Questions & Answers

Is My Rhode Island Personal Injury Settlement Taxable?

Personal injury settlements can include payment for various damages, such as lost earning capacity, emotional distress, medical bills, attorney fees, and more. While most financial compensation is considered taxable income, the IRS typically does not have involvement with injury settlements for damages associated with a settled claim. According to the IRS, “If you received a settlement for personal physical injuries or physical sickness and did not take an itemized deduction for medical expenses related to the injury or sickness in prior years, the full amount is non-taxable. Do not include the settlement proceeds in your income.” Therefore, a monetary settlement resulting from a physical injury or sickness is not considered income and is non-taxable on the Federal level in Rhode Island. Similar to physical injury or sickness cases, settlements resulting from mental anguish or emotional distress follow the same rules and are not taxable. Compensation for mental anguish or emotional

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Rhode Island Medical Malpractice Frequently Asked Questions

Whether you’ve received a misdiagnosis, delay in treatment, or experienced adverse drug reactions, you have the right to file a claim for medical malpractice. Medical malpractice suits can be tricky to navigate, see the answers to frequently asked questions below. What Is Medical Malpractice? Patients have the right to expect a consistent standard level of care to be administered by health care providers. When a medical professional fails to provide appropriate care resulting in harm, injury, or death to a patient, the patient or loved one can claim malpractice in a court of law. Medical providers are legally required to administer a level of care consistent with standard practices. When a doctor deviates from care considered standard by other professionals under similar circumstances, they may be held liable. In addition to a violation of standard care, a malpractice claim must also meet the following factors in order to be pursued

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How long do I have to file a medical malpractice lawsuit in Rhode Island?

When a patient is harmed by a medical professional due to negligence, the patient can file a medical malpractice suit. These personal injury cases are very complex, and plaintiffs are required to comply with procedural rules unique to this type of lawsuit. Rhode Island follows a specific statute of limitations for medical malpractice lawsuits, a law that sets a time limit on when you may file a suit. However, there are rules surrounding when the time period begins. Under the Rhode Island statute of limitations law, an injured patient has three years to get the lawsuit process started. The three-year period generally begins when an injury occurs, but this isn’t always the case. Courts can apply the “discovery rule” in medical malpractice cases to protect injured patients who may not know about an injury immediately. This means the three-year period doesn’t begin until the injured patient learns or reasonably discovers

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I suffered an injury on a wet floor at the gym. The manager says I can’t sue because I signed a “general release” when I joined. Is this true?

While it’s standard procedure for a health club or gym to require members to sign a liability waiver, members still have rights. The purpose of a general release of liability waiver is to protect the gym from injuries caused by members. It’s common to sustain an injury while exercising. For example, pulling a muscle by lifting too much weight, misusing an exercise machine, or overexerting are typical injuries covered members are prohibited from bringing about legal action. However, when an injury is sustained due to the gym’s negligence, a release is not enough to excuse the gym from liability. Similar to other slip and fall accidents, gym owners are bound by a general duty of care. This means gym members must be adequately warned of wet floors, slick surfaces, and faulty equipment. Areas such as freshly mopped floors or shower rooms that are frequently wet should display warning signs to

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How Does Legal Marijuana Impact Personal Injury Cases?

While marijuana use is legal in many places for people over the age of 21 and is decriminalized, it does not change whether or not a person under the influence can be considered at fault in a personal injury case. Marijuana use, legal or not, is treated similarly to alcohol and other substances when it comes to things like driving, operating heavy machinery, and personal injury cases. Like alcohol, cannabis impairs a person’s reaction times. Most states have passed a range of laws governing the legal use of cannabis to keep people safe. Just like it is illegal to drive under the influence of alcohol or with an open container, the same goes for marijuana. If you are injured by a person found to be under the influence of marijuana, they cannot use its legality as a defense in a personal injury case. People who use marijuana have a duty

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Injured While Ridesharing: Can Passengers Sue the Company as Well as the Driver?

Ridesharing has been hailed as one of the great conveniences of modern life: easier than designating a driver, cheaper than a cab, and faster than waiting for the bus. When it comes to injuries incurred because of a rideshare driver’s recklessness or negligence, however, it is less clear how victims can receive compensation. The average driver, even working fulltime, is almost certainly lacking insurance, assets, and earnings substantial enough to cover millions of dollars in medical treatment expenses and lost wages. As of 2021, however, the rideshare industry was valuated at $61 billion. For such a massive, profitable industry, the next logical step for an attorney to get compensation for an injured client would seem to be suing the rideshare app through which the ill-fated ride was scheduled. Things are not so straightforward, however. Pending Litigation on the Issue As of January 2022, in nearby Massachusetts man is suing Uber

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Will the type of care I receive following an injury impact my personal injury case?

Many clients ask if their personal injury compensation is affected by choosing between an Emergency Room or Urgent Care center. When facing an injury, it’s always important to take the proper steps when seeking medical treatment. First, you need to consider your injury. If it requires immediate medical attention, you should not hesitate to go to an emergency room for care. Even if you experience a minor injury, you should seek medical attention. For non-immediate medical needs, treatment from an urgent care center or your healthcare provider may be appropriate. There are many situations where you can sustain an injury and not feel the damage right away. In these cases, an emergency room visit may not be needed. The most crucial aspect of any personal injury case is documenting your care, treatment plan, expenses, and time from work. Getting appropriate medical care is essential for your health and recovery, documenting

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How does contributory and comparative negligence affect my car accident lawsuit?

Anyone who has experienced an auto accident knows how quickly things can spiral out of control. With any luck, all parties involved can walk away from such an event unharmed. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. In the event an auto accident leads to injury, it’s crucial to determine who is at fault and the level of culpability they contributed to the accident. Comparative fault and contributory negligence are models for determining who bears responsibility for an auto accident. This is central to car accident lawsuits as there is often no clear answer. Oftentimes more than one person may have acted with negligence. The level of negligence will determine whether or not and how much a plaintiff may recover in damages. Negligence is generally accepted as a failure to employ reasonable care. For instance, not paying attention to the road or texting on your mobile device while driving. How

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I am feeling fine after a minor car accident. Will skipping a doctor’s visit now hurt my chances of a personal injury settlement later?

I always would have to recommend that you get yourself checked out at a doctor. Its critical to make sure you are not suffering from any latent injuries that may become more apparent after time. It quite normal that with the rush of adrenaline and nerves you experience immediately after an accident, your body may suppress pain as part of its ancient survival mechanisms. Frequently, you do not realize you are injured until you have had a chance to calm down. Injuries, even serious ones, can take days to manifest themselves and may not always have obvious symptoms. For your own health and safety, go to a doctor immediately after a car accident. Financially, the longer you wait to use your insurance, or make claims against the other party, the longer you may be stuck with unpaid medical bills or lost wages. The longer you wait to treat injuries, the

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Need to hire a RI auto accident lawyer. Statute of limitations?

Additional Information: I was involved in a car accident on a residential street in Barrington, RI and pretty seriously injured.  I was contacted by someone who I think represents an attorney and she is pressuring me saying I should hire an attorney fast.  What’s the statute on limitations to file a personal injury claim in RI and what difference does it really make if I hire a lawyer now or in a couple of months? ATTORNEY ANSWER: The RI statute of limitations is generally three years. If you are concerned that someone may be trying to get you to hire an attorney that they either work with or have a relation to, it is probably best to avoid contact with them Attorney’s are not supposed to actively solicit clients in that manner and this would probably be a violation of the rules governing the practice of law. As to when

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