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August 2017 - Legal Snapshot: Summertime Blues by The Law Office of David S. Adams

A Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI) can result from a shaking or strong rotation of the head, as with Shaken Baby