We all have an obligation to keep ourselves, our families, neighbors, and communities safe. Sometimes we need to reshape the way we live. If you are experiencing or know someone experiencing a medical or personal crisis, do you know what steps to take to get you through it?
You need to make sure that you know the proper type of legal representation you need for your situation, like a good personal injury lawyer, for example. Below are some types of personal crises any one of us could experience and some advice on how to handle them.
Discrimination
Discrimination is defined as the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on classes, groups, or other categories to which they are perceived to belong. It may be based on race, age, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.
Discrimination primarily occurs when groups or individuals are treated unfairly in a worse way than others based on the actual or perceived social category. It involves restricting members of one group from privileges or opportunities that are available to others.
Civil rights attorneys specialize in the protection and expansion of the people’s civil liberties and civil rights. The United States Constitution and legislation grant these rights. Even when these rights are not spelled out in such documents, civil rights attorneys advocate for protecting fundamental human rights.
Some examples of discrimination in the workplace are when someone in authority or a co-worker treats another person disrespectfully based on their religion, age, ethnicity, disability, skin color, race, or gender. It also includes hiring and firing practices.
Discrimination based on one of the six gender types would include harassment, unequal career opportunities, unequal pay, discrimination in hiring, or pregnancy discrimination. The six genders are female, male, transsexual, transgender, two-spirited, and inter-sex. You need to understand the difference between a person’s sex and gender. Sex describes your physical body, while your gender describes your mental identity. For most people, our gender and sex are the same.
Work Injury
Some of the most common injuries occurring in the workplace are:
1. Slips and falls – for example, an employee slipping on the ice outside the office or slipping on a wet floor.
2. Improper lifting technique – this can cause an immediate injury or occur over time, such as a repetitive stress injury like tendinitis.
3. Car accidents – occurring while an employee is driving for business purposes.
It is worth mentioning that if you get injured at work, whether part-time, under a fixed contract, are an agency or casual worker, you would still be entitled to be paid following an accident that left you injured and unable to work.
If you are injured on the job, you will be able to recover compensation from your employer through the worker’s compensation law. You may be eligible to file a lawsuit against your employer in civil court. You will not be limited to the amounts provided by worker’s compensation benefits.
In addition to wages, reimbursement for medical bills, and payment for permanent disability, you might be able to sue for punitive damages. Punitive damages could be an amount of money, much more than the amount of the damages you actually incurred, especially if there was very wrong behavior on the part of your employer.
It is very complex to file a personal injury lawsuit against your employer. Few attempt it on their own. Be safe and contact a work injury compensation lawyer.
Personal Injury
Simply put, personal injury lawyers help people who have been either physically or psychologically injured as the result of negligence or intentional act of another. Personal injury lawyers are civil lawyers. They primarily handle negligence and intentional tort cases. An intentional tort is a wrongful act done on purpose.
It is essential for you to contact a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible following your injury or harm. For example, if you have been in an auto accident, the other driver’s insurance company will get in touch with you quickly.
You need to hire a personal injury attorney immediately. Suppose you have suffered severe injuries from an accident that will require long-term care or left you with permanent disabilities. In that case, only an experienced personal injury lawyer can calculate how much a fair settlement would be for what you have suffered.
Compensation for a personal injury can be paid out as a series of periodic payments in the form of a structured settlement or as a single lump sum. A structured settlement annuity can be tailored to meet your needs, but the terms cannot change once agreed to.
Medicare
A Medicare insurance agent is a licensed expert who can review and evaluate Medicare plans and their benefits and guide you to choose the perfect one. There are two kinds of Medicare insurance agents.
The first is the independent Medicare agent, who works with many different insurance companies and can enroll you in health plans for any one of them.
The second is the captive Medicare agent. A captive agent works for a single insurance company only. A captive agent knows and sells that company’s insurance products only and can provide a quote on a policy only their company provides.
With the original Medicare, use their website to look up the doctor, clinic, hospital, or other providers you want to use. Then make sure that the provider accepts Medicare when you make an appointment.
For Medicare Advantage plans and Cost plans, call the insurance company to ensure the providers you want to see are covered by the plan you are interested in. You can also check the plan’s website once you are enrolled to find covered clinics and doctors in your network.
Divorce
A family law attorney is a legal professional that specializes in issues regarding members of the family. These issues can include divorce, child custody, and guardianship, or they can act as mediators when family disagreements arise. The best way to find a good family lawyer for handling a divorce or other family matter is word of mouth.
If you know of someone who has been through a divorce recently and was satisfied with the result, get the name of that lawyer. If you know a non-divorce lawyer, ask them for a referral. They most likely know each other.
