Focused civil advocacy

An injury can affect you far more than your physical health. When another person's negligence causes an injury, you may face medical treatment, lost income, pain, uncertainty, and changes to your everyday life. A personal injury claim may involve questions of liability, insurance coverage, medical treatment, damages, and future losses. Depending upon the circumstances, a claim may involve automobile accidents, serious or catastrophic injuries, premises liability, negligence, insurance disputes, commercial vehicle accidents, and other civil claims. David Little has practiced personal injury law for more than three decades. His role is to investigate what happened, evaluate the evidence, explain your options, and advocate for your interests.

When an injury changes your life, the legal case must account for more than today's medical bills. Some injuries heal. Others permanently change a person's life. Traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, paralysis, amputations, severe burns, multiple fractures, and other catastrophic injuries can affect a person's ability to work, live independently, and participate in the activities they once enjoyed. They can also affect an entire family. A catastrophic injury may involve years or a lifetime of medical treatment, rehabilitation, equipment, personal assistance, and other needs. A proper evaluation may require consideration of current and future medical care, rehabilitation, lost income and earning capacity, physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, permanent impairment, disfigurement, changes in daily activities, and the effect on family members and caregivers. David Little has represented clients facing serious and life-changing injuries and understands the importance of developing the evidence necessary to evaluate both present and future consequences.

Your insurance policy is a contract. Your insurance company has obligations. When you purchase insurance, you expect the company to honor the coverage you paid for. Sometimes disputes arise over whether a claim is covered, how much should be paid, or how the claim is being handled. In some circumstances, an insurer's conduct may give rise to a claim beyond the underlying insurance dispute. Questions may involve policy language, coverage, exclusions, claim investigations, delayed or denied payments, valuation of losses, communications with the insurer, and the insurer's handling of the claim. Whether an insurer has acted improperly depends upon the specific facts, the policy language, and applicable law. David Little has extensive experience handling insurance disputes and bad-faith litigation, including significant jury verdicts and settlements. If you believe your insurance company has not treated your claim fairly, do not assume that the insurer's decision is the final word.

When medical care causes harm, understanding what happened is the first step. Medical negligence cases can be among the most complex types of litigation. A poor medical outcome does not necessarily mean that malpractice occurred. These cases generally require careful evaluation of the medical records, the applicable standard of care, causation, and the circumstances surrounding the injury. Depending upon the circumstances, evaluation may involve medical records, treatment histories, physician and nursing records, expert medical opinions, hospital policies, laboratory and imaging records, and questions concerning diagnosis, treatment, or informed consent. David Little has represented clients in medical negligence and malpractice litigation, including cases involving significant injuries and substantial damages.

Commercial trucking cases can be very different from ordinary automobile accidents. A collision involving a commercial truck may involve multiple potentially responsible parties and a significant amount of evidence that needs to be preserved quickly. Depending upon the circumstances, a case may involve the truck driver, the trucking company, vehicle owners, maintenance providers, loading companies, manufacturers, insurance carriers, electronic vehicle data, driver logs, maintenance and employment records, company policies, and accident reconstruction. Important trucking evidence may not remain available indefinitely. A thorough investigation can be critical to understanding what happened and determining who may be legally responsible. David Little has represented clients in trucking-related litigation and understands the importance of investigating both the accident and the circumstances surrounding it.

A product should not put consumers in unnecessary danger. When a defective or dangerously designed product causes an injury, determining responsibility can be complicated. Potentially responsible parties may include manufacturers, distributors, retailers, or others involved in bringing a product to market. Product liability cases may involve design defects, manufacturing defects, failure to warn, inadequate instructions, dangerous components, product recalls, industry standards, and testing and safety records. Preserving the product and other evidence can be critical. David Little has handled product-liability litigation involving serious injuries and significant claims.

Nothing can prepare a family for losing someone they love. When a death occurs because of another person's negligence or wrongful conduct, surviving family members may face grief, financial uncertainty, and questions about what happens next. A wrongful-death claim cannot undo the loss. It can, however, provide a legal avenue for addressing the consequences of the death and holding responsible parties accountable under the law. Depending upon the circumstances and applicable law, a claim may involve medical and funeral expenses, lost financial support, loss of companionship, loss of household services, pain and suffering, and other losses recognized by applicable law. Wrongful-death laws vary depending upon the jurisdiction and circumstances involved. David Little understands that these cases require both careful legal preparation and sensitivity to the family involved.