New Mexico Injury Attorney Blog

The holiday season provides ample opportunity for social gatherings that often include pets amid the mix of visitors, food and celebration. A dog may find itself confronting rough handling or even getting tripped over in the midst of the holiday festivities. Regrettably, a dog may bite in reaction to situations that create stress, such as over-excitement or pain.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 2% of the U.S. population, or more than 4.7 million individuals suffers from a dog bite each year. A large majority of the victims are children bitten on the dog owner's property. The Insurance Information Institute estimates that dog bites amount to roughly 1/3 of all insurance liability claims made through homeowners policies.

A basic homeowners policy typically includes liability coverage that provides some protection against injuries to others caused by pets. Additionally, a homeowners policy may provide guest medical coverage which would pay for medical expenses due to dog bites without having to first determine liability. However, both liability and guest medical coverage may fall short if the injury is substantial. As an added layer of protection, extra liability coverage can be purchased for those who have significant assets to protect from legal judgments involving dog bite injuries.

Yet, paying for medical expenses may not end the consequences of owning a dog that bites. Once a biting tendency is known, the insurer of the home may view the dog as an increased risk. This could lead to higher premiums or an exclusion of coverage for damages or injuries caused by pets. State laws may also require the animal be humanely destroyed.

Dog bite prevention is ultimately the best protection for both homeowners and their guests. Proper training and socialization beforehand can help a dog better anticipate the behavior of others. Of course, spaying or neutering has been also shown to reduce aggression. But even these measures may not be enough.

Once a party has commenced, proper supervision of the dog would be best but may not be possible; consequently, keeping the animal separated in another room or outdoors may be the only option.

Knowing how a dog responds to different stimulation can also be a key in anticipating problems. If rough play brings on aggression, guests can be warned to avoid this type of interaction. If kids are present, they cannot realistically be expected not to play with the dog. Small children often play the roughest are most at risk. If the dog has any history or predisposition to aggression in stressful settings, then the dog should be kept away from the guests.

Celebrations often bring many types of personalities together. Pets are no exception. A little planning and awareness will help insure that everyone enjoys their time spent together.

Collins & Collins, P.C.
Albuquerque Attorneys

The ideal situation when making a claim for injuries and damages arising from a personal injury accident is settlement with the insurance company without extensive time and expense. Unfortunately, obtaining a settlement that both the injured party and the insurance adjuster feel is reasonable is often not possible prior to litigation. Typically the adjuster believes the claim worth far less than the injured party and if the claimant/injured party is unwilling to lower his or her settlement demand, a lawsuit is necessary.

With a lawsuit, many issues arise related to litigation. One issue that arises immediately that is time-consuming, expensive and often frustrating is discovery. Discovery is the process in litigation that allows each party to obtain information from the other party related claims and defenses. The insurance company will hire an attorney to represent its insured, the defendant, and that attorney will seek information from the plaintiff.

During discovery, the plaintiff and the defendant gather evidence and information about the facts of the case and the other party. Discovery helps both parties to build their case and determine what evidence to present at trial. Depending upon the circumstances surrounding the accident and the claim for damages made by the plaintiff, the defendant may want to gather information about the plaintiff's physical condition prior to the accident or interview any witnesses to the accident. The plaintiff may want to learn information about the defendant's criminal or driving record and obtain a copy of the accident report. Discovery may also lead to resolution of the case after the attorneys have fully evaluated the claim, its value and the risks involved with proceeding to trial.

There are several methods of conducting discovery in a personal injury case. Your personal injury lawyer will explain to you the best methods for your particular case. Generally both parties submit to the other side a set of written questions, called interrogatories, that they must answer, called interrogatories, within the statutory period. Parties will also issue requests for production of documents. Depending upon the type of claims, these requests can be very extensive. Parties will typically at some point issue requests for admissions. These will be questions aimed at narrowly the scope of contested facts. The timing will depend upon the lawyer's approach and the circumstances of the case. For each type of discovery, the attorney will help to prepare the final responses to provide to the other party but the answers must come from the party since it is the party who will have the knowledge to answer the questions.

In addition, either party may ask the plaintiff, the defendant, or any potential witness to appear at a deposition. A deposition is an out of court proceeding but deposition testimony is admissible at trial. In a deposition, the party or witness will be asked question which must be answered under oath. The questions should be relevant to the issues in the case. However, this construed very broadly allowing the attorney great latitude to ask questions that "may lead to the discovery of admissible evidence."

Testimony given at a deposition is under oath and transcribed by a court reporter who by the way are very expensive. Either party can issue a subpoena requesting a witness to appear for a deposition. A deposition is a helpful way to determine what a potential witness's testimony will include at trial. However, the party requesting the deposition must pay for all expenses including a witness fee for appearing at the deposition, mileage reimbursement to the witness and the court reporter's costs.

This all sounds pretty straightforward but it can growing very contentious and very expensive in a hurry. Discovery is typically the most contested, burdensome and expensive portion of any litigation. Many times much of the expense and burden can be avoided or at least minimize. Other times, it cannot which can lead to extraordinary levels of costs on both sides.

Collins & Collins, P.C.
Albuquerque Attorneys

Most everyone has experienced drunken Santa at a holiday party. It makes for funny stories about the drunken uncle Santa who fell in the punch bowl, passed out in the yard, made some un-Santa like advances toward some of the guests and so on.

It is not as funny when Santa on his sleigh-ride home hurts himself or innocent drivers and their families. And though entertaining, and possibly even worthy of YouTube, it could get very expensive when Santa in a polar rage challenges all comers to a brawl.

The laws in New Mexico are pretty clear regarding liability for setting drunken guests loose on the roads. This applies to Santa as well as any other guests. Here are few things to consider before lining up the tequila shots at your holiday party.

New Mexico's dram shop and social host laws will hold the hosts liable for accidents and personal injuries arising out of the overindulgence of guests at a party. The host is liable to any innocent victims injured by the drunken guest. These injuries are most often associated with DWI accidents. It would also include drunken brawls as noted above along with any other accidents caused by the drunken guest.

The host can also be liable for injuries to the guest himself. This could occur in all manner of situations. It would include a guest sent packing who is clearly intoxicated who is injured or killed in a DWI accident. It might also include the guests who flips his chair due to excessive merriment and suffers a skull fracture. Or maybe, it is the guests who flirts with the wrong guest's wife and takes a beating out in the yard. And then again, there is Santa who proves ill equipped to take on the crowd.

There are too many variations on this theme to count them all. Suffice it to say that over-serving your guests with alcohol is risky business. And unless you know your guests and are paying attention, any alcohol brings some risks.

Holiday parties will have alcohol. And people will drink. This is perhaps unavoidable. However, there is no need or excuse for encouraging guests to overindulge. In addition, there are just some friends and family that you know cannot control themselves around free booze. Keep an eye on them. Better yet, don't invite them. If you must, take their keys early, keep them under control and plan for an overnight guest.

So pay attention, know your guests, put your drunken guests in lockdown, update your homeowner's insurance and be careful to whom you give the Santa suit. Drunken Santa and his elves might be entertaining or even downright hilarious in their holiday antics, but this is one ghost of Christmas that you do not want to visit in the future.

Collins & Collins, P.C.
Albuquerque Attorneys