Interview at least two or three lawyers before choosing a divorce lawyer. It is exhausting going to two or three different lawyers’ offices and retelling your story. It is tempting to hire the first one. Resist the temptation to do so.
Throughout the divorce process, an attorney may remind you to keep your emotions under control. He or she may introduce you to other professionals who can help you channel your emotions into positive action. A reasonable divorce attorney will let you know when you are unreasonable or asking for something more or less impossible.
If you have determined you cannot afford a lawyer after your research, consider finding a free divorce attorney. For those with low or no incomes, consider looking into federally funded programs offering subsidized legal services.
Child Custody
A child custody lawyer will act as your legal representative in mediation and handle all the necessary paperwork. He or she will also represent you in court proceedings to determine who will become the principal caregiver and negotiate the amount of child support payments.
Preparing for a custody trial could be a harrowing experience. When you are preparing for the trial, make sure you have documented everything you do for your children. Be prepared to account for how much financial, spiritual, educational, physical, and emotional support you offer your children. It would be wise to keep a journal with essential facts you think your attorney or the judge might find useful.
The judge in the case could order a custody evaluation if a case is genuinely contentious. A trained professional, often a social worker, will meet with your children or child, perhaps more than once, and may visit the homes of both parents. It is the job of this professional to report back to the court with a recommendation for custody.
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a process by which people unable to repay debts to creditors seek to be relieved from some or all of their debts. The action is initiated by the debtor and imposed by a court order.
A bankruptcy lawyer’s main focus is to assist their clients through court proceedings to eliminate or reduce debt. They can represent corporate or individual debtors, corporate or individual creditors, creditors’ committees, and bankruptcy trustees.
Do you have some cash in a bank account? Keeping it isn’t easy to do with a bankruptcy case. Any money or cash you may have in the bank on the day you file for bankruptcy becomes the property of the bankruptcy estate. Keeping it will primarily depend on the exemption laws of your state.
If you plan to file for bankruptcy, consider changing banks if you owe any money to that bank. If you owe money on a credit card, personal, or car loan to a bank holding your money, it is a good idea to close the account(s), checking, savings, money market, etc.
Many people wonder what the amount is you need to owe to use a bankruptcy service. There is not a set amount, but a general rule of thumb is that it’s not worth filing if $10,000 of less is owed. Of course, it depends on individual circumstances. It will cost about $1,500 to hire a lawyer and pay the filing fee to have it done correctly.
Theft
Crimes of theft involve the unauthorized taking of the property of another with the intent of depriving them of it permanently. Theft involves three categories of crime: larceny, embezzlement, and false pretenses.
If you have been arrested for theft, it will either be petty theft or grand theft. There are different types of theft under these categories, including shoplifting, fraud, embezzlement, and robbery.
Misdemeanor grand theft carries a punishment of three years of informal probation, a $1,000 fine, six months in jail, or both. Felony grand theft can be punished by up to three years in state prison. Theft charges must be vigorously challenged as they are often based on weak evidence.
A criminal defense lawyer’s average cost can range from $1,000 to $15,000, averaging $8,000. A theft attorney will be helpful if you have been accused of any type of theft other than petty theft.
The police will drop cases because they are unimportant. Petty theft will not be investigated unless someone complains often and loudly.
A person convicted of grand theft may be ordered to serve a period of probation. Probation will typically last for 12 months, although longer sentences of three years or more are possible depending on if the accused has a previous record.
Estate Planning
An estate planning attorney is a lawyer who advises clients on getting their affairs in order to prepare for the chance of a mental disability and eventual death. They have years of mentoring, continuing legal education, knowledge, and experience in advising their clients.
They will help them to determine what is better, a will or a trust? A trust streamlines the process of transferring an estate after death to avoid a lengthy and costly period of probate. If there are minor children involved, creating a will that names a guardian is essential for protecting the minors and any inheritance that may be involved.
Hiring an attorney to prepare a simple will or power of attorney can be done for as little as $150 or $200. An experienced attorney’s average rate could be $250 or $300 per hour to prepare a more sophisticated estate plan. Depending on the size of your estate, you could spend several thousand dollars to work with an estate planning attorney.
Motor Vehicle Accident
Any time you are injured in a car accident, consult a motor vehicle accident attorney. By doing so, you will ensure that you obtain the best possible advice on how to proceed with your claim. Most of the time, a lawyer will be required to obtain the compensation you deserve.
Contacting an attorney on the day of the accident, or within a few days, is best. If someone in your vehicle has suffered personal injuries, hire an attorney immediately. There are some documents your attorney will require to prove your pain and suffering, such as:
1. Medical bills, records, and prognosis
2. Pictures of your injuries
3. Psychiatric records
4. Testimony of an expert familiar with the accident
If you find yourself in need of help during a crisis, don’t be afraid to contact those who can help you.