As a leading personal injury law firm, one of the most common questions the Law Offices of Michael J. Gopin, PLLC receives is, “What is my case worth?” However, this is not a simple question to answer because every claim is different. Determining the exact amount of compensation for which you may be eligible can be difficult. An attorney can explain how to calculate personal injury damages and the factors that may affect the value of your claim.
Add all of your damages together. This may include:
Medical expenses
Lost wages
Pain and suffering
Property damage
Future anticipated losses
Subtract amounts that you have already received for the claim and any damages you were responsible for.
The difference between these two figures is roughly the amount of personal injury compensation you could receive.
Factors in Determining Compensations
Many factors can make your claim more or less valuable, including:
The Severity of Your Injury
Generally, the more severe your injury is, the more valuable your claim will be. This is because you are more likely to incur more expensive medical expenses, more extensive pain and suffering, and more lost wages.
Lost Wages
Lost wages include pay you lost if you were unable to work because of your injuries, including:
Salary
Hourly pay
Tips
Overtime
Gratuities
Bonuses
Employment benefits
Incurred Medical Bills
Your compensation should include the costs you incurred for medical treatment related to your injuries. Medical expenses you may have incurred include:
Emergency room treatment
Hospital stays
Ambulance charges
Follow-up treatment
Rehabilitation expenses
Mental health service costs
Prescription medication and medical devices
In addition to those expenses you already incurred, anticipated medical expenses you might incur in the future should also be considered.
Shared Damages
Texas uses a modified comparative negligence system if you contributed to the accident. This means that as long as you were less than 50 percent at fault for the accident, you can still seek compensation for your injuries. However, your accident injury compensation is reduced by your degree of fault. For example, if you were hurt in an accident and suffered $100,000 in damages but were found 25 percent at fault, your damages would be reduced by $25,000.
Steps Used to Calculate Compensation
The following steps are involved in your injury claim calculation:
Establish liability – You must be able to show that the defendant owed you a duty of care and breached it. For example, another driver may have driven carelessly and caused a car accident that harmed you.
Gather evidence – The more evidence you can gather to establish your claim, the better positioned you will be to recover maximum compensation. Valuable evidence may include accident reports, witness statements, medical records, photos or videos of the accident scene, repair bills, and wage reports.
Add up your losses – List and add up all of your accident-related losses, including medical expenses, lost wages, estimated future lost income, and property damage. A lawyer may be able to give you a better idea about how much your pain and suffering damages may be worth.
Subtract shared damages – Subtract your amount of shared damages, if any.
Work with an experienced lawyer – Your lawyer can use their intimate knowledge of personal injury claims to give you a better idea about the potential value of your claim and a fair settlement figure.
Contact a Personal Injury Attorney for Help
If you would like a personalized estimate of your claim’s value, the Law Offices of Michael J. Gopin, PLLC can help. We have been in business since 1987. We can help you understand how Texas law applies to your case and the factors that can affect its value. Contact us today for a free case review.
Fall in El Paso marks the return of Miners football, the end of scorching summer heat, and the coming holiday season. While there is a lot to celebrate this time of year, changing weather and seasonal chores can present opportunities for dangerous accidents. Failing to take precautions could spoil the fall fun you and your family have planned.
The legal team at the Law Offices of Michael J. Gopin, PLLC, wants to ensure you and your loved ones have a happy and safe fall. Below, you will find tips on avoiding hazards on the road and around the house this season.
Driving Safety
Remember these safety tips while driving around El Paso:
Watch out for kids – Summer is over, and school is back in session, so you are more likely to see children walking to and from school during your commute. Slow down and be careful in residential areas, near crosswalks, and around schools. Never pass a stopped school bus.
Remember that it gets dark earlier – The sun sets earlier in the fall, which means you may find yourself commuting in the dark more often. Always use your headlights when driving in the dark, and watch out for pedestrians and cyclists in residential neighborhoods.
