How COVID-19 Is Affecting The Legal Industry

Truck Accident Lawyer

COVID-19 completely reshaped the world of law, changing the way that attorneys operated in the past. Not only did it affect the advocacy process entirely, but it immediately forced the entire judicial process online, changing the way depositions and trials were conducted. Not only did the virus uproot what we already know, but it changed the legal world forever, adding COVID-19 protocols into civil litigation for liability and negligence purposes. Now, there are certain cases of contracting COVID-19 which could potentially get you compensation depending on the severity of the sickness, severity of injuries, and personal toll it may have taken on the victim.

Medical Malpractice

If you are a patient at a hospital receiving unrelated care and fall sick to COVID-19 due to lack of protection against exposure, you may be able to bring a medical malpractice claim against the facility and receive compensation for your sickness. Due to medical facilities involving a more specific and higher standard of care, medical malpractice cases can be considered a specialized kind of law, so you must ensure that the personal injury attorney you hire specifically has experience with these kinds of cases. There are extremely tricky procedural requirements, and they may differ from state, county, and jurisdiction, so the expertise from a personal injury attorney is recommended.

Cruise Ship Liability

If you contract the virus while traveling on a cruise ship and are able to trace the exposure back to the time you were on a cruise, you may be able to get compensatory damages for the sickness if the victim is able to prove that the reason, they contracted the sickness was due to a failure of precautions being taken by the cruise ship. For example, if there is an infected passenger and the crew of the cruise ship fail to provide them proper care thus resulting in the infection of several other passengers, the newly infected passengers may be able to receive compensation from the lack of care regarding the exposed passenger. However, this would require review and insight from a personal injury attorney, as there may be waivers, documents signed when purchasing tickets, and other mitigating factors which could play a part of the litigation process and might conflict with receiving your benefits.

Nursing Home Negligence

The elderly are one of the most vulnerable groups of individuals to the virus, and the exposure in nursing homes can drastically affect the lives of the people who live and receive care within them. If a resident is able to prove that the nursing home failed to take the reasonable precautions in order to keep its residents safe from infection, you may be able to receive compensation for it. This could include keeping facilities unsanitary, not providing facemasks, not providing access to or facilities for vaccines, and even coming to work to take care of nursing home residents knowing you are exposed.

Workplace Exposure

If you contract COVID-19 while working, you may not have a personal injury claim based off of contracting the virus. However, if you are a health care worker or first responder and have contracted the virus, you may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits depending on the severity of the illness.

If you have contracted COVID-19 and it has taken a severe toll physically, a personal injury attorney can advise you on the complexities of negligence law with respect to the virus, and help you obtain the compensation you deserve.

Thanks to a truck accident lawyer with our friends at Eglet Adams for their insight on how COVID-19 is affecting the legal industry.