San Jose California Personal Injury Legal Blog

Like most in San Jose, you understand that when you own property, you are responsible for whatever happens on it. The issue of liability for any accidents or injuries that occur on your land or in your home, however, can often be very complex. Many have come to us here at Shea & Shea - A Professional Law Corporation asking whether any issues that occur on their properties are automatically their fault, or whether or not personal responsibility on the part of the injured party plays a role. If you have the same question, then it is important that you understand your duty of care as a property owner. 

Section 1001 of California's Civil Jury Instructions show that you must exercise reasonable care in identifying and repairing, replacing or offering a warning of any potential hazards that exist on your property. If someone is injured on your property, the court considers the following factors when assigning blame: 

• The likelihood that someone would enter on to your property in the manner the injured party did
• The likelihood of any conditions existing on your property could cause harm (and the potential extent of that harm)
• Whether you should have reasonably known of the potential risks posed by such a condition
• The extent of control you had over the condition ever arising in the first place
• The difficulty in protecting others from said condition

When you send your child off to school, you naturally assume that he or she will be safe on the journey. However, many parents have concerns about seat belts on school buses and whether kids should be obligated to use them at all times. The New York Times offers more insight into this controversial topic. 

While there has been a push for seat belts in all school buses in recent years, only a handful of states have laws in place making this essential safety feature mandatory. California is just one state, along with New York, Florida, Texas, Nevada, Arkansas, New Jersey, and Louisiana. In some cases, buses are exempt if funding is not available to cover the conversion to new buses or the installation of seat belts. Even if a bus does feature seat belts, most states don't require kids to wear them at all times.  

Like many of your neighbors, friends and family members, you have found the perfect person with whom to enjoy your life. If your spouse or domestic partner suffers a serious injury or dies, you may experience an unfillable void. Fortunately, California law may allow you to pursue compensation from whoever is responsible for your loved one’s injury or death. 

As you probably know, the law is full of terms that seem somewhat archaic. If you are not a lawyer, the words “loss of consortium” may mean nothing to you. Put simply, though, if you have a successful loss of consortium claim, you receive compensation for the intimacy, companionship and moral support you lose after a spouse or domestic partner suffers a serious injury or dies. To recover for loss of consortium in California, you must prove all of the following four elements: 

Brain damage is one of the most common concerns when someone suffers a concussion, and while brain injury is perhaps the most thought of consequence from a blow to the head, a concussion can cause lasting harm to a person in other ways, such as negatively impacting a person’s ability to hear. This kind of damage can be temporary or permanent, and can drastically impact your quality of life in San Jose, California.

Everyday Hearing explains that hearing damage from a concussion can take different forms. A head blow can injure the ear or the pathways that transmit auditory stimuli to the brain. Bones inside the middle ear may take damage or become dislocated. A concussion can also rupture an eardrum. The membranes or the tissues that make up the inner ear might be damaged. Additionally, the cochlear nerve could suffer ischemia.