Be careful in inclement weather – Snow is rare in West Texas, but ice can be a problem, especially on bridges. Rain is a much more common driving hazard in the fall. Slow down if the roads are icy or wet. Give yourself plenty of space to maneuver around other drivers.
Home Safety
Here are a few tips for maintaining your home and protecting your family in the fall:
Take precautions before trimming trees – Before cutting your trees, look for power lines, dead branches, and other hazards that could cause an accident.
Be careful on ladders – Always place ladders on secure, stable surfaces. Never stand on the ladder’s top rung. As an extra precaution, ask someone to hold the ladder in place until you come down.
Get your vaccines – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is clear on this issue: Flu shots are safe and your best bet for staying healthy this flu season. While a flu shot may not eliminate your chances of getting sick, it does decrease the probability and can make flu symptoms milder.
Fire Safety
Following these safety tips can help you prevent fires this fall:
Pick up dead leaves around your home – Dead leaves are excellent fuel for fires. Rake them up, bag them, and dispose of them to mitigate fire hazards around your home. Do not burn leaves, as doing so can release toxic chemicals.
Service your furnace – A faulty furnace can cause a fire or carbon monoxide poisoning. Servicing your furnace can offer you peace of mind that it is safe and in good working order.
Be careful with fireplaces and space heaters – Use a screen when lighting a fire in a fireplace, and never leave a fire unattended. Do not leave space heaters running for too long or get too close to them because they can cause fires and severe burns.
Change your smoke alarm batteries – Fall is an excellent time to change your smoke alarm batteries to ensure that you are promptly warned of smoke or fire in your home.
For All Personal Injury Cases, Call the Law Offices of Michael Gopin Today
No matter how careful you are, accidents still happen. If you’ve been hurt and someone else is to blame, contact the El Paso injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Michael J. Gopin, PLLC for a free consultation.
Traffic deaths have soared in the United States in recent years, prompting the nation’s auto safety agency to take measures to discourage motorists from speeding. Steven Cliff, who runs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), recently announced to Reuters the creation of a “speed campaign” highlighting how speeding is just as harmful as other unsafe driving behaviors, such as drunk driving.
Data from the NHTSA indicate that the average speed of motorists in the U.S. has increased and that more motorists are driving carelessly. In one recent year, 42,915 people were killed in U.S. traffic accidents, the highest annual rate in nearly 20 years.
The legal team at the Law Offices of Michael Gopin, PLLC discusses recent crash data, the latest speeding regulations, and what you can do if you were injured in a car accident caused by a speeding driver.
Recent Accident Statistics
The following speed-related crash statistics from the NHTSA and the National Safety Council (NSC) illustrate how common and deadly speeding is on American roads:
Speeding was a factor in 11,258 traffic deaths nationwide in one recent year, or more than 30 fatalities every day. Traffic deaths due to speeding accounted for 29 percent of all traffic fatalities that year.
Speeding caused more than 10,000 fatal crashes in the U.S. that same year.
More than one-third of all drivers who were speeding at the time of fatal crashes that year were male drivers between the ages of 15 and 20.
Speeding is a significant factor in fatal crashes involving hazardous surface conditions. This is why a motorist driving under the speed limit may still receive a ticket if they are driving too fast for the conditions.
New Speeding Regulations
The head of the NHTSA says the agency is working hard to develop and implement new anti-speeding regulations nationwide. Since 2021, the NHTSA has reportedly finalized 16 new speeding laws and begun work on 25 more. Notably, many new rules are “related to automation” because more automakers are releasing vehicles with varying degrees of autonomous-driving capabilities.
Injured in a Car Accident? Car Accident Lawyer Michael Gopin Can Help
If you have been injured in a collision caused by a speeding driver, contact the El Paso accident lawyers at the Law Offices of Michael Gopin, PLLC. Our experienced legal team has advocated for the rights of injury victims in El Paso, TX for a quarter-century. We pride ourselves on providing compassionate legal representation to all our clients and aggressively pursuing full compensation for their injuries and other losses. Contact our firm today for a free consultation to discuss your legal options and learn how we can help.
