As an attorney who devotes a substantial amount of time in representing school children who have been sexually abused by school employees, I am appalled at the frequency of sexual exploitation of our school children and infuriated by the calculated decision to leave the sexually-violated child without a remedy. Denying our helpless school children legal rights after being sexually exploited and abused is a direct result of the impiety of our school system and those in positions of authority.

From the beginning of time, children and the elderly have been treated as the lepers of society as a result of their lesser intellectual functioning which prohibits their assimilation of money and power. As the world has become more educated, the injustice of relegating our children to a subordinate status has become more difficult to stomach. A minority of voices are gaining traction to protect our school children and to arm them with the protection of the law; however, it is essential that our legislature pass a law that requires Kentucky’s public schools to purchase insurance coverage that would be available to cover the damages of sexually exploited children.

In our previous post, we explained some of the correct steps to follow if you are a victim of a personal injury. This includes seeking legal advice, documenting your accident, and getting medical attention as soon as possible.

However, there are a few common mistakes that can be easy to make when working towards a full recovery. Here we explain them and their alternatives so you can ensure you follow down the right path when protecting yourself.

The world of personal injury can be quite complex. If you are a victim of a another person’s mistakes, negligence, or ignorance, it can be hard to know how to proceed with a legal battle to protect yourself. So we have created a two part blog on what to do and what not to do when it comes to ensuring your rights are protected.

Personal injury: the Do’s:
It is important that you make sound decisions during this important time. Here is a list of everything you need to do in case of a personal injury.

• Photograph everything
  This is especially important if you are in a car crash. Considering that across the nation, over 37,000 people die in road crashes every year, this is a common form of personal injury. To get a fair settlement, the judge will require evidence of exactly what happened so take photos of the surroundings or things in the area that caused the accident.

Civil lawsuits are very common in the U.S.; as an industry, they generate $239 billion annually according to the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Still, many people navigating the complicated waters of a malpractice lawsuit or wrongful death case are often overwhelmed by the legal complexity of the legal system.

For those in Kentucky who are looking for malpractice help, things recently became more complicated.

This past march, the Kentucky legislature passed SB4, a bill that fundamentally changes the way that medical malpractice lawsuits are carried out.

It’s every parent’s nightmare, getting a call in the middle of the night to inform you that your teenager has been in a serious car accident. Between the damage to the vehicles, the threat of serious brain injury, the lawyers, and the question of liability, car crashes are difficult enough to handle without the involvement of your children.

But fortunately for parents, there are a number of new devices and apps that can help greatly diminish the risk of your child experiencing an accident. These new tools are designed to address a number of the most common causes of accidents and keep you both out of the hospital or the office of your lawyers.

We’ve put together a list of tools that can help give parents a piece of mind while their children are behind the wheel.

In our last post, we discussed the various causes of Traumatic Brain Injuries, from a slip and fall accident to a serious car accident. We also talked briefly about the importance of taking steps to prevent them: traumatic brain injuries are a difficult injury to contend with once they’ve happened, and can have a wide range of symptoms and effects.

While you can’t control the actions of others, simply taking a few strong steps can dramatically reduce the risk of you or a loved one experiencing a personal injury or becoming the victim of a traumatic brain injury.

We’ve taken a few of the most common causes of TBIs and created a list of methods that can lower your risk.

If you’re an avid social media user, it may be tempting to document every event of your life. While this is usually fine, it is not a good idea following a car accident. Oversharing can be detrimental to your case, so consider the following consequences before you upload that photo or write that tweet.

• Photos document your physical condition
  Every injury that you sustain from your accident is evidence to argue your case. However, if you post photos of yourself dancing at a bar, playing soccer, or hiking, for example, the opposing legal team could use those photos to disprove the severity of your injuries.

A traumatic brain injury is a massive head injury that causes a brain dysfunction, specifically resulting from an external force. The effects of this trauma can range from mild dysfunction of some cells to bruising, all the way to long term impairment and even death.

While it is difficult to know the full extent of people who suffer a TBI each year, the number is estimated to be 1.7 million people. Out of those people, 52,000 die, 275,000 are hospitalized, and 1.365 million, or about 80% are released from the emergency department after being treated.

Currently, there is no cure and so prevention is often the best bet at avoiding a complication from TBI. But in order to understand how to avoid TBI, you must first understand what causes them.

Do you have a first-time driver in your home? While seeing your child get behind the wheel for the first time can be exceptionally nerve-wracking, as long as you teach your child the importance of driver safety, your worries will subside. Don’t know where to start? Here are some simple driver safety tips that will keep car accidents at bay and your child as safe as can be while on the road.

Get accustomed to the car
One of the biggest worries of first-time drivers is that they don’t really understand the massive machine they are driving. A car has so many components, and while seasoned drivers don’t think twice about them, these small details can be quite intimidating. So, to bypass any additional fear and apprehension, make sure your child gets familiar with the car before they start driving. This means going over the manual, teaching them the functions of the dashboard, and having them test out the strength they need to brake and turn the steering wheel.

Sadly, over 35,000 people die in road crashes annually and these crashes also leave over two million people injured or disabled. If you or your loved ones have been affected by a car accident, you know how terrifying and painful the experience can be, especially if a loved one has died wrongfully at the hands of another driver. Indeed, a car crash is the main cause of death from traumatic brain injury and those rates are highest for those between 20-24 years of age. There are certain steps you should always take when in a car accident and afterwards to make sure that the appropriate legal steps are being followed, especially if there was a death or serious injury. You may want to consult a legal professional, such as an attorney or lawyer, regardless of which side of the crash you were on.