Protect Your Civil Rights!
Civil Rights
- First Amendment
- Freedom of Speech
- Freedom of Religion
- Freedom of Association
- Fourth Amendment
- Eighth Amendment
- Excessive Force
- Prison / Jail Medical Care
- Prison / Jail Conditions
- Fourteenth Amendment
- Equal Protection
- Procedural Due Process
- Substantive Due Process
- Right of Privacy
Contract Employment
- Civil Litigation
- Criminal Litigation
Surgical Mistakes:
Another common form of medical malpractice is surgical error.
This occurs when a patient suffers an injury from surgery
because the doctor fell below the standard of care in that
he/she:
(1) Performs the wrong operation or operates on the wrong
patient.
(2) Performs an operation on a patient who should not reasonably
have been considered a candidate for the surgery.
(3) Cuts or damages a part of the body that should not
reasonably have been damaged.
(4) Fails to properly administer anesthesia.
(5) Leaves a surgical instrument or sponge in the patient's
body.
(6) Improperly inserts a medical device or prosthesis such as a
pacemaker or artificial hip
Medication Errors:
This type of malpractice occurs when the doctor negligently
prescribes or gives the wrong medication or dosage. When
prescribing medications, a doctor needs to be aware of potential
adverse reactions or complications and should start by examining
the patient and taking a thorough medical history regarding any
known allergies that the patient may have, what other
medications the patient is presently taking, and what other
medical conditions the patient has that would contraindicate the
use of the medication.
Certain medications such as narcotics can be addictive and the
doctor should carefully monitor how much pain medication the
patient is being prescribed to control the patient's pain. Some
prescription medications may require periodic blood testing to
monitor for liver damage, kidney damage, etc. If the doctor
fails to reasonably monitor the patient, their failure may
constitute negligence.
When a medication is unreasonably dangerous and is withdrawn
from the marketplace, the legal case may involve a product
liability claim against the pharmacy for distributing the
product and the pharmaceutical company for manufacturing the
product.
Diagnosis Mistakes:
Examples may include a failure to diagnose and treat
appendicitis, a bowel impaction, a pulmonary embolism, high
blood pressure, internal bleeding, heart condition, blood clot,
stroke, aneurysm, cancer, diabetes, pneumonia, infection, gall
bladder disease, distressed fetus, and many more.
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Civil Law
There are many areas of civil law ranging from personal
injuries to medical
malpractice. In civil or tort law, the plaintiff is asking
the court for money (called
damages) from a defendant or defendants to compensate them
or pay them back for the
money the plaintiff has lost because of the actions of the
defendant(s). These areas
include:
Personal Injuries (such as car wreck, slip and fall)
Medical Malpractice
Divorce and Family Law
Civil Rights Law
Contract disputes
Employment Law and
Employment Discrimination
Personal Injury Check List
Call 911 for help for any persons injured
Call the police, then write down which police agency
responds (city or sheriff)
Exchange driver's license and automobile insurance
information with other drivers
Take down the license plate number, make and model of all
cars involved
Name/address/telephone number of parties
Name/address/telephone number of any witnesses
Take photographs of damage to property
Do not give a recorded statement to the insurance company
until you have contacted
an attorney
Contact the Law Office of Richard M. Brooks
Failure to retain legal council may result in a loss of
funds needed for proper medical
care and lost wages. You could limit your liability to
others by having an attorney
present when giving a recorded statement. After the
accident, an insurance company
representative will contact you. Be prepared by consulting
an attorney.
At the Law Office of Richard M. Brooks, we have extensive
resources to assist you
immediately after the accident. We can request the traffic
report from the THP or
other state wide agencies, and we can refer you to proper
medical treatment if
necessary.
Medical Malpractice
If you feel that a health provider has made a mistake in
treating or diagnosing you,
contact the Law Offices of Richard M. Brooks. At the start
of your case, your lawyer
will likely need to understand your medical records and the
extent of your injury;
identify and retain the appropriate medical experts; and be
able to grasp the standard
of care in order to recognize whether medical malpractice or
negligence has occurred.
The bottom line in a medical malpractice case is that if
another doctor in the same
area of medicine will testify under oath either during a
trial or deposition, that another
doctor or health care provider has committed medical
malpractice, then a lawsuit may
be filed. Without that testimony, there is no lawsuit.
Civil Rights Law
The Law Office of Richard M. Brooks provides civil rights
legal counsel for:
Police civil liability
Police brutality and excessive force
Jail conditions
Denial of medical treatment
The Law Office of Richard M. Brooks has access to many
experts in mental health,
forensics, police policies and procedures and municipal
liability. This enables our staff to
prepare your civil rights case with the assistance of
experts that will aid in substantiating
your claims, thus helping the client to meet his/her
objectives.
Civil rights law is a complicated mechanism. Most of the
civil rights cases that we file
are in Federal Court, Middle District of Tennessee. Once a
lawsuit is filed, the
Defendants will file an answer through their attorney.
Interrogatories (written questions)
are exchanged and depositions of the parties and witnesses
are taken. Generally
speaking, the next move is usually from the Defendants. The
Defendants will file a
Motion for Summary Judgment asking the Court to rule on the
proof presented to that
point and make a decision on the case. If the case survives
summary judgment, it goes on
to trial or settlement negotiations begin. Mr. Brooks has
many years of experience
working with the Court systems, including State and Local
Courts, General Sessions, and
Circuit, Federal District Court, Sixth Circuit Court of
Appeals, Tennessee Court of
Appeals, and the Tennessee Supreme Court. Mr. Brooks has
also petitioned the Supreme
Court of the United States for a Writ of Certiorari. (click
here to see Scott v. Clay
County).
Contract Disputes
There are many types of contracts, but valid contracts all have the same necessary elements to be enforced.
In order to prevail in a contract dispute, you must show
that either (a) the contract itself is invalid or
unenforceable or (b) that the terms of the contract have
been breached. Within these two categories for grounds,
there is a whole realm of possibilities, causes of action,
and affirmative defenses. Each case is different, so in
order to receive the best information about your case,
contact the Law Office of Richard M. Brooks to make an
appointment.
Employment Law / Discrimination
If you believe that you have been discriminated against by
your employer because of your gender, race, ethic origin,
religious beliefs, sexual orientation, age or disability,
you need to contact two agencies. On the Federal level, the
EqualEmployment Opportunity Commission or EEOC investigates
claims of discrimination and if the EEOC finds
discrimination, they may suggest mediation or file a suit on
your behalf. After their investigation, if they do not find
discrimination, the EEOC will send you a Right To Sue Letter
which will then allow you to hire an attorney a file suit in
Federal court. The second agency is on the State level and
is called the Tennessee Human Rights Commission (THRC). They
behave very similar to the EEOC but have broader
definitions of discrimination.
To contact the EEOC www.eeoc.gov
To contact the THRC
www.state.tn.us/humanrights/index.html
The State of Tennessee as well as the majority of the
country, encompasses the employee
at will doctrine. This means that if you do not have an
employment contract to sustain
employment, then you can be terminated for no reason, good
reason, bad reason, as long
as it is not an illegal reason as described above. Remember,
unfair doesn't mean illegal.
For additional information or questions concerning your
case, contact the Law Office of
Richard M. Brooks to make an appointment.
E-Mail:
Richard M. Brooks
rmbrooks@richardmbrooks.com
(615) 735-0807 Office
(615) 735-1921 Fax |
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