Las Cruces Legal Blog

When you pursue a personal injury case, the defendant may offer you a settlement outside of New Mexico courts. You may weigh the options and decide to accept the settlement to avoid lengthy, costly litigation. But what happens when you decide to settle out of court, and do you end up losing more in the long run?

Losses and gains are determined entirely by the individual case and the amount of settlement the defendant is willing or able to offer you. Settlement procedures, however, are fairly straightforward. As described on the website for the Judicial Branch of New Mexico, settlement - also known as ADR, or "Alternative Dispute Resolution" - primarily involves a conversation between the parties involved in the case, often with legal counsel present and mediated by a neutral party with the knowledge needed to guide the proceedings. A settlement facilitator may be present as well, offering support to both sides of a case in understanding their positions and coming to an agreement on fair settlement offers.

There are some situations in which police officers must use force to protect themselves or subdue a suspect. They are supposed to use only enough force to deescalate the incident and regain control of the situation. Generally, the amount of force should be proportionate to the threat that prompts it.

But in some cases, law enforcement officers use more than the minimum amount of force necessary. They may react to a relatively small threat with a disproportionately heavy use of force. This is referred to as excessive force, and it is a very controversial issue.

There are many different behaviors and risk factors that can make a motor vehicle collision more likely. As we all know, when someone is intoxicated because of drug use or alcohol consumption, or they are extremely tired because they have not slept in a long time, their driving abilities may be severely impacted, and a crash may be far more likely. However, there are other reasons why people may cause a motor vehicle crash, some of which may seem surprising. For example, someone who has come down with the flu or is very sick due to another illness may not be able to drive safely.

During flu season, many people suffer after falling ill. Worse, when someone finds themselves in an accident, they may have even greater health problems to work through, in addition to financial issues and other hardships. Even someone who is in good health could become the victim of a motor vehicle collision when they are struck by someone else who is under the weather. There are a number of ways in which the flu can increase the chances of a crash, whether someone has difficulty focusing due to a persistent headache, high fever, cough, or other problem.

New Mexico elder care facilities must ensure that the senior citizens under their care are properly looked after without instances of abuse, neglect or other factors that may lead to injury or death. Policies must be in place to prevent much of this, but enforcing these policies may be difficult. How can facilities ensure that protections for elders under their care are adequately enforced, and ensure their elder care employees behave ethically?

One way is to screen caregivers before they are hired. The New Mexico Department of Health provides an Employee Abuse Registry that contains the documented criminal histories of any caregivers previously found guilty of abuse in a home or institutional care setting. Facilities can avoid hiring anyone who may be an offender by including a check of this registry in background checks of any new employees.