Archives for November 2013

Who Can be Held Responsible for Slip and Fall Accidents?

November 28, 2013 By

Slip and fall accidents can cause serious personal injury. Property owners have a duty to keep their property maintained to ensure the safety of visitors. When a property owner or person in control of the property is or should be aware of a dangerous condition, they must take steps to repair the cause of the danger or warn visitors of the hazard on the property if they can not be fixed or corrected to a safe state. This duty can extend from simple removal of snow or ice to placing a wet floor warning signwhen the floor is mopped.

Anyone who owns or retains authority over property may be held liable for dangerous conditions that cause harm to visitors. Potential defendants in slip and fall cases include:

  • The owner of the property
  • The landlord responsible for the property
  • Lessees or tenants of commercial or residential property
  • The local, city, state or federal government when the accident occurs on public property
  • Mass transit authorities, e.g., Metro or WMATA

If you or a loved one has suffered severe injuries as a result of a slip and fall on someone else’s property, you may be able to recovery compensation. Please call 301-251-1286 today or contact the Law Offices of Stuart L. Plotnick, LLC for your consultation with an experienced Rockville, Maryland, slip and fall lawyer.

Filed Under: Personal Injury

Winter Weather Driving

November 19, 2013 By

With cooling temperatures of winter comes ice and snow. While it may be beautiful to watch the flakes fall, it can be very dangerous to drive through the snow and ice. To keep you safe this holiday season, Bethesda area car accident attorney Stuart Plotnick offers these winter driving tips:

  • Slow down and leave plenty of room behind the car in front of you. Slick roads make stopping more difficult.
  • Give yourself extra time to get to work or your destination.
  • Be gentle on the brakes. Braking hard can send your car into a skid and out of control.
  • Keep your windshield and lights clean for better visibility in bad weather.
  • Be careful on bridges and overpasses. They usually freeze faster.
  • Avoid using cruise control on icy roads. You should be in full control of your vehicle so you can quickly handle issues or emergencies that arise.
  • Take extra care, slow down, even if you have four-wheel or all-wheel drive. Some drivers think they make you invincible on the road.  While these cars may do better in snow, ice is ice. Even very capable vehicles can run into trouble in harsh winter driving conditions.
  • If you do not really have to be out on the road in such conditions, then do not risk it.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a winter weather car accident, please call 301-251-1286 today or contact the Law Offices of Stuart L. Plotnick, LLC for your consultation with an experienced Bethesda area car accident attorney. Our office is conveniently located in Rockville, Maryland.

Filed Under: Personal Injury

Types of Medical Malpractice

November 14, 2013 By

Most of us trust that doctors and other medical professionals have our best interest at heart and will perform as they need to in order to help us find our way back to health. However, too often medical professionals commit medical malpractice because they let their standard of care fall below the accepted standards in our Rockville community.

Common types of medical malpractice include:

Any of these can cause significant harm to the patient and leave them much worse off than they were when they sought medical assistance. No one should suffer injuries at the hands of their physician or medical staff.

If you or a loved one has suffered injuries at the hands of a medical professional, please call 301-251-1286 today or contact the Law Offices of Stuart L. Plotnick, LLC for your consultation with an experienced Rockville medical malpractice attorney.

Filed Under: Medical Malpractice

Concussion Education for Student Athletes

November 5, 2013 By

A concussion is a form of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), which is caused when the brain as the result of impact or a whiplash type movement bangs into the skull. In order to increase parent and student athlete knowledge about concussion risk and help protect student athletes from sustaining brain injuries from repeated concussions, the Virginia legislature enacted a statutory provision that mandates concussion education for student athletes and parents before tryouts for sports; Virginia Code 22.1-271.5 – Policies on concussions in student-athletes. 

Students and parents must complete separate programs and sign a statement acknowledging receipt of information on the short- and long-term effects of concussions on athletes’ health.

In addition to education, the statute provides safety precautions for student athletes. If a student athlete is suspected of sustaining a concussion or brain injury during a practice or a game, the coaches or adults in charge of the game or practice should remove the student from the activity and he or she should not be returned to play the same day or until the student is cleared by a licensed health care provider to return to play. We are seeing this on a daily basis with our professional athletes such as players in the NFL.  Virginia is seeking to make sure, that our kids, who are more fragile, don’t take any greater risk.  Numerous other states have passed or are reviewing such legislation.

If your child has sustained injury from concussions during participation in sports, please call 301-251-1286 today or contact the Law Offices of Stuart L. Plotnick, LLC for your consultation with an experienced Virginia brain injury lawyer.

Filed Under: Brain Injuries
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