From Charlottesville, Virginia

Covering the state of Virginia, Wilson & Hajek, a personal injury law firm, is centrally located in Charlottesville, Virginia. Francis Hajek is an experienced Virginia personal injury attorney and lawyer who provides aggressive representation and personal service to his clients who have suffered injuries. Since 2007, he has been listed in Best Lawyers in America. www.winjurylaw.com

Monday, May 24, 2010

West Virginia Asbestos Cases Dismissed

A West Virginia judge has dismissed with prejudice more than 1400 asbestos cases filed against CSX, Norfolk Southern and Amtrak railroads. Some of the cases had been pending since 2003. The cases are now over and none of the plaintiffs may refile in another jurisdiction. According to published reports, the reason the asbestos cases against the railroads were dismissed is that the judge found that the law firm representing the plaintiffs had enabled x-ray readings that were not credible. The Virginia law firm of Wilson & Hajek handles each case individually and we do not use medical experts who hire themselves out to do hundreds of x-ray readings at a time. Instead, we work with you and your local family doctor or lung specialist. That way, you can be sure that the diagnosis you receive is from a trusted medical professional. Asbestos is not a disease to be taken lightly and you need to know the facts about it. For a free consultation, contact our office at www.winjurylaw.com.


Experienced Injury Trial Lawyers
Serving Virginia, including Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Staunton, Waynesboro

Monday, May 17, 2010

Charlottesville Slip and Fall

It is a rainy day in Charlottesville, Virginia and I am sure we will see more car wrecks as a result. Who doesn't like to go faster when it is more difficult to see and stop? There is also the potential for slip and fall injuries involving businesses who do not take any precautions to prevent water accumulation that is brought in by umbrellas, raincoats and other means. Virginia injury law does not make it easy to prevail in a slip and fall case. Prompt investigation by a lawyer greatly increases the odds that such a claim will be successful. One of the biggest issues faced by a person injured in a slip and fall accident is showing that the business had notice of the slippery condition before the accident. Our law firm can assist you in gathering all the facts and making a successful claim.

Experienced Injury Trial Lawyers
Serving Virginia, including Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Staunton, Waynesboro

Friday, May 14, 2010

Pedestrians Struck in Charlottesville, Virginia

In Charlottesville, Virginia, there have been several recent incidents where pedestrians have been struck by cars or trucks. Most recently, a small child was struck. Most interestingly, a UVa student was struck late at night while running across the road wearing a lacrosse helmet. The police report indicates that although the helmet obstructed the student's vision and contributed to cause the accident, it also saved him from serious injury as his helmet clad head hit the windshield without breaking. From the standpoint of the Virginia personal injury lawyer, pedestrian cases can be challenging because Virginia still adheres to the common law rule that contributory negligence is a complete bar to recovery. So unless the accident is the sole fault of the driver, it is difficult to make a claim. An experienced injury lawyer can analyze the law and the facts to see if a valid claim is possible. Our law firm offers a free review and consultation. If you have been injured anywhere in the stat of Virginia, we are here for you.

Experienced Injury Trial Lawyers
Serving Virginia, including Albemarle, Charlottesville, Fluvanna, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, Staunton, Waynesboro

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Charlottesville Car Crash and Cell Phone Use

Recent reports from Charlottesville news providers indicate that cell phone use, whether for a phone call or for text messaging, were a cause in a recent fatal car accident. This growing problem has been addressed by the Virginia legislature and texting while driving is not permitted. However, it is still a common to see drivers using their cell phones to read text messages and reply. As an experienced personal injury lawyer, I always obtain the cell phone records of a defendant driver to see if they were distracted at the time of the accident. Many car wrecks and truck accidents are caused by inattention because of the use of a cell phone. So getting the records is the primary way of proving that the driver was using the phone at the time of the accident. Once confronted with such proof, many defendants admit their fault. The Virginia legal system provides several different ways to obtain these records and I use them all.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Charlottesville Bicyclist Killed

Recently in Charlottesville, Virginia, a bicyclist was struck and killed by a city truck. The local newspaper, the Daily Progress followed up with an analysis of pedestrian and bicyclist injuries as a result of being hit by a car or a truck. The picture that is painted is depressing for an area that is considered to be bike-friendly and that has a good number of bike lanes. There a significant number of accidents between vehicles and bicyclists, as well as pedestrians. Unfortunately, the co-existence of cars and bikes on the road sometimes has fatal results and it is usually the bicyclist who suffers the injury. Hopefully, the publicity will increase the need for motorists to be aware of bicyclists and the need for bicyclists to be cautious, particularly when there is no bike lane for travel. With a little luck and increased vigilance, maybe we can avoid having such a tragedy repeated.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Burn Injuries

A news report this morning commented on a lawsuit filed against Starbucks, the coffee shop, for serving tea that caused second degree burn injuries. Among other other claims, the lawsuit alleged that the container was unsafe and that the tea was unreasonably hot. I recently had a client with a similar claim against McDonalds involving hot coffee. It is amazing that these types of claims continue to spill in to law offices. As a starting point, it is helpful to know that skin begins to burn when exposed to fluid with a temperature above 115 degrees. In fact, at 120 degrees, a child's skin will be burnt severely enough to require surgery after just 3 seconds of exposure. The temperature at which water boils is 212 degrees. So how warm should hot drinks be when served to the customer? It is recommended that coffee be brewed at temperature between 190-200 degrees. It should then be kept on the burner at a temperature between 180-185 degrees. McDonalds used to serve its coffee at 180 degrees. Home brewed coffee is usually around 135-145 degrees. Reports indicate that Starbucks serves its coffee around 185 degrees. Obviously, people like their coffee hot. So who is to blame when a spill occurs?

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Lawyers Compete in Class Action

A recent story in the Wall Street Journal described the competition among plaintiff's personal injury lawyers to become the lead counsel in the class action filed against Toyota for unintended acceleration defects in Toyota cars. The judge in the case is going to decide who gets that position and the monetary rewards which will accompany it. The interested lawyers, hundreds of them, have filed applications reciting their achievements. One application is over a hundred pages and describes every positive moment in the lawyer's life. Another mentions the lawyer's donation of his kidney to help someone. They are all designed to convince a judge to appoint them to head up the multi-billion dollar lawsuit against Toyota. Should we have this type of lawyer lottery where the winner stands to earn legal fees of hundreds of millions of dollars? Does a legal system that encourages this type of lottery need change?