Toxic Baby Food: What Parents Need to Know

Parents trust food manufacturers to produce convenient and nutritious food for their babies. These manufacturers have a legal responsibility to ensure their products are safe, and particularly for this extremely vulnerable part of the population. Unfortunately, recent reports suggest several of the country’s biggest baby food manufacturers may be neglecting their responsibility by knowingly selling products with alarming levels of toxic substances.

Baby Food Brands with Toxic Metals

In November of 2019, The House of Representatives’ Economic and Consumer Policy Subcommittee received reports of toxic substances in commercial baby food brands. In response, the Subcommittee asked seven of the country’s largest baby food manufacturers to provide internal documentation and test results related to these reports. 

The following companies complied with the Subcommittee’s request by providing their internal policies and test results:

• Nurture, Inc., the seller of Happy Family Organics and HappyBABY baby food products
• Beech-Nut Nutrition Company, the seller of Beech-Nut baby food products
• Hain Celestial Group, Inc., the seller of Earth’s Best Organic products
• Gerber, the seller of Gerber baby food products

Concerningly, the following companies refused to comply with the Subcommittee’s request altogether:

• Campbell Soup Company, the seller of Plum Organics baby food products
• Walmart, Inc., the seller of Parent’s Choice baby food products
• Sprout Foods, Inc., the seller of Sprout Organic Foods baby food products

These companies’ refusal to comply with the request has led to the Subcommittee’s suspicions of extremely high levels of toxic heavy metals in children’s food they sell.

Why Are These Brands Toxic?

Based on the documents provided by the baby food manufacturers that responded to the Subcommittee’s request, these brands are toxic because they contain significant levels of the following heavy metals:

• Arsenic – All four companies (Nurture, Beech-Nut, Hain, and Gerber) detected arsenic in their baby foods.
• Lead – All four companies detected lead in their baby foods.
• Cadmium – All four companies detected cadmium in their baby foods.
• Mercury – Nurture, Inc. was the only company that detected mercury in its baby foods. However, this is only because Gerber rarely tests for mercury, and Beech-Nut and Hain do not test for mercury at all.

The levels of toxic heavy metals detected in each company’s baby foods were many times greater than the maximum allowable levels for other food products regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For example, the FDA has set the maximum allowable levels in bottled water at 10 ppb inorganic arsenic, 5 ppb lead, and 6 ppb cadmium. In comparison, the heavy metals found in Gerber were at levels as high as 90 ppb inorganic arsenic, 48 ppb lead, and 87 ppb cadmium.

Each company set policies for maximum allowable levels for these substances that were much higher than FDA standards for other foods. Reports reveal the companies still sold baby foods that exceeded the heavy metal limits of their own policies.

These shocking results also raise disturbing questions about the baby foods made by the companies that refused to respond (Campbell, Walmart, and Sprout). According to the Subcommittee’s report, current lawmakers are concerned the companies’ refusals to cooperate may be due to “even higher levels of toxic heavy metals.”

The Dangers of Toxic Heavy Metals to Kids

Even though toxic heavy metals are known to pose dangerous health risks, especially to children and infants, there is currently no federal standard regulating these substances in baby food. However, even low levels of exposure to toxic heavy metals can result in severe and sometimes permanent health effects in children, such as:

• Brain damage, reduced intelligence, and decreases in IQ
• Higher risk of antisocial and criminal behavior in adulthood
• Increased risk of brain tumors and traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• Respiratory, gastrointestinal, and immunological effects
• Reduced postnatal growth and delayed puberty
• Increased risk of neurodevelopmental issues, such as autism and ADHD

How To Research Your Children’s Food and What to Look For

You can take the following proactive steps as you research and re-evaluate your child’s food:

• Reduce the amount of rice cereal you feed your child since many commercial rice products contain concerning levels of inorganic arsenic
• Limit the pre-packaged foods you give your child, as many contain rice flour
• Limit pre-packaged fruit juices, some of which may contain arsenic and lead
• Replace pre-packaged foods with whole foods with naturally low heavy metal contents, such as apples, avocados, bananas, grapes, eggs, and cheese

Contact a Toxic Baby Food Mass Tort Lawyer for Help Today

If you believe your child may have suffered developmental injuries or harm due to one of these brands, your family deserves justice and fair compensation. 

Contact a toxic baby food mass tort lawyer at Michael J. Gopin, PLLC in El Paso to learn more about your options in a free initial consultation.

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93.1 KISS FM – Ask A Lawyer, Part 18

Announcer: You’re listening to Mike and Tricia on 93.1 KISS FM.

Tricia: Okay, just because this is a story that we’ve been following all morning the situation at UTEP, the campus remains on lockdown. Because if a suicidal person who is in the area armed, on drugs, EPPD has not put out any information about this yet. On, all the social media for UTEP, they’re still on lockdown. They said that as soon as they give the all-clear on either your minor alert or their social media’s, then it will be okay to move about the campus.

If you’re on campus to shelter in place, there was an alert that was sent out that said the classes were gonna start at 9:00. That is no longer in effect, don’t go to UTEP until you get the all-clear. Over at EPISD, they do still have some schools on lockdown. You can go to kisselpaso.com. All of those schools are listed on our Facebook page rather. All of those schools are listed. So, as of right now, we’re still, everybody’s kind of on lockdown in this area.

Mike: As far as the high schools, middle schools, those on lockdown, with EPISD, they don’t suggest that the parents go pick their kids up, right, because they’re locked in.

Tricia: They’re locked in. Nobody’s getting in. And right now it’s already 9:00 so the kids are all in school. They’re not gonna be let outside. They’re not gonna be let off campus until the all-clear is given.

Mike: Okay. Michael Gopin “Ask a Lawyer.” You have your legal questions, he has your legal answers.

Tricia: Okay. So, the last question in the mornings from Chase, he said, “I served my country for more than 15 years and now I’m on 90% disability. I recently saw your commercial for the 3M defective earplugs and would like to file a claim. But, would this affect my disability payments from the military?”

Mr. Gopin: Chase, you’re in luck. It will not affect your disability payments at all. You’re not going to be even bringing a case against the military. You’re gonna be bringing a case against the manufacturer of the earplugs, 3M. So you don’t have to worry about any change at all to your disability payments. We’d be more than happy to talk to you about what happened to you, and get your 3M case going. But, if you had significant hearing loss, which sounds like you had, we can certainly help. And time is of the essence to get those cases going so I would suggest that you give us a call and we can try to get this taken care of for you.

It’s a long process, but that’s what you need to do. And don’t worry, no worries with the disability payments.

Mike: How long does somebody, you know, who fits the threshold to be a part of this lawsuit? How long do they have until? You said time is running out.

Mr. Gopin: Yeah. I mean, we don’t have a set deadline yet, but it may be coming pretty soon. When the class action cases… typically they’ll have an end date where you have to file before a certain time. We don’t know what that is at this second in time, but we anticipate probably sometime in 2022.

Tricia: Okay.

Mike: Okay, all right. So, on December 16, that is also a Thursday, Michael Gopin will be back for “Ask a Lawyer.” If there is a legal question that you would like us to put in front of him, go to kisselpaso.com. At the top of the page, where it says Must Read, click on Ask Michael Gopin and can submit your legal question there. Michael, thank you again for showing up this morning.

Mr. Gopin: Thank you so much for having me on this.

Mike: And we’ll see you in a month.

Mr. Gopin: Okay, sounds great.

Announcer: When Mike and Tricia start your day, today’s best mix helps you through it. KSII El Paso, a Townsquare Media station.

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93.1 KISS FM – Ask A Lawyer, Part 18

Automated voice: You’re listening to Mike & Tricia on 93.1 Kiss FM.

Mike: I gotta tell you, I am just as confused with the math for Yasmin’s “Ask A Lawyer” question as well. So perhaps Michael Gopin, “Ask A Lawyer” can kind of, like, flesh this out for us. There’s math involved.

Tricia: There’s math involved. And neither you nor I are any good at math. Okay. So Yasmin writes that she was recently in an accident. The police report says that it was the other party at fault. But when she was talking to the insurance agent, they said that Yasmin is 20% at fault for the accident. And she says, “I’m not sure why. If the police report says the other party is at fault, then how can I be 20% liable for this accident? I’m not sure if this makes any sense.”

Mr. Gopin: Well, Jasmine, it happens all the time actually. In Texas, they have what they call comparative negligence, which means in any given accident, one party could be 100% at fault, they could be 99% at fault, they can be 80% at fault, they can be 50% at fault, or any number in between.

So what the insurance adjuster is trying to do is they’re really trying to save money, but what they’re trying to do is blame you partially for this accident. In other words, maybe you were going too fast. Maybe you could have avoided the accident by turning right. Maybe there was something else involved.

