Every Wednesday we provide five legal tips based on questions we have received from readers. Today’s tips cover the topic of whether or not you have a personal injury case that is worth pursuing.
1. My daughter went to a friend’s house for what I thought was going to be a sleep over. Turns out there was a drinking party and the parents of her friend bought the alcohol. My daughter got drunk and apparently blacked out and had sex with a boy there. Do these parents have any liability?
Yes. It is against Illinois law to supply alcohol in this fashion and for parents to consent to a drinking party on their property. They are essentially on the hook for anything bad that happens. On top of that, the event itself is considered a felony punishable by jail time.
I went with some co-workers to lunch and after about three bites of my salad I noticed a cock-roach in there. I immediately threw up out of disgust. They offered to buy me a new lunch, but I want to know if I can sue them?
It’s only worth a lawsuit if there are real damages which hopefully there are not. Otherwise we suggest that you contact the local department of health.
I lost control of my car and ran in to a pole at 35 miles an hour. The airbags in my car did not deploy and I hit my head on the windshield. Can I sue the car dealer?
Although some Illinois accident attorneys would disagree with us, unless there is a major injury from this like brain damage, loss of use of an arm, etc. the costs of a product liability lawsuit are so great that bringing a suit would probably cost more than you can recover.
My son was at his grandpa’s house (the father of my ex). Grandpa asked him to go the basement to get a chair. The stairway was dark so my son didn’t see the shirt on the fourth step. This caused him to slip, fall down the stairs and break his arm and leg. Can I bring a case for him against the home-owner’s insurance? Someone told me that you can’t sue a relative.
Yes this is a case and yes you can sue a relative with some exceptions. For example, if your kids get hurt in your house while living with you, they can’t sue. One spouse can’t sue the other. But for the most part it’s just a matter of whether or not there was negligence which in this case there clearly was.
My daughter lives in a group home for mentally handicapped adults. She has the IQ of a seven year old and is still in diapers. Somehow she was left alone and got pregnant by a man in that home who is also handicapped. Their bylaws have rules against patients being left alone. Now I have a grandson that I have to raise because she of course can’t take care of him. Does this home owe our family anything? I feel they were negligent.
I do believe that this is a case especially given what their own rules state. Those rules create expectations and when those expectations are not met it leads to a harm like this.
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Tags: personal injury