The Stanley Law Offices

Our medical malpractice attorneys will review the facts of your case, apply the law, and give you an evaluation of the strength of your case and your chances of success based on our experience. It is crucial that you know if you have a valid case, and what your case is worth. Our attorneys will be able to determine this.

Medical malpractice cases are complicated and need to be handled by a seasoned malpractice attorney in order for you to get the maximum compensation from a lawsuit. We know who and when to sue, what legal arguments will be the most effective and beneficial for your case, how to gather proper evidence for your case, the strength of your case, what papers to file with the court and when to file them, how to manage court fees, your chances for settlement, and how to bring your case to trial if necessary. We will also know how to handle the attorneys for whatever health care defendant you end up suing.

A healthcare professional's medical malpractice insurer may offer some settlement money, but the sum will be far less than what they would offer knowing a lawyer is threatening a lawsuit. An experienced medical malpractice attorney knows the insurance defense lawyers and medical malpractice insurers in your area, and will have a far greater chance of increasing your recovery.

If you believe you have a valid medical malpractice case, please contact us today to schedule a free consultation. There are no legal fees unless you recover for your losses.

Snowmobiling is one of the most popular winter activities in the United States, and practicing personal safety is the key to enjoying it. Nothing ruins a family outing faster than an accident causing property damage, personal injury, or death.

A leading factor in many snowmobile accidents is alcohol consumption. Riding a snowmobile requires quick judgment and fast reflexes, both of which are impaired by just a few drinks. Unsafe speed is another leading factor in most accidents, and speed mixed with alcohol is a deadly combination. Approximately 29% of fatal snowmobile accidents involve alcohol.

Since snowmobiling is a winter activity, you expose yourself to extreme weather conditions, and hypothermia and frostbite become possibilities. Adding alcohol makes things worse, as you might not realize how cold you are until it is too late.

It is not always the person drinking that is the victim of an accident. If you go snowmobiling with others, you will want to ensure those with whom you are traveling are also abstaining from adult beverages. You would not want to become the innocent victim of someone else's drunkenness.

If you or someone you know has suffered from a snowmobile accident involving alcohol, please contact the Stanley Law Offices as soon as possible to ensure that your rights are protected.

Every winter, we take great pains to shovel the snow and ice off the sidewalks in front of our house. The sidewalks are probably never graced with our footsteps after we clear them, since we tend to stay indoors or drive to wherever we need to go. You may wonder at times, why you bother to shovel the pavement at all. The answer is premises law, which could hold you liable if someone walking past your house suffered a personal injury by slipping and falling.

In premises law the owner or manager of a property is responsible for its reasonable upkeep. Visitors using that property expect that the conditions of the premises will not inflict bodily harm during reasonable use, such as walking on the sidewalk.

When deciding who is responsible, our premises liability lawyers will look at the type of visitor who was injured. Visitors are defined as:

• Invitees - people explicitly or implicitly asked onto your property for a commercial or business transaction. If you have a business for example, you are expecting people to come and look at your goods, even if you didn't send out a personal invitation to them.
• Licensees - social guests, typically invited explicitly or implicitly for purposes other than business, such as having a friend over for dinner.
• Trespassers - uninvited guests which have limited, if any, rights, should they suffer personal harm while on your property.

If you have any questions about premises laws, or your obligations and potential liability in personal injury cases, please contact the Stanley Law Offices today for a free consultation.

If you or a close family member resides in a nursing home, it is imperative that you understand your rights. The nursing home is required by law to act in your best interest. Negligence is more subtle and harder to identify than outright abuse, and it is also more prevalent.

Under the federal Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987, guidelines of nursing home care were adopted to ensure the general well being of residents. Any violations of the act's provisions may be construed as nursing home negligence, which could result in fines or loss of Medicare and Medicaid funding.

The act contains regulations for the following:

• Adequate staffing
• Proper nutrition
• Comprehensive care plans for each resident
• Proper hygiene
• Activities to promote quality of life

Despite the law, many nursing homes rely on overworked and under-skilled workers to provide care. Insufficient supervision, errors in medication, and failure to assist with hygiene are all examples of neglect.

Many nursing home residents are unable to communicate effectively about how they are being treated. Some may not even realize the extent to which they are being neglected. So having an active family member visiting them and staying aware of their care and nutrition is the best way to protect them for painful and puzzling, even health-threatening, situations.

If you suspect that you or someone you love is being inadequately cared for, neglected, or abused in a nursing home, please call or email our Stanley Law Offices medical malpractice lawyers. They can assess the situation and advise you of your legal rights and options.

It is a difficult enough decision to put a parent or loved one into a nursing home. On top of all the other considerations on where to place them, you also have to watch for potential nursing home abuse, which is on the rise. Many nursing home residents are easy prey for people with abusive personalities who take advantage of the poor employment screening practices of many nursing facilities.

Abuse can be verbal, physical, or sexual in nature and is sometimes difficult to detect. Many of the poor victims of abusive caregivers are unable to speak up about how they are mistreated. They either lack the communication skills to tell their family what is going on, or may not understand themselves what is happening. It is imperative for family members to recognize signs of possible abuse.

Potential areas of abuse include:

• Improper physical restraint
• Unexplained injuries
• Isolation
• Withholding medication
• Verbal, physical, and sexual abuse

Do not assume that abuse won't happen to your loved one. It is important to check up on them frequently, so that the administrator and staff know you are interested and will check up on your family member's care. Ask questions about how they're doing and examine them for signs of physical abuse. If there are any incident reports, be sure and look at them.

If you suspect abuse of a loved one in Pennsylvania or New York, please contact the medical malpractice lawyers at the Stanley Law Office to protect their rights.

If you are involved in a boating accident, your risk of drowning is much greater if you are not wearing a life jacket. Of the 474 drowning deaths reported in 2006, 423 were not wearing a life jacket. In order to raise awareness of this important boating safety step, the National Safe Boating council has declared May 17 through May 23 as Safe Boating Week, with special emphasis on wearing life jackets.

You might think that wearing a life jacket is for sissies, or that they are too cumbersome. But the days of those one-size fits all orange things we used to wear at camp are long gone. There are many lightweight and comfortable styles available today, and you'll be able to find one to accommodate your the specific activity.

• A Type I jacket is made for rough conditions where extended survival may be necessary. Most of them are specially designed to ensure that an unconscious victim floats face up.
• A Type II jacket is designed for use closer to shore, to be worn where you can expect a relatively quick rescue. They are less expensive than other types and are the most common jacket available. However, they are also designed to help you float face up.

Just wearing a life jacket isn't enough unless it fits you well. To check for proper fit, raise your hands over your head and have someone tug up on the jacket. The jacket should not show a large gap over the shoulders, or come up into your face. If it does, you'll need to get a different size. And of course, make sure the jacket is properly buckled and fastened.

If you have been involved in a boating accident and sustained property damage or personal injury, please contact the Stanley Law Offices as soon as possible to identify your options and protect your rights.