Mr. Grossman has represented me in two cases, and I have found that he is very proficient, thorough, knowledgeable about the law, and also he makes sure that I get awarded what is necessary, and I've been very happy with him. 
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U. Al Amin
Commercial Vehicle Accident
Fatal School Bus Accidents
Wrongful Death Attorney Michael Grossman Discusses Your Options After Losing a Child in a School Bus Accident
Yellow dogs – that’s what they call school buses in rural Texas and Arkansas. Most of us have ridden them at one point or another, and we’ve all made fun of them. In all seriousness, however, 26 million American youngsters take school buses every day with over 480,000 school buses in daily use, so many people rely on school busses to safely transport their children.
Thus, all of those 480,000 bus drivers have the tremendous responsibility of delivering those children to school without incident – a challenging prospect when you consider the lack of safety equipment on the buses, the dilapidated state of many school buses, and the constant distraction provided by a rowdy busload of children. Due to the immense bulk of school buses, serious injuries and deaths are highly likely when accidents occur. Moreover, there are usually many victims of a school bus accident, leading to several parties seeking compensation.
Whether your child was riding on a school bus that got into an accident when he or she was killed, or your loved one was riding in another car or walking near the school bus when they were struck and killed by the school bus, then you may have the right to seek compensation through a wrongful death lawsuit. At Grossman Law Offices, Michael Grossman and his team of personal injury and wrongful death lawyers have been handling litigation involving bus accidents and other motor vehicle wrecks for 20 years. We have accumulated the knowledge and skill required to help your family secure the compensation it deserves after losing a family member. We’d like to assist you, so we’ve compiled this collection of information that should help you feel more comfortable with the legal situation in which your family has tragically been thrust. If you would like to find out more about how we can help you, then call us today for a free consultation at 1-855-589-5645 (toll free).
Determining Who is to Blame and Proving Liability
Just like any other fatality, a school bus accident can only be determined to be a wrongful death if three essential elements were contained in the details of the wreck: duty, breach, and causation. In order to be able to seek compensation from a negligent party, the victim’ family, also called the plaintiffs, holds the burden of proof for establishing all three components.
Duty
The first requirement before you can determine that a party was to blame for your loved one’s death is proving that negligent entity owed your loved one some form of duty. Whether they’re aware of it or not, whenever two entities interact, they owe each other some form of duty of protecting each other’s safety. When it comes to a school bus accident, the most obvious duty is for the school bus driver to operate the bus in a reasonable fashion to provide for the safety of the children. This means following the rules of the road, as well as, maintaining concentration and attention at all times.
However, the school bus driver is not the only party that may bear a duty to the victim. The school district is responsible for maintaining the bus properly to decrease the chances of a fatal breakdown. The manufacturer of the school bus has the duty of providing a well-designed and built bus that functions as intended, as well as, is sufficiently resistance to accidents. The passengers on the bus have a duty of following bus rules and not distracting the driver. Additionally, other drivers have a duty of operating their cars so as not to create a hazard for the school bus and the children on it. That means stopping whenever the bus loads or unloads.
Breach
A breach occurs when one or more parties fails to perform its required duty. In school bus accidents, this can mean the school bus driver operated the bus unsafely, another motorist drove recklessly, the bus was defective, or poorly maintained, or one of the students on the bus misbehaved.
Causation
The breach of duty led to the accident and the death of the victim. For example, the bus driver’s negligent driving caused the accident, which resulted in death or injury to the children on the bus, or a mechanical error caused the bus to wreck, killing or injuring the children. Not only must the plaintiffs be able to prove that a given party or parties caused the death, but also that the death resulted in financial and emotional losses for the plaintiffs.
Determining blame for a fatal school bus accident isn’t easy, since there are often more than one party who has breached a duty either causing or contributing to the cause of the wreck. For one thing, if the school bus driver is negligent, then the school district or the bus company in the event the district contracts out the operation of its buses, is liable for any harm caused. In both Texas and Arkansas, employers are held accountable for the negligent actions or inaction of their employees through a legal principle known as respondeat superior. While you can bring legal action against all of the liable parties, you will most definitely require the assistance of learned and experienced wrongful death attorney to make sure you secure maximum compensation and bring all of the parties who are to blame to justice.
Available Compensation After a Fatal School Bus Accident
When you have lost a child in a fatal school bus accident, money is the last thing you’re thinking about – our attorneys know this after helping so many other grieving families over the course of the last two decades. You’re racked with grief, and filing a lawsuit is the last thing on your mind. We wish we could alleviate your emotional scarring, but we can’t. All we can do is provide relief from the financial turmoil the death of your child has created. We’ve learned that many families cannot begin emotionally healing until they’ve recovered financially.
If your loved one’s fatal school bus accident occurred as the result of the negligence of a solvent entity or entities, then your family may file comprehensive lawsuits seeking both wrongful death damages and survival damages from each liable party.
Of note, the state of Arkansas requires that the family name a representative to spearhead the legal action before moving forward with the lawsuit, but in Texas this is not required.
