A:Most states have statutes that require insurance companies to offer uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage as a part of each automobile/vehicle insurance plan. In most jurisdictions, someone is considered underinsured when their insurance policy coverage is not enough to fund the full amount of damages that they are liable for due to an accident or other event covered by their policy. In other jurisdictions, a person is considered underinsured when their insurance coverage maximum is less than the coverage maximum of the other individual’s (in the accident) policy. Of course, uninsured persons are those who do not carry automobile liability insurance. The purpose of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is to protect against situations where one party to the accident does not carry enough insurance or does not carry insurance at all. Therefore, mandatory uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage intends to protect people against monetarily irresponsible individuals who have injured others, due to their own fault, while operating an automobile. If the uninsured or underinsured individual is not at fault, most underinsured/uninsured motorist policies will not apply.

A:Generally, uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance coverage will include the named insured (person who has the insurance policy) and the family members who reside in his or her household. Usually, the injured insured person and/or family member must be a passenger in the vehicle, a pedestrian injured by the vehicle, or the driver of the vehicle in the accident. In the past, some insurance policies excluded coverage for the insured’s family members. However, these types of exclusions have been found invalid by most state laws. The only time such an exclusion may be found valid is when the family members already have a separate insurance policy of their own. This type of exclusion is valid by most state laws because it is in the interests of public policy and the insurer. Along these lines, an insurance policy may not exclude a family member of the insured who is not covered by the policy, but who is injured while in an automobile that is owned by a family member who is covered by the insured’s insurance policy. It is important to speak to an attorney in your area to learn about the uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and exclusion laws that apply in your state.

A:The courts will look to the language of your employer’s uninsured/underinsured insurance policy to determine who is covered under that policy. The uninsured/underinsured motorist statute in your jurisdiction may also determine who is covered under your employer’s policy. In some jurisdictions, an employee will be covered by his or her employer’s corporate policy if the employee is using his or her own vehicle for business purposes, at the direction of his or her employer. The employee’s personal vehicle may be considered leased, or hired, by the employer. In other jurisdictions, an employee using his or her personal automobile for work purposes will not be covered under the state law’s definition of a “named insured” (person or persons covered under the insurance policy) under the corporate policy.

A:The terms assault and battery are often erroneously used interchangeably. An assault can be defined as the threat to use unlawful force to inflict bodily injury upon another. The threat, which must be believed to be imminent, must cause reasonable apprehension in the plaintiff. The focus, to determine whether a particular act is an assault, must be upon the reasonableness of the plaintiff's reaction. If the defendant threatens to use force against the plaintiff, but clearly states that the use of force will not be imminent, and will instead occur at some point in the future, then the plaintiff is unlikely to prevail on a claim of assault. If the threat is imminent, and the defendant appears capable and intent on carrying it out, the plaintiff could succeed in proving an assault occurred. Battery is the intentional and unpermitted contact with another. A battery, for practical purposes, is the end product of an assault. A plaintiff in a battery claim does not need to prove an actual injury, as long as the plaintiff proves unlawful and unpermitted contact with his or her person or property. For example, plaintiffs have successfully proven a battery where the defendant grabbed onto the plaintiff's coat. In addition, the contact doesn't need to be with an object in the possession of the plaintiff or the plaintiff's body. An unpermitted contact with property of the plaintiff, located within the plaintiff's proximity, may also constitute a battery.

A:In general, the answer to this question is yes. An owner of a dog, or any animal for that matter, may be held liable for injuries the animal inflicts on others. However, the ease with which a plaintiff can win a "dog bite" lawsuit differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction depending on the legal theory of recovery available in the plaintiff's location. Some jurisdictions require the plaintiff to show that the animal owner knew, or should have known, that the animal was inclined to attack or bite. In other jurisdictions, the plaintiff may only need to show negligence on the part of the owner to recover money for his injuries. If a wild animal injures the plaintiff, the animal's owner may be held accountable under a theory of strict liability for the plaintiff's injuries regardless of the plaintiff's conduct. Some states have dog bite statutes designed to address these matters. Additionally, some municipalities may also have their own statutes that address the responsibility of pet owners to answer for the actions of their pets. If the plaintiff is an adult, the owner of an animal may offer as a defense to the plaintiff's claim that the injured party provoked the animal. Where the plaintiff has been given clear warning that an animal should not be approached, petted, or talked to, and still proceeds with that action, the owner may be able to avoid responsibility if the animal thereafter attacks the plaintiff. This defense is not available, however, if the plaintiff is a child. Once the plaintiff has established that the animal owner is liable for his injuries, the plaintiff must also establish the amount of his or her damages. The plaintiff should introduce evidence of how much it has cost to treat the injury, such as doctor and hospital bills. Also, the plaintiff may be able to recover lost wages if the injury kept the plaintiff out of work. The plaintiff is entitled to compensation for any permanent disability caused by the injury, as well as compensation for pain and suffering.

