All damages are money paid to a plaintiff to compensate him or her for losses that were caused by the negligent or intentional behavior of the defendant. Your personal injury lawyer in Riverside can clear up any confusion you might have about the different types of damages. Economic damages, for instance, are damages intended to compensate you for the monetary losses that can be objectively verified. These include your past and future medical expenses, lost wages, loss of future wages, and property damage expenses. In short, any damages from your trip and fall accident that can easily be added up with a calculator are economic damages.

Some slip and fall injuries cause harm that cannot be objectively calculated. These damages are non-economic. For instance, your personal injury lawyer may request damages for your pain and suffering caused by the injury, as well as your mental anguish. In a wrongful death lawsuit, the lawyer may request compensation for the family’s loss of companionship and support, and a surviving spouse may request damages for the loss of consortium.

Any move is a major effort, and moving to a nursing home is a particularly challenging transition. Packing up and settling in are only a small part of it. You should also take the time to review your legal rights as a nursing home resident. For instance, you have the right to have a lawyer in Riverside review your contract before you sign it. When you move in, the nursing home is required by law to provide verbal and written notice of your legal rights and the services you’re entitled to receive.

Right to Benefits and Healthcare

A nursing home cannot attempt to inhibit your right to apply for Medicare and Medicaid benefits. If you receive these benefits, you cannot be asked to leave the facility. Nursing homes must treat all residents equally, regardless of whether they are private payers or benefit recipients. Furthermore, you have the right to keep your clinical records confidential, to be fully informed about your healthcare, and to choose your own doctor. You are entitled to participate in your medical care and treatment planning for as long as you are legally considered mentally competent. You also have the right to refuse medical treatment if you wish.

Right to Personal Possessions

When you move to the nursing home, you’ll undoubtedly have to downsize. However, you still retain the right to keep and enjoy the use of your own personal possessions and clothing. The only lawful reason a nursing home could interfere with this right is if the possession or use of a certain object would endanger health or safety. For example, a nursing home could lawfully prohibit residents from keeping fireworks in their rooms.

Right to Visitors

No nursing home staff member is lawfully allowed to interfere with your right to see your loved ones. You also have the right to see:

• Ombudspersons
• Resident advocates
• Service providers
• Physicians
• State and federal government representatives

Right to Humane Treatment

It should go without saying that every human being has the right to receive humane treatment. You have the right to be free of physical and mental abuse, and no nursing home worker can isolate you from other residents against your will. If you are neglected or abused, you have the right to raise grievances, contact a personal injury lawyer, and file any claims you wish.

Mesothelioma is a rare, but highly aggressive type of cancer that is difficult to treat. In nearly every case, mesothelioma is linked to asbestos exposure. This means that individuals who worked as auto mechanics, carpenters, manufacturing plant employees, electricians, and HVAC mechanics could be at risk of mesothelioma. If you have developed this cancer, or a loved one has died from it, contact a personal injury lawyer in Riverside to discuss a possible wrongful death claim.

When you watch this featured video, you’ll learn more about asbestos exposure and mesothelioma lawsuits. Since it can take several decades for cancer to develop after asbestos exposure, it may still be possible to file a wrongful death lawsuit, even if the exposure took place years ago.

California is widely regarded as a leader in environmental sustainability, but that doesn’t mean it’s immune to toxic hazards that can harm human health. These toxic threats may be the subject of litigation in the form of public nuisance lawsuits, which personal injury lawyers near Riverside may handle. There are a few interesting trends in public nuisance lawsuits in California, including litigation pending against oil companies regarding climate change.

Public Nuisance Lawsuits

The legal definition of a nuisance is quite broad, which makes it a catch-all of sorts for difficult-to-classify litigation. Any physical condition or human activity can be a nuisance if it:

• Causes harm to another person
• Reduces a person’s enjoyment and reasonable use of property
• Is offensive or indecent to the senses

A personal injury lawyer can file a private nuisance lawsuit on behalf of one neighbor and against another neighbor. In contrast, a public nuisance lawsuit is filed over a problem that affects an entire community or a large number of people.

Climate Change Lawsuits

According to the Carbon Majors Database , 7.4% of all global greenhouse emissions released between 1988 and 2015 were caused by five oil companies: Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP. And on September 19, 2017, the cities of San Francisco and Oakland filed separate public nuisance lawsuits against these five companies. They allege that the defendants knew the greenhouse emissions they caused to be released would worsen climate change. They further allege that the defendants knew worsening climate change directly contributed to rising sea levels in coastal cities. Damages are demanded to fund adaptations of these cities to the rising sea level.

Chemical Contamination Lawsuits

While climate change lawsuits are a relatively new trend, plaintiffs have been filing toxic tort lawsuits against pesticide manufacturers for years. Usually, these lawsuits are individual or class action lawsuits. Recently, personal injury lawyers have used public nuisance lawsuits that allow California cities to sue for chemical contamination. A few cities, including San Diego, have sued Monsanto to demand that the former PCB manufacturer pay for the cleanup of waterways polluted by PCBs.