blog | Lane Brown, LLC

Are You Being Informed About the Progress of Your Child’s Sex Abuse Case?

It was very difficult for your family to come forward about a case of child sexual abuse, and you’ve been waiting as patiently as you can for updates about the legal process. If your attorney isn’t keeping you informed about the case, responding to your calls, or explaining the current situation in language you understand, it may be time to start demanding answers. After the trauma of speaking up, silence from a trusted ally can really hurt.

Parents Need Clear Communication From Their Attorneys About Child Sex Abuse Cases

While there isn’t always any new news for your attorney to report, you can’t make decisions for your family or move ahead if you never know what is going on. Child sex abuse cases are both stressful and sensitive, and they can last for many months…sometimes even years. The attorney you work with to help your child through the legal process should understand the difficulty of your family’s experience and always make keeping you informed a priority, including:

What the current status of your family’s case is
What that means for you in simple, straightforward terms
What to expect next from the legal process
What you and your family should be doing or preparing for
What the best-case and worst-case scenarios are in your situation

We understand that it isn’t easy to talk about the sexual abuse of a child or know whom to trust with your concerns. If you need free and confidential answers to your questions, our legal team is ready to speak with you at 312-332-1400.

Insurance Companies Don’t Always Act Reasonably When Working With Truck Accident Victims

You’re angry about how the truck accident happened. You’re in pain from your injuries. You’re worried about how much your medical care costs and how long you’ve been unable to go back to work. Your life feels like a mess, and you’re hardly looking forward to fighting with the insurance company for the compensation you deserve—but you know it’s the only way to hold a negligent company responsible for the accident and get the financial help you need. So you decide you’re just going to put your emotions aside, go through the formal steps, and be as reasonable as possible while you wait for a decision from the insurance company.

Unfortunately, it’s not always enough.

How Insurance Companies’ Unreasonable Behavior Becomes a Weapon Against You

When people get very seriously hurt in accidents with commercial trucks, insurance companies and the trucking companies they work with have a lot to lose. Although it seems to clear to you that the driver or company was to blame for what happened, it’s unlikely that the insurance company will simply pay you the full value of your claim and send you on your way. It’s not fair, but most victims and their families have to fight for the financial help they deserve—and being reasonable is only one part of the burden.

While it’s true that you should always be polite when speaking with representatives of the insurance company or trucking company, you shouldn’t get too comfortable. It is the insurance company’s job to pay you as little as possible for your injury claim. And while you should be realistic and reasonable about what you expect from a claim, you shouldn’t be too quick to accept the first settlement or assume you’re being told the whole story about your rights.

Being polite and doing everything the insurance company wants you to do probably won’t help you get the results you need from a truck accident case. Learn more about your rights and how to protect yourself by contacting our law office at 312-332-1400.

Sexual Abusers Who Target Minors Manipulate the Trust of Adults and Children

Although a lot of people believe they can spot a sexual abuser or “just know” that someone is a potential threat to children, the truth is that many sexual abusers are seemingly normal people who are much-loved or well-respected members of the community. In fact, many predators and abusers rely on building a sense of trust and authority with a family before abusing a child, and families can be shocked to find out the truth—even to the point of disbelieving a child’s allegations.

Sexual abusers may try to manipulate a community’s trust and gain unsupervised access to a child by:

Relying on a position of authority in an organization or community
Offering to help out at childcare facilities or volunteer time at children’s programs
Building a sense of rapport or trust with parents
Showering a child with special gifts and attention

Although you may have met and liked the teachers, priests, volunteers, and other care providers who interact with your child, you can’t always rely on how a person appears or your “gut feeling” about him or her. Instead, you should insist on knowing how organizations screen and supervise the people who interact with vulnerable children and make sure that appropriate steps have been taken to keep your child safe.

If you believe your child may have been sexually abused by a trusted authority figure, we understand you may be overwhelmed—but you are not helpless. Get answers and learn more about your family’s rights by contacting our law office at 312-332-1400 for help.

