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Litigation Funding Blog

Eleven year old girl bursts into flames in hospital

April 20, 2013

This is a highly unusual case in which a young girl in hospital was the victim of what appeared to be spontaneous combustion.

The world is full of scary things for 11-year-olds, and nothing could be more frightening than quietly painting a wooden box in your hospital room and suddenly bursting into flames. Young Ireland Lane, a cancer survivor, was in hospital, as the result of a head injury. She had done well on her road to recovery, and was just about to be released, but she wanted to paint a small wooden box as a gift for the nurses who took care of her.

In the middle of the project, while her dad looked on, her T-shirt burst into flames. Ireland ran into the hallway screaming in agony, where medical staff was able to put the flames out. Instead of being released from medical care, she was slated for surgery and skin grafts to deal with the third degree burns on her torso, arms, neck and earlobes.
Just prior to the fire, the girl had used hand sanitizer to wipe off the table patients use to roll over their beds to eat. It was a good surface for working on when it came to crafting. Safety experts from the hospital and the Fire Marshal’s office are baffled by the cause of the fire and conjecture that perhaps the hand sanitizer, which has an alcohol-base, was ignited by static electricity. Hospital staff is at a complete loss for an explanation for the fire too.

If the cause was preventable, it would then be incumbent on the hospital to do something about safety procedures. In the meantime, the young girl has numerous operations to face and more recovery time. Her medical bills are going to be sky high. Whether or not the family will choose to file a personal injury lawsuit remains to be seen, largely because the cause of the fire is not known.

If a cause is identified, it may prompt the father to file a lawsuit to recover compensation for her injuries. In order to be able to pay the usual bills and the staggering medical expenses, they may wish to find out more about litigation funding. Lawsuit funding allows the plaintiff the respite of paying off all of their bills while waiting for their case to be resolved.

Litigation funding is for plaintiffs and they may apply for it online, or by calling a reputable firm and asking about the application process for pre-settlement funding. A lawsuit loan helps a financially desperate plaintiff handle all of their expenses while waiting for a trial and because they have funding in the bank, they can turn down any ridiculous offers from an insurance company to settle for less than they may get in court. A lawsuit loan may be the way to go. It’s worth talking to the company to find out how it may suit your situation.

Daren Monroe writes for Litigation Funding Corp. To learn more about lawsuit funding and litigation funding, visit Litigationfundingcorp.com.

Steel Coil Pins Worker, Killing Him Instantly

April 1, 2013

A manufacturing plant worker was pinned by a heavy steel coil. He died at the scene.

This was an accident that no one anticipated happening, and could not have predicted, unless plant workers knew something about how the overhead crane was maintained mechanically, or that the steel coils in the warehouse were not stacked properly.

The day started out as usual for Richard Licina, off to work, getting ready for a full day of moving steel coils and then calling it a day. Richard never made it home. One morning in late February, 2013, he was working a 15-ton overhead crane with the goal of moving a large steel coil to another location. The coil he wanted to move weighed 10,000 pounds. While he was lifting the first coil, a second one, weighing 5,000 pounds, slid out of position on the stack, slamming into the worker. The force of the impact crushed him up against another stack of coils.

When emergency response crews arrived on the site, they pronounced Richard dead. He died of massive chest injuries. While the initial reports of this incident state the death was an accident, the police and U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration would each conduct an investigation of their own. They would want to know why the second coil shifted out of place and about the maintenance of the crane. They would also want to know if the crane operator was operating his machine while under the influence of a drug or other substance. All possible scenarios would need to be ruled out.

This is a wrongful death, and the man’s family may wish to seek experienced legal counsel to discover if they have a case to take to court. Knowing why the second coil shifted, perhaps due to carelessness on the part of the person who stacked them in the first place, would determine if negligence played a role in Richard’s death. In the meantime, his family would have to cope emotionally and financially with his sudden loss.

If the family does hire a lawyer, they could then contact a litigation funding company for a lawsuit loan. This kind of legal funding is often referred to as pre-settlement funding, and it is an emergency loan made to a qualified plaintiff that lets them handle all their bills while waiting for their case to be settled or go to court. They are not required to jump through any hoops to get the legal funding; they just need to present their case and have it assessed.

If the litigation funding company feels the case stands a chance of winning in court, the loan is approved and sent the fastest way possible to the plaintiff’s bank account. From there, the plaintiff may spend the funds on what they wish, but most pay medical expenses and/or funeral and burial expenses. While this type of funding does not suit all situations, checking into it may make an enormous difference for a financially strapped plaintiff.

Daren Monroe writes for Litigation Funding Corp. To learn more about lawsuit funding and litigation funding, visit Litigationfundingcorp.com.

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