Mike: So what they’re doing is they’re reading the police report, and they’re coming up with this on their own. It’s not like the police wrote it in there.

Mr. Gopin: Right. No. The police didn’t write it in there. And the police rarely do that anyway, but…

Mike: Yeah. They just write down the facts of the accident. And then the insurance adjuster is looking into these…you know, the facts, and they’re going, “Oh, well, she could have gone slower,” or blah, blah, blah.

Mr. Gopin:  Exactly. “She could have turned left. She could’ve turned right. She could have braked harder,” you know, all these kinds of things. And I don’t know the facts of this particular accident, but it happens all the time. I mean, I’ve seen cases where it’s a stop sign case, and someone runs a stop sign, and, “Well, you could have avoided it. You could have seen the car coming.”

Mike: You could’ve seen the car coming.

Mr. Gopin:  And, you know, what happens in that case, is either you argue, and you try to get that number down to zero or less, or you can file a lawsuit, and have a jury decide that number because when you go to court, the jury will determine the same thing that the insurance adjuster is trying to determine right now. They’re gonna say, “Okay, was the plaintiff at fault? Was the defendant at fault? And if they were, what percentage?” So it adds up to 100%, but it could be anything in between, between 100/0, 80/20, or whatever it turns out to be.

Mike: Is this a situation where you are better off with a lawyer representing you? Or is it a situation where you’re better off just saying, “Okay, fine.”

Mr. Gopin:  Well, it depends on the facts of this accident, and it depends on how much the damage to the car is. I mean, let’s just say it’s $30,000 of the damage, 20% is $6,000 so it’s a lot of money. If it’s $300, and it’s 20%, it’s $60 so it’s probably not worth it. So it just depends on the exact facts of how much damage we’re talking about here. And if there was an injury also, because this 20% goes to the injury claim also. So it’ll reduce your injury claim by 20%. So it may be, definitely, a case for a lawyer depending on the facts.

Mike: Okay. All right.

Tricia: Mostly, if you go to a lawyer with this kind of thing, and you do the math for them, you’re gonna tell them, “Look, you know what? This is not worth your time and effort,” because it’s not worth your time and effort as a lawyer.

Mr. Gopin: Well, it depends. I mean, you know, also it depends on how much money we’re talking about.

Tricia: No. Yeah, that’s what I mean. But, like, if it was a $600 case you’d probably tell them, “Look, there’s no point here.”

Mike: Yeah. They’re better off eating the 20%.

Tricia: Right. Exactly.

Mr. Gopin:  Because going to courts can cost them more money than the 20% anyway.

Tricia: Yeah. And way more than the $600.

Mike: Sure, Sure.

Tricia: So, yeah.

Automated Voice: It’s Michael Gopin, “Ask A Lawyer” on “Mike & Tricia Mornings.”

Tricia: Iram [SP] says, “Can I file a case against my employer? I was injured on the job and they’re refusing to pay my medical bills. They did help me when the incident first happened, but now my medical bills are starting to pile up from the accident, and they don’t wanna help me with any of it anymore.”

Mr. Gopin:  Okay. Well, good question. The question, first of all, is whether they have workers’ comp insurance or not? If they have workers’ comp insurance, you just have to file a workers’ comp claim. The employer is not involved, and you go through the worker’s comp commission to make your claim.

In this case, I’m thinking that there’s probably not workers’ comp, by the way, she wrote the question, so what they call that is called a nonsubscriber type of case, okay? Nonsubscriber means you’re not subscribing to the workers’ comp care here. In that case, the employer is not automatically liable for your damages. You have to prove that they were negligent, that they did something wrong.

But it’s different than the car accident case we just talked about. In this case, as long as you can prove they’re at least 1% negligent, you could have been 99% negligent, then their employer is responsible. So you just have to show that they did something wrong even if it was very minor that caused the accident. And then they’re gonna be responsible for the bills.

You’d have to go to court perhaps and file a lawsuit. There’s many lawyers that do these type of cases. The issue then, again, is also how big your employer is, and if they’re going to be judgment proof because many employers are also judgment proof these days, and there’s usually no insurance involved in these types of cases.

Tricia: Okay. Wait a minute. Not every employer has workmans’ comp insurance? They don’t have to have it?

Mr. Gopin: That’s not required. So there’s many companies that do not have workers’ comp, they’re go bear, they call it, and they just take care of the risk themselves.

Tricia: Hey, we’re a family show, don’t say things like that.

Mike: It’s a legal term.

Tricia: Okay. All right. Okay.

Mr. Gopin: No insurance.

Mike: This is “Ask A Lawyer.” He only talks legalese.

Tricia: I made him blush. Look at the poor guy, he’s you dying. He’s like, “Oh, god.”

Mr. Gopin: Oh, god.

Tricia: And Arturo says, “I recently had a hernia mesh repaired for the third time. And I don’t think this one’s gonna work either. Can you tell me more about the hernia mesh cases? Do I have a possible claim against my doctor for medical malpractice? What should I do next?”

Mr. Gopin: Well, this is a case that you, definitely, will need a lawyer. There’s hernia mesh cases going around that, it’s not against the doctor, it’s against the manufacturer of the mesh. It was defective and it’s causing injuries to people, and causing to have revisions, and surgery, and pain, and all sorts of complications, and problems. So I would advise you to give us a call, we can help you with this.

The requirements are, basically, you need to have a revision. You need to have the hernia mesh surgery, have all these problems and issues, and then get it fixed, in order to have a case that typically lawyers will accept. And the hernia mesh surgery had to have been done after 2008. That’s when the defective hernia mesh material started to be used. So those are the minor requirements.

And these cases take a long time. It’s a big class-action case. There’s thousands and thousands and thousands throughout the country, and, you know, it’s really painful. And I feel really bad for you that you’ve had all these problems with it and it may not resolve your problem. I hope it does, the third one. But you definitely have a case and it’s not against the doctor. It’ll be against the hernia mesh manufacturer.

Mike: Okay. We’ll be right back. And when we come back, we have one last question for Michael Gopin, “Ask A Lawyer” and it has to do with defective earplugs. So if you have served, and you’re having some issues, then stick around, and let’s get to the bottom of that one. Next, on “Mike & Tricia Mornings.”

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93.1 KISS FM – Ask A Lawyer, Part 17

Announcer: You’re listening to Mike and Tricia, on 93.1 KISS FM.

Tricia: Okay. So, we’re going to go ahead and talk to Michael Gopin in just a minute, but first, I’m gonna bring you up to date on the situation that’s happening over at UTEP. El Paso police said around 7:00 this morning that there was a suicidal person on drugs who was armed, heading towards the UTEP area. So, around 7:00, UTEP put out a Miner Alert. That’s what the students signed up for. And they were told to shelter in place. They were also told about 45 minutes ago that classes were gonna start at 9:00. Now, that has been…that, don’t listen to that anymore.

Mike: That doesn’t pertain anymore.

Tricia: No. Because UTEP, about 10 minutes ago, put out an alert that said, “Until you get the all-clear, don’t go to the campus.” Okay. So…

Mike: Okay. All right. And if you’re already there, you shelter in place.

Tricia: You shelter in place. And just stay where you are. That’s the best thing to do. So, until you get the all-clear either on your Miner Alert, on UTEP social media, their website, don’t go to campus. And if you’re on campus, stay where you are.

Mike: Now, have we received any word about those schools that are in the area of the UTEP campus?

Tricia: We have. The official El Paso Independent School District Facebook page has a post that says, “Students at El Paso High, Wiggs, Armendariz, CCTE, which is the Center for Career and Technology Education, the YWA, Mesita, Mesita ECDC, and Lamar are sheltering in place, that you cannot get in. The kids, if they’re gonna get dropped off, they’re gonna be immediately ushered into the school, and then that’s where they’re gonna stay for the time being. So, we don’t know where that person is. El Paso Police have not updated any of their socials or sent out any further details about this, but we’re keeping a really close eye on this because it’s scary. Okay?

Mike: Yeah.

Tricia: So, the best thing for you to do is shelter in place in this particular area. And it kind of is encompassing a huge portion of not only the UTEP area, but the Kern Place area up to Mesita, and all the schools that I just told you about. If you have any questions, you can always give us a call here at 880-9393. We’ll let you know everything that we…

Mike: Yeah. Yeah. And we’re also updating the KISS El Paso Facebook with the latest information that we get. Okay. So, Michael Gopin, Ask A Lawyer. Sorry for such a downer intro, man.

Mr. Gopin: I tell you, well, let’s just hope everything goes safe over by UTEP.

Mike: Yeah, same, same. So, you have questions, legal questions, Mr. Gopin has answers.

