Should I Hire a Lawyer if a Dog Bites Me?

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Should I Hire a Lawyer if a Dog Bites Me?

There are just over 4.5 million occurrences of a dog biting a human each year in the United States alone. Many of these are one-bite attacks. Some of those type of attacks do not require very serious medical attention, but the experience can remain emotionally traumatizing. Being bitten by an angry dog can be an exceptionally scary event. Victims of dog bites can attest to that fact. Of the 4.5 million dog bites each year, over 800,000 of them result in extremely serious medical conditions. A good number of those 800,000 serious attacks are from occurrences involving multiple dogs.

When one person injures another person, the at-fault person should pay to help the injured victim recover. That is the way the law works. Allowing your dog to bite someone triggers the same legal chain reaction. It is possible to recover for you dog bite injuries without the help of a dog bite lawyer. It is also possible to stich up your dog bite wound yourself rather than going to the doctor, but I would not recommend it. You go to the doctor because he is an expert. He can treat your injury much better than you are able to. The same rule applies to hiring a dog bite lawyer. You could work directly with the homeowners insurance company that covers the neighbor whose dog bit you, but you will be shortchanged. Insurance companies are extremely successful financial because they are experts at getting their insured to pay their premiums, and they are experts at paying out as little as possible for each claim. When you do not consult an experienced dog bite lawyer, you’re choosing to go up against an entire team of trained attorneys all on your own. You are outgunned, and out-manned. I do not recommend it.

There are cases when an attorney may not be entirely necessary. Perhaps you know the person who owns the dog that bit you. After all, more than half of all the dog attacks in the U.S each year occur on the property where the dog resides. If you are on the dog’s property, you probably know the dog’s owner. Some owners may be very responsible and caring. They may realize that the laws of this great country do not let them allow their dog to attack their neighbors. They may want to avoid any claims going to their homeowners insurance at all. They may believe that those claims could result in an increase of their insurance premiums. They also may not want to force you to wait to be reimbursed by their insurance company while your expensive medical bills mount up. If that is the case, they may offer to pay you an amount out of pocket to help make up for their mistake. If the dog bite was a minor one, this may be a great route to solve the problem. Intelligent parties can typically solve problems by freely negotiating. However, if the dog bite was serious, I do not recommend this course of action. It is impossible for you to know the extent of your injuries immediately following the attack. A Utah dog bite lawyer can provide you with a free consultation to go over your rights before you agree to settle your claim.

If you have any doubt at all about how to conduct your affairs after you have been bitten by a dog, your best bet is to contact an attorney. A little knowledge can go along way. There is little worse than being victimized by an angry dog and then being victimized again by an aggressive insurance company. Don’t let it happen to you.

First Time My Dog Bit Someone

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First Time My Dog Bit Someone

Many states require a dog bite victim to prove negligence in order to recover against the dog’s owner after a dog bite incident. Negligence is a fancy lawyer word that really just means that somebody was not careful enough. For example, if you know that your dog loves to attack small children, and you decide to let your dog run free in a children’s playground, you are being negligent. You are falling extremely far below a reasonable or expected standard of care. An owner who was not negligent would train their dog extremely well, he or she would not allow children to play with the dog, and in the event that the dog was forced to be around children, the dog would be leashed and muzzled. In a state where you must be able to show that the dog owner was negligent, it would be difficult to win the lawsuit if the dog has never before bitten anyone. That is why many states have codified the “One bite rule.” The one bite rule dictates that a dog owner cannot be liable for the resulting injuries if that particular dog has never before bitten anyone. The reason for this law is that even a reasonably careful person may not take very man steps to prevent their dog from biting someone if they have had their dog for a number of years and the dog has never before shown any signs of aggression. In states that follow the one bite rule, dog bites are documented so that a dog owner may be liable the second time the dog bites someone. At that point the dog has shown a propensity to be violent and a reasonably prudent person would take precautionary measures to prevent a second attack. If that second attack occurs, then the dog owner has been negligent.

The State of Utah does not allow such shenanigans. Utah dogs are not given one free pass. Just as people are subject to prosecution the first time they assault someone, dog owners are subject to liability the first time their dog bites and injures someone. Some are fans of this law and others are not. Dog owners argue that it is overly burdensome to expect them to be automatically liable for any and all damages caused by their dogs. Then again, a victim of a dog attack may offer a very compelling viewpoint that dog attacks can be extremely physically and emotionally damaging and they should be prevented at all costs. After all, what is the incentive to own a knowingly dangerous and aggressive animal? Surely their costs to society are not outweighed by their utility.

