Common Questions | Stephen Gabrielson, Ltd | Personal Injury Attorney | Spinal Cord Injury Lawyer | St Cloud, Minnesota

The following information should not be used to determine whether you need to hire a lawyer for your specific case. See our Disclaimer

Do I need a lawyer?

Most personal injury attorneys will answer your questions without obligation and without charge. Therefore, if you are wondering about whether you need a lawyer, the best way to find out may be to simply pick up the phone and call. Many accidents involve unique factual events which can best be sorted out by an attorney who is trained in handling such claims.

Without an attorney, an insurance company may underestimate the amount of money that you are entitled to as a result of injuries that you or someone else you know may have sustained in an accident. A lawyer will deal directly with an insurance company to assure his or her client that their insurance benefits are being paid and will continue to be paid in the future.

In addition, serious accidents can have a long term effect on one's emotional and psychological well being, as well as any pain, disability, or future damages that one may experience. A lawyer can help you receive the compensation you are entitled to as a result of sustaining chronic or permanent injuries.

Back to the Top

How much will it cost to hire a lawyer?

If you have been injured in an accident, Stephen Gabrielson, Ltd. does not charge attorney's fees until you recover monetary damages for your injury. If our office does not collect an award on your behalf, you are not required to pay any attorney's fees. We refer to this system of payment as a "contingent fee agreement." This means that we are only paid a fee if you make a recovery. Our fee is based on the amount of your recovery.

Upon retaining our office to represent you, you sign an agreement stating that our office will receive a percentage of your recovery. However, prior to your case being settled, our office will take responsibility for paying such things as filing fees, the retention of experts, costs incurred with investigating your case, and other miscellaneous costs which accrue prior to the resolution of your claim.

Back to the Top

What do I do if I have been in an automobile accident?

If you have been in an automobile accident, you may be able to file a claim with your own insurance company to obtain reimbursement for medical bills incurred from injuries sustained in the motor vehicle accident and also any economic losses sustained such as lost wages, funeral expenses, replacement services, and survivor's benefits. These benefits total a minimum of $20,000 for medical expenses and $20,000 for economic losses. In Minnesota, we refer to these benefits as "no-fault benefits."

Stephen Gabrielson, Ltd. will typically process your no-fault claim at no cost to you. Even if we collect monetary damages regarding your claim, we do not take any fee for processing your no-fault benefits. If you have been in a motor vehicle accident, we will promptly notify your insurance carrier, obtain copies of your medical bills, obtain wage loss verification forms, along with filing an application for benefits to your insurance carrier to assure that your medical bills and economic losses are being paid. If your insurance carrier terminates your medical benefits, we will charge a fee to arbitrate the dispute. For such cases we normally follow the contingent fee agreement.

In addition to being entitled to Minnesota no-fault benefits, you may be entitled to receive additional damages if another person is as much or more at fault than you for causing the motor vehicle accident. This is called the "liability" or "fault claim". In addition to proving that someone else was as much or more at fault than you, you must meet a certain threshold to pursue a claim for greater damages. In Minnesota, your injury must meet at least one of five threshold requirements:

Sustain medical expenses in excess of $4,000.
A permanent injury.
A permanent disfigurement, such as a scar.
A disability for 60 days or more.
A survivor of a close relative that died.

If you believe one or more of these thresholds applies to injuries you sustained in a motor vehicle accident, you may be entitled to damages for pain, suffering, disability, emotional distress, and any future damages. If this is the case, you should contact a reputable personal injury attorney to evaluate your case.

In addition, our office handles accidents involving recreation vehicles, such as, snowmobiles, three-wheel ATV's, motorcycles, and water craft. In general, you do not need to meet the threshold requirements as required for automobiles, however, it is still necessary to prove that someone else was at fault for the accident, and that their fault was equal to or greater than your own fault.

If you have any further questions regarding bringing a motor vehicle accident claim or a claim regarding a recreation vehicle, call our office immediately for a free consultation. Waiting to seek legal advice may jeopardize your chances of reaching a favorable outcome regarding injuries you may have sustained.

Back to the Top

Do I have a claim if I have been injured by a defective product?

If you have been injured by a defective product, you may be able to bring a products liability cause of action against the manufacturer of that product. To determine whether an injured party has a claim against the manufacturer of a particular product, one must assess the type of product that caused the injury and the surrounding circumstances. In certain circumstances, a lawyer may be able to establish a claim based upon all three of the following theories:

Strict liability: A manufacturer of a product may be held strictly liability for injuries sustained by a consumer using that product if the product was unreasonably dangerous. This theory of recovery focuses on the type of product itself. In order to recover damages under this theory, the injured person must show that:

The product was defective when it left the manufacturer's control;
The product's defective condition made it unreasonably dangerous even if the product was used by the consumer for its intended use;
The defect in the product was the cause of the plaintiff's injury.

An example of this would be a riding lawnmower that leaves the manufacturer with a loose wheel, which ultimately falls off, causing the riding mower to roll over onto the consumer.

Negligently designed or manufactured product: A person may have a product's liability claim if one can show that the product that injured them was either negligently designed or manufactured. An injured person seeking recovery under this theory must show that the manufacturer failed to exercise the degree of care that a reasonable manufacturer would exercise in manufacturing that product, or that the product was not manufactured according to the specifications that the manufacturer had established for that product. Using the above example, a manufacturer under this theory would be liable if he failed to inspect the wheel prior to it leaving the factory or if the design of the wheel was such that it was prone to coming loose during operation of the riding lawnmower.