Tricia: Okay. The first one we’ve got is Bob. He says, “My friend recently told me that you can own, possess, or possibly even buy a firearm even if you have a felony if it’s been 10 years since you completed your probation or parole. Is that correct in the state of Texas?”

Mr. Gopin: Well, it’s sort of correct. The way the law is written in Texas is that five years after you completed your probation for a felony, you can possess a gun in your home only, okay? Not outside of your home, only in your home. The federal law is 10 years, so it conflicts with state law. But in your home, you should be good to have a…possess your gun in your home. If you take it outside your home, you can be convicted of another felony.

Mike: Okay. So, when things like this happen, so, the Fed does override the state in this case?

Mr. Gopin: The Fed does override the state. Typically, in Texas, they don’t challenge that. If you have in your home and it’s been five-plus years, typically, they won’t press charges against you, but they could, and the federal rule would trump. So, it’s something to be aware of. But felony, only in your home.

Mike: All right. Okay.

Tricia: Okay. Okay. Derrick says a few months ago, he was involved in an automobile accident, and a girl completely sideswiped him with her truck. So, nothing happened to her truck, but his car suffered damage to the driver’s side, and the cop showed up, determined that it was completely her fault. She gave her insurance information, but it turns out wasn’t her truck. It was her parents’ truck. And she’s an excluded driver.

Mike: Oh, wow.

Tricia: Yeah. So, they were not able to cover him for damages with their insurance company because she’s an excluded driver. So, he says, “What’s the next step to try to recover money for the $3,500 in damages to the right side of my vehicle?”

Mr. Gopin: Well, that’s a very unfortunate situation, but the insurance company will not be responsible, because there’s an excluded driver here, so you’re gonna be out of luck on that avenue. We’ve talked a lot on this show about uninsured motorist coverage and collision coverage. So, those are the types of coverages that I hope that you have. If you have collision or uninsured motorist property damage, those are the type of coverages that will protect you in this case. If you don’t, and you don’t have insurance, or you didn’t have those particular coverages, your chances of recovery are much slimmer. You could always file a case in small claims court against this person who hit you, but collecting is another huge problem that you’re gonna have. So, you…

Mike: Sure. Yeah. They might rule in your favor, but if the person doesn’t have any money…

Mr. Gopin: Right. You’re gonna get a piece of paper that says, “You win,” and then you’re…that’s what you can have on your wall, but they’re not gonna actually pay.

Mike: Couldn’t you lien?

Mr. Gopin: No, no. No lien.

Mike: You can’t put liens on… Like, if you win a small claims court, you can’t put a lien on any…

Mr. Gopin: You’ll have a judgment. And the judgments typically last for 10 years, and you have to renew them. And if the person, at some point, has a property that’s not exempt, and in Texas, your house is exempt, your car is exempt, there are certain furniture that’s exempt, if they have assets outside of those things, like another property of something, then you could maybe collect on that.

Mike: Or if they get a better job and make more money?

Mr. Gopin: Well, you can’t take their…you can’t garnish wages in Texas.

Tricia: Oh, man.

Mike: Oh, wow.

Mr. Gopin: So…

Tricia: Yeah. And that’s another reason why a lot of times, lawyers will tell you, “Yeah, look, you’re gonna have to take care of this yourself,” because there’s so many rules about what they can and can’t do legally, yeah.

Mr. Gopin: I mean, a lot of people are what they call judgment-proof, which means you can get a judgment, but it’s not gonna do you any good. You’re not gonna be able to collect.

Mike: Why am I such a law-abiding citizen then?

Mr. Gopin: I tell you, to protect yourself, but…

Mike: My gosh, it just seems like…

Mr. Gopin: We’re very proud of you that you are.

Tricia: I know, right?

Mike: Well, thank you.

Tricia: But it also kinda…

Mike: That means a lot.

Mr. Gopin: That’s right.

Tricia: It also kinda makes you never wanna go out again. Because you’re like, “Oh, great. This guy’s got $3,500 worth of damage to his car and he is just out of luck.”

Mike: Yeah. I may have to rethink my $25 a month insurance.

Mr. Gopin: Protect yourself. Get that coverage, guys.

Tricia: Right. Exactly.

Mike: Before they wreck yourself.

Tricia: Jason says, “Hello, Mr. Gopin. I have a question regarding the COVID vaccine. My employer is really pressuring me to get it and is now almost forcing me to do so. Can my employer make me get the COVID vaccine even if I don’t want it?”

Mr. Gopin: Well, that’s a legal question that we probably don’t have a real answer for yet. Yesterday, the Court of Appeals overturned Biden’s COVID mandate vaccine rule, so we’re kind of in limbo here. So, Abbott says one thing, there is no mandate. Biden says there is a mandate. The problem is that in Texas, it’s an at-will state, which means that your employer can basically fire you for any reason they want to except for certain exceptions to that. The COVID vaccine is not one of them at this point. So, it may come down to you want your job or the vaccine, and you’ll have to find a job somewhere else. It could end up being that way. It’s not completely known at this point in time, but my hunch is that, at some point, if they don’t want…if they’re gonna make the rule, that’s gonna be the rule, and you can either choose to get the vaccine or find another job. So, we’ll find out exactly what happens in the future, but that’s probably my guess.

Tricia: And the worst part about it is that there are so many court cases flying all over the place.

Mr. Gopin: They’re all over the place. And employers who have had the vaccine mandates basically have won the early trials on that. So, it looks like they can make their own rules, and if they do it fairly and across the board…

Mike: At this point, it looks like it’s a choice that you’re gonna have to make, like getting the vaccine or not, wearing face masks or not.

Mr. Gopin: Look at the NBA. I mean, we have a famous player in New York for the Brooklyn Nets, Kyrie Irving, who isn’t getting the vaccine, and he’s not playing.

Mike: Yeah. He’s choosing to sit it out or he’s choosing to take the punishment, whatever that may be…

Mr. Gopin: [crosstalk 00:08:56] that’s right [crosstalk 00:08:57]

Mike: …paycheck or no paycheck.

Mr. Gopin: Exactly.

Tricia: And like you said, it’s the across-the-board thing that’s gonna get you every time. If everybody has to do it, then you’re gonna have to also.

Mike: All right. Ask a Lawyer, Michael Gopin, we’ll be right back with more of your legal questions

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Do I Have to Pay Taxes on My Personal Injury Settlement?

If you were severely injured in an accident and have just spent months or years fighting to obtain compensation for your injuries, the idea of having to pay taxes on the settlement you’ve just received can be a frustrating one. After all, money in taxes is money that can’t be used to cover your medical bills, lost wages, and other expenses related to the accident – and you may be depending on the money from your lawsuit for years to come.

So, do you have to pay taxes on settlements? In many cases, the answer is no. However, it’s important to be aware of the rules regarding taxes on personal injury claims and how they could affect your settlement. Keep reading to learn more.

Different Types of Damages and Their Tax Treatment

When it comes to taxes on compensation from a car accident settlement payout or other personal injury claim, certain categories of compensation are taxable while others are not. Broadly speaking, compensation for physical injuries and related expenses is not taxable.

For example, any compensation you receive for your pain and suffering from an accident would not be considered taxable. This makes sense, as taxes generally apply to income, and the money from a personal injury settlement is not income in the traditional sense of the term. Rather, the money you receive from a settlement is supposed to make you whole and to compensate you for the harm you’ve suffered from your injuries. Some other types of compensation that are usually not taxable include compensation for medical bills and emotional damages related to physical injuries.

However, there are a few categories of compensation from a settlement that are usually considered taxable. Any money you receive to make up for lost wages is taxable, as this is considered income. Similarly, punitive damages are aimed at punishing a negligent party rather than making an accident victim whole, so that compensation is also generally taxable.

IRS Rules

It’s important to follow IRS rules for reporting income from a personal injury settlement. However, these rules aren’t always clear-cut. For example, compensation for medical bills after an accident is not taxable, but only if you did not take an itemized deduction for medical expenses in the previous tax year. Likewise, money received for emotional suffering related to physical injuries is generally not taxable, but if there’s no accompanying physical injury, you may have to pay taxes on this compensation.

The IRS has issued guidelines for how different types of compensation are treated under current tax law, but it’s a good idea to get help from a personal injury lawyer in El Paso to make sure you don’t get into any legal trouble while still minimizing your potential tax liability.

Confidential Settlements

While confidential personal injury settlements aren’t a matter of public record, you still have to report the income from the settlement to the IRS. Hiding income from a settlement can land you in serious legal trouble, so don’t try it. It is also important that your confidentiality agreement clearly describes what you are being compensated for so that you are not taxed on the entire amount. A personal injury lawyer can help you with this.

