When It Comes to Big Rigs, Size Matters

There is no doubt that the bigger they are, they more damage they cause when involved in a crash.

It doesn’t seem to make any difference how wide the highways are these days to allow for more traffic and larger vehicles. The problems are still the same old ones that existed when the highways were only four lanes instead of six or eight. Smaller cars and other vehicles are at a supreme disadvantage when it comes to sharing the roads with big rigs.

The larger trucks can weigh as much as 80 thousand pounds (40 tons) fully loaded and depending on what they are carrying. That is a lot of truck and it definitely does not stop on a dime. The facts are that it takes the entire length of a football field for a large truck to come to a full stop.

There are actually a wide variety of large trucks on the roads these days including 18-wheelers, tractor-trailers, tanker trucks, garbage trucks, dump trucks and tow trucks, and armored security vehicles. Put one of these behemoths beside a car and the car is dwarfed. If an accident does happen, not only is the driver of the truck considered to be liable, but so is the owner of the truck if they happen to be different.

Car drivers have to realize that piloting a large truck is a whole different proposition than driving a car. Thanks to its oversize proportions, truck drivers automatically have a greater responsibility to drive safely and be alert and aware of what is going on around them at all times. Did you know that regulations require truckers to have a Class A license and be prepared to submit to random drug and alcohol tests plus background checks? Contrary to popular belief, trucking companies really don’t just stick anyone behind the wheel of a huge truck and turn them loose on American highways.

Unfortunately, truck crashes are often fatal and if the statistics are any indication, the numbers of deaths due to large truck crashes are growing every year. In 2008 alone, fatal crashes on the highways that involved a big rig totaled over 34,000. The wide range of causes for the deaths included speeding to meet deadlines, inattention, fatigue, mechanical problems, prescription drugs, and poor weather and road conditions.
Just because trucking is a vital industry and the country depends on the prompt delivery of various items on time does not excuse a speeding truck driver, trying to meet an unrealistic deadline, who gets involved in a multiple vehicle crash. Big rig drivers need to take the responsibility to be safe on the road and watch out for other drivers.

When the consequences of a truck accident results in severe injuries or death, a skilled truck accident lawyer helps victims fight for their rights to just compensation. Choose the proper legal counsel to help seek justice.

To learn more about
Las Vegas divorce, Las Vegas personal injury, Las Vegas divorce lawyer, Las Vegas family law, Las Vegas family law attorneys, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, visit Hoflandlaw.com.

Incorporating a Nevada Business

Setting up the right type of business entity in Nevada is crucial for a lot of good reasons.

Just because someone had the bright idea to set up a business in Nevada doesn’t mean all the details can be immediately put into action and the business open within a month. While that might be a nice dream, the practical reality is that there are a lot of hoops one needs to go through to set up.

The initial start up process isn’t so difficult to handle as it usually involves, among other things, choosing a name, deciding what to sell and how to do that, and where the business should be located. This is all the fun stuff, but the other side of the coin is that there needs to be a decision about how to legally set up the operation. Should that entity be a corporation or a limited liability company?

These kinds of questions are not ones that an individual unfamiliar with business law should try and answer on their own. It’s well worth the money to hire a highly skilled business lawyer to assist in the process of starting a company. Or to put this another way, it would be downright foolish to not hire a business lawyer to help navigate the maze of rules and regulations that apply to new companies in Nevada.

A great number of Nevada companies have incorporated for a variety of reasons, such as there is no corporate income tax, no taxes on corporate shares, and no personal income tax. Those are distinct advantages to starting up a company and incorporating it. However, there may well be another kind of business entity that would better suit the needs of a new company – be it sole proprietorship, limited liability or a corporation.

Forming a limited liability company (LLC) in Nevada has a whole lot of advantages going for it as compared to trying to form an LLC in another state. Nevada’s costs for forming LLCs are very low and the lack of any corporate income tax is very appealing to entrepreneurs. Another reason for the popularity of an LLC in this state is that they offer shareholders and corporate directors almost unheard of protection against personal liability.

To get an LLC filed in Nevada there are several documents that need to be handled – an Articles of Organization or Incorporation with the Nevada Secretary of State and an employer Identification Number/Federal Tax ID.