From Facebook to TikTok and from Reddit to Twitter, it seems there are no escaping social media. Social media is everywhere, and chances are you use at least one, if not multiple, platforms. But did you know that social media usage can impact your personal injury claim? It’s true, and it costs many accident victims the money they deserve.
The El Paso personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Michael J. Gopin, PLLC want you to know how social media can affect your personal injury case and your ability to get the money you need from the party that hurt you. Contact us today if you need help getting compensation after an accident that wasn’t your fault.
How Social Media Can Negatively Affect Your Personal Injury Case
Whether you are negotiating with an insurer or taking a case to court, there is one universal truth you should remember: no one wants to part with their money. Insurers and opposing attorneys will go to great lengths to protect themselves and their clients from a settlement or judgment that could cost them. Weakening your case is an effective strategy to this end, and all it might take to jeopardize your claim is an internet search.
No matter how innocent you believe your words are, they can be twisted and used against you. Talking about the accident online can reveal contradictions in your account of the accident. Photos of you enjoying life could undercut your claims of being too hurt to work.
Some of the ways that social media can negatively impact your personal injury claim include:
Highlighting discrepancies in your story
Contradicting previous statements you may have made about the accident
Revealing what you may be physically capable of doing
Even if the information is taken out of context, it might be compelling to an insurance company, judge, or jury.
Inconsistent Information Shared on Social Media
After a traumatic event, it is natural to want to share your experience with your friends and family, cope with the events, and get support from your loved ones. However, posting information about an accident online is extremely risky.
What if you mention something on social media that you forgot to include in your official statement? You may call it an innocent mistake. An attorney or insurer could call it fraud. Differing accounts or inconsistent statements about how an accident happened are one of the leading ways social media can jeopardize a personal injury case.
Tips for Social Media Usage While Your Case is Pending
Before you post anything online, consider these social media usage tips:
Set your account to private
Do not accept new friend requests or invites from people you don’t know
Never share the details of the accident online
Do not post pictures of the accident online
Discourage family and friends from posting about the accident
Do not go online to ask for advice
The best advice is to stay off social media. It may be appropriate to deactivate all your social media accounts and then reactive those accounts when your case is finalized.
For All Personal Injury Cases, Call the Law Offices of Michael J. Gopin Today
Before you turn to social media after an accident, turn to a personal injury lawyer in El Paso who knows how to pursue the full compensation you deserve. Contact the Law Offices of Michael J. Gopin, PLLC. We offer free consultations to all prospective clients and look forward to learning more about your situation and how we can help.
Are you suffering from hearing loss or tinnitus due to defective earplugs issued to you during your military service? If you served between 2003 and 2015, you might have been issued defective 3M earplugs that did not protect your hearing as intended. Thousands of veterans have already filed lawsuits for hearing loss caused by these earplugs, and more could be eligible.
Nationwide, mass tort litigation is underway to help injured veterans recover the compensation they deserve from 3M. While the process can take some time, attorneys are making progress toward reaching a settlement by the end of the year.
The 3M combat earplugs injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Michael J. Gopin, PLLC fight for the rights of service members who’ve been injured due to defective safety gear. Contact us by phone or online today if you’re suffering hearing loss due to these earplugs. We’re standing by, ready to talk to you.
The Litigation Process
The 3M Combat Arms Earplugs litigation is the largest mass tort in United States history. Because there are more than 200,000 plaintiffs, it makes more sense for each injured veteran to combine their 3M lawsuit into one civil action. The suits allow numerous plaintiffs to file one case against one or more defendants. This helps individuals recover compensation and gives all parties an overview of the facts. The plaintiffs hope this suit will push 3M to offer a fair settlement.
