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Invited to join this prestigious organization this week and did.  Thirty years in coming is a never too late moment.  I kind of know how Sergio Garcia feels.

How much is my case worth?

Social Responsibility [I will
be editing this post going forward]:

    
In our civilized society, we owe one another good faith, fair dealings,
liberty, honesty, compassion, respect, and the agreement not to interfere in
each other's pursuit of happiness

1. Criminal
Statutes: We passed them because a small portion of us can't adhere to the
code above. If one of us violates one or more of the criminal laws that person
will have to make it right to all of us by paying money and giving that
person's liberty to an appropriate extent, to the state.

2. Contracts: We like them in this country
and want them to be adhered to by the contracting parties. If one of the
parties breaches the performances owed under the agreed upon terms of the
contract that person is going to have to pay money to the other party to make
up for the breach and to finalize the contract.

3. Torts:
The breach of the above duties owed one to another, most commonly, negligence.
The party in breach (the tortfeasor) of a duty owned to the person harmed by
the breach, has to pay money to the victim to make the victim whole.

From my window negligence is broken
down into: Simple negligence - a
mistake that hurt someone; gross
negligence - a stupid act that no reasonable person would ever do; reckless negligence - an act that hurt
someone because of distraction –commanding a moving object that weighs several
tons demands focus ... texting, driving while not looking where the 2-45 tons
are moving, driving while mad and focused solely on yelling into a cellphone,
tailgating, switching lanes to try to get somewhere a minute faster, playing
chicken, trying to beat a red light, turning into on-coming traffic; wanton negligence - hurting someone
because the tortfeasor just doesn't give a damn and wanted to act like a wild
maniac; reckless with indifference to
the consequences negligence -a devil may care. 

     The tortfeasor has to pay money to make the victim whole - completely
whole because the victim can't be restored to before the injury shape, has lost
part of their life, has been forced to do things that they did not want to like
take off work, go to the doctor, etcetera ... 

     If you think all lawyers know the foregoing and the many more intricate part of personal injury representation, think again.  TV lawyers assign cases to inexperienced, performance based and paid newbie lawyers, who settle cases for cents on the dollar to move on to newer cases. 

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Modern Truck Wrecks in Atlanta, Georgia

Trucks are not as small as they once were.  Have you ever asked yourself why?  This rig from the thirties probably topped out at a weight of 25,000 pounds with a loaded top speed of perhaps 40 miles per hour.  Today our legislatures in their infinite wisdom have determined to allow rigs weighing more that 80,000 pounds to fly around us at speeds exceeding 70 miles per hour on highways and byways that needed rebuilding (not repairing) twenty years ago ... and on retreaded tires no less ... and with multiple trailers ... and now with flatbed trailers loaded with heavy containers full of metal.  Consumer advocate groups have fought for and we have major protections to afford us the catastrophic damages that result when a rig causes a wreck.  At least we have that.  But now there are lobbying groups trying and succeeding in getting immunities for trucking companies so that they don't have to pay as much to the maimed for life people these rolling death and maiming machines cause on an all too frequent basis.  If one has hurt you or your family or your friends call me to discuss the intricate and complicated roadmap that has to be followed to recover injury damages from the responsible party(ies).  #pratlaw #Atlanta

An injury can happen in an instant. Physics and Biomechanics demand that speed and weight combine to cause catastrophic results when governed by human recklessness and indifference … From car and truck accidents to dangerous unregulated or under-tested products, to animal attacks, even reckless/malicious internet trolling, the law of a civilized country demands that the victim(s) be compensated in terms of enough money to make the victim(s) whole relative to the damage done and the gross recklessness of the actions that caused the injury. It was realized even before the Law of Moses that the foundation of civilization had to be fair compensation in money damages for injury(ies) and not blood feuding and revenge. The Law of Moses expounded upon that belief and since ancient times the civilizations that have flourished have centered on just compensation for injury(ies). When an incident of injury and damage occurs, it is paramount that the people close to the injured party and the injured party if he or she is able, act quickly and decisively to pin down statements, the scene if there is one, that you take pictures of everything from every angle and every perspective, and that every statute that might be applicable to what happened is reviewed and addressed with an eye toward determining what amount of money will make the injured person whole, and in some cases, what amount of money will make an entire family, devastated by the injury, whole. Proper and complete compensation is the only closure acceptable to the victim(s) of injury due to no fault of their own. Unfortunately in today’s world of irresponsibility and blaming others or circumstances, that almost always requires a lawsuit. What to do, what to do??? Filing A Lawsuit Today, really mandated and do so immediately. Civil Procedure makes the start of litigation easy because it is the backbone of civility for it to be easy to seek to be made whole in a manner other than retribution and family feuding. But as is the case in most complicated matters, the devil is in the details. Filing a lawsuit has to be combined with through investigation, experts when needed, analysis and research. A large percentage of lawyers do not want to dedicate the time and effort involved in properly preparing a personal injury lawsuit to maximize recovery. R. Keith Prater, 770-253-7778. Maximizing a Verdict Act quickly. The most important thing to do immediately is to secure the evidence – within hours, the same day, if you or your family can do it. Take more pictures than you think you should. Get the investigating officer’s name and all the witnesses. Go to the scene and take pictures. Take pictures of the injury. And … ABOVE ALL ELSE … get a real injury lawyer, not a TV talking head – an actor representing someone you will probably never meet in person or even talk to, involved in your case. R. Keith Prater, 770-253-7778 Ask your physician questions: Treatment is critical, you must seek medical care to return to your old self as soon as possible so that your injury can be quantified in terms of permanent damage, future medical care, long term chronic problems. In several cases over the past 27 years I have had clients feel perfectly fine at the scene, and therefore, forgo going to the hospital in an ambulance — this can be a mistake. In the several cases, where the impacts were severe, injury was masked by adrenaline and the next day my client(s) felt terrible: In two instances that readily come to mind, fractured vertebrae were discovered, fractures that could have caused paralysis and even death during the night after my clients told the investigating officer that they thought they would be okay! Only trained medical professionals can tell injuries when the dazed and confused present after a collision. If you prove to be uninjured or mildly banged up, the visit is a source of evidence for both your attorney and an insurance company and the wreck can’t be used against you in the future if you are in another one. Continuity: If you are injured, and your doctor recommends treatment, then do it! It is a mistake to forego treatment and it will be used against you in the immediate claim and in the future! It is a bad mistake to end treatment before a physician tells you it has run its course. Cooperate: Your personal injury attorney will need your full and complete cooperation to get your claim maximized in terms of money – you must be totally candid and honest and remember that too many details does not exist! Write it down! All of it! R. Keith Prater, 770-253-7778 Contact the Law Offices of R. Keith Prater, P.C. to File a Personal Injury Claim @ 770-253-7778; to recover the full monetary compensation that you deserve from being injured due to no fault of your own. To schedule a consultation with your Atlanta Metro Area personal injury lawyer, call R. Keith Prater at 770-253-7778. Also, please visit our website and other blogs just by Googling “Pratlaw”.

Whiplash is a serious injury

Here is a link to what can happen even in a low speed collision:  'WHIPLASH SAE RESEARCH PAPER'