How Michael J. Gopin Can Help

It’s in your best interest to keep as much money from a personal injury settlement as possible, and an El Paso injury attorney can help. The lawyers at the Law Offices of Michael J. Gopin have decades of experience handling personal injury claims. They can help you structure your settlement in a way that allows you to keep as much money as possible while still complying with IRS rules. To learn more, call our office in El Paso today or visit our contact page.

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What Makes Someone a Credible Witness for a Car Crash Claim?

If you are involved in a car accident and ultimately make a car crash claim, witness testimony can be one of the most powerful pieces of evidence in your case. An El Paso car accident lawyer can investigate if anyone witnesses your car accident and if they are a credible witness who can be believed and trusted.

Why Witnesses Are Important in Car Accident Cases

Many car accident claims come down to “he-said, she-said.” You and the at-fault party both have a vested interest in explaining the car accident happened in a way that makes you the innocent party. The at-fault party doesn’t want to pay higher insurance rates by being blamed for the collision. Their insurer wants to minimize how much compensation you receive while you want to maximize it.

A witness can be the tiebreaker and help convince an insurance adjuster or jury that the accident happened how you say it did. This is because witnesses are generally objective; they have nothing to gain by giving false information about the cause of our El Paso car wreck.

Factors that Can Weaken Credibility

Some factors that can affect the credibility of a witness include:

• Criminal history – Generally, a person without a criminal history may seem more credible than someone with a criminal history. This is because people perceive law-abiding citizens as individuals who would not lie in court or as part of legal proceedings.
• Reputation for being a dishonest person – If a person has a history of lying about things, they will not appear credible to an insurance adjuster or jury. If the witness is caught in one lie, others will contemplate what else they have lied about.
• Problems with cognition, vision, or impairment – If a witness has issues remembering things, has poor eyesight, or was intoxicated at the time of the accident, what they saw may be questionable.
• Interest in the case – If the witness does have something at stake in the case or personally knows you (like a passenger), they may not see as credible.

Factors that Can Make Testimony More Valuable

Some of the factors that can make eyewitness testimony more valuable include:

• Near the scene of the accident – If the witness can say what they saw because they were near the scene of the accident, instead of stating that the driver is generally a good driver, this testimony can be more valuable.
• Objective – Witnesses who do not know either party involved in the accident are generally more credible than witnesses who are associated with the drivers.
• Consistent statements – Witnesses who repeat the same story over and over again are generally more credible.

Contact The Law Offices of Michael Gopin, PLLC for Help with Your Car Accident Claim

If you suffered an injury in an El Paso car wreck, The Law Offices of Michael Gopin, PLLC is here to help. Our El Paso car accident lawyers have more than 30 years of combined legal experience. We know what type of evidence can help support our clients’ claims and will work quickly to gather strong evidence in your case. Contact us today for your free consultation and learn all the ways we can help.

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How a Personal Injury Lawsuit Works

If you are injured in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence, you may consider filing a personal injury lawsuit. Before taking that action, it’s helpful to understand what this process is.

What Happens During a Personal Injury Lawsuit?

A typical personal injury lawsuit follows this route:

Plaintiff is injured

After you are injured, you may file a claim with the defendant’s insurance company. If you are unable to reach a settlement agreement, you go to the next step.

Complaint is filed and served on defendant

The complaint is the document that initiates the personal injury lawsuit against the defendant. It includes a factual statement of allegations about what happened, including how you were wronged, why you are entitled to compensation, and why the court where you are filing your case is the appropriate court.

The defendant has the legal right to know when such legal action is taken against them. Therefore, you must have the defendant legally served with the complaint and summons.

Defendant hires an attorney

At this point, the defendant will typically hire an attorney to represent them. The defendant’s insurance company may pay for the defendant’s legal representation. The defendant may respond to the lawsuit by filing an answer in which they deny or admit each of the allegations in the complaint. Alternatively, they may file a motion to dismiss that asks the court to dismiss the complaint for some reason, such as because the complaint did not state facts that would allow them to recover compensation or because you filed the complaint beyond the statute of limitations.

Pre-trial

Before a trial is carried out, the parties participate in various pre-trial procedures. The attorneys may file various motions, such as requests to include certain evidence at trial or to withhold certain evidence from being entered in the case. The parties also participate in the discovery process in which they request all relevant information that pertains to the case. The parties through their attorneys can also conduct depositions so that they can interview witnesses and record their testimony for later use.

After this process is completed, one or both of the parties may file a motion for summary judgment in which they claim that there are no undisputed issues that are material to the case. If these motions are denied, the parties proceed to trial.

Trial

Only about two percent of all civil cases make it to trial. The plaintiff may request a jury to hear the case. The attorneys are able to challenge jurors who would be biased from being selected.

Each attorney gives an opening statement about their client’s side of the case. The plaintiff presents evidence and witnesses. The defense attorney cross-examines witnesses. The defense attorney can also have their own witnesses and expert witnesses testify.

At the conclusion of the case, the parties give a closing argument to wrap up their case and give their final arguments to the jury.

Settlement negotiations

At any point before the verdict is read (or sometimes even after), you are free to reach a settlement and ask the court to dismiss your case.

How Michael Gopin Can Help You

If you were injured in an accident caused by another party’s negligence, an El Paso personal injury lawyer from the Law Offices of Michael J. Gopin, PLLC can help. Our firm has been in business since 1987. Our El Paso personal injury attorneys have more than 30 years of combined legal experience. We are very community-focused and will work diligently to protect your rights throughout the claims process. Contact us today to get started.

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93.1 KISS FM – Ask A Lawyer, Part 16

Female: You’re listening to “Mike and Tricia Mornings” on 93.1 KISS-FM.

Tricia: Okay. We have one more question for Michael Gopin in this “Ask a Lawyer” segment. And I got to tell you…I hope you’re not eating breakfast.

Mike: It’s an interesting question.

Tricia: It’s an interesting question. But it is a little…

Mike: Yeah. It may not be suitable for children.

Tricia: It is a little graphic. So you might want to put your spoon down. Jason, from Northeast El Paso, says, “I had an infection in my foot, and my doctor sent me home. A week later, I had my toes cut off. They sent me home again and I had my foot amputated. When they amputated my foot, I still had constant bleeding and it would stop and they would send me home. Is there anything I can do about this? I feel like the doctor didn’t do their due diligence when it came to my care.”

Michael Gopin: Well, I’m so sorry, Jason, to hear about your issues with your foot. Very, very serious problem, I’m sorry to hear about that. In terms of your case, we would have to do a thorough investigation of the entire facts of the treatment, of your previous medical history to determine if the doctors were negligent in this case. This is a medical malpractice type of case. We would have to gather all the records and send the information to a physician who would then determine if, in his opinion, there was negligence based on reasonable medical probability. If there was, then you’d have a potential case. You know, there’s a lot of questions, you know, with infections. You know, what the doctor could have done and if he did something different, would the outcome change? And so there’s lots of variables here.

Mike: I think that hold probability, that whole medical probability part, that plays a big in something like this.

Michael G0pin: Yeah. You have to…you can’t just do it just a little bit more, it has to be reasonable medical probability that their actions caused you to lose your toes and lose your foot. And the question is, you had this infection already, if the doctor did a different protocol, would the results have been the same or would it have changed? And that’s the key here. And…

Mike: Oh, that’s gotta be hard to prove, right? Because…

Michael Gopin: It’s very difficult to prove.

Tricia: Yeah.

Mike: I mean, you have to take a leap if you’re a judge or a jury listening to this, it would make a difference.

Michael Gopin: Right. Right. It just depends, you know, some mistakes are much more glaring than others. I don’t know if you had diabetes in this particular case and that could factor into it, your medical history. Your age also factors into it, your overall health. So there’s lots of issues going on here. And you would need a thorough examination of all the, you know, medical records and your past records to make a real determination.

Mike: Now, when somebody comes to you or another lawyer about something like medical malpractice, is it something they can just consult you with?

Michael Gopin: Oh, for sure.

Mike: Or is it something that…like, in other words, you hear, “Well, we won’t get paid if you don’t get paid?” Is it one of those kinds of situations?

Michael Gopin: Yes. That is the situation, so it’s on a contingent fee basis case. These cases are much, you know, different than a regular car accident case in terms of work involved, and expenses, and so forth. So, you know, it may take six months to determine if you have a case. So, and this type of case, you really need to come to an attorney early, right, you know, at the time it happened or right thereafter because it could take quite a while before they determine if you really even have a case that they can pursue. They changed the rules many years ago. So without an expert witness, you can’t even file a lawsuit these days.

Tricia: Oh, wow.

Michael Gopin: So you need to have that expert witness as basically a gateway to filing a lawsuit.

Mike: Okay. All right. Well, again, another great episode with Michael Gopin in “Ask a Lawyer.” A lot of information.