The articles are used by the State Secretary to create the fledgling LLC. It is a wise idea to read the operating agreement and bylaws prior to actually forming the company in this manner. The agreement and bylaws offer detailed information on how to form an LLC. The employers Identification Number/Federal Tax Id are run of the mill regular documents that all companies need sooner or later.

Setting up an LLC in Nevada means also listing the officers and members of the company. This may be filed directly on the Nevada Secretary of State’s website. Any filing fees for this form are paid to the Secretary. If by chance the applicant wants their corporation to be an S-Corp, they’ll need to file the right form with the IRS promptly.

There are other advantages to setting up business in Nevada that a good attorney will be happy to explain to the prospective owners, not the least of which is guaranteed anonymity, as the shareholders and directors of Nevada corporations are not named in public records nor will the state government share any information with other states.

To learn more about
Las Vegas divorce, Las Vegas personal injury, Las Vegas divorce lawyer, Las Vegas family law, Las Vegas family law attorneys, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, visit Hoflandlaw.com.

The Three Types of Product Liability Lawsuits

There isn’t one business that exists today that does not have product liability insurance. Better to be safe than sorry if your product turns out to have problems and injures someone.

Generally speaking there are three types of product liability lawsuits that get filed in courtrooms. Those are information defects, design defects and manufacturing defects. Any one of these by themselves or in combination with another defect may form the basis of a product liability lawsuit.

Manufacturing defects are those that happen when a product, initially thought (and intended) to be safe, but something happened to it during the manufacturing process and it ended up being flawed and causing injuries to people who bought the product, e.g. one of the sprockets for a new mountain bike is missing.
Design defects are a bit different in origin. This happens when a product is made the right way by the company, but it turns out it is unsafe. It may not be a case of the manufacturer realizing the goods are dangerous because of the way they were designed. Nonetheless, there would be liability on the part of the manufacturer and designer, e.g. a stuffed bear with buttons for eyes that are not secured properly to the toy and can be swallowed by young children.

An information defect refers to a situation where a product is unavoidably hazardous in some form or other, but there is nothing to indicate this on or in the product’s package, e.g. a caulking compound for the bathtub that should not be used in enclosed spaces because it causes severe respiratory problems.
Each product liability case is unique and thus treated on a case by case basis. While a great many consumers would just pitch the defective product out in the garbage, there are more informed customers that are beginning to realize that they have rights when it comes to being harmed by a product they bought in good faith.

Keep in mind that every business that handles, supplies, refurbishes or resells a product must have some kind of liability insurance. It doesn’t matter if you sell on eBay or happen to be one of the most well-known retailing names in the US. The facts are that every business runs the risk of being sued if a product they handle ends up injuring or killing an innocent customer. If you don’t believe that, just remember the famous case of the hot coffee that gave a McDonald’s customer third degree burns when it was spilled on her thighs. She won her product liability lawsuit.

Bradley J. Hofland is with Las Vegas Divorce law firm, Hofland, Beasley & Galliher. The law firm focuses on Las Vegas family law, custody, and Las Vegas personal injury. To learn more about
Las Vegas divorce, Las Vegas personal injury, Las Vegas divorce lawyer, Las Vegas family law, Las Vegas family law attorneys, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, visit Hoflandlaw.com.

Watch What the Package Label Says

Those labels on the outside of various products are there for a reason; to warn people about a danger and to keep them safe. Failure to heed the warning may be dangerous.

It’s pretty much a given than when we go to the store to buy something that we assume it will be safe and won’t harm us. More often than not, this is a reasonable assumption. However, have you noticed the warning labels on the packages? They could say things such as, “Don’t drive while taking this medication,” or “Small parts could cause choking,” or much to your amusement they may even say in the case of a hair dryer, “Don’t use while you are asleep.”