It is important to note, however, manufacturers are not required in all instances to produce perfectly safe products. Often times, producing a perfectly safe product would result in over burdensome expenditure for the manufacturer or even the prohibited use of the product altogether. In Minnesota, a jury will often be instructed to conduct a balancing test weighing the likelihood of the harm versus the costs a manufacturer would incur by instituting measures that would help avoid such risks. In some circumstances, mere warning labels may be enough to inform consumers of inherent dangers associated with the product.

In addition, a manufacturer may be liable for injuries sustained to a consumer by breaching its warranty. Under the prevailing law, a product must be fit for its intended purpose, and it must also be fit for a particular purpose that which the seller is aware that the buyer is purchasing it for. If you, the consumer, are using the product for its intended purpose, or a particular purpose for which the seller knows about, and you are injured as a result of such use, you may have a breach of warranty claim.

Back to the Top

What if I may have been a victim of medical malpractice?

The most common claim in a medical malpractice action arises when a doctor or dentist breaches his or her standard of care to the patient. In Minnesota, a doctor or dentist has committed malpractice if his treatment falls below the level of skill and learning which is normally possessed by other doctors or dentists in good standing in a similar practice or community, and under like circumstances. It is important to note, however, just because a doctor is unsuccessful in his or her chosen treatment, does not mean that he/she has committed medical malpractice.

Another common form of medical malpractice arises when a patient was not properly informed of a risk inherent in the treatment provided, the undisclosed risk materializes in harm, and the consent to such treatment would not have been given by the patient if the risk were disclosed.

If you think you've been the victim of medical malpractice, it is very important to speak with a lawyer immediately, as the deadlines in Minnesota for bringing a medical malpractice claim may bar you from establishing a suit against the treating physician.

Back to the Top

What if a family member or relative was killed and someone else may be at fault?

If you have experienced the death of a relative due to someone else's negligence, you may have a claim for wrongful death to recover compensation for the loss suffered. In order to recover for such loss, one must show that another person or entity was responsible for the decedent's death. Such claims are typically brought by a trustee that represents the family of the deceased. Not only can a family recover for the monetary support the deceased would have contributed to the family, the surviving members may also be entitled to the value of that person's comfort, companionship, advice, or assistance to the family or society.

If you are the survivor of a wrongful death victim, you should seek legal advice from an attorney immediately, as there are certain time restrictions which must be complied with in bringing a claim. Typically, a lawsuit must be started within three years of the death. However, if the death involved the illegal sale of alcohol, the suit must be brought within two years of the illegal sale.

Back to the Top

Do I have a claim if I was injured on someone else's property?

The answer to this question is largely determined by the status of the person entering the property. In Minnesota, if you are entering another person's property as a trespasser, the owner of that property generally does not have a duty to that trespasser unless the possessor of the land knows or has reason to know that trespassers regularly use certain portions of the premises. These cases generally involve artificial conditions on the premises that the possessor of the land knows about or has created, and believes the trespasser will not discover.

In addition, if the trespasser is a child a landowner may have a duty to reconfigure land, rather than simply warn children about potential danger.

If a person enters another persons 'or entities' property as a social guest or business invitee, the landowner owes a duty of reasonable care existing circumstances to such persons. What is reasonable care under the circumstances is oftentimes a question for a jury.

Other types of premise type liability claims may involve the malfunction of elevators, escalators or automatic doors. In general, an owner of an elevator or escalator must exercise the degree of care that is customarily described as a "high degree of foresight to identify possible dangers and a high degree of prudence to guard against them." The owners of automatic doors must exercise reasonable care in maintaining proper operation. In addition, product liability claims may also arise in such instances.

Another injury typically sustained in Minnesota occurs from slipping and falling on an accumulation of ice. Generally, a possessor of land has a duty to use reasonable care to protect an entrant from an unreasonable risk of harm caused by a condition on the premises while he is on the premises. Such factors in considering reasonable care of the landowner are:

The purpose for which the entrant entered the premises;
The circumstances the entrant entered the premises;
The use to which the premises is put or expected to be put;
The foreseeability of possible harm;
The reasonableness of the inspection, repair or warning;
The opportunity and ease of repair or the giving of the warning.

Back to the Top

What if the person that injured me was drinking?

If you have been injured by someone who has been drinking, you may have a claim against the establishment that provided the alcohol to that person. Under Minnesota law, an injured person is entitled to recover damages from establishments that unlawfully furnish intoxicating liquor to obviously intoxicated persons, or intoxicated minors, if furnishing this liquor caused or contributed to this intoxication, and if the intoxication was the proximate cause of the injuries sustained by the victim. This type of claim is called a "dram shop" claim. Victims must provide timely notice to the liquor establishment regarding a possible dram shop claim.

Typically, an illegal sale of alcohol occurs when a bar serves alcohol to obviously intoxicated persons or when alcohol is sold to a minor.

If you have been injured by someone that has been drinking, it is important to notify an experienced personal injury attorney immediately. Failing to do so may complicate the investigative process; moreover, you may risk having your claim entirely time barred if the statute of limitations has expired.

Back to the Top