Michael Gopin: Well, good. I was glad to be here and keep those questions coming.

Mike: Yeah, please do. You can go to kisselpaso.com. There is a section where you can ask a lawyer and you can send us your questions. You can also do it via the app. You can also submit audio using the app. And it looks like we’ll see you again next month?

Michael Gopin: Yep, for sure.

Mike: Maybe twice next month, you know.

Michael Gopin: Okay, great.

Mike: Okay, then. “Ask a Lawyer” on “Mike and Tricia Mornings.”

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93.1 KISS FM – Ask A Lawyer, Part 15

Female: Waking up with Mike and Tricia on 93.1 KISS-FM.

Tricia: Okay. We are back with Ask a Lawyer. We’ve got Michael Gopin in studio. We figured out what was up with his phone. It’s his wife calling him.

Michael Gopin: Uh-oh.

Mike: He didn’t want that known.

Tricia: It doesn’t matter. Too bad.

Mike: He’s going to have to hire an attorney.

Tricia: Yeah. You can’t tell us anything in the studio.

Michael Gopin: I know.

Tricia: Because you know it’s going to go on the air.

Mike: Yeah, you know, that is true.

Tricia: It is true. Sorry.

Mike: That is true.

Michael Gopin: She is the doorbell ring.

Tricia: And I figure she’s sitting there at her house or at the…or in her car and she’s like, “Watch, watch this. I’m going to do it again.”

Michael Gopin: Yeah. Yeah, if it rings again, we know she listens, right?

Mike: I’m so glad though that you’re not like other guys who have like, some kind of a mean ringtone for their wife, you know.

Tricia: I know, yeah.

Michael Gopin: Those are their ex-wives, right?

Mike: Yeah. Or for that, but some guys I mean, their wife doesn’t even know, you know.

Tricia: Yeah.

Michael Gopin: Uh-oh.

Mike: Because when you’re at home, of course, you know, she’s not going to call you. So they don’t know that you have the Godzilla theme or, you know, some other kind of ugly thing.

Michael Gopin: Uh-huh.

Tricia: The Twilight Zone.

Michael Gopin: Not that you would know personally though.

Mike: No.

Tricia: Yeah.

Mike: No, not at all. Not at all.

Tricia: I know as wife, he knows better.

Michael Gopin: This is not a confession, right?

Tricia: No. Okay. Let’s ask some more questions here. Raina from Horizon said, “I fell inside of a supermarket and no one came to help me. They left mops everywhere from a leak on the floor after the storm. I filed a complaint. But no one wants to take my case. Is there anything I can do?”

Michael Gopin: Yes, Raina, there is. Well, you could call us first of all, because we may be able to take your case. From the limited facts that you told us, it sounds like you have a potential case there. Hope you weren’t hurt too bad. But if you were, we could help you with that. The stores do have a duty to make sure it’s a safe environment for you. If they knew there was a leak in the floor, which I’m sure…we had a lot of leaks last week here in El Paso, so they needed to put signs up. They need to dry the floor. They need to make sure it was safe for you. And it sounds like they knew about it but it was still wet. And you may have a potential case there.

Mike: Yeah. Because she mentioned mops, right?

Tricia: Yeah.

Michael Gopin: Yeah.

Mike: She says they left mops everywhere, so clearly they knew.

Tricia: Yeah.

Michael Gopin: So they knew about it for sure. And that’s the first standard to note that they had actual knowledge of the problem. And they did, so.

Mike: And then the good thing is that most supermarkets, they’re going to have cameras.

Tricia: Yeah, exactly.

Mike: Right? I mean…

Michael Gopin: They may. They may not want to share that very quickly.

Tricia: I was going to say.

Mike: Yeah. But I mean a lawyer could make them.

Michael Gopin: Yep.

Tricia: Yep, exactly.

Mike: Michael J. Gopin could make them.

Michael Gopin: We can and would.

Mike: Yeah, you see. There’s an answer to this one.

Tricia: Yep. Yep.

Michael Gopin: I’ll tell you.

Tricia: Jared from East El Paso says, “I’ve seen your commercials for hernia mesh claims. What qualifies for someone to establish a claim?”

Michael Gopin: Our requirements are that you had the initial hernia mesh repair, and then it fails. And then you have to have a second surgery. Sometimes people have pain or symptoms of problems but don’t go as far as having the second actual surgery to repair the first one. So that’s our requirement to take those type of cases. They are very strong cases. And I think if you’ve had that issue and problem and had it repaired, we’d be happy to talk to you guys and see if we can help. But those are the requirements.

Mike: So if you had it repaired and you’re still having problems, right?

Michael Gopin: And had the second surgery.

Tricia: And had the second surgery.

Mike: Right. But and you’re still having problems, not like I…

Michael Gopin: Not necessarily.

Mike: Even if you had the second one and…

Michael Gopin: And then…

Mike: …you no longer have problems?

Michael Gopin: Yeah. We can still help you in that case.

Mike: Oh, wow. Okay.

Tricia: Oh, okay.

Michael Gopin: Because you had to endure the second surgery and so forth.

Mike: Okay.

Tricia: It’s the second surgery that makes…

Mike: Good to know.

Michael Gopin: Right. That’s the key.

Mike: So that’s very important. Okay.

Michael Gopin: Yeah.

Tricia: Yeah.

Michael Gopin: So I mean, they may not have used the same kind of hernia mesh the second surgery to repair it, hopefully, they do something, you know, better. But having the second surgery is what we need to be able to help you guys.

Mike: Okay, okay.

Tricia: Okay. Okay. And then Ishmael from the west side says, “I’ve been taking Zantac for a long time. I haven’t seen any side effects from it, but I want to make sure that nothing comes from me taking these pills. Can you explain the Zantac cases?”

Michael: Sure. They had an ingredient in Zantac that was linked to cancer, mostly bladder and liver cancer. Since then, they’ve taken out that ingredient and changed it to make it safe for people. So it’s generally if you had taken it, you know, before 2018, I believe, and had developed cancer from it, those are the type of cases that you may have a potential claim. And hopefully, you know, you’re not having any problems, Ishmael. And if it’s the new ingredient, which I’m sure it is, unless you have old medication laying around the house, you should be okay. But just, you know, keep an eye on everything. But those people who have been affected by Zantac and have developed cancer after taking it for at least three months, those are the people that may have potential claims.

Mike: Okay. So…

Michael Gopin: And bladder and liver are the most common.

Mike: Oh.

Tricia: Wow, yikes.

Mike: Wow. Good to know.

Michael: That’s pretty scary.

Tricia: [crosstalk 00:05:05] Yeah, very scary.

Mike: Good thing I can stomach almost anything.

Michael: Right?

Mike: You’ve see me. You’ve seen all the things I could eat.

Tricia: I totally have.

Michael: You don’t need Zantac, Mike.

Mike: And the expiration dates on them. You’ve seen that.

Tricia: Oh my God. He…I swear, when we first started working together, he would eat a bowl of cereal every morning for breakfast, and would not rinse the bowl or the spoon. Leave the residual milk at the bottom of the thing, and then come back the next day and use it again.

Mike: Yeah, uh-huh.

Michael: Well, you know, it wasn’t that bad, right?

Mike: Right. That’s what I would keep telling her.

Tricia: Oh, gross.

Michael: Yeah. Well, yeah.

Tricia: I have seen him leave a latte over the weekend…

Michael: Uh-oh.

Tricia: …on our desk and then warm it up and drink it.

Mike: I mean, you know, it’s warm now.

Michael: Hey, okay. Okay. He’s tough, you know.

Tricia: Oh, God, bleah.

Michael: True confessions here.

Tricia: Dude, seriously.

Mike: All right. Now, occasionally, we’ll get a question from someone who doesn’t really get what this feature is all about. You know, perhaps, you know, they missed the part about, you know, legal question. I don’t know. But this is what somebody wants us to ask you.

Michael: Uh-oh.

Mike: If this person has a claim, “I love my husband, but he’s useless and never wants to do anything.” Does she have a claim?

Michael: Oh, she’s got claims. In divorce court maybe but…

Tricia: Oh, Lord.

Mike: Would it really be in divorce court, like anything goes in divorce court, it doesn’t really matter what the problem is?

Michael: No. I mean, that would just be in terms of, “Hey, your divorce. You don’t have to worry about this loser guy or whatever.” You know.

Mike: I see. I see.

Michael: And I’m sure he’s not as bad as you say.

Mike: We never are.

Tricia: Oh, yeah.

Michael: Uh-oh.

Mike: All right. Is that it? Are we done? Do we have…

Tricia: We do have one more.

Mike: Okay. Well, let’s take a break. We’ll be right back and we’ll get to the last one. And this person does understand what the feature is all about.

Tricia: Yes. They actually do.