Although some of the warnings you happen to read on labels may seem ridiculous, they are there because something like that has already happened to someone. This is how warnings on products come into being in the first place; someone complained that the manufacturer should tell people about the product’s hazards.
Generally speaking, there are laws in place to protect consumers in the event of an injury sustained by a product malfunctioning or to a manufacturing defect that caused harm or death. If you have had a less than pleasant experience with a product and were harmed, you should speak to a products liability attorney to get some answers. If the package didn’t provide an adequate warning about what happened to you, then you may have a viable legal case. Only your attorney will be able to assess this for you.

Speaking of liability, another huge area of the law that centers on the determination of a person’s liability is premises liability. Premises liability is a legal responsibility that all landowners/occupiers have to make sure their premises are safe when others come to visit. So, if you happen to own a store and don’t tell customers the floor is wet from mopping and they slip and fall, your premises liability insurance covers their injuries.
Slip, trip and falls are fairly common liability claims and many lawyers handle these cases in addition to product liability issues, as the issues involved in both kinds of cases are similar – the question of liability. In the instance of product liability the supplier, manufacturer and even the designer may be held liable for injuries caused by a defective product sold on the market. The interesting thing about product liability law is that you’d be astounded to find out about the long list of product failures that you can actually file a lawsuit over; for instance, lighters that explode, faulty ladders that collapse, patio furniture that breaks, baby car seats crumple on impact, and roofs on cars cave in rather than protect.

Bradley J. Hofland is with Las Vegas Divorce law firm, Hofland, Beasley & Galliher. The law firm focuses on Las Vegas family law, custody, and Las Vegas personal injury. To learn more about
Las Vegas divorce, Las Vegas personal injury, Las Vegas divorce lawyer, Las Vegas family law, Las Vegas family law attorneys, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, visit Hoflandlaw.com.

Monitor Meds Given in Hospital for Errors

Frighteningly, the longer a patient stays in a hospital, the higher the risk that they will be victims of a preventable medical error.

If someone is in the hospital for any length of time, chances are they may be the victim of a medication error; one that could have been prevented in the first place. This is the conclusion of a study done by the Institute of Medicine. Many Las Vegas personal injury attorneys have seen instances of medication errors and have assisted their clients to obtain a just settlement.

It appears that at least 1.5 million preventable injuries happen each and every year due to medication mishaps, with over 400,000 injuries involving those in a hospital setting. It should come as no surprise that to rectify these errors there is a significant cost of close to $3.5 billion. Despite what the Institute of Medicine found, there is a good chance that the numbers they used for their study are a great deal lower than reality, as many medication mistakes and their consequences aren’t reported. Las Vegas personal injury attorneys have handled inquiries from people who weren’t sure they were victims of a medication error and didn’t know if they needed to report it or pursue it.

Medication errors may take place anywhere in a hospital, but typically the first place they may happen is when admitting non medical emergency patients. On admission, patients are asked about their full medication history but many don’t provide it, either because they are confused and scared or they don’t want to reveal the medications they take. They may also fail to mention allergies.

Unfortunately, if a full and correct drug history is not forthcoming, the potential for errors multiplies as the information provided, or not provided, makes its way through the hospital system for clarification, and to the pharmacy and the doctor who will order home meds. Add to this mixture other medications prescribed in the hospital taken in addition to home meds and at least four things may happen: someone is given the wrong medication, the wrong frequency of dose occurs, the wrong dose is given, or the drug is omitted and then given too close together when the mistake is realized.

Some of the errors don’t have a serious effect on the patient, in other words won’t cause discomfort or “clinical deterioration.” However, depending on the drug given or not given and what it is mixed with it, there may be other consequences that do cause moderate to severe discomfort and medical deterioration. In a case where the medication negligence of another person causes injury or death, a Las Vegas personal injury should be consulted.

The figures tend to speak for themselves, and the Institute of Medicine found that just about 53 percent of hospital patients had at least one thing go wrong with their medications. Generally speaking, the most common error was forgetting to give a patient the medication they used regularly. Obviously there are serious and fatal errors made due to the negligence of health care professionals.

In cases like this where a patient has been the victim of a medication error, it is best to contact an experienced Las Vegas personal injury attorney and discuss the case. Knowing what rights a patient has while in the care of hospital staff or other medical professionals is crucial.