Through wrongful death damages, the individual family members have the opportunity to seek restitution for their personal economic and mental suffering caused by the death of the loved one. In school bus accidents, this will usually be limited to the parents. In the event an adult dies in a school bus wreck, his or her spouse and children are also eligible to pursue wrongful death damages, which may include but are not limited to compensation for:
- Mental and emotional trauma.
- Funeral bills.
- Loss of economic support provided by the victim before dying.
- Loss of familial love and consortium.
The purpose of survival damages, conversely, is to allow the closest living relative of the deceased to seek compensation for the suffering the victim sustained in dying. In most school bus accidents, the plaintiff seeking survival damages will be a parent, but the actual line of inheritance of this right passes from spouse, to child, to parent, and then to sibling. Survival damages can include restitution for:
- Medical bills charged to the victim before he or she died.
- The victim’s pain and suffering.
- The victim’s emotional and mental distress.
- Property damage.
Proving up some forms of damages is quite cut and dry. It’s fairly easy to satisfy the court as to the level of medical bills merely by producing the bills themselves. However, other damages, like pain and suffering or emotional trauma are highly debatable in nature. The only way to assure accurate estimation of these subjective forms of compensation is through a seasoned lawyer who has experience with similar cases to use as guidelines.
Challenges to Fair Compensation
The biggest problem plaintiffs face is the sheer number of plaintiffs that usually arise from any given fatal school bus accident. A bus crash that was terrible enough to kill one child riding on the bus usually ended up being fatal for several children on the bus. Furthermore, other motorists and the passengers in their cars may also have been injured or killed. It’s not uncommon for 50 people or more to file wrongful death claims after a fatal school bus accident. This makes full recovery challenging for someone without significant experience, for there will be a great many people waiting in line for a limited amount of resources to compensate them. If you want to stand the greatest opportunity of securing the payment you deserve, then you must have a shrewd and seasoned wrongful death attorney fighting for your rights.
Granted, school bus insurance policies tend to be quite large, but that doesn’t do anything to ensure you will be paid what you deserve. As we mentioned, there are usually quite a few grieving loved ones seeking compensation after a fatal school bus accident. Thus, the insurance company will do anything it can to avoid payment and that means trying to deflect blame for the accident on any other possibly negligent party. If that fails, then pushy insurance adjusters will try to bully the victim’s family into accepting a settlement offer that is less than they deserve before they can hire a lawyer who can protect them.
Moreover, you can’t rely upon the bus driver to tell the truth about his or her role in the accident. If found negligent, the bus driver will lose his or her job and most probably not find employment elsewhere after causing the deaths of children in his or her charge.
The only way to safeguard your rights and give yourself the best chance both of bringing the negligent party to justice and obtaining the restitution you deserve is by hiring a skilled and trial-tested attorney like those at Grossman Law Offices. Not only do we know the different between a fair settlement and one designed to take advantage of a plaintiff, but we also know how to conduct a thorough investigation that will reveal who is responsible for a school bus accident and whether or not the bus driver is telling the truth. We sequester and examine all vehicles involved in the accident, interview every eyewitness available, scour over police reports, review the physical state of the accident scene, and search for any video or photographic evidence that documents what happened.
We Can Help
At Grossman Law Offices, we have the expertise to help you with your wrongful death lawsuit stemming from a fatal bus accident. Not only do we have the knowledge to handle pushy insurance adjusters and tricky defense lawyers, but we have built a strong reputation of success, securing many millions of dollars for hundreds of families over the past two decades. This makes insurance companies and defense firms eager to negotiate with our clients to avoid the prospect of facing our lawyers in court. We will do whatever we can to help you get the restitution you deserve, including:
- Buffering you from interactions with the insurance adjusters.
- Determining all parties to blame for the accident.
- Investigating thoroughly to find the proof needed to win your case or force a settlement.
- Protecting you from defense lawyer’s procedural tricks.
- Making sure your claim is given priority over those of the families of other people injured or killed in the wreck.
- Aggressively pressuring the insurance company or defense into a fair settlement.
- Using an aggressive deposition strategy to trick a bus driver into revealing his or her own lies.
- Helping you get the medical attention you need when you need it.
Right now, it’s critical that you contact a lawyer as fast as possible, so your counsel can begin investigating before the evidence needed to prove your case is gone and an enormous line forms of other plaintiffs whose loved ones were killed or injured in the wreck – all waiting for compensation from the insurance company.
If you don’t call our firm, we must encourage you to call another. However, we do offer a free consultation at 1-855-589-5645 (toll free). You can discuss your case with a legal professional, who can answer your questions and outline your legal options. Don’t go through this alone. Call us now.
Recovered for client who suffered soft-tissue back injuries and leg contusions in an 18-wheeler accident.
$90,000.00
$30,000.00
$562.00
An airline pilot suffered a shoulder injury resulting in surgery when he was sideswiped by an 18-wheeler. The case was resolved through litigation, as establishing liability was a contentious matter. The defendants claimed that the plaintiff made an illegal passing maneuver, but the evidence showed that the defendant made a sweeping turn and intruded upon our client's right of way.