Most victims of dog attacks feel mistreated and slighted. Offering to help pay for medical bills can go a long way to mending a relationship and making things right. Those that have been bitten by dogs should understand that the dog owner likely did not intend to injure them. The dog owner would almost always go back in time and prevent the attack if they could. At the same time, dog owners should understand that the victim did not ask to be bitten by a dog. No victim would intentionally allow himself or herself to be bitten in an attempt to collect a settlement. That would be absurd. Contacting a dog bite lawyer should be the first thing you do after an accident, he or she can educate you as to your rights and help you resolve the problem as amicably as possible.

I Was On Someone Else’s Property

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I Was On Someone Else’s Property

Many people wonder whether their dog bite claim will be defeated by the fact that they were on the dog owners property when they got bit by the dog? The short answer to this question is—absolutely not. Utah is a strict liability state when it comes to dog bite law. That means that dog owners must pay for the harm caused by their dogs almost regardless of the fact situation surrounding the incident. The one obvious exception to that rule is police canines. If the police use their canines to track down a criminal, the criminal cannot sue the police force over the dog bite injury. Because Utah dog bite laws are so favorable to victims of dog bites, dog owners should make sure to take good care of their dogs and do everything they can to ensure safety for their friends and neighbors.

When it comes down to it, the path to recovery for injuries from a dog bite may be easier when one is bitten on the dog’s property as opposed to one’s own property. The reason for that is two fold: one, landowner liability is a well-established legal principle, and two; homeowners insurance is usually the end game. Landowner liability is the idea that an owner of property should be responsible for injuries that happen to others while they are on his or her property because the owner of the property is in the superior position to know and understand the dangers that may be present on that property and therefore they are in the position to more adequately protect against those dangers. The law seeks to place the burden of caution on the party who has the best ability to prevent the harm. The second reason is that the overwhelming majority of meritorious dog bite claims are settled and paid out by homeowners insurance companies as opposed to being paid out by the dog owner herself. No one wants their neighbor to have to pony up the cash for their medical expenses after a dog bite, but why should a victim have to bare the costs of expensive medical treatments that were not their fault? Homeowners insurance steps in to fill that gap. Most homeowners insurance policies cover the family dog. These policies typically follow the dog even when that dog leaves the property, but it is always an easier case if the injury occurred on the property that is directly covered under the terms of the policy.

It is of note that more than half of dog bite incidents in the U.S in 2012 occurred on the property of the dog owner. These situations are usually a fact scenario where a dog owner invites guests over, the dog is uncomfortable with the guests, and someone gets bit. Where the law becomes a bit more convoluted is when the victim was actually not ever invited over to the property but was instead a trespasser. In many states, a trespasser would not be able to bring a claim against the dog’s owner after being bitten by their dog. In Utah, a trespasser would still have a winning claim because Utah is a strict liability state with regard to dog bites. Unless the circumstances are particularly extreme, even an uninvited person has the right to not be bitten by an angry dog. The dog owner will receive sympathy from the courts if the dog was acting in self-defense of the owner against a dangerous intruder, but the dog owner will not receive much leniency if a child wanders into an unfenced yard and is attacked by a dog.

If you or someone you know has been bitten by a dog while they were in the home of a friend or neighbor, contact a dog bite attorney today.

Utah Dog Bite Law

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Utah Dog Bite Law

People may wonder, “What is dog bite law?” It seems obscure enough an issue that it is puzzling that it could be itemized as its own body of law. How would a dog biting someone have anything to do with the law? Those are all reasonable questions, and they have simple answers. The law in the United States seeks to allow us individual freedoms while preventing us from using those freedoms to harm each other. In the U.S, if one party harms another in an unreasonable way, the victim may potentially be entitled to recover damages against the party who caused the harm. That is just a fancy lawyer way of saying that if you hurt someone, you should pay for it. The laws that dictate that principle are referred to as the “tort system.” Obviously you cannot sue a dog for biting you. Even if you could, what would you win– a bone? The tort system allows a victim of a dog bite to recover damages from the dog’s owner under a variety of legal theories. These theories each have their own variety of factual issues that one must be able to prove in order to win their lawsuit. Winning a lawsuit is almost never an easy thing to do. In the State of Utah, there are three different paths to winning your legal claim and thereby forcing the dog’s owner to pay for the injuries that their dog caused you.