Mike: Okay then, we’ll be right back with one final question Ask a Lawyer with Michael Gopin.

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93.1 KISS FM – Ask A Lawyer, Part 14

Narrator: You’re listening to Mike and Tricia Mornings on 93.1 KISS FM.

Mike: Man, it’s like back in the day.

Tricia: I know.

Mike: Having Michael Gopin actually in the studio with us, huh? Another sure sign, huh? That things are getting back to normal.

Tricia: Yeah, well…

Mike: You know, as they say.

Tricia: As normal as it can be.

Mike: It’s time for ” Ask a Lawyer”. Michael Gopin is in the studio to answer your questions about some legal matters. Welcome back, Mr. Gopin.

Michael Gopin: Well, welcome. Thank you so much for having me. It’s great to be back in the studio.

Mike: You know, for a second there, I was thinking that you were just some disembodied voice.

Michael Gopin: I thought the same about you guys, you know?

Mike: Some kind of a Siri thing or something, you know?

Tricia: Right? Exactly.

Mike: But he does exist. All right, let’s get to some of these legal questions.

Tricia: Okay, let’s see. We’re gonna ask a question from James. He’s from East El Paso. And he said, “Can you explain the definition of “at fault”? So, my insurance company says that I was at fault for the accident, but I wasn’t given a ticket, and they don’t want to pay my claim.”

Michael Gopin: Okay, the ticket doesn’t really necessarily matter as to whose fault it is. The cop probably didn’t see the accident. And so, he is just going off on what people say to him or to her. So, what matters is the reasonable driving standard, basically. So, it’s negligence. So, you look at the facts of the case, and you decide, you know, who’s more at fault? Who’s more responsible for the accident? The insurance company isn’t, you know, the most powerful entity. So, they don’t get to decide for sure if you’re at fault or the other guy’s at fault. If you don’t agree with the decision, you could go to a lawyer perhaps or go to court and have a jury make a determination. So, there are ways to fight that.

Tricia: Okay. So, if they don’t pay his claim, he’s going to have to go to court?

Michael Gopin: Yeah, he would have to do something if he wants to move forward. So, the best way would be to hire an attorney, if one would help you, and then go to court.

Tricia: Okay.

Mike: And so why? Because they’re just going off with a police report that said he was at fault?

Michael Gopin: Sometimes they do. Sometimes they do, and that’s actually his insurance company. So, I’m wondering if he’s mad that they’re paying the claim against somebody else. And, if that’s the case, there’s nothing you can do to prevent the insurance company from paying. But, if he’s looking for his own money, he would be looking at the other insurance company.

Tricia: Right.

Mike: Yeah. And then the other thing we don’t know is what kind of coverage he has.

Michael Gopin: True.

Mike: Like, it may not be paying because he doesn’t have that kind of coverage.

Michael Gopin: They’re all possibilities, for sure.

Tricia: Come in.

Michael Gopin: Okay…

Mike: Doorbell…

Tricia: Who’s the doorbell?

Mike: Michael Gopin is here.

Tricia: Who’s the doorbell?

Mike: Who have we been speaking to?

Michael Gopin: I know.

Mike: I don’t have a doorbell.

Tricia: I don’t have a doorbell.

Mike: Do you have a ringer as a doorbell?

Michael Gopin: Maybe.

Mike: He doesn’t know either.

Tricia: Oh, no.

Mike: He’s looking at his computer like, “Is it my laptop? I don’t know.” Alex usually sets this up for me.

Tricia: I know.

Mike: Okay.

Tricia: Okay now, here’s a follow-up question to that one, though. So, I’m gonna make a wild guess and say that when he says, “They don’t want to pay my claim,” maybe he wants them to pay for, like, repairs and stuff like that. So, if they choose not to do that, he still needs to go to court.

Michael Gopin: Yeah, he still needs to go to court. I wouldn’t think that they would be doing that if he has the proper coverage. If he has collision coverage, it’s automatic, no matter whose fault it is. So, it wouldn’t be an issue as to fault. But you wouldn’t be looking to your own insurance company to pay damages to your car. If you don’t have collision, they won’t pay.

Mike: Yeah, they just have liability. It’ll just pay whatever is your fault, right?

Michael Gopin: Correct.

Tricia: Right, okay.

Michael Gopin: It’ll pay the other guy’s car but not your own. So, collision is what protects you. And so, if he doesn’t have collision, he would need to go after the other insurance, if there is coverage there.

Mike: Right. And prove that it was the other person’s fault.

Michael Gopin: Exactly.

Mike: Okay.

Tricia: Okay. So, Omari from East El Paso says, “I was in an accident. I was cited for it, but I know I wasn’t at fault. What can I do?”

Michael Gopin: Well, you can go challenge the ticket, first of all. You go to traffic court and contest the facts of the accident. If the officer doesn’t show up, you automatically will win your case. So, you’d have to present the facts and, you know, prove that it wasn’t your fault in traffic court. That doesn’t have anything to do with the insurance aspect of it. So, that would be two separate things. Even if you lose your traffic court ticket or pay it or whatever, it won’t change anything. They’ll keep coming in the doorbell.

Mike: I know. I don’t know what’s going on here. And when did we get a doorbell?

Tricia: I don’t know.

Michael Gopin: That’s pretty cool.

Tricia: That is cool.

Mike: Because nobody ever uses it, you know? They must not be from here because…

Tricia: They must be looking for Michael.

Mike: Yeah. It’s got to be. It’s got to be, man.

Michael Gopin: It’s a home studio here.

Mike: Hang on a second. Pizza.

Tricia: Oh, no wonder.

Michael Gopin: Oh, okay. Let him in. You’re hungry, huh?

Mike: All right. I’m sorry. Where were we?

Michael Gopin: Oh, we were in this accident, you know.

Tricia: Traffic court. We were in traffic court.

Mike: Traffic court, okay. So, even if you lose at traffic court…

Michael Gopin: Even if you lose at traffic court, it doesn’t necessarily affect your case against the insurance company. Different standard, different rules. So, you can go ahead and present your case to the insurance company, argue your facts, and hopefully, you can convince them that it’s not your fault.

Mike: Now, when you say present your case, you mean, like, through some kind of a mediation that they have? Or do you mean…

Michael Gopin: You could do that or just speaking to the adjuster, talking to them, explaining to them what happened and why it’s not, you know, your fault and why is the other guy’s fault. And perhaps, they’ll listen, perhaps, they won’t. In the event that they don’t listen and don’t change their mind, then your option is to go further and make a claim in court.

Mike: Okay.

Tricia: Okay. Samantha from West El Paso says, “Is there anything we can do about COVID? My dad died from exposure and he wasn’t at fault. We feel like it’s the workplace for not following protocol.”

Michael Gopin: Unfortunately, you know, in these sad situations, there’s really nothing that can be done to make a claim, in my opinion, that way. You know, COVID is just, you know, just a crazy pandemic that we had to deal with and there’s certain risks that are inherent in that. And it’s very difficult to, you know, to find out and ascertain where it came from and who had it first and did you get it from them and could it have been prevented? And, you know, people had to get back to work and there’s certain risks with that, that we all had to take, everybody in society. So, unfortunately, I don’t think that he would have a case against the employer for that.

Mike: Because there are no, like, there are no protections that the federal government or the state government has given you. Is that? Am I…?

Michael Gopin: Yeah, that’s correct.

Mike: So, there’s nothing like let’s say, for disability or, you know, if you were discriminated against. Where there are laws, there’s COVID-related.

Michael Gopin: Yeah, nothing COVID-related at this point.

Mike: Now, do you see or do you ever see this becoming one of those class-action kind of things in the years to come?

Michael Gopin: I don’t think so. I think it’s just gonna be too difficult to, you know, to find negligence on someone. I mean, you know, we’re in a pandemic. We were in a pandemic, that was, you know, horrible for everybody and people had to do the best they could, and no one really knew exactly what was going on or how to

prevent it. And if you remember, looking back, you know, back in March of last year, you know, people thought you could touch something and get it and then they said, “Well, okay, you can’t.” As we went further along, we learn more stuff and, you know, we still probably don’t know everything that’s going on, certainly with the variants and so forth. It’s just important to stay safe and be smart and get vaccinated and help everybody out and let’s get through this together.

Mike: Okay, this is segment one of “Ask a Lawyer” with Michael Gopin. We’ll be right back, segment two and more of your legal questions next on Mike and Tricia Mornings.

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5 Things to Ask Before Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer

If you were injured in a car accident or other incident caused by someone else’s negligence, you may be interested in finding an El Paso personal injury lawyer. However, with so many different attorneys to choose from, how do you know which one to hire?

You can interview a few El Paso injury attorneys before making your final selection. The following questions can help you narrow down whom you should hire.