A:Defamation includes both slander and libel. Generally, slander occurs when the reputation or good name of someone is damaged as a result of false statements that are made orally. Libel, on the other hand, occurs when false statements regarding another are put in writing. Whether a particular statement, oral or written, constitutes defamation in the nature of slander or libel will depend upon the particular circumstances and the identity of the parties. To prevail in a defamation lawsuit, a plaintiff must prove that the defendant made a false and defamatory statement about the plaintiff that was communicated to a third party. For example, a false and objectionable statement sent in an e-mail to the plaintiff's co-worker may be libelous. The plaintiff can usually succeed by showing the communication was either intentional or negligent. Finally, it is also possible for the plaintiff to bring a libel suit where the plaintiff repeats the alleged defamatory statement. This is called self-publication. This can occur, for example, when an individual applies for a job and has to tell the prospective employer about something the previous employer said that was false. Before beginning a libel or slander lawsuit, the plaintiff must determine whether or not the objectionable statement is true. No matter how damaging, insensitive, rude, or inappropriate a statement may be, the plaintiff will lose if the statement is true. The "public" plaintiff has additional hurdles to overcome to recover for libel or slander. An example of a public figure is a politician. Along with establishing all of the regular elements of the tort, a plaintiff who is a public figure must also show that the defendant knew the false statement was false, or at least acted with reckless disregard as to its truthfulness. Newspapers may escape liability for libel when they merely report false statements as long as the paper had no particular reason to doubt the statement at the time it was printed. Finally, the plaintiff often has to prove economic harm to recover on a defamation suit. Therefore, the plaintiff may need to be able to demonstrate a loss of business as a result of the defamation to establish a right to the recovery of money. However, some types of statements are so damaging that the plaintiff does not have to prove any economic loss. These statements tend to be those that accuse the plaintiff of sexual impropriety or criminal conduct.

A:Yes. The average member of the public is entitled to privacy protections, although the strength of those protections will vary depending upon the particular factual circumstances. Generally, there are four different actions that an injured plaintiff can allege to recover for an unlawful invasion of his privacy. The first concerns the unlawful appropriation of another's image. The plaintiff could make this claim, for example, if the defendant, uses the plaintiff's picture in a commercial or advertisement without permission. The second type of wrongful invasion of privacy is in the nature of intrusion. If the plaintiff can prove that the defendant intruded into his or her solitude, seclusion, or private life in a manner that would be considered highly offensive to a reasonable person, the plaintiff is entitled to recover damages from the defendant. The issue of what actions are considered highly offensive depends greatly upon the factual circumstances under examination. The third type of privacy claim is the public disclosure of private facts. This cause of action requires that facts having no link to a legitimate public concern be disseminated by the defendant resulting in embarrassment, humiliation, or offense to the plaintiff. Whether the public has a legitimate concern in otherwise private facts about the plaintiff is always dependent upon the particular circumstances. The fourth type of privacy right is the right to be free from being placed in a false light in the public eye. This cause of action is very similar to a defamation action. In short, the plaintiff alleges that a communication about the plaintiff was made by the defendant, it is untrue, and it was made to the public. The main difference between this cause of action and defamation is that for the invasion of privacy tort, the communication need not be defamatory, it need only be false and highly offensive to a reasonable person.

A:An owner of a property has a duty to protect members of the public from injury that may occur upon the property. The injured person may be able to recover money for those injuries if he or she can prove that the property owner failed to meet that duty. The hurdle plaintiffs’ face is that the nature and extent of the property owner's duty will vary depending upon the facts of the situation and the jurisdiction in question. Some states focus on the status of the injured visitor to the property. These states divide the potential status into three separate categories: invitee, licensee, and trespasser. An invitee is someone who has been invited onto the land because that person will confer some advantage to the property owner, such as a store patron. An owner of the property is required to exercise reasonable care for the safety of the invitee. A licensee is someone who enters upon the land for his or her own purpose, and is present at the consent, but not the invitation, of the owner. The owner's duty to a licensee is only to warn of hidden dangers. Finally, a trespasser is an individual who enters onto the property without the knowledge or consent of the owner and who remains there without any right or permission. Trespassers have difficulty suing property owners because property owners' duty towards trespassers is not to place traps and hazards on their property. In some cases, the owner must also warn trespassers of the hazards if they are unlikely to be discovered by the trespasser and could cause serious injury or death. Other states focus upon the condition of the property and the activities of both the visitor and owner, rather than considering only the status of the visitor. In these states, a uniform standard that requires the owner of the property to exercise reasonable care to ensure the safety of invitees and licensees is generally applied. The plaintiff must prove that the duty of care has not been met, through an examination of the circumstances surrounding the entry on the property, the use to which the property is put, the foreseeability of the plaintiff's injury, and the reasonableness of placing a warning or repairing the condition. Whether reasonable care has been rendered depends greatly upon the particular circumstances. The property owner's duty of care toward children is greater than the duty owed to adults. Even if the children are trespassers or engage in dangerous behavior, the property owner must still take precautions to prevent foreseeable harm to children. The classic example of a property owner's greater duty of care to children arises in the context of backyard swimming pools. Owners must fence, gate, and lock their pools in a manner that keeps children out and if they fail to do so, they will be found liable for injuries to children, even if the children were trespassers that were warned to stay off the property.