To learn more about
Las Vegas divorce, Las Vegas personal injury, Las Vegas divorce lawyer, Las Vegas family law, Las Vegas family law attorneys, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, visit Hoflandlaw.com.

Air Bags Kill

Air bags have a tendency to be rather controversial because although they do save lives, they also may take them.

In conversations with a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer about air bags, it came to light that even though the bags have saved a great many lives, air bag failures have severely injured or killed people. Defective air bags are a concern in the auto industry as a whole, but more so to the legal community who have seen firsthand how lethal these devices may be to drivers.

Many people think that air bags only deploy in a high speed crash. The facts are that they also deploy as a result of low speed collisions. Unfortunately, in cases like that, the driver may be killed by the air bag when they may have survived the actual crash if it hadn’t been for the bag. Conversely, there have been cases where the air bag didn’t deploy.

In checking with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for accident statistics involving air bag fatalities, it was discovered that in a five year span from 2001 to 2006 that approximately 1,400 people died in head on collisions where the air bag didn’t deploy. If deaths due to failed air bags from side impact crashes were included, along with left and right fender impacts and rollovers or ejections, the death toll would reach over 4,000. What concerns Las Vegas personal injury lawyers is that the death toll in collisions where air bags never came out has risen by about 50 percent and the numbers are still on the rise. The ramifications for auto manufacturers concerning product liability are enormous.

Never underestimate the power of an air bag that explodes into a vehicle at speeds of up to 200 mph. Some manufacturers offer a “one size fits all” kind of air bag that aggressively pummels small children and small stature adults. These bags may cause various traumas that include face burns and bruising, head, neck and spinal trauma, decapitation, traumatic brain injury, blindness and permanent disfigurement. Thankfully newer air bags that deploy in stages may reduce these types of injuries and deaths.

Manufacturers also need to do something about crash sensors that trigger the bag in collisions where a vehicle is only going up to 15 mph. Add to this list of defects the fact that crash sensors have been known to delay the trigger signal, which means the air bag inflates too late after the crash or for no reason at all. In a nutshell, air bags that don’t work the way they’re supposed to work are highly dangerous, causing needless injuries and deaths.

A highly skilled Las Vegas personal injury lawyer is able to assist Nevada clients on the road to justice if they have been a victim of a defective air bag.

To learn more about Las Vegas divorce, Las Vegas personal injury, Las Vegas divorce lawyer, Las Vegas family law, Las Vegas family law attorneys, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, visit Hoflandlaw.com.

Nevada Med Mal Suit Within One Year

If you’ve been a victim of medical malpractice (med mal) and live in Nevada, you only have one year to file a lawsuit.

At one time the statute of limitation in Nevada for medical malpractice suits was two years. That isn’t the case today, and if you don’t file within the year, your right to file a case expires. The change from two years to one year took place in 2004. So what happens now is that the statute runs from the time the med mal is “discovered or should have been discovered.” If you have any questions about this, contact a qualified Las Vegas personal injury lawyer.

Having said that, there is an outer limit to the new Nevada law which mandates that any medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed within three years from the date it happened without regard to when it was discovered. Somewhat confusing to say the least, so you should consult with a skilled Las Vegas personal injury lawyer to find out the precise limitations that apply to your potential case.

It should be noted that for a casualty of med mal to figure out they have been a victim of a healthcare professional’s negligence and then immediately consult with a lawyer to file a lawsuit within a year is a bit of a stretch. The logistics of putting together this kind of a case are staggering and include, among other things, the necessity of finding an “expert” witness in the same field as the physician who committed malpractice. This doesn’t happen overnight as any Las Vegas personal injury lawyer will tell you.

The said expert must also provide a written affidavit for the complaint stating their opinion that malpractice did happen. This isn’t just something dashed off on a moment’s notice and involves an exhaustive search of patient medical records. Most of these records are not that easy to come by as they usually have to be rounded up from multiple medical care providers. The services of a medical “expert” don’t come cheaply either. All this takes time and with the changes in the statute of limitations, time is even more of the essence to build a solid medical malpractice lawsuit.

Thankfully more and more medical expert witnesses are starting to come forward and discuss medical malpractice. At one time it was hidden behind a wall of silence where doctors did not talk about their own. Attitudes have changed and many physicians are now of the opinion that the medical community needs to be self policed and cleaned up.