What Percentage of Your Cases Come from Other Referrals

One of the best ways to find a good personal injury lawyer is to ask other lawyers for a referral.

A good personal injury lawyer will have a solid reputation in the local community and receive a portion of their cases from referrals from other attorneys. By asking an attorney you might hire about their percentage of referrals, you can learn how often others turn to them for their expertise.

The Law Offices of Michael Gopin, PLLC has been a staple of El Paso, Texas since 1987. Our lawyers call El Paso home and are committed to helping the members of our local community. Our reputation precedes us, as is evident from the many glowing reviews our firm has received.

What Is Your Fee Structure/What Is No Fee No Recovery?

“No fee, no recovery” means that you will not pay any attorney’s fees unless your lawyer secures financial recovery on your behalf. Most El Paso personal injury lawyers take cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning that payment for their services is contingent on them winning the case. Their payment is a percentage of the sum they help recover.

However, not all lawyers take cases on a contingency fee basis. Additionally, you might still be responsible for paying for legal “costs” associated with your case, such as filing fees, charges for medical records, litigation expenses, discovery costs, and expert witness fees. The percentage of the fee might change based on whether the case is settled through an insurance claim or is litigated. This information should be outlined in your retainer agreement. Don’t be afraid to ask about the attorney fee structure and what you will be expected to pay out of pocke

How Long Have You Worked on Personal Injury Cases?

Some lawyers work on a variety of cases while others focus on a specific area of the law. When you hire a lawyer on a contingency fee basis, they often charge the same percentage, regardless of how much experience they have. This can mean that you pay the same thing for an attorney with one year of experience as you do for an attorney with many years of experience. However, having more years of experience can help lawyers develop the necessary expertise, skills, and resources to effectively handle your case.

The El Paso personal injury lawyers at The Law Offices of Michael Gopin, PLLC have more than 30 years of combined legal experience we will put to use on your case if you hire us.

Have You Handled A Case Like Mine?

You will want to make sure that any lawyer you handle has tackled a case similar to yours. Personal injury lawyers handle personal injury claims on a daily basis. They’re used to negotiating with insurance companies, gathering evidence to establish liability, and accurately calculating damages that accident victims have sustained.

How Will You Keep Me Updated About My Case?

One of the most important things about working with an El Paso injury attorney is the relationship you have with them. A good lawyer will keep you informed about the status of your case, any proposed injury case settlements, and other developments in your case.

Contact The Law Offices of Michael Gopin, PLLC for Help with Your Personal Injury Claim

If you were injured in a personal injury accident, The Law Offices of Michael Gopin, PLLC can assist with every aspect of your case. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.

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93.1 KISS FM – Ask A Lawyer, Part 13

Announcer:

Waking up with Mike and Tricia on 93.1 Kiss FM.

Tricia:

Okay we’re back with Michael Gopin for “Ask A Lawyer.” Hello Mr. Gopin. Hi Mr. Gopin. Uh-oh.

Mike:

I got it. I got to…

Tricia:

You need to…

Mike:

I keep pressing…

Tricia:

Ai, Michael.

Michael Gopin:

I know.

Mike:

I keep pressing all of the wrong…

Tricia:

Michael loves to…he loves to play with the buttons. He’s like, “How about this one? Well, should we press this one?”

Mike:

And they’re clearly labeled. I’m an Idiot. I’m such an idiot. I really am.

Michael Gopin: Oh, man. You can’t…

Tricia: And you know, here’s what’s going to happen…

Michael Gopin: Yeah. Can you hear me now?

Tricia: Yes. So here’s what’s going to happen, our poor engineer’s going to come racing down the hallway wondering what you’re doing wrong. Poor guy.

Mike:

And I’m just an idiot. That’s all there is to it, you know. I think I’m cross-eyed.

Tricia:

Yeah, sure.

Mike:

I think that’s what I am.

Tricia: That’s what it is.

Mike:

I think I’m cross-eyed.

Mike:

Do I have a case, Mr. Gopin?

Michael Gopin:

You have a case for sure.

Mike:

Okay. So it’s “Ask A Lawyer,” it’s our monthly feature. Michael Gopin is our expert specialist, and you ask us to ask him these types of questions.

Tricia:

Okay. So Laura from West El Paso says her grandmother recently passed away, and they are having trouble obtaining her property because there’s no will set in place. She wants to know is there anything we can do? We’re not even sure what steps to take.

Michael Gopin:

I’m really sorry to hear about your grandmother but, yes, there are steps that you can take to take care of this. What you need to do is probate her estate. And most people think of probate as only when you have a will but it also is necessary when you do not have a will. So, in this case, she needs to go to a probate attorney who can set up a probate of her estate so all the assets in the estate can pass and tested is what they call it without a will. There’s a certain order of beneficiaries in this case and so depending on who is alive that is related to your grandmother, her spouse, her kids, and so forth, that’s how it will transfer. So set it up. It’s not that hard. It will take, you know, three months or so and you’ll be all set.

Tricia:

Okay. Matt wants to know… Ooh, this is a tough one. I think this is a very common problem here in El Paso, will get a family member to do some work for us, and then the other family member doesn’t want to pay up. In this case, Matt’s father owes him thousands of dollars for doing work around his dad’s house. And he said, “What can I do to get paid for it even though we didn’t have a written contract?”

Michael Gopin:

Well, that’s a simple question, technically. There’s more…you know, other issues going around, but technically you can file a lawsuit against anyone if you believe that they owe you money for services that you provided. So the simple answer is, yes, you can go to court, you can file a claim against your dad, and sue him and hopefully get it all worked out. But you know, on a more personal level I wouldn’t really recommend that. I would, you know, talk to your father. I don’t know how old you are, if you’re, you know, a 4-year-old guy or an 18-year-old kid living in the house. So I would just talk to your dad, work it out. I wouldn’t cause permanent problems with your father, you know, over money. I have seen too many relationships in the past ruined over dollars. And hopefully you and your dad can work it out and have a great relationship.

Tricia:

Yeah, that’s a tough one. See, it’s always better to pay somebody with a 12-pack of beer. It’s always better.

Michael Gopin:

Exactly.

Tricia:

Way less expensive and you can just run to the store and go pick that up.

Mike:

Definitely El Paso currency.

Tricia:

Totally, totally. Okay, this one comes from…

Mike:

It’s better than bitcoin around here. Budweiser is better than bitcoin in El Paso.

Tricia:

It totally is.

Michael Gopin:

Unless you can pay with bitcoin, you know.

Mike:

Well, yeah.

Tricia:

Okay. This one is from Monica in Clint. She says her landlord is threatening to kick her out because they haven’t paid rent due to damages around the property that hasn’t been fixed. She said, “We’re trying to get them fixed before we pay anything but the landlord refuses.” I guess he refuses to fix what they need fixed. She said, “We love the property but we don’t want to leave but it’s becoming unbearable. Do we have to leave or should we file a lawsuit?”

Michael Gopin:

Well, that really depends on what type of damages around the property that you’re talking about. In most leases, you cannot stop paying rent because of issues with regards to repairs. So you have a duty to pay rent regardless of that. However, if this place is uninhabitable and it’s just not livable, then you really have no choice but to leave. So what I would do to protect yourself is to send a letter in writing to the landlord, telling him exactly what you need fixed and why it’s causing, you know, serious issues with your family and yourself in this house. And give them a time limit. Give them a reasonable time limit, maybe 10 days or so to cure and fix everything. If they don’t do it and your family is at risk, then your only choice is to leave. You can file a suit for monetary damages in leaving but, you know, the best way, in that case, would probably be just to leave it alone and just leave because the landlord could also sue you for failure to pay rent so you’ll get into a big mess. So my recommendation would be to send him a letter and see if you can work it out. And put him on legal written notice that he has to fix these things.

Mike:

Would you also recommend lots of photos and/or video?

Michael Gopin:

I would definitely do that, document, document, document, so yeah. Send photos, keep photos. You know, you have your phone right there so show him what’s going on, show him why you need these thins fixed, and make your case because that’s what you’ll need to do, preserve the evidence.

Tricia:

Okay. And then the last one is from Isella on the Westside. Okay. So, a couple of weeks ago there was a that horrible story about that poor woman who had blood dripping down into her apartment, through the fan because somebody had passed away above her and she didn’t have any renters insurance, so she was out, you know, all the stuff that she had lost because of the damage. Well, Isella says, “I’m renting a home from a friend and recently someone broke in and took a lot of her stuff.” She said, “At that time, my friend said they had renters insurance for the house but now the friend is claiming it’s not valid.” She said, “We are not sure what to do as a lot of things have been taken and we are hoping the insurance would have covered it.”