If you’re a vehicle owner in Texas, you’re probably all too familiar with pricey auto insurance policies. While the Lone Star State isn’t the most expensive in the nation, Texas auto insurance policies are still often higher than average. The El Paso car accident lawyers at the Law Offices of Michael Gopin, PLLC explore the reasons for the high insurance rates here in Texas and what you can do to keep your premiums low.
What Are Average Car Insurance Rates Across the Country?
According to the Insurance Information Institute, the cost of auto insurance premiums has increased nationwide in recent years. One recent study conducted by AAA reported that the average cost of full-coverage car insurance for mid-sized sedans is roughly $1,403 per year. The average cost of insuring a midsize SUV is reportedly $1,296 per year, while the average annual cost of insuring any vehicle is $1,342.
Furthermore, financial services company Bankrate reported car insurance rates in 2022 were $1,771 nationwide for full-coverage auto insurance. For minimum auto insurance coverage, the average nationwide rate is $545 per year. On a state-by-state basis, the most expensive state for auto insurance is New York ($2,996 per year) while the least expensive state is Maine ($876 per year).
In Texas, the annual average cost for full auto insurance coverage is $1,868 per year, more than five percent above the national average. And in certain Texas cities, the average annual costs of full coverage are even higher:
Houston – $2,146 per year (18 percent higher than the state average)
Dallas – $2,093 per year (15 percent higher than the state average)
Laredo – $2,015 per year (11 percent higher than the state average)
Pasadena – $2,027 per year (11 percent higher than the state average)
What Factors Can Impact Car Insurance Rates?
A number of factors can affect car insurance premiums, including:
Frequent claims – If you make frequent claims, the insurance company will likely decide that covering you is risky and raise your premiums.
Fraudulent claims – Similarly, if you have a history of fraudulent claims, it will likely contribute to an increase in your rates.
Driving record – Drivers who consistently incur traffic tickets or other violations may also see their premiums rise due to added risk to the insurance company.
Age and sex – Older drivers with longer safe driving records tend to receive better rates. Younger drivers, especially younger males, are more expensive to insure.
Where you live – If you live in a congested, high-traffic area that is prone to accidents, you are more likely to pay higher insurance premiums.
Injured in an Accident? Michael Gopin Can Help
If you have been injured in an accident that wasn’t your fault, don’t hesitate to seek legal help to pursue the compensation you deserve. At The Law Offices of Michael Gopin, PLLC, our El Paso car crash accident attorneys can answer your questions and evaluate your case for free during an initial consultation.Contact ustoday to learn more.
Mike: “Ask a Lawyer With Michael Gopin” is the feature that we’re doing. It’s our monthly feature. Again, if you’d like us to put a legal question in front of Mr. Gopin next month when he’s back, just tap the free 93.1, KISS FM mobile app, or submit on kisselpaso.com. Look for “Ask a Lawyer” at the top of the page.
Tricia: And we’ve got a question from Timothy Berkshire. Hello, I am a 20-year military vet with combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. We used those earplugs during our tour. Can you tell me more about the earplug cases?
Mr. Gopin: Yes. If people had used the earplugs between 2003 and 2015, those are the years and the devices that cause the problems for people. If you had tinnitus, ringing in the ears, hearing loss, all those type of hearing symptoms and problems, you’d be eligible for this case. Time is really of the essence. Now, there’s been many, many trials. They call them Bellwether Trials to determine kind of the range of damages that people have had. And they’re going to start negotiating these cases really soon, and there’s, you know, hundreds of thousands of them. But time is really of the essence. So if you have one, give us a call, we’ll be happy to help and get it in on time.
Mike: And why Bellwether?
Mr. Gopin: Well, Bellwether just means that they pick each side, 3M and the plaintiffs pick a group of cases that they actually go to trial on and get verdicts.
Mike: Oh, because these are class action?
