Jay Trucks and Associates Legal Blog

To drive a big rig - an 18-wheeler - you need a commercial driving license and special training. When a big rig is loaded it can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds, which means the driver must know exactly how to control it so as to avoid truck accidents.

In recent years, there have been more fraudulent licenses issued. The federal government has been investigating and has found licensing fraud in 24 states. In some instances, licenses are sold; in others they are issued by a fraudulent school. At least 21 investigations have been conducted in 13 states, according to one Brian Dettelbach, an official of the U.S. Transportation Department.

Fraud Investigations
In 1998 investigators began looking into an Illinois scandal of licenses for sale and this led to 75 people being convicted, 1,000 truckers being re-tested, and a prison term for Governor Ryan on federal corruption charges. According to federal officials, at least nine people have been killed by truckers who reportedly obtained their licenses illegally in Illinois, and many others have been injured.

Other investigations have taken place in Florida, where 12,500 truckers have been called in because they got their licenses through illegal third-party testers. An Orlando trucking school was shut down after illegally "qualifying" more than 2,000 drivers. Testing scams involve drivers being given the answers ahead of time, being given short versions of the test, or having other people take the test for them.

More Big Rigs and More Risk
The number of trucks on our highways has increased greatly in recent years. In 1980 there were about 20,000 interstate trucking companies and now there are about 564,000. While there were about 200,000 truckers on the roads in 2002, now the trucking industry estimates that there are more than 1.5 million.

Although Illinois, Florida, Missouri, and perhaps other states have tightened state control over private trucking schools and third-party testers, 1.5 million truckers on the road means that thousands of them are unqualified and unskilled and posing danger to everyone else on the roads.

If you or a loved one has been hurt by an unqualified trucker, you may well have a valid legal case. We invite you to contact us today to schedule a free consultation with one of our truck accident attorneys. We serve the areas of Flint, Saginaw, Traverse City and Lansing, Michigan.

A rehabilitation nurse is one who specializes in helping disabled or chronically ill people to optimize their functioning. Rehab nurses may help people to adapt to a new lifestyle based on their disabilities and they may provide counseling and education to family members or serve as an advocate for the family.

As a nursing specialty, rehab nursing began in the 1940s, with the polio epidemic and the need for veteran care after WWII. In 1973, the Rehabilitation Act was passed and public awareness of the needs of disabled people began to expand.

A rehab nurse can operate in many settings, such as:

• Long-term care facilities
• Hospitals
• Schools
• Insurance companies
• Community facilities
• Outpatient care facilities
• Private medical practices

Rehab nurses must be RNs with at least two years of experience in rehab nursing and must be certified by the Rehabilitation Nursing Certification Board, first developed by the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses. They have specific training through continuing or graduate education programs in nursing people disabled by strokes or chronic disease, to help them regain as much independence as possible and avoid any medical complications.

Usually, rehab nurses work as part of a rehab team, coordinating their patient care with the work done by other team members, such as physical therapists, speech therapists, doctors, respiratory therapists and occupational therapists. They begin their work with each patient soon after the disability begins, whether it is from an accident or trauma, from a progressive disease such as multiple sclerosis, or from a health incident like a stroke that paralyzes one side of the body.

Part of the rehab nurse's duties is to manage the patient's case. That involves charting, coordinating the team effort and informing and educating family members.

Please contact our law office if you have a disabled loved one who is not receiving proper care. We will be happy to schedule a free consultation for you. We work with Workers' Compensation cases where a disabling injury is sustained on the job; and with people severely injured in automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents and other types of accidents. Our office serves Flint, Saginaw, Traverse City, and Lansing in Michigan.

In general, Worker' Comp is a type of insurance that provides benefits for people injured on the job. It requires that you give up your right to sue your employer for negligence. If you are hurt on the job, you must seek compensation only within the structure of your state's Workers' Comp program. Fault is not an issue - that is, you do not have to prove that your employer was negligent.

If you are severely injured and cannot work for a while, you can receive disability payments instead of wage or salary and you can receive reimbursement of your medical costs. If a person is killed while working, the family can receive benefits. So Workers' Comp has aspects of disability insurance, health insurance, and life insurance. However, you cannot receive any damages for pain and suffering, as you would in a negligence lawsuit; nor can you receive any punitive damages.

