Kilauea Personal Injury Lawyer
A motor vehicle accident, medical malpractice, and many other types of accidents can lead to serious injuries that could permanently impact the rest of your life. The physical, monetary, and mental toll that these injuries can take on you and on your family can be overwhelming, to say the least. If the accident that caused your injuries wasn’t your fault, you should not have to deal with these problems by yourself while the person responsible for them goes unchecked.
If you have been a victim of a personal injury accident in Kilauea, HI, the law firm of Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner is prepared to defend your rights. We will stand by your side every step of the way, and pursue the maximum amount of financial compensation for your damages so that you can put your life back together as soon as possible. We know how challenging and painful this experience is for our clients. Our Kilauea personal injury attorneys are fully capable of overseeing the legal aspects of your personal injury case, leaving you free to focus on your family and your recovery.
Practice Areas We Cover
Our Honolulu-based law firm specializes in personal injury law. This field of law covers a host of civil cases ranging from serious motor vehicle accidents to product liability cases.
Although this list is by no means exhaustive, the personal injury cases we see most frequently include:
Pedestrian and Motor Vehicle Accidents
If you were injured in an accident involving a negligent driver, whether you were in the same vehicle, another vehicle, or were a pedestrian in the area, you are likely entitled to collect financial compensation.
An experienced car accident lawyer will defend your rights, square off against the insurance company, and secure full and fair financial compensation for your damages. As one of Hawaii’s most experienced and respected personal injury law firms, Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner has been diligently seeking maximum compensation for injury victims since 1971.
Our experienced lawyers and support staff will ensure that the insurance provider is meeting their obligation when it comes to covering your accident-related medical bills. We will also help with filing a claim against the negligent driver to reach an equitable settlement or, if necessary, file a lawsuit.
Our experienced Kilauea car accident lawyers can walk you through the legal process so you understand what is happening every step of the way.
In addition to this, we will also:
- Handle all communications with the insurance companies on your behalf
- Draft any applicable insurance forms
- Conduct a thorough investigation into your accident using the vast resources at our disposal
Our firm sometimes uses accident reconstruction professionals and forensic engineers to develop a clear image of how the accident happened when necessary to prove a case. We also enlist the aid of medical professionals to examine and interpret medical records regarding complex injuries.
Vacation Injuries
Imagine after spending a lot of money and time planning the perfect vacation, an accident caused by someone else’s negligence puts you in the hospital. Being injured is difficult no matter where you are, but being far from home in unfamiliar surroundings can compound the difficulty by also inducing feelings of vulnerability and isolation. The personal injury law firm of Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner is here to help you through hard times like this.
Hawaii is a beautiful state made up of several islands that attract droves of visitors from all over the globe each year. When a tourist from another country or another state gets injured while visiting, they usually have a lot of questions about how and where to bring a claim against the negligent party.
Our law firm focuses on assisting tourists who have sustained an injury during their trip to Hawaii. We have a well-established track record of successfully handling the intricate jurisdictional issues commonly associated with filing claims for victims who do not reside within the state. Regardless of where you live, we maintain consistent lines of communication and can expeditiously litigate your personal injury or wrongful death case.
It is important that the lawyer representing you is familiar with the particulars of your accident, including the known dangers of the many sporting and recreational activities that Hawaii specifically has to offer. Our law firm has represented victims with injuries caused by:
- Surfing and bodyboarding accidents
- Jet ski accidents
- Parasailing accidents
- Kiteboarding accidents
- Scuba diving and snorkeling accidents
- Boating accidents
- Kayaking accidents
- Small aircraft accidents
- Bungee and cliff-jumping accidents
- Rock climbing accidents
- Hiking and horseback riding accidents
- Windsurfing accidents
Wrongful Deaths
While there is no amount of money that can bring your loved one back after a fatal accident, wrongful death laws allow you to pursue compensatory damages to help your family avoid financial strain as a result of the fatal accident. If the negligence of a person or entity caused the wrongful death of a family member, you could be entitled to collect financial compensation.
A wrongful death can occur due to a car accident, workplace accident, dangerous or defective product, medical malpractice, or any other type of accident in which someone’s negligence caused a fatality.
Our experienced Kilauea wrongful death lawyers can help you secure the financial compensation the law says you are entitled to. That compensation could include damages for:
- Loss of consortium
- Medical bills
- Funeral and burial or cremation costs
- Mental trauma
- Lost or diminished earning capacity
- Pain, suffering, and inconvenience
According to Hawaii law, only an immediate family member or the legal representative of the deceased is able to file a wrongful death claim against the at-fault person. In these cases, “immediate family members” refers to the victim’s still-living parent, child, or spouse. The statute also goes on to state that any person partly or wholly dependent on the deceased, or any reciprocal beneficiary is also eligible to bring a claim of wrongful death.