Mr. Gopin: This is the class actions. There’s hundreds of thousands of cases. But the Bellwether means it’s like a trial of a trial. So, you’re just trying to get a idea of what the juries think of these cases. So, there’s been many, many trials and most of them have gone very well for the plaintiff’s side and have been huge verdicts which is really, really good. Doesn’t mean that everybody’s gonna get huge multimillion-dollar settlements, but they kind of get a range of what the cases are worth and they negotiate cases based on that. So, it could be, well, if you had this percentage of hearing loss, you’re going to be able to get this kind of money. If you just had tinnitus, you get X dollars. And then they’re gonna settle them all at the same time, all the hundreds of thousands of cases. And there’s over 200,000.
Mike: Okay. And then is there like a deadline for this?
Mr. Gopin: There’s not a strict deadline, but there’s going to be a point in time where they’re not gonna accept any more cases. The judge in Florida will just say, “That’s it, we’re done.” But that’s coming up really soon.
Mike: Okay. All right. “Ask a Lawyer Michael Gopin.”
Tricia: Theresa Martinez is asking, she’s saying, “Our mother was in a nursing home abuse situation. The staff was mean to her, didn’t change her when she needed to be changed, gave her medication on time and she just recently passed away. Is there anything we can do here, Mr. Gopin?”
Mr. Gopin: I’m really sorry to hear about your mother Theresa. I know how painful that is. It’s my mom’s birthday actually today. So I totally understand how you feel. With regards to the potential case, there’s a lot of questions I have for you. Did you notify the nursing home at all about these problems while your mom was still alive? Did you complain? Did you have anything documented regarding the problems that you were having like she needed to be changed and wasn’t, the medication? All these problems now that your mom isn’t here to discuss them and tell them, we would need some type of documentation to prove that there was nursing home abuse.
I don’t know if you’re claiming by your message here that her death was potentially because of the abuse or not. It may have, it may not be related at all, I have no idea based on what you told us. But those are some of the questions that we need to answer. Yes, you do have a potential case, but the real question here, did you document it? Did you complain before? Or did you, you know, now that things are passed, remembering all the problems and are angry, which I totally understand? So those are some of the things that we would need to look at.
Mike: And it would only be a case if her passing away was related to the mistreatment?
Mr. Gopin: Well, that would be a wrongful death case against the home, but there’s also, you know, just abuse by neglect and things like that that caused her damages along the way, that didn’t cause her death, but caused her suffering and so forth, like not changing her, maybe she had bed sores that were…or diaper rash or things that were documented in her medical records that we could show.
Mike: Is this the type of a case that you take as well?
Mr. Gopin: We don’t typically take these cases. We can certainly find a lawyer who’d be able to help you with the nursing home abuse case.
Mike: Okay.
Mr. Gopin: But those are the things that are important and would be necessary to go forward on one.
Mike: Right. Okay. All right. This brings us to the next question.
Tricia: We have Tanya Montoya, who’s saying, I was in a really bad accident about a year and a half ago, and I’m still paying the medicals from this accident. I didn’t hire an attorney and the insurance company barely gave me anything to cover the medical bills. Can I reopen my case?
Mr. Gopin: Well, Tanya, I’m sorry about your accident. The question is is did you sign a release? That’s the entire question here. It’s not too late if you did not, because it is a two-year statute of limitations from the date of the accident to file a claim. But if you signed a release and they gave you money, you’re out of luck. So that’s the question here.
Mike: And they’re not going to give you money if you don’t huh?
Mr. Gopin: Yeah. Right. If they signed away, it’s over forever, regardless of if you had a lawyer or not. If you signed a release saying that this is it, that’s over. And the insurance company is notorious for running to the scene of the accident and getting you to sign a release for $500. Don’t do it, ask a lawyer first because, you know, once you sign we can’t help you.
Mike: It’s over. Yeah. Okay.
Mr. Gopin: So if you sign Tanya, the case is over. If it’s not, then you do have time, but time is coming here quick, because it’s been a year and a half, so you only have six months left.
Mike: Okay.
Tricia: Nice.
Mike: All right. That brings us to our final, “Ask a Lawyer Question With Michael Gopin.”
