i need the advice of the HCBF Legal Council!

[davidM]

Okay, so all you legal gurus, check this out. I was waling to my car after work today, and took a really bad fall on the streets of downtown St. Paul. Its been 5 hours since the fall and I can barely walk. So the question is, since the city of St. Paul does not shovel or salt their roads, could they be held responsible if I need to go to the hospital?

 

Heh, the fall was so bad 3 strangers came tmake sure I was okay.

[lug]

 

Okay, so all you legal gurus, check this out. I was waling to my car after work today, and took a really bad fall on the streets of downtown St. Paul. Its been 5 hours since the fall and I can barely walk. So the question is, since the city of St. Paul does not shovel or salt their roads, could they be held responsible if I need to go to the hospital? Heh, the fall was so bad 3 strangers came tmake sure I was okay.

 

 

Only if morality has no place in your decision making.

[gspointer]

 

Only if morality has no place in your decision making.

 

 

+1

 

Thank-you, I was trying to resist the urge to post.

 

(I failed)

[fingeringam]

*looks for "lol n00b" image to post*

[RIC N BACKER]

 

Only if morality has no place in your decision making.

 

 

 

that was a nice way of saying you fell you dumb sonofabitch..

 

YOU'RE THE ONE AT FAULT!

 

 

 

and why were you waling???

[Rowka]

... But I stayed at a Holiday-Inn Express last night.

[ezstep]

If you could find out the name of the concrete guy who worked that stretch of sidewalk, he might be liable for making too smooth a surface.

 

 

 

OTOH, a parent cursed me last week about her daughter leaving campus (I had suspended her for that). Should I sue the Superintendent or the Principal?

[GearsOfWar]

God is responsible, for letting it snow and turn water into ice.

Or any other spiritual figure for that matter.

I will see you in court, Mother Nature!

 

I was reading the initial post of this thread and I suddenly got a horrible headache and the urge to vomit...could DavidM be held responsible for making me feel this way?

 

No? oh.

[chunky-b]

Don't worry. All of the world is working on a solution to your problem. Their solution... Global Warming... No more ice, no more slip n' falls!!! :poke:

[Thunderbroom]

Hmmm...guessing this went in the direction opposite of what the OP was hoping for.

[davidM]

pretty much, well i'm on my way to the hospital, i'm not some ass hole trying to rake in milliions of dollars, but the simple fact is, there's a good chance this will throw me into some serious financial trouble. i barely survive paycheck to paycheck and i can't afford a heap of medical bills.

 

Oh well.

 

a simple "no" would have sufficed.

[t3ch]

pretty much, well i'm on my way to the hospital, i'm not some ass hole trying to rake in milliions of dollars, but the simple fact is, there's a good chance this will throw me into some serious financial trouble. i barely survive paycheck to paycheck and i can't afford a heap of medical bills. Oh well. a simple "no" would have sufficed.

 

Actually, no one has said yes OR no so far. So there's still a chance

[bassplayer7770]

God is responsible, for letting it snow and turn water into ice. Or any other spiritual figure for that matter. I will see you in court, Mother Nature! I was reading the initial post of this thread and I suddenly got a horrible headache and the urge to vomit...could DavidM be held responsible for making me feel this way? No? oh.

 

No offense to David, and I hope he'll be okay, but Wendy's post made me laugh.

[Brother Mango]

 

pretty much, well i'm on my way to the hospital, i'm not some ass hole trying to rake in milliions of dollars, but the simple fact is, there's a good chance this will throw me into some serious financial trouble. i barely survive paycheck to paycheck and i can't afford a heap of medical bills. Oh well. a simple "no" would have sufficed.

 

 

I think this is a time when you got a predictable reaction from the non-experts.

 

Kindness will tell the rabble what was behind the McDonald's hot-coffee lawsuit, and within hours the rabble are back to moaning about the screwed up justice system and a stupid old lady and personal respnsibility.

 

I'm no lawyer. So, I can't give you anything else. On thing though:

 

Right now you're suffering the gnashing of teeth after wailing to your car. You're in your own hell, buddy.

[GearsOfWar]

 

pretty much, well i'm on my way to the hospital, i'm not some ass hole trying to rake in milliions of dollars, but the simple fact is, there's a good chance this will throw me into some serious financial trouble. i barely survive paycheck to paycheck and i can't afford a heap of medical bills. Oh well. a simple "no" would have sufficed.

 

I am sorry dude, nothing personal, and I am sorry that you have injured your self. But going to court for these things is not a comon thing where I live. So to me it sounded completeley rediculous.

But again, my appologies.

[chunky-b]

First, of all, all joking aside, I do hope you are okay.

 

But here are the first questions the lawyer for the city will ask:

 

How many years have you lived in a place that often has icy conditions?

 

Were you wearing appropriate foot wear for the current weather conditions?

 

Had you checked a weather report in the last 24 hours prior to the incident and were you aware of the current outdoor temperature and that freezing / icy conditions were l likely to occur?

 

Please list in detail all previous injuries and what existing medical conditions you might have.

 

Do you wear corrective lenses and did you have them on at the time?

 

etc., etc., etc.

---

In other words, it is a tough sell, but if you find a hungry trial lawyer, I'm sure he will pursue it for a large fraction of your potential winnings.

[davidM]

 

I am sorry dude, nothing personal, and I am sorry that you have injured your self. But going to court for these things is not a comon thing where I live. So to me it sounded completeley rediculous. But again, my appologies.

