Practice Areas

Dec 31, 2020 - Dangerous Products/Liability by Cross & Smith

Let our Tuscaloosa Injury Attorney Help The winter holiday season is a time of gift-giving, and that also means that product injuries could be on the rise as new customers open up and use their brand new gifts — some of which may be defective. But what happens if you use a product in a way that the manufacturer didn’t intend — can you sue and recover damages from the manufacturer? Maybe. Let’s take a closer look! Strict Product Liability at a Glance In Alabama, a product is defective if it is unreasonably dangerous to the end-user.  If you are injured by your use of a product, then you may be able to sue and recover damages from the product’s manufacturer, so long as the defective nature of the product is what caused your injuries. Alabama law makes it somewhat easier to successfully establish liability, as you need not show that the manufacturer was “negligent” in creating the defective product — you need only show that the product was defective and that it caused an injury. Foreseeable Use So, what happens if you are injured due to your use of a product — but your use of the product was not as “intended”?  That’s an interesting issue that many prospective product defect plaintiffs run into. In Alabama, as in other states, product defect liability can still be imposed on manufacturers if you — the user — has used the product in a way that was unintended by the manufacturer, so […]

Dec 17, 2020 - Car Accidents by Cross & Smith

Our Tuscaloosa Injury Attorney Will Fight for You The winter holidays are a busy time for Americans, from Christmas shopping to end-of-year social events with family and friends— even with the Covid-19 pandemic discouraging many from socializing in the same way that they would in previous years. Unfortunately, not all news surrounding the holidays is positive.  With the winter holidays (and an increase in road traffic) comes an increase in motor vehicle accidents, in many cases driven by holiday alcohol consumption. If you’ve been injured by a drunk driver over the holidays, then you may be entitled to significant damages as compensation.  In fact, bringing a motor vehicle lawsuit against a drunk driver has its own unique opportunities — let’s go ahead and briefly explore them. Establishing Negligence In a “standard” motor vehicle accident dispute, the injured plaintiff has to prove that the defendant-driver acted negligently, recklessly, or intentionally — and that this misconduct caused the plaintiff to suffer injuries.  Establishing fault can be difficult in some cases, depending on the facts. In a drunk driving lawsuit, by contrast, the plaintiff need only show that the defendant’s intoxication caused the plaintiff to suffer injuries.  Negligence is “assumed” thanks to a principle known as negligence per se. In other words, driving while under the influence of alcohol is considered an act that is fundamentally “wrong,” and as such, there is no need to prove that the defendant’s conduct rose to the level of negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct.  This can make […]