A:Generally speaking, the owner of a property may not use deadly force to defend the property. Society values human life and bodily integrity much more than property. Therefore, the life, health, and safety of an individual, even an intruder, is considered to be more valuable than the china or stereo, which that individual is trying to steal. An owner is not prohibited, however, from invoking self-help methods in defending property from another. An owner of the property is entitled to use reasonable force to prevent someone, or something, from entering onto his or her property or to remove something from his or her property. What, under normal circumstances, may constitute a battery, assault, or another intentional tort, will not be considered unlawful in situations where it is performed as a reasonable use of self-help in defense of property. However, the use of force calculated to do great bodily harm, or cause death, is not permitted. There is one narrow limitation upon the use of deadly force, where it is allowed. Where an intruder threatens personal safety, as well as a threat to property, or where the intruder is committing a forcible felony, deadly force may be appropriate.

A:Most individuals who are injured at work are prohibited from filing ordinary personal injury lawsuits against their employers. Instead, injured workers are generally required to file a claim under the state's workers' compensation procedure. An injured railroad worker must bring a claim for benefits under the Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA) for compensation for his injuries. FELA is similar to many state workers' compensation systems with the exception that a railroad employee must be able to prove some level of employer negligence to make a recovery. In comparison, most state systems are based upon no-fault theories of recovery where neither the negligence of the employer or the employee is examined. Laws, rules, and regulations require a railroad to furnish a reasonably safe workplace for the benefit and protection of its employees. In keeping with this requirement, a railroad must inspect and discover defects that may result in injury. In some circumstances, this may include the duty to uncover defects that should be obvious to a railroad employee. A railroad also must warn its employees of any hazardous or unsafe conditions of which it is aware or should be aware. A railroad is also required to take other steps to ensure the safety of its workers, including providing adequate training and supervision, appropriate tools and safety equipment, and enforcing only reasonable work quotas.

A:A slip and fall action is a type of personal injury lawsuit filed by a plaintiff who has been injured by a slip and fall, usually on the defendant's property. The plaintiff in slip and fall cases must usually show that the owner of the property had notice or knowledge of the condition and failed to clean it up and rectify it within a reasonable amount of time. Additionally, if the plaintiff has knowingly encountered a hazard, then he or she may have trouble holding the defendant liable.

A:No. Generally, most states that recognize a wrongful death cause of action limit the number of potential plaintiffs. Some states limit this group to the deceased's primary beneficiaries, defined as the surviving spouse and the deceased's children. Other states allow the parents of the deceased individual to bring a wrongful death claim. In addition to these individuals, some states recognize the rights of any dependent, whether closely related or not, to bring a wrongful death claim provided the person depended on the deceased for economic support. Some states require any recovery gained in a wrongful death action to be divided amongst the deceased's heirs at law or to be distributed to the deceased's heirs at law as it would be in any normal probate proceeding. In these situations, distant relatives may receive some "trickle-down" of damages, even though they were not financially dependent upon the deceased during his life. Also, if more than one plaintiff is entitled to recover, all plaintiffs will share in the award. How the award is divided can be confusing and will depend upon the laws in the particular jurisdiction where the matter is brought.

A:Personal injury actions require, by their very nature, that someone be injured. The requisite injury can either by physical or, in some cases, emotional. The general goal of personal injury actions is to place the blame for the injury on the party who caused it and to require them to compensate the injured person for the losses sustained. Not every injured plaintiff is entitled to recover damages for the injury he or she has sustained. Besides an injury, the plaintiff must establish, through evidence, that the defendant is legally liable for his or her injuries. This requires proof of causation both in terms of actual, factual causation and legal causation. Whether legal causation is established depends on the facts and circumstances of the particular matter in question. The defendant can be held liable as a result of either the actions he or she took, or the actions he or she had a duty and failed to take. Some personal injury actions revolve around intentional conduct, which means that if an individual intentionally harms another, or knows that the conduct he or she is engaged in has a substantial likelihood of harm, he or she may be liable for the resulting harm. Other personal injury actions are based on negligence. Under a negligence theory, an individual is liable for the injuries caused by his or her actions or inaction. Still, other types of personal injury actions are based on strict liability, a no-fault system where liability may attach regardless of the fault of the various parties, including the plaintiff. In some situations, the defendant's conduct, while questionable, does not rise to a level that entitles the plaintiff to a recovery. For example, if a plaintiff knowingly and willfully chooses to encounter a known hazard, the law holds that he or she has "assumed the risk of injury" and therefore the defendant is not liable. Plaintiffs are denied recovery in other cases if their subjective belief about a situation does not match an objective "reasonable person" standard.