The first Workers' Comp laws were passed in Europe and Australia; then the U.S. followed suit. Each state runs its own Workers' Compensation program with its own specific rules. Michigan has a website for its Workers' Compensation Agency where you can read about benefit amounts, surveys, disputes, travel and mileage reimbursement rates, changes in hearings or forms, etc.

If you are injured on the job, you must fill out an Employee's Report of Claim form and give it to your employer, who must then fill out an Employer's Basic Report of Injury. You will receive a copy of it and if you notice any errors, you should point them out to whoever prepared the form. There may be a hearing. If any disputes arise between you and your employer, the Michigan agency can provide a mediator, and if there are any language difficulties, they can provide a translator and/or interpreter.

Please see our pages on Workers' Compensation Frequently Asked Questions and Employment Law for more details.

The whole Workers' Comp claim procedure is bureaucratic and involves correctly filling out paperwork. It can be a lot easier for you if you have one of our experienced Workers' Comp lawyers helping. If you would like to schedule a free consultation, please contact our law office today. If you are too injured to come to us, we can go to you.

Are you a railroad worker who has been injured on the job?

If so, you probably already know that you have personal injury compensation rights under the U.S. law called the Federal Employers' Liability Act, or FELA.

Under the rules of FELA, railroad employees may be able to receive financial compensation for not only medical expenses, but loss of wages and future wages, loss of quality of life, partial and complete disability, and pain and suffering.

To ensure you are receiving all of the damages you are eligible for under FELA, it can be a good idea to consult with an experienced FELA lawyer right away.

Here are a few tips for choosing the right FELA lawyer for your needs:

• It can be beneficial to find a FELA attorney who has significant FELA trial (not just settlement) experience.
• Look for firms who have verifiable FELA and employment law success stories and substantial monetary settlements.
• Ask questions about how long the firm has been handling FELA cases and what specific experience the attorneys on staff have with FELA and railroad law.

If you have been injured on the job and you work for a railroad company, the Michigan FELA attorneys at Jay Trucks & Associates, PC can help answer your questions with a no-cost initial FELA injury consultation. Please contact us today at 1-800-762-8623.

Chances are, you or someone you know has been injured on the job at some point.

Unfortunately, a job injury is an all-too-often occurrence, and perhaps even more unfortunate is the fact that these types of accidents are usually avoidable and the result of an employer or other third party's negligence.

Some of the most common types of serious job injuries reported are:

Traumatic brain injury
Back/spinal cord and neck injury
Broken bones
Soft tissue damage
Loss of limbs
Wrongful death

What to Do if You Are Injured at Work

Report your injury to your immediate supervisor and your union steward
Accept medical treatment as soon as possible
Get the contact information of any witnesses
Ask for copies of the injury report from your supervisor and union steward
Make copies of any workers' compensation forms you complete
If possible, take photographs using your cell phone of the injury site

It is important that you know all of your options regarding job injury compensation. For instances, you are likely eligible for Workers' Compensation benefits, but you may also be able to get additional compensation through a third-party claim or premises liability lawsuit.

For more information on job injuries, please contact Jay Trucks & Associates, PC's Michigan job injury attorneys at 1-800-762-8623.

If a railroad employee is injured on the job, his or her ongoing right to compensation is governed by a federal law called the Federal Employers' Liability Act, or FELA.

With FELA, railroad workers who suffer a personal injury can seek financial compensation for factors such as:

• Medical costs
• Rehabilitation expenses (physical, emotional, occupational)
• Loss of wages
• Loss of future income
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of quality of life
• Partial and permanent disability

FELA, generally speaking, can often provide more opportunities for compensation than traditional Workers' Compensation benefits. However, to recover damages under FELA, it is necessary to prove some form of negligence on the part of the railroad company.

The original FELA law was passed in 1908 in response to the large amount of railroad worker deaths that were occurring.

The types of worker injuries that fall under FELA can range from catastrophic brain injuries caused by an employee-train collision to the unseen injuries from ongoing exposure to toxic solvents.

If you live in the Saginaw, Flint, Traverse City or Lansing areas, please contact the Michigan FELA attorneys with Jay Trucks & Associates, PC at 1-800-762-8623.