The loss of a family member is a heartbreaking affair, and it’s even worse when you feel the loss was entirely preventable. If you feel that your family lost someone they love as a result of negligence or the deliberate act of another person, please contact our Honolulu law offices as soon as possible. The Kilauea wrongful death lawyers at Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner can assist you with the process of filing a wrongful death claim and work to maximize your recoverable damages. While no one wants to think about legal matters while grieving a terrible loss, filing a wrongful death claim can go a long way toward alleviating financial stress for your family.
Premises Liability Accidents
Property managers and owners, commercial establishments, retail stores, and even private residences have an obligation to maintain their property in a reasonably safe condition and to provide ample warning to guests of any foreseeable hazards. When a property owner fails to maintain the duty of care they owe to their visitors, serious injuries are often the result. Whether you sustained injuries on commercial property or on private property, you could be eligible to collect financial compensation for accidents caused by:
- Slip and fall/Trip and fall
- Negligent maintenance
- Negligent security
- Inadequate warning signs
- Insufficient lighting
- Slick walkways/Walkways covered in debris
- Lifeguard negligence
- Broken glass
- Outdated wiring
The Kilauea premises liability lawyers at Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner have more than 50 years of experience in determining whether or not one person’s negligence was the cause of another person’s injuries.
If you were injured in any of the accidents listed above, please reach out to us to schedule your free case evaluation.
Defective and Dangerous Product Accidents
If you were injured by a dangerous or defective product, you have the right to seek compensation from the company or entity that caused your injuries. Every consumer has the right to expect the products they purchase to be reasonably safe when used in their intended manner. When a designer or a manufacturer releases a product that does not meet this standard onto the open market, they must be held accountable when serious and even deadly injuries happen.
Some examples of popular defective product claims include:
- Defective car parts or vehicle design
- Small household appliances
- Medical appliances and equipment (Ethicon transvaginal mesh)
- Prescription drugs
- Sporting equipment
- Furnaces and hot water heaters
Get in touch with us today to schedule your free case review if you feel you have a potential product liability claim. We can listen to the details of your case and help you determine how to best move forward.
Determining Fault and Bringing a Claim
The process of bringing a personal injury claim varies based on what type of accident caused your injuries. For instance, Hawaii is one of 12 no-fault states. This means that if you were hurt in a car crash, your hospital bills will be paid out by your own insurance company, regardless if you were at fault for the collision or not. If, however, you were injured in a premises liability accident, such as a slip and fall, then your claim would likely be filed with the insurance carrier of the business or individual who is liable for the incident.
The civil statute of limitations in Hawaii gives personal injury victims two years from the day their accident took place to bring a personal injury claim. Although that may sound like a long time, this deadline can actually be quite intimidating if you are badly injured and trying to heal. You may feel intimidated by the large amount of investigatory and prep work that is required for your claim to be successful. When you work with the personal injury lawyers at Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner, we will make sure that all paperwork is fully and accurately completed and that every deadline is met. Your focus can remain where it should be, on healing.
Hawaii’s Comparative Negligence Laws
One potential obstacle that many injured victims encounter while they are pursuing financial compensation is comparative negligence. The comparative negligence rule lessens the amount of compensation that you are eligible to collect based on the percentage of fault assigned to you.
For instance, if you were involved in a car accident and determined to be 20% at fault, then your losses would also be decreased by 20%. If you are determined to be 51% or more at fault for the car accident, then you will not be able to collect any compensation at all for your injury.
It is common for insurance companies to attempt to use the comparative negligence defense in both premises liability and motor vehicle accident cases. We work with top professionals in the field of accident reconstruction as well as human factors analysis to quash that defense and ensure that our injured clients get the financial compensation they deserve and are entitled to.
Why Should I Hire A Kilauea Personal Injury Lawyer?
A qualified and experienced Kilauea personal injury lawyer will be able to effectively identify all relevant defendants, and potential sources of financial compensation, such as insurance policies. At Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner, we make sure our injured clients know that we are available to address any concerns or answer any questions they may have about their case, the legal process, or what the next step in the process is going to be. We understand that this is a very scary and complicated process and we do our best to make it as easy as possible for you and your family.
We strive to build a strong attorney-client relationship so that our clients feel comfortable asking us for advice at any time during their case. This relationship also helps us to articulate who you are, what you do, and how your accident has negatively impacted your life, to an insurance company representative, jury, mediator, or judge. This can go a long way toward ensuring that you collect every penny of financial compensation that you are entitled to. When you work with us, you have a reputable and caring professional on your side from beginning to end.
Were You Injured Due to Negligence?
When an injury caused by someone else’s negligence, recklessness, or dereliction seriously impacts your physical and mental health, your quality of life, your job, or your family, you deserve to be fully compensated.
We truly hope you will never need the services of a personal injury lawyer. Howver, if you do, we are here to help in your time of nee. Whether you were involved in a car accident, injured while on vacation, on another person’s property, or any other type of accident, the personal injury lawyers at Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner are prepared to advocate for you.
If you or someone you know was injured in a negligence-based accident, you can schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with the Hawaii personal injury lawyers at Leavitt, Yamane & Soldner by calling (808) 537-2525.