Children Are Vulnerable to Long-Term Physical and Emotional Difficulties After a Truck Wreck

A child’s mind and body are still developing, so an impact with a heavy commercial truck at a young age can have a long-term effect on his or her wellbeing. While the injuries are not always visible or obvious immediately after the wreck, a serious collision can leave “hidden” injuries that can cause problems as a child ages. This includes both:

Physical injuries. While a child’s body is more flexible than an adult’s body, it is also smaller and still developing. While children may be resilient in some respects, the impact of a truck accident can cause damage to bones, muscles, organs, and nerves in ways that aren’t easily detected or repaired. The effect an injury may have on a child’s physical health over time can be unpredictable, even when injuries seem relatively minor at first.
Emotional injuries. Being hit by an 18-wheeler is a terrifying experience for anyone, but it can be especially traumatic for children. The trauma of the accident, adjustment to their own injuries, and coming to terms with the injuries of family members can be very hard on kids—and these kinds of emotional injuries can persist long after physical injuries have healed.

Your family’s health is always your priority. Don’t hesitate to talk to your child’s doctor about follow-up care and immediately report any changes or concerns as your child recovers. If your family needs additional support and answers about your rights after a collision with tractor-trailer or commercial truck, you can also reach out to our experienced legal team at 312-332-1400 or toll-free at 312-332-1400.

Being Honest Can Help You Recover After a Serious Car Accident

If you have been fighting with another driver’s insurance company for payment of your medical bills and other expenses, you may be tempted to bend the truth a little—but don’t give in. Honesty is always the best policy in an injury claim, and that means being:

Honest about what happened. Do your best to recall the facts about what happened. If you think there may be details that could hurt your injury claim or paint you in a bad light, talk about your concerns with an experienced accident attorney.
Honest about your recovery. If you aren’t recovering as quickly as you like, you still need to be honest with your doctor, your family, and your attorney. Covering up difficulties or hiding facts about your recovery won’t help you get the treatment you need—or the compensation you deserve.
Honest about your chances of success. If you don’t have the evidence that you need to hold the other driver responsible, or if negligence didn’t play a part in your car accident, then you need to get the honest truth about whether or not you have a claim. This is why it is so important to review your case with your own attorney. Otherwise, you could be putting yourself and your family through a long, losing battle with the insurance company.

Lying—or even “bending” the truth—can wreck your injury claim and leave you with no options for recovery. However, while you should always be truthful about an accident and your injuries, insurance companies have a lot to lose and are notorious for twisting victims’ honest words and minimizing their claims.

If you have questions or need to discuss your concerns about an injury claim related to a serious traffic accident, reach out to our law office today at 312-332-1400.

Child Sexual Abuse Can Occur Online or Through a Smartphone

In today’s world, an overwhelming number of teenagers have personal cell phones or smartphones, and it’s even common for much younger children to have phones or tablets of their own.

Children have online access at home, at school, and on the go—and it’s incredibly difficult for parents to monitor every second their children spend typing, texting, searching, and communicating online. However, child sexual abusers have used the advances in technology to get closer to potential victims, and every parent should be aware of the risks. Here are some of the most common forms of sexual abuse that happen through the technology we all depend on:

“Sexting” or engaging in sexual roleplaying with a child or teen over the phone
Sending messages of an inappropriate sexual nature through social media, instant messengers, and other online forums
Engaging in sexual behavior on a webcam or live-streaming service while a child watches
Asking a child to undress or engage in sexual behavior on camera
Asking a child for sexual photographs or sending sexual photographs to a child
Sending inappropriate links or encouraging a child to look at online pornography sites, photographs, or videos
Purchasing gifts for the child through online “wish lists” in exchange for sexual behavior
Making sexual comments about a child’s photographs that are posted online

While good supervision and use of parental controls can help limit a child’s risk when using the phone or accessing the Internet, it’s difficult to monitor everything or know what to do if you suspect there is a problem. If you have questions about potential child sexual abuse, take steps to start getting answers today by reaching out to our office at 312-332-1400 or using the live chat service on this page.