Doctors who have no business practicing medicine are being weeded out in order to protect the injured and avoid future victims. If you have been the victim of medical malpractice, immediately consult a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer to discuss your potential case. Do not delay, as time is very critical in cases like this.

Bradley J. Hofland is with Las Vegas Divorce law firm, Hofland, Beasley & Galliher. The law firm focuses on Las Vegas family law, custody, and Las Vegas personal injury. To learn more about
Las Vegas divorce, Las Vegas personal injury, Las Vegas divorce lawyer, Las Vegas family law, Las Vegas family law attorneys, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, visit Hoflandlaw.com.

Nevada Asset Protection Trusts

Do revocable living trusts provide asset protection? In two words: “Not usually.”

There are a great number of people who seem to think that revocable living trusts provide them some sort of asset protection. This couldn’t be further from the truth. What is the reason for that state of affairs? The main reason a revocable living trust doesn’t provide asset protection is because it is a self-settled trust, meaning you still control the assets in the trust. If you still have the control over any assets in the trust and have creditors, they may make claims against the trust while you are alive or after you have died.

Having said that, there are some exceptions where this type of a living trust may provide asset protection. That would only be applicable to trusts formed under the Domestic Asset Protection Trust which is enacted in three states, Nevada being one of them. In Nevada they are referred to as Nevada Trusts or self-settled spendthrift trusts. Basically what the Nevada Trust does is allows you to form a trust for your own benefit and then protect it from creditors.

Now this sounds good on the surface, but you need to look a little deeper and consult with an expert attorney about these Nevada Trusts. One thing you should be aware of if you live in Nevada and choose to set up such a trust is that these laws are very new and haven’t been tested. This means that ultimately they have the potential to be very risky. It’s a given that there would be many questions if a Trust trustee is sued in another state about a creditor’s ability to attach assets in Nevada Trusts. If this does happen, the law may be overturned. This is one of the main reasons you would want to talk this over with a highly qualified Las Vegas attorney.

Just to clear up some possible confusion over how a Nevada trustee could be sued in another state; this may happen if they live outside of Nevada. That would mean they may be sued in whatever state they are in. It may also be the case that assets are in another state, meaning a lawsuit could take place in that state. If a suit was filed in another state, the courts would be hard pressed to apply the Trust laws of the state in which it was created. For example, if the trust was formed in Nevada but the assets are in Florida and a suit is filed there, Florida law may apply and the assets won’t be protected.

This situation has the potential to get even more complicated if a lawsuit is in Federal court and the creditor is in a different state. And, there’s more, the Asset Protection Trust is specifically designed to delay creditors. This brings amendments to the Bankruptcy Code into the picture which invalidates self-settled trusts created within ten years of filing for bankruptcy.

There are a variety of permutations and combinations for the creation of trusts that do work, but you really need to speak to an attorney to know which ones would work in your case. You may need an irrevocable living trust, an offshore trust, or put your assets into a corporation. The only way to know what option to choose is to discuss this with a lawyer who understands what would work best in your circumstances.

Bradley J. Hofland is with Las Vegas Divorce law firm, Hofland, Beasley & Galliher. The law firm focuses on Las Vegas family law, custody, and Las Vegas personal injury. To learn more about
Las Vegas divorce, Las Vegas personal injury, Las Vegas divorce lawyer, Las Vegas family law, Las Vegas family law attorneys, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, visit Hoflandlaw.com.

Just Call Me Daddy

Most people figure a paternity test is when a man wants to know if a child is really his. While that is one reason, there are often legal reasons for this test being done as well.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that a paternity test is to determine who the father of a child is. Tests really aren’t needed for the woman, unless she got pregnant thanks to an egg donation, because she is obviously the mother. This is why the male’s DNA is tested and not the female’s.

The simplest test to determine paternity happens to be the DNA test, because when a new embryo is created, it pulls DNA coding from both mom and dad to start a new life. The roadmap of the child’s DNA can only lead to one father and mother. DNA tests are startlingly accurate, up to 99.9%. The only exception to this rule is the remote possibility that one of a set of twin brothers could be the father. Still, in this situation, a combination of tests would be able to reveal the true father with a great degree of accuracy.

