Personal Injury Facts
If you or an acquaintance has been seriously injured, the right attorney can help you sort through the legal implications of your situation. If you proceed with a case, let Lawsuit Hotline help carry you through the financial gap between the start and settlement of your claim.
Personal injury is often more than a scraped knee or a sprained wrist. Some of the activities we trust as “fun” may cause irreversible and permanent personal injury. Lawsuits arise when such injury is caused by poorly monitored, engineered, or maintained equipment deemed “safe”. Where do you find such equipment? An amusement park, or theme park, that touts thrill–rides.
In a 2003, a California appellate court held that the operator of an amusement park ride constitutes a “common carrier” under state law. [Gomez v. Walt Disney Co., 1 Cal. Rptr. 3d 860 (Ct. App. 2003) ]
Barry Novack, a Beverly Hills attorney who also earned a PhD in engineering, has filed at least 12 theme–park–injury lawsuits for clients across the U.S. “In the last 10 years we’ve developed rides that really push the envelope,” Novack warns. Some researchers agree, saying even “regular” roller coasters put excessive strain on the neck and delicate cerebral architecture with violent acceleration and deceleration.
A 2002 People magazine article cited a study by Dr. Pete Speth, a forensic pathologist based in Wenonah, N.J. Speth documented 58 cases of brain injury, both fatal and non-fatal, possibly linked to thrill rides operating since 1990.
Read the full People Magazine article.
Experience
As Mary Ann Williams, a healthy 35–year–old woman, left the Back to the Future ride in Orlando, FL, she felt her right arm go numb and her face drop. She couldn’t talk and quickly passed out. She’d suffered a stroke.
British teenager Leanne Deacon also suffered bleeding into her brain and collapsed after riding the Tower of Terror at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Following years of therapy, she remains disabled.
High G–forces and jerking motions put the “thrill” in thrill–rides, but may also put delicate neurological structures at risk. For a small percentage of amusement park riders, the thrill is followed by a lifetime of disability. In addition to physical limitations, brain injuries often cause personality shifts, difficulty concentrating, and social or behavioral issues. Family members are subjected to, and impacted by, their injured loved one’s sudden frustration, impropriety, or hostility.
Read the article on Theme Park’s and Personal Injury
Action
Many people that are involved in personal injury lawsuits eventually face financial hardships. Many can’t work and the legal process is long and drawn out. Some cases take many years to resolve. Lawsuit Hotline specializes in the funding of settled and pre–settled personal injury lawsuits. During the funding process, Lawsuit Hotline requests some of the case documentation, underwriting evaluates the lawsuit to determine whether funding can be extended, and if approved, a contract is issued for the injured party and his/her attorney to sign. The injured party’s attorney then repays the lien when the case is resolved. All funding is non recourse, which means that if for any reason, there is no recovery on the case, then no money is owed back.