It is defined as sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the recipient’s explicit consent. Some common types of Sexual Assault include:

• Attempted Rape
• Fondling
• Unwanted Touching
• Forced Sexual Acts
• Penetration of the Victim’s Body

No matter where the incident occurred, the punishment for the perpetrator will be severe. Sexual Assault is a direct violation of another person’s freedom and choice. The punishment for the perpetrator  depends on the following factors:

• Age of the Victim
• Nature of the Sexual Abuse
• Perpetrator’s previous legal history

In a civil lawsuit, you can pursue monetary compensation directly from the perpetrator if they have the financial means available. You may also pursue monetary compensation from another entity that might have known about the incident. You will need to prove that the other entity knew about the Sexual Assault in court, but the right evidence can help you recover some of the financial burdens you will endure during this tough time. Items you can sue for include:

• Therapy
• Medical Bills
• Missing time from work

If you were the victim of Sexual Assault in San Diego or southern California, we highly recommend that you pursue legal counsel. It is a tough road ahead, and obtaining a professional that is highly knowledgeable in the field will help you immensely. Whenever you are ready, please feel free to contact the experienced sexual assault attorney San Diego at my office for a free no-obligation consultation.

• Car Accidents
• Elder Abuse or Neglect
• Medical Malpractice
• Drowning
• Slip and Fall
• Animal Attacks
• Assault, Battery or Intentional Act to Injure
• Intentional Murder

These are just a few examples of actions that can lead to a Wrongful Death claim. A Wrongful Death claim can come from any type of case that could result in a Personal Injury Claim if the result of the situation did not lead to death. Although, there might be one exception for work injuries that results in a death, and that must be resolved through the worker’s compensation system.

• Deceased Person’s Surviving Spouse
• Deceased Person’s Domestic Partner
• Deceased Person’s Surviving Children

If no one falls in the categories listed above, then anyone that would be considered entitled to the Deceased Person’s Property can make this claim. This could include:

• Deceased Person’s Parents
• Deceased Person’s Siblings

And lastly, if the following people can prove that they were financially dependent on the Deceased Person, they can also present a Wrongful Death Claim:

• Deceased Person’s “Putative Spouse” and the Spouse’s Children
• Decease Person’s Stepchildren 
• Deceased Person’s Parents

• The defendant had a duty to prevent the incident;
• The defendant breached this duty through negligence; and
• The defendant’s breach was a substantial factor in causing
  the decedent’s death.

• The loss of the Deceased Person’s love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society, and moral support;
• Funeral and Burial Expenses;
• Deceased Person’s final medical and hospital bills incurred before death;
• The reasonable value of any
• Household Services that would have been provided by the Deceased Person; and
• The loss of Anticipated Financial Support from the Deceased Person.

This is one of the first questions a lawyer will ask when approaching a Lyft or Uber case. The person that is responsible is determined on a case-by-case basis; typically determined by who is the negligent party. In any Personal Accident Claim in the State of California, the Plaintiff needs to prove the following three items:

• The defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care;
• The defendant breached that duty through negligence; and
• The defendant’s negligence was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff’s harm.

“Duty of Care” is in reference to if the defendant obeyed all California state vehicle codes that are intended to prevent injuries or accidents. Examples of codes include:

• Road Speed Limits
• Stop Signs
• Cell Phone Usage
• Intoxicated Driving
• Distracted Driving Laws

When you include the fact that someone in the accident was using a ride-sharing app like Lyft or Uber, there are a few more questions that need to be answered.

Who is liable in this situation will depend on if the driver is doing one of the following:

• Carrying a passenger
• On their way to pick up a passenger
• Turned on the app and is waiting for a passenger

If one of the above three is true, then all injured parties (including the driver) will have a claim against the company and its Commercial Liability Coverage. If none of the above is true, then the driver is responsible for all injured parties.

If you buy a product from a physical store and it causes you injury due to a defect, the store is held accountable. The primary concept is that the store produces money by selling things and hence should bear the costs if a product injures a customer. The business can also remove damaged products from its shelves and establish arrangements with product producers to hold them accountable in the event of a malfunction. These arrangements are critical  because California’s Product Liability Law dictates that any company within an item’s vertical chain of distribution can be held liable for any damages caused by the defective product. That chain will often look like this:

Manufacturer → Distributor/Wholesaler → Retailer → Buyer/Consumer

While the primary defendant, in this case, is the product’s manufacturer, a plaintiff can go after the distributor/wholesaler and retailer, too. These liabilities are in place to ensure the consumers remain safe and are capable of obtaining damages because it can be difficult, and oftentimes impossible, to locate a distributor/wholesalers or manufacturer. This was the situation in the Bolger case when it was discovered the manufacture of the battery was located in China and unresponsive to all requests to comply made by both Plaintiff and Amazon.com.

E-commerce, on the other hand, introduces a slew of additional complexity to the old retail/ brick and mortar structure because they act as a Marketplace Facilitator and operate their business online.

Unlike a brick-and-mortar store, an online retailer can open their services beyond just selling products. They can allow other companies to sell their product through the Marketplace Facilitator’s services. This has created a new problem when it comes to pursuing damages in a strict liability suit because it is no longer easy to determine who is who in the chain of distribution. A company like Amazon can act as multiple points in this chain! The most common chain model currently looks like this:

Third-party Supplier ← → Marketplace Facilitator ← → Consumer

In this model, the Marketplace Facilitator lists the item for the Third-Party Supplier, collects the money from the Consumer, the Third-Party Supplier sends the item either to the Marketplace Facilitator or directly to the Consumer, then gives the Third-Party Supplier their cut of the profit. The Third-Party Supplier and Consumer could have no direct contact with each other; only ever interacting between the Marketplace Facilitator.

This allows a company like Amazon to argue that they are not liable under product liability law because they never truly interacted with the product. Amazon paints itself as a classified ad service or virtual shopping mall. These portraits are not giving the audience a true perspective; at some level, Amazon is responsible for the entire handling of the product.

With the Bolger v. Amazon.com case, Jillian F. Hayes and the team at CaseyGarry were able to prove that Amazon is responsible for this defective battery. . As one of California’s top personal injury lawyers, Jillian F. Hayes remains up to date on all recent legal developments so she can ask the right questions that will uncover pertinent details in your case. Online Product Liability law is a complex area, and you should talk to an attorney that has a deep understanding of this area and will be able to guide you every step of the way.