‘What’s My ClaimWorth?’ As you come out of the fog from an accident, there are many questions that can linger. It is difficult for many accident victims to move forward on their own as the medical and repair bills stack up. As a result, one of the most common questions our team hears is this: “What is my claim worth?” While there are many elements that can factor into compensation — like Florida’s comparative negligence doctrine, which states that an accident victim’s percentage of fault is the same percentage in which their compensation total is cut — there are two vital personal components that can influence your claim totals. No. 1: Your Income in Relation to Your Age, Occupation, and Education Part of your personal injury compensation comes from the earning potential you would have had if you weren’t injured. So, if a 35-year- old surgeon experienced a debilitating hand injury, their potential income is factored into the compensation amount. Given the advanced level of their degree, the high earning potential of their career, and their young age, they would likely receive sizable compensation. On the other end of the spectrum, a 75-year-old retiree with no college degree wouldn’t lose much income — Social Security and pensions are not included in wrongful death cases — so the
Spooky City Regulations Halloween Laws Across the U.S. Halloween can be a mischievous holiday. The most innocent of us reserve it for backyard parties and trick-or-treating, but some like to get a little rowdier than others. That’s exactly why various city councils across the U.S. have passed some seemingly unusual laws to regulate spooky festivities. Rehoboth Beach, Delaware: No Sunday Trick-or-Treating If Halloween falls on a Sunday, children in Rehoboth Beach are required to trick-or-treat the night before. The explanation in the city code is simple, but ambiguous: to prevent children and their guardians from going door to door on Sunday evenings. Rehoboth Beach law also forbids children from roaming the streets on Halloween “with the intent to cause trouble,” but what exactly that means is ambiguous as well. Hollywood, California: No Silly String The Los Angeles City Council has banned Silly String and all other brands of aerosol string from use on Halloween in the Hollywood area. From
midnight on Oct. 31 until noon on Nov. 1, no one is allowed to spray, sell, or distribute Silly String in public locations.
Use of Silly String got so popular in the city on Halloween that the mess left behind became
a strain on sanitation workers, and the city sympathized with them. Belleville, Illinois: No 8th Graders Trick-or-treating is most often viewed as an activity reserved for younger
Spooky Strawberry Ghosts
generations, but how do you determine what age is “too old” for this type of generally good-natured fun? Well, the city of Belleville settled the ambiguity by passing a law restricting teenagers who are past the eighth grade — generally older than 13 — from going door to door on Halloween. Walnut, California: No Masks Without Permits In a simpler time, there was no paperwork required to celebrate Halloween to the fullest. But in the city of Walnut, no one can wear a mask or other disguise on public streets without a permit from the sheriff. The law doesn’t specify any exceptions, so residents are left to assume that everyone from age 5 to 100 must abide. Whatever your Halloween celebrations might look like this year, it’s important to have fun, but remember to abide by any rules or laws your city might have in place in an effort to keep its citizens safe.
2 • www.AttorneyShapiro.com
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