$475,000.00
$158,333.00
$5,000.00
(policy limits) Our firm was hired by the wife and children of a retired Army Colonel who was killed in an underide 18-wheeler accident. In addition to being a decorated veteran, the decedent worked both professionally and on a voluntary basis to establish numerous learning institutions and vocational programs for at risk youths. The accident occurred as the decedent was traveling on a rural highway when an 18-wheeler failed to yield the right of way and made a rolling stop through a stop sign.
This placed the trailer of the 18-wheeler in a position whereby it blocked the entire roadway and shoulder, leaving the decedent no option but to collide with the trailer. Witnesses on the scene attempted to revive him but to no avail. Furthermore, while two female eye witnesses struggled to pry open the decedent's door to provide emergency care, the truck driver stayed in his truck and offered no assistance. Despite what appeared to be an incredibly apparent case of negligence on behalf of the defendant, defense counsel refused to accept liability resulting in rather lengthy litigation.
The defendants initially denied the claim based on the allegation that the decedent was speeding and the truck driver therefore could not adequately gauge the amount of time he had to pause at the stop sign. The physical evidence contradicted this notion entirely, notwithstanding the fact that even if the decedent had been contributorily negligent, that would not have outweighed the severe degree of negligence on the part of the defendant. Nevertheless, our attorneys were able to conclusively refute this argument based on eye-witness testimony and the testimony from police investigators who calculated the decedent's speed to be precisely at the posted speed limit. In a desperate and largely unprecedented move, the defendants then designated the state as a responsible third party.
Generally speaking, a defendant will often threaten to designate a third party in order to leverage their position but it is rare that such an arbitrary and arguably frivolous designation is actually carried out. However, that is precisely what occurred and the state was thusly incorporated into the lawsuit by the defendants. The basis of the defendant's argument was that the state erected a large street sign that obstructed the truck driver's view of approaching traffic.
Several months of intense litigation were required to before the defendant finally acquiesced in regard to this argument. The argument was finally abandoned by the defendants when in the first mediation our attorneys presented video footage shot (in a controlled setting) from the perspective of an 18-wheeler driver which showed that the sign simply did not obstruct enough of the roadway in order to be a hazard. The case was ultimately resolved through litigation.
Confidential
Confidential
Confidential
Recovery for client who sustained a pulled muscle in an 18-wheeler accident.
$19,000.00
$6,270.00
$100.00
Major freight train company sued as the result of an incident which claimed the life of an employee. Our attorneys settled the case outside of court for a confidential amount.
Confidential
Confidential
Confidential
(policy limits) Our firm was hired to pursue an intoxicated driver who killed an elderly school crossing guard. The fatal accident occurred as the decedent was escorting a woman and her child across the roadway through a crosswalk. The defendant then sped through the school zone, in an intoxicated a state, and struck the decedent who died on the scene.
The family hired our firm to investigate and pursue the defendant under a wrongful death cause of action. Following our investigation and preliminary vehicle inspection, our attorneys issued a Stowers' demand to the defendants. A significant factor in resolving this claim is that merely days before we submitted our demand to the defendant' insurance carrier, we won a large case against the very same insurance carrier, which was one of several such victories secured against the carrier in our firm's history. Our threats of litigation were therefore heeded and the defendants offered policy limits to settle the claim without the need to file suit.
Confidential
Confidential
Confidential
Our attorneys were hired to represent the family of a middle aged woman who was killed in a car accident. The incident occurred as another vehicle struck the car that the decedent was a passenger in, head-on on the passenger side. The impact resulted in catastrophic injuries which claimed the life of the decedent.
Our attorneys were hired soon after the accident and we launched a full investigation. Through the course of our investigation, it was soon determined that the head-on collision was caused a failed component in the defendant's vehicle (the particulars of which cannot be elaborated upon per the resolution agreement). Suit was filed against the manufacturer of said component and litigation commenced. The case was successfully resolved through litigation.
$3,200,000.00
$1,280,000.00
$50,000.00
(policy limits) A young mother was killed in an accident involving two commercial vehicles, one an 18-wheeler. The accident occurred as the young woman was a passenger in a vehicle that was traveling down a highway in the early morning hours. Without warning, the vehicle in which she was a passenger collided with a stalled 18-wheeler that parked in the right of way, resulting in catastrophic injuries that claimed the young woman's life soon thereafter.
The authorities initially faulted the driver of the vehicle in which the victim was a passenger, stating that he was using an electronic device rather than paying full attention to the roadway. However, the 18-wheeler was indeed blocking the roadway and plaintiff alleged that the vehicle did not follow the requirements of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act in regard to providing adequate reflective or laminated warning at specific intervals. Further, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendant failed to remove his vehicle from the roadway when he first noticed signs of mechanical failure.
Had he simply moved to the shoulder of the road, plaintiffs argued, his lack of adequate warning signs would have been inconsequential. An initial settlement has been obtained in this case, yet litigation has commenced in full against the remaining defendant, and is currently ongoing.
$250,000.00
$78,000.00
$370.00
(policy limits) Recovery for wrongful death/ nursing home negligence which resulted in bed sores which became infected.
$100,000.00
$33,133.00
$400.00
Recovery for the father of a young man who was killed in a car accident.
$95,035.00
$31,678.00
$25.00