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Search results for “damages”

20 results

Employee vs independent contractor: the liability dodge that usually fails

Vicarious liability means you can end up paying for someone else's misconduct, and the old "they weren't really my employee" escape hatch is a lot weaker than people think.

ARTICLE by Danny Correia

declarations page

One page can make or break how much money is available after a crash, fire, or other loss. If the numbers on it are wrong, too low, or missing a vehicle, driver, or address, an...

How does a government tort claim work after a long-delayed injury?

A recent policy shift has made this more visible: federal agencies have tightened online claim procedures under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), so more people first learn...

Joint and several liability: the old rule that can leave one defendant holding the whole bag

Joint and several liability means an injured person may collect the full judgment from one defendant, but the real fight is how that rule collides with comparative fault, settlements, bankruptcy, and state law changes.

ARTICLE by Keith Ouellette

exclusion clause

Why is the insurer saying this part of the loss "isn't covered"? Usually because the policy has an exclusion clause - contract language that takes certain events, injuries,...

bodily injury liability

Coverage that pays when you are legally responsible for hurting someone else. "Coverage" means part of an insurance policy, usually auto insurance, with a dollar limit. "Pays"...

Why is an insurance company asking for money out of a settlement that is supposed to help pay for injuries? Subrogation is the right of an insurer, benefit plan, or government...

uninsured motorist coverage

Think of it like a spare life jacket on a boat: you hope you never need it, but it is there when someone else fails to bring basic safety gear. Uninsured motorist coverage is...

DMCA takedown notice

Not a court order, and not proof that someone actually infringed a copyright. It is a formal request sent under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA), usually...

step-down provision

The part that catches people off guard is this: the policy may show a big coverage limit on the declarations page, but a hidden clause can cut that amount way down for certain...

What counts as employer retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim?

What the ER doctor records is your injury, work restrictions, and likely cause; what the workers' compensation insurer does with that information is decide compensability and...

How much is bankruptcy exempt property worth now?

You have 14 days after filing bankruptcy to submit your exemption schedule if it was not filed with the petition. Miss that, and the worst-case result is simple: property that...

What evidence can be excluded from court, and why?

A judge can exclude important-looking evidence at the last minute, even if it seems decisive, and once that happens a claim or defense can weaken fast. That surprises many...

Illegal search, real evidence: why police can lose a case even when they found the goods

Mapp v. Ohio made illegally seized evidence unusable in state criminal trials, forcing police to follow the Fourth Amendment instead of treating it like a suggestion.

ARTICLE by Kyle Reinhart

Habeas corpus is real, but proving you should be released is brutally hard

Habeas corpus lets a prisoner challenge unlawful custody, but modern federal habeas mostly turns on a punishing rule: it is not enough to show the state court was wrong.

ARTICLE by LaKeisha Davis

personal injury protection

Not the same as liability insurance, which pays for someone else's injuries if you cause a crash. Personal injury protection - usually called PIP - is coverage under your own...

The part that catches people off guard is that this number is usually the maximum an insurance company has to pay under a claim, not the amount your case is worth. If your...

umbrella policy

An extra layer of liability insurance that kicks in after the limits on your auto, home, or other underlying policy have been used up. Think of it as backup coverage for a bad...

Think of it like the part of a repair bill you agree to cover before anyone else chips in. A deductible is the amount an insurance policy makes the policyholder pay out of...

ADA coverage looks narrow on paper, but the disability loophole mostly failed

The ADA has a definition that once let employers and businesses argue lots of people were not "really" disabled, but Congress and the courts largely shut that down.

ARTICLE by Brian Saarinen