What is a Claim?
A claim is a legal action concerning physical or mental harm suffered by the plaintiff due to the defendant’s negligence. In the case of insurance claims, it is a request made by the insured to the insurance company for coverage and compensation for damage or injury. A claim is sometimes also referred to as a Cause of Action.
Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute defines a claim as, “a set of operative facts creating a right enforceable in court.” Making a claim is how the process of a plaintiff filing a lawsuit and eventually receiving damages from a defendant begins. A claim must be present in order for a lawsuit to go forward. If one is not present in a specific instance, then that lawsuit will be dismissed. Examples of types of claims include claims to insurance companies, personal injury claims in cases of negligence, claims on breaches of contract, property claims, and employment claims such as unpaid wages, wrongful termination, or discrimination. A defendant may make a counterclaim against the claim of a plaintiff.
Claims can sometimes be dismissed even if there is an intent to file a lawsuit. Rulings in cases such as Ashcroft v. IQBAL and Bell Atlantic v. Twombly have determined that claims need to contain important information. They must be plausible on their own and establish a likelihood of liability. This is how claims can lead to fair compensation, resolution of disputes, and protection of rights.
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Widow Awarded $6.7 Million in Medical Malpractice Case
The widow of a man who died in 2005 after an ATV accident was awarded $6.7 million by a Maine jury in a medical malpractice case against Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. The man was flown to the center after the accident, and according to the lawsuit, the doctors failed to follow up on tests indicating internal bleeding, that ultimately led to the man’s death.
The man arrived at the hospital suffering from several broken ribs, among other injuries, and CT scans ordered by the emergency department physician indicated there was also internal bleeding. The doctors caring for the man failed to follow up on the internal bleeding by not issuing an order for X-rays to monitor the bleeding, according to the suit. Three days later, the internal bleeding caused one of the man’s lungs to collapse, and the lack of oxygen precipitated a massive fatal heart attack. […]
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San Diego Pays $1.8 Million in Wrongful Death Case
Family of motorcyclist sues city for not installing a traffic signal in wrongful death case
The family of a motorcyclist who was killed in an April 2009 auto accident sued the city of San Diego for wrongful death for failing to install a traffic signal at the intersection in which the man died. The City Council unanimously approved the settlement earlier this month, although they do not acknowledge any wrongdoing under the deal.
The accident occurred when the motorcycle was traveling northbound on Pacific Highway when a Toyota Corolla heading in the opposite direction turned left on Cedar Street in front of the cyclist. The cyclist was tried to veer out of the way, but struck the rear passenger side of the vehicle dying of traumatic head injuries.
The lawsuit claimed the accident was foreseeable and preventable. The suit claimed, “This turn lane’s position combined with the position of the then existing traffic signals gave drivers the confusing illusion they had the right-of-way on a green signal to turn left onto Cedar Street.” […]
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Wrongful Death Suit Filed After Student Killed in Crash
The family of a 19-year-old Kent State student who was killed when her car was struck by a cargo van on March 21, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Delaware against the driver of the van and his employer.
According to the Ohio Highway Patrol, the driver of a Dara Toy Company 2006 Chevrolet Express cargo van became distracted while reaching for his cell phone charger and lost control of his vehicle. The van crossed the highway median, all three southbound lanes and the rest area exit ramp before hitting the 2001 Pontiac Grand Am driven by Carli Woodruff as she was leaving the rest area.
Woodruff, a native of Loveland and an intervention specialist major, died at Grant Medical Center in Columbus.
The Scranton, Pennsylvania attorneys of Munley, Munley & Cartwright have years of experience representing the survivors of wrongful death victims. […]
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$400,000 Awarded In Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Lawsuit
A Northampton woman has been awarded $400,000 in her malpractice suit against a Bethlehem doctor who did not diagnose her breast cancer properly. The jury found Dr. Mark Schadt negligent in his care of the woman.
In April 2004 she found two lumps in her breasts, and in May Dr. Schadt performed a fine-needle aspiration biopsy and the results were negative for breast cancer. In March 2005 the patient had a second fine-needle biopsy and the results were positive. A month later, after having an excisional biopsy, she was told she had invasive carcinoma stage III cancer. She had a radical mastectomy on the cancerous right breast and a simple mastectomy on her left breast.
The lawsuit alleged Dr. Shadt should have followed the first biopsy with a complete biopsy that would have removed a larger tissue sample to test.
If you or a loved one has been harmed by a form of medical negligence, […]
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Wrongful Death Suit Filed After Boy Dies in Go-Kart Accident
Claiming the Horn Rapids Kart Track was negligently designed, maintained and operated, the parents of a 12-year-old boy killed in a go-kart accident there in 2008 have filed a wrongful death suit against the city of Richland, Washington and Tri-City Kart Club which leases the kart track from the city.
The young boy’s kart slid off the track during a hairpin turn, crossed a grassy slope and crashed through a wire cable fence at a high rate of speed. He died of injuries to his neck vertebrae and jugular vein. The boy was an experienced go-kart driver who had won events in his class just weeks before the accident.
Also named in the lawsuit are the mechanics who worked on the go-kart’s brakes immediately before the race, race organizers and the International Kart Federation.
If you or someone you love have been hurt or killed at an unsafe or badly maintained facility, […]
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