In North Carolina, a lawsuit was filed in federal court against the operator of an amusement ride by an injured family. The family of 4 alleges the operator moved the riding car they were getting out of in order to hurry the occupants along. The operator denies he deliberately tampered with the electric circuitry of the machine in order to be able to bypass a safety device that is supposed to prevent the cars from moving when stopped. The $150 million lawsuit was filed in April against the operator of the ride, the company which brought the ride to the park., the rides owner and the ride operator.
The lawsuit asserts that the family suffered the accident 8 months ago and must now cope with severe and permanent without any compensation.
North Carolina’s state Department of Labor has fined the owner of the ride, as well as the entity which brought the ride to the park, a total of $100,000.
The question of what the ride operator did or did not do to the electric circuitry is still a bone of contention and as far as the family is concerned, and is central to the outcome of their lawsuit. Normally, rides like these have a safety device which prevents power from getting to the machinery once it comes to a halt so that passengers can get on and off without being harmed by sudden movements. Safety bars are normally in place when power is connected.
The state Department of Labor investigators allege that the owner bypassed the safety device before the ride started operations by modifying the electrical circuitry.
It would be difficult to guess how long the lawsuit will take to reach settlement and whether the family will indeed be compensated adequately. These sorts of “premises liability” lawsuits can take a long time to settle because there are usually several parties involved, each of which is trying to avoid taking responsibility. Further, a great deal of pertinent information will have to be uncovered in deposition testimony both by the defendants and any experts the plaintiffs will need to prove negligence.
Meanwhile, the actual victims have to cope with their injuries and the accompanying burdens they supply. In many instances, plaintiffs are unable to work because of there injuries. This causes a decline in monthly cash flow and undoubtedly, increased financial stress. In many instances, plaintiffs are forced to take a less than adequate settlement offer in order to avoid losing their cars, homes, or other financed possessions.
This situation is precisely the reason why companies offer pre settlement funding to plaintiffs who are involved in lawsuits pending settlement. Settlement funding is a financial transaction that helps bridge the gap between accident and lawsuit settlement. It achieves this goal by providing cash now to plaintiffs so they can pay their bills. Also known as lawsuit loans, these cash advances are only paid back when the case is successfully resolved.
A pre-settlement advance can help an accident victim cope with financial hardship if a personal injury claim has already been initiated. These loans are normally dependent on a personal injury attorney being retained on a contingency fee arrangement.
The settlement loan is only paid back if and when the claim has been settled in favor of the plaintiffs. The lender is careful to keep risk to a minimum by assessing the likeliness of success of the lawsuit. These loans then become virtually zero risk as far as the plaintiffs are concerned because if the claim is lost, they have nothing further to pay.