and their family. Depending on the age of an individual, the position in which they fall, and what they happen to fall onto, some common slip and fall injuries include lacerations, bruising, broken bones, sprains, ligament tears, concussions, spinal cord injury, or internal bruising. Although these injuries vary, they are all potentially capable of inflicting steep medical costs, loss of wages, pain and suffering, and other damages upon an injured person.

If a private property owner or public business fails to provide notice of probable danger on a premise, the owner of that property may be held legally responsible for their negligence if a slip and fall injury accident occurs. If you or a loved one has been injured in Mesa due to an unsafe premise, a skilled Mesa slip and fall accident attorney may be able to assist you in obtaining the compensation that you deserve.

At Breyer Law Offices, P.C., our Husband and Wife Law Team has dedicated several years to helping those afflicted by another person or entity’s negligence. Mark and Alexis Breyer have the legal resources and knowledge to handle a wide range of premises liability and slip and fall accident cases. Contact Breyer Law today for a free, no-obligation consultation of your potential injury claim by calling 480-753-4534 or visit www.breyerlaw.com for more helpful information.

If you’ve been badly injured in a car accident in Tucson, Phoenix, or anywhere else in Arizona, one of the side effects you may be experiencing is lost wages. To deal with this issue, you need to make sure you contact an Arizona car accident attorney with a highly successful track record.

When you’re injured and not able to work, you are entitled to full compensation for all of your lost wages and benefits. In addition to that, you are also entitled to compensation for any future lost wages that you may deal with because of your inability to work at the job you once held.

But, in order to get this compensation, you need to have a highly skilled and experienced car Tucson accident attorney on your side. A skilled attorney will know how to get full documentation of your claims through doctor’s notes, past earning reports, tax returns, consultations with a vocational rehabilitation counselor, and information from an economist about your projected future earnings.

If you’ve been badly injured – or your loved one has been killed – in a car accident in Tucson, Phoenix, or anywhere else in Arizona, please feel free to contact us. We have extensive experience with significant wage loss claims and we can help you put together a plan for receiving full compensation for lost wages.

Too many people are quick to blame children in cases where a child wanders into a pool and drowns. Why people are surprised that kids wander is beyond us. But as Flagstaff, Arizona personal injury attorneys, we see this attitude time again.

Perhaps an adult should have kept a better eye on the child; or perhaps the pool owner should have done a better job of ensuring the pool was safe. However, it is unnecessary to blame the child when these kinds of accidents do occur.

In cases of drowning accidents, it can be overwhelming for the family to determine whether or not to file a personal injury lawsuit. The fact of the matter is that a lawsuit isn’t going to undo the tragedy and it may not be an appropriate choice for every family.

Continue reading "Flagstaff Personal Injury Attorneys Provide Information on Drowning Accidents" »

In Maricopa County and throughout the State of Arizona, the most common kind of drowning accident involves children in neighborhood swimming pools. In many of these cases, the tragedy was caused by a lack of proper security measures or supervision. At public pools, drowning accidents can occur when there is no lifeguard or an ill-trained lifeguard on duty. We also see drownings happen on our waterways in boating accidents. Either there was drinking or unwise behavior involved, or no life vests on the boat. What’s most unfortunate about these drowning accidents is that they are wholly preventable.

When these accidents do occur, the victim’s family may have the right to file a wrongful death claim against the negligent party. Just because that right exists, though, does not mean that it is the best decision for every family. The best advice we can give to families in the midst of such a situation is to consult with a wrongful death lawyer in Maricopa County who has experience with drowning accidents.

Continue reading "Should I Hire a Maricopa County Drowning Accident Attorney?" »

According to Arizona law a personal injury lawyer is not required to bring a personal injury claim. Before filing a lawsuit, an insurance claim is normally the first stem towards trying to obtain fair compensation for any personal injury claim. Though filing an insurance claim can be down without a lawyer, it is not always the best idea. Sometimes it will work out just fine, but other times it will lead to disaster.

For people who have suffered minor injuries in an auto accident or other accident that was not their fault, hiring a lawyer may not be necessary. As experienced Phoenix personal injury attorneys, we believe that when an injury is not too serious it does not justify hiring a personal injury lawyer.

When injuries are permanent or very serious, or in cases where medical expenses and lost income result because of the injury, injury victims and their families should consider hiring a personal injury attorney. When an injury affects a person’s life forever, not hiring a personal injury lawyer can be a serious mistake. When people suffer great financial losses due to a permanent injuries or loss of loved ones because of an accident that was not their fault, not receiving financial compensation for these injuries only adds insult to injury.

Continue reading "Do I Need a Lawyer to File a Personal Injury Claim?" »

Most often, people looking for a topnotch car accident attorney in Scottsdale think only about finding the best personal injury lawyer for them, which is what one ought to do when pursuing any personal injury claim. This is the only chance for an injured person to obtain justice, so finding a lawyer with the right personality type and attitude, a sense of justice for the injured person’s needs, and one with excellent credentials is imperative. Yet despite the focus on finding the best lawyer one can find, some may wonder whether personal injury lawyers will always work in the best interests of their clients, regardless of what may happen in an injury accident claim.

As veteran injury lawyers, we can speak from personal experience. Just as our clients struggle to overcome obstacles regarding their injuries, they also deserve someone who will fight for their rights in an accident injury claim. We are not afraid to take a personal injury claim to court, regardless of the odds against us. Some other personal injury lawyers may quit on their clients, but we feel justice is worth the fight. Besides which, whenever a personal injury lawyer drops a case or backs down from a fight, both the Arizona insurance company against which they were battling and the insurance industry as a whole see this. Insurance companies know which personal injury lawyers will fight and which ones will do anything they can to avoid a personal injury claim from going to trial.

Continue reading "Are There Occasions When an Auto Accident Attorney Can Fire a Client?" »