Michael Gopin:

Well, in that case, what you want to do is to see exactly what type of insurance your friend had. Most likely your friend is telling you the truth now that they didn’t buy renters insurance, they bought homeowners insurance, which is a completely different thing, which would protect the home in case, you know, there’s, you know, a fire or something like that. So renters insurance just covers the contents of what the renter brings to the house or apartment. So, it’s two different types of coverages. So I would ask your friend to give you the insurance information so you can find out for yourself if what they are telling you is true. If they don’t have coverage that would protect you, there’s nothing you can do because you don’t have renters insurance.

Tricia:

It’s probably always best to buy your own renter insurance, right?

Mike:

Yes.

Michael Gopin:

It depends on what you’re insuring. I mean if you want to protect your furniture and assets that you have in your home, yes, that’s the only way to protect them. So, it’s definitely important to do. And you know, if you are not worried about it being stolen or if you want to ensure that loss by yourself and don’t want to protect yourself, maybe they are not worth that much and it’s just a pain to get insurance, then don’t do it. A lot of people don’t have renters insurance, but if there’s a lot of property to protect, then definitely go ahead and get it.

Mike:

Yeah. It sounds like she is going to be looking for a new friend.

Tricia:

Yeah, and a new place to live.

Mike:

And it sounds like Matt’s going to be looking for a new father, from earlier.

Michael Gopin:

Oh no [inaudible 00:08:29].

Tricia:

I know, from earlier because, you know, his dad owes him thousands of dollars.

Michael Gopin:

It sounds like they’ll work it out.

Mike:

Yeah, same but, you know…

Tricia:

It’s…yeah. That’s why it’s always best to have a contract no matter what.

Mike:

Yeah. But mijo…

Tricia:

I know.

Michael Gopin:

Well, you are not going to have a contract with your dad. I mean, you know?

Tricia:

I know, but, ugh, but then you get into this situation where, you know…I mean, how about just say, “You know what, dad, I don’t have the time to do that.”

Mike:

Yeah, right.

Tricia:

You should probably tell somebody else to do it.

Mike:

All right, Michael, I thank you so much for your time and your expertise.

Michael Gopin:

Well, thanks for having me guys.

Mike:

And then we’ll do this again next month. Thanks a lot, man. Have a happy Memorial Day weekend.

Michael Gopin:

Okay, you too, guys. Thanks.

Mike:

“Ask A Lawyer” with Michael Gopin on Mike and Tricia Mornings.

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93.1 KISS FM – Ask A Lawyer, Part 12

“You said forever, now I drive alone past your street.”

Mike:

You know, I could be wrong and maybe we’ll ask Michael Gopin about this but, I think, she’s got a case. I mean, if you said forever, and now she has to drive alone down the street, it sounds like she could have a case.

Tricia:

Sounds like a verbal contract to me.

Mike:

Sounds like one, definitely. Mike and Tricia Mornings on 93.1 KISS FM.

Tricia:

We have Michael Gopin with us. Hello, Mr. Gopin.

Michael Gopin:

Oh, I bet it’s gonna work a lot better if I press this button right here instead of one that I pressed before.

Tricia:

Yeah, there you go. Okay.

Mike:

Say that again. Take two.

Tricia:

Okay. We have Michael Gopin with us. Hello, Mr. Gopin.

Michael Gopin:

Good morning. How are you all doing?

Mike:

There we all go. Yay. Better now that we’ve learned which button to push.

Tricia:

Right, exactly. Okay, so we have a lot of questions, and they’re actually really, really good ones.

Michael Gopin:

Much better that way.

Tricia:

Oh, good. Okay. So we’ve got some really, really good ones. So the first one comes from Jacob, and he said, “He recently fell at a local grocery store because of water on the produce aisle.” And he said, “There were no signs or staff present that witnessed the incident.” He had to call an ambulance, was taken to the hospital. And then he contacted the store, but they’re denying the claim because they say their video cameras weren’t working at the time so there’s no video footage. So he wants to know, “What can I do, Mr. Gopin?”

Michael Gopin:

Well, you certainly have a potential case in this particular incident. What you need to prove and we need to show is that the store knew or should have known about the substance or water on the floor before you fell. That’s what’s really important here. So the question would be, if we can show how long the substance had been on the floor, you know, if an employee happened to pass by there or should have passed by there before you fell.

So this is something that we can definitely try to help you on. It doesn’t really matter about the video cameras. They usually aren’t very cooperative, at this point, in releasing those even if they had them. In litigation, they would have to provide them if they did have them. But not having video footage is not a defense for them to say, “Well, that’s not our fault.”

Tricia:

Oh, okay. Well, that’s good to know.

Michael Gopin:

So you have a potential case, and…yeah.

Mike:

No. Tell them, “I’m not here,” please.

Tricia:

Oh, Is that Tinker Bell?

Mike:

Yeah. Tell them, “I’m not here,” whoever that was.

Tricia:

Okay. So our second question comes from Mondo on the East Side. He said, “He was in a car accident last week, and at the time, he didn’t have insurance for his vehicle. Now, he was issued a ticket for that, but the other party was at fault in the accident. So he says, “Can I still file a claim with the other driver’s insurance?”

Michael Gopin:

Yes, of course, you can. So the fact that you did not have insurance does not, in any way, impact whether or not you have a case here. So, yes, you can file a case against the person who is at fault. You’re probably not gonna win your ticket though, and you’re gonna have to pay a fine for not having insurance, but you can still file a full claim against the party at fault. So you’re good to go that way.

Mike:

Yeah, because you’re like you’re using their insurance. Correct?

Michael Gopin:

Correct. So, yeah, of course, you’re gonna have to prove it was their fault just like you would in a normal case but insurance isn’t mentioned in court at all. So the fact that you have no insurance will not have any negative impact at all in your case. I think it’s a good idea if you get insurance…

Tricia:

Yeah, probably.

Michael Gopin:

…but in terms of you filing a personal injury case, there’s no worries there.

Mike:

It’s our monthly feature, it’s “Ask A Lawyer” with special guest Michael Gopin. This is question number three now.

Tricia:

Okay. This is Theresa also from the East Side. This is another car accident thing. She said, “A friend of hers was involved in a hit-and-run, but they can’t identify the license plate or the driver.” And she said, “Their insurance is refusing to cover the damage, because again, no evidence. So what should their next steps be?”

Michael Gopin:

We’d be happy to help her with this, Theresa. I don’t know why they’re not covering this because if there’s damage to your vehicle, I would file a police report. Tell them what happened, the cops, so you can present it to the insurance company. But you don’t have to have the license plate of the driver who hit you to file an uninsured or collision type case. So, depending on what coverage Theresa has, we can try to help.

There’s two coverages that, you know, are gonna apply here. One is, if she has collision coverage that covers the vehicle, in the case of collision, coverage will pay for any damage to the vehicle, regardless of who’s at fault. In this case, the best coverage to use if she has it is the uninsured motorist property damage coverage. And I’m not sure if Theresa was injured in this accident or not, but if she was, uninsured injury, bodily injury, would also apply.

So, in those cases, you’ll just have to testify basically that you’re involved in a hit-and-run accident, you show pictures of the damage to the vehicles, and explain what happened, and the insurance will cover. So they’re playing games at this point.

Mike:

Yeah. That recently happened with my son, and, yeah, we used the uninsured/underinsured. Actually, they told us to use the uninsured/underinsured, and they repaired the car. But, maybe…

Michael Gopin:

Yeah, that’s the best coverage to you, right.

Mike:

Maybe, this is a case of, you know, a sketchy insurance company. There are so many out there.

Michael Gopin:

I’ve never heard of a sketchy insurance company.

Tricia:

And see, the other thing though, I think, that people don’t understand is that their…like when they say comprehensive coverage as opposed to just liability, there’s a lot of different levels of coverage. So, yeah, by law, I think, you only have to carry liability. But if you, you know, really wanna have full coverage for yourself and, in case, you’re in an accident, then, you know, you do get the comprehensive. It’s a little bit more expensive, but it does cover a lot of other things.

Mike:

Okay. So that’s a good question then, Mr. Gopin.

Michael Gopin:

Yeah, comprehensive and collision are both different.

Mike:

If you only had liability, you know, would you be outside of luck?

Michael Gopin:

Yes, you’d be SOL on this one. So, if you only had liability, there’s nobody to pay. And if you don’t have the information or any indication of who caused the accident, you’re gonna be responsible for the damages.

Mike:

“Ask A Lawyer” with Michael Gopin. It’s our monthly feature. If you’ve got a question you’d like us to ask him the next time we speak to Michael, you can go to kisselpaso.com. The Must Read bar at the top of the page, click on ask a lawyer, and ask away. We’ll be right back with more questions. “Ask A Lawyer,” Mike and Tricia Mornings on 93.1 KISS FM.

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