A practical question in some instances is whether or not a paternity test is “legally” necessary. While a father has a right to know if a child is actually his, the real question becomes whether or not it is beneficial for the child to know this piece of information.

How will it affect the child if it is determined that the father who has raised him is not his actual, biological father? The bonds that have been established between the father and child often make such a determination psychologically harmful.

Instances where a paternity determination is legally necessary are those instances where there are disputes as to custody, visitation, and child support. These issues most often arise in cases where the couples have not married, but ironically can arise in a divorce case.

We have seen quite a few cases where fathers who want to establish parental rights are in direct conflict with a person who may have raised the child as his own. In situations like this, there is often an ugly legal battle over parental rights and how granting them may affect the welfare of the child at the center of the battle.

There’s a great debate over this issue, with two schools of thought. The first one says that since the father created the child, he should have the right to be a dad to his offspring. The second school of thought supposes that a child should not be forced into having to choose between a man he has considered to be his “dad” and who has been present in the child’s home environment, or his biological dad. There is no perfect resolution, and each case should be dealt with on its particular set of facts and circumstances. This is one area of the law where there are very few, if any, perfect solutions.

Having a paternity test is sometimes akin to opening a can of worms, and the legal ramifications need to be carefully considered before proceeding. When in doubt about the wisdom of learning whether you are a child’s father, especially if the child already has a “dad,” consult with a skilled family law attorney who will be able to advise you of your rights.

Bradley J. Hofland is with Las Vegas Divorce law firm, Hofland, Beasley & Galliher. The law firm focuses on Las Vegas family law, custody, and Las Vegas personal injury. To learn more about
Las Vegas divorce, Las Vegas personal injury, Las Vegas divorce lawyer, Las Vegas family law, Las Vegas family law attorneys, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, visit Hoflandlaw.com.

Adoption to Kin

Not a lot of people are aware of the fact that there is something called kinship adoption or relative adoption.

There are actually several forms of adoption available for those who wish to go this route to have a child. Adoption is much the same process as deciding to have a child. You need to weigh out the pros and cons and consider what your motives are for having a child or for choosing adoption.

One method of adoption is known as domestic private. The others available to choose from are inter-country adoption, kinship/relative adoption and domestic adoption from state foster care. The route you choose will largely pertain to what you think is right for your particular family situation.

A domestic adoption usually proceeds through a licensed adoption agency, an attorney, adoption facilitators, doctors or other various avenues. In this instance, you are able to adopt directly from a family. Usually what takes place is that the family of the child typically chooses the family that will later adopt that child. In many instances as well, both the families will make decisions about how much contact the child will have with both sets of parents.

Inter-country adoption usually refers to adoption of children who are residents and citizens of one country, but the parents are citizens of another country. Typically in these instances, both governments of each country are also involved in this process. Check the State Department website to find out if the country you want to adopt from is allowing inter-country adoptions to the US.

Kinship or relative adoption means a family is adopting a child through close family ties, for instance the child of a sister, or through a relationship the family has with the child’s family. A good example of this would be adoption by stepmothers and fathers, grandparents or even friends. You definitely need the assistance of a skilled family law attorney for any of these adoptions, as these matters tend to be rather complex.

Domestic adoptions from a state foster care situation means that you would be adopting a child or children out of temporary foster care or a welfare situation. Children in circumstances like this require a great deal of time and commitment, as they have not experienced that in their lives prior to adoption to a safe home.

If you’re considering adoption, get in touch with an extremely knowledgeable family law attorney to assist you in getting through all the legal hoops.

Bradley J. Hofland is with Las Vegas Divorce law firm, Hofland, Beasley & Galliher. The law firm focuses on Las Vegas family law, custody, and Las Vegas personal injury. To learn more about
Las Vegas divorce, Las Vegas personal injury, Las Vegas divorce lawyer, Las Vegas family law, Las Vegas family law attorneys, Las Vegas personal injury lawyer, visit Hoflandlaw.com.