Tricia: And this is from Vilma Diaz. “My wife was assaulted at a local bar for being too intoxicated. The bouncers grabbed her, causing her to fall and fracture her right wrist, and she has an elbow strain. We went to the ER and she now has a cast on her arm. The bar is denying anything happened. What can we do?” That’s interesting.
Mr. Gopin: Well, I would definitely need more information from you. I don’t quite understand why they assaulted her. Was she being outrageous, her conduct at the bar? Was she doing things she shouldn’t have been doing, so they tried to restrain her? Was it because of the intoxication? I mean, just because you’re intoxicated, I wouldn’t expect a bouncer her to grab you and throw you to the floor. So we would need to find out all the facts of what’s going on at the bar that day. I don’t know if she was with other people at the bar that we could have some witnesses that can’t afford. Even some video of someone actually taped what was going on. But yeah, if the bouncers did so without provocation and caused her these damages, yes, you could certainly have a case against the bouncers in the bar for what happened. The question is really exactly what happened, why they restrained her, and how she was involved with her conduct here.
Mike: Yeah, in this day and age…
Tricia: There’s videos that…
Mike: Don’t you think?
Tricia: Well, the bars have…
Mike: The cameras too
Tricia: …the camera, but I mean, does the bar have to give them or can they say no, we’re not going to give you the…
Mr. Gopin: Well, they could… Once you file lawsuit, they’re gonna have to turn it over. So in pre-litigation, they don’t have to turn it over if they don’t want to. Of course, if it helps them, you know, they’re gonna want it turn over.
Tricia: Yes, if they see it and they’re like, nothing happened, here you go. That’s true.
Mr. Gopin: So it just depends, but I would gather up some information, see who the witnesses are and we’d be happy to talk to you about the possible case.
Mike: Like I saw one recently on FitFam.
Tricia: That’s why I was like, “Is it this one?”
Mike: Yeah. Where the guy…
Tricia: Carried her out…
Mike: …was carrying her.
Tricia: …and she was kicking her feet back and forth.
Mike: Yeah, but then she was also like falling asleep or something. I don’t know what it was, but it looked really funny. It looked like when you win those giant teddy bears at the carnival.
Tricia: And you’re walking?
Mike: And you’re walking with the giant teddy bear, that’s what it looked like.
Mr. Gopin: The teddy bear was kicking, right?
Mike: Yes.
Tricia: Yes. That’s a live teddy bear.
Mike: That’s what it looked like, it really did. And it looked like she was just standing outside, like she wasn’t in the bar just yet, but she was clearly from the video intoxicated. Yeah. So in a situation like that, you see her, you see that she’s picked up.
Mr. Gopin: Right.
Male Speaker: So, I mean, that would be like when he put her down and she fell, would that be a situation like…?
Mr. Gopin: Well, I mean, it’s a tricky situation, because I mean, the bouncers were doing what they needed to do.
Tricia: Their job.
Mr. Gopin: In this particular case, they needed to remove her from the situation. She was obviously out of hand, kicking, screaming out control. So, if they, you know, the video would tell the story, but if they did so gently, and the real reason that she fell was because of her intoxication, that’s on her.
Tricia: That’s true.
Mr. Gopin: So, it’s just a fact question and something we’d need to discover.
Mike: Yeah. Okay.
Mr. Gopin: But I hope, you know, your wife recovers from those injuries really quickly.
Mike: Yeah. They sound painful, man.
Mr. Gopin: Yeah, no doubt.
Mike: Okay. All right. Well, we thank you again. We appreciate your coming here…
Mr. Gopin: Well, you’re welcome, buddy, nice to be here.
Mike: …and giving us your legal expertise. So he’s gonna be back next month at the end of the month, “Ask a Lawyer With Michael Gopin.” If you have a legal question that you would like him to look into and answer, again, go to the free 93.1, KISS FM mobile app, or go to kisselpaso.com. Look for “Ask Michael Gopin” at the top of the page and submit your question there. Mr. Gopin, thank you again.