The first legal path that could be utilized after a dog bite is under the theory of an intentional tort. These cases are extremely rare because they are what they sound like they are. A victim would need to be able to prove that the owner deliberately and purposefully had their dog bite you. If you went to your friends house, and the two of you had a disagreement, and your friend let his Pit Bull out and yelled, “Get em’ boy!” That would be an example of an intentional dog bite. Obviously the law should hold the dog owner accountable for his actions after an incident like that.

The second legal path to recovery after being bitten by a dog is the standard theory of negligence. Negligence theory requires a showing that the dog owner owed you a duty to be careful, the owner was not careful, their not being careful caused their dog to bite you, and the bite injured you in some way. This is the most common theory used in dog bite cases in most states. This theory is not necessary in Utah. Negligence can be difficult to prove because if a dog has never bitten anyone before, how will the owner know how careful he or she should be? To simplify this calculation, many states use a “One Bite Rule.” This rule says that if it was the dog’s first time ever biting anyone, then the owner was not negligent. However, if the dog has bitten before, then the owner should know that it bites and they should be extra careful to ensure that it does not happen again. That theory is good because it forces owners of vicious dogs to be careful, but it gives every dog one free bite out of a human.

For that reason, Utah uses the third route, strict liability. Strict liability means that a victim does not have to show that the dog was known to be vicious. Under strict liability, if your dog bites someone, you must pay for his or her injuries. Period. This rule is favored in Utah because it requires all of those who own animals to make sure to take special care to prevent their animals from hurting other human beings. If your dog bites and injures someone, you may as well be neighborly and offer to help pay for their necessary medical bills because the law is likely not on your side. If you have been the victim of a dog bite incident, call a Dog Bite Lawyer immediately.

Workers’ Compensation Claims Process

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Workers’ Compensation Claims Process


Injured at work? Many people wonder what to do after getting hurt at work. Dealing with the aftermath of a workplace injury can be a nightmare. Many people wonder what is expected of them. What papers need to be filed, and when? While the most effective way to reduce your burden after a workplace injury would probably be to hire an experienced workers’ compensation attorney, the following guidance may come in handy and make the process just a bit easier to understand.

  1. The first step after getting hurt at work is to report the injury to your boss. Your employer will need to fill out a form and file it with their insurance carrier. Their insurance carrier will notify the Utah Labor Commission. The employer should have their insurance company begin to pay for any related medical bills as soon as they make the determination that the injury is compensable.
  2. The second step is that the employer will have the injured worker see a designated medical provider. That doctor will examine the injury and provide the insurance company and Labor Commission with a report. The worker should receive a copy as well. Once the employee has been seen by the doctor, the insurance carrier should either open the claim for benefits or deny the claim within 21 days.
  3. If the claim is accepted the injured worker should not have to pay anything at all towards medical bills. If the employee is not seriously hurt, and has no other claims, an attorney is likely not needed.
  4. If the claim is denied, the injured worker has the ability to apply for a hearing with the Labor Commission. There, an administrative law judge will decide whether the claim is compensable or not. If an injured worker has a claim denied, speaking with a work injury attorney is the prudent option. It may be difficult to do well at the hearing when matched up against the team of attorneys sent by the insurance carrier. It is their job to keep their costs low.
  5. If the claim is accepted, there are potentially four other types of claims that the injured worker should be compensated for. They all require a different set of facts in order to be compensable. For more information on the different types of workers’ compensation claims in Utah. If you still have questions, contact an experienced work injury lawyer in St. George, Utah.
  6. If an injured employee is struggling to receive medical care while waiting on a liability determination, he or she can use his or her own private health insurance. In those instances, the private health insurance company would then have a claim against the work comp insurance carrier and could seek reimbursement accordingly.

In summary, whether in Cedar City, Mesquite Nevada, or St. George, Utah, workers comp cases start out pretty simply. As they go on, and the bills stack up, the process becomes increasingly more complicated.