 

 

don't sweat it. i understand why people responded the way they did, it is kind of a hot coffee meets crotch situation, i'm just freaking out because my wife and i were barely making ends meet as it was.

[georgestrings]

 

First, of all, all joking aside, I do hope you are okay. But here are the first questions the lawyer for the city will ask: How many years have you lived in a place that often has icy conditions? Were you wearing appropriate foot wear for the current weather conditions? Had you checked a weather report in the last 24 hours prior to the incident and were you aware of the current outdoor temperature and that freezing / icy conditions were l likely to occur? Please list in detail all previous injuries and what existing medical conditions you might have. Do you wear corrective lenses and did you have them on at the time? etc., etc., etc. --- In other words, it is a tough sell, but if you find a hungry trial lawyer, I'm sure he will pursue it for a large fraction of your potential winnings.

 

 

 

He'll also add:

 

Any drinking or drugging the night before?

Were you running late/in a hurry at the time of the fall?

 

 

 

- georgestrings

[GearsOfWar]

 

don't sweat it. i understand why people responded the way they did, it is kind of a hot coffee meets crotch situation, i'm just freaking out because my wife and i were barely making ends meet as it was.

 

I understand and again, my appolgies.

 

But I would have to go with chunky-b on this one. If you decided to go to court, make sure that you have an answer to all those questions chunky-b mentioned and get yourself a killer lawyer.

These things are so frigging difficult to win I think.

 

Forgive me for asking this (maybe) stupid questions, but don't you have health insurance that can cover this?

[Brother Mango]

 

don't sweat it. i understand why people responded the way they did, it is kind of a hot coffee meets crotch situation, i'm just freaking out because my wife and i were barely making ends meet as it was.

 

 

Maybe this is a hot coffee meets crotch situation; maybe not. We don't know.

The public thought that coffee lawsuit was ridiculous. Kindness pointed out that there were coverups and other things behind that suit. It wasn't just about a money-grubbing old woman and a pathetic legal system.

 

Another lawyer tried to explain that case with analogy. Suppose a retailer has a loose carpet and people stumble, and people complain but nothing changes. This goes on for years. Finally someone comes in, falls and break their tailbone on that loose carpet. There's potentially a lawsuit there. It doesn't go away by saying, "but people have slipped and stumbled on that carpet for years. The person with the broken tailbone is just a clumsy fool."

[bassplayer7770]

Another lawyer tried to explain that case with analogy. Suppose a retailer has a loose carpet and people stumble, and people complain but nothing changes. This goes on for years. Finally someone comes in, falls and break their tailbone on that loose carpet. There's potentially a lawsuit there. It doesn't go away by saying, "but people have slipped and stumbled on that carpet for years. The person with the broken tailbone is just a clumsy fool."

 

So, people have been telling McDonald's for years that their coffee is hot?

 

[Brother Mango]

 

I understand and again, my appolgies. But I would have to go with chunky-b on this one. If you decided to go to court, make sure that you have an answer to all those questions chunky-b mentioned and get yourself a killer lawyer. These things are so frigging difficult to win I think. Forgive me for asking this (maybe) stupid questions, but don't you have health insurance that can cover this?

 

 

 

 

Is chunky-b a lawyer or a paralegal?

Seriously.

There's a situation I was in a few years ago and I handled it all wrong because I listened to non-lawyers.

 

They were well-intentioned and concerned about me but they weren't lawyers. Even the lawyers I knew cautioned that I was dealing with a special area of law that varies highly state-to-state. The lawyers knew their limits of how helpful they can be. But the general public is often way too quick to give legal advice.

[lug]

The difference is he's asking the tax payer, i.e. you and me to pay for his injuries over a natural occurance called icing. Unless we should have known to outlaw concrete, I can't see this being our fault. The fact that he is in a bad finacial situation has no bearing on our guilt.

[chunky-b]

Is chunky-b a lawyer or a paralegal? Seriously. There's a situation I was in a few years ago and I handled it all wrong because I listened to non-lawyers. They were well-intentioned and concerned about me but they weren't lawyers. Even the lawyers I knew cautioned that I was dealing with a special area of law that varies highly state-to-state. The lawyers knew their limits of how helpful they can be. But the general public is often way too quick to give legal advice.

 

But I did stay at a Holiday Inn express last night...

 

I guess I am no longer allowed to share my personal experiences, training, education, knowledge, years of hanging out in my dad's law office, and many years of business law classes since my name is not KK or Brother Mango... I yield the floor to the distinguished gentleman, Bro-Mango...

 

I did not give legal advice. I did not tell him a "yes pursue it" or "no don't answer." I gave him a list of questions that he will be asked IF he pursues it.

[Brother Mango]

 

The difference is he's asking the tax payer , i.e. you and me to pay for his injuries over a natural occurance called icing. Unless we should have known to outlaw concrete, I can't see this being our fault. The fact that he is in a bad finacial situation has no bearing on our guilt.

 

 

What if we find out that this happened in front of a retailer's store and there's a city ordinance that the retailer was supposed to have shoveled and put sand or salt out front and the retailer decided not to even buy sand or salt. Thus, maybe a retailer is responsible for this.

 

Maybe OP is just on his own in a terrible situation.

 

The question here should be: where's the lawyer who's qualified and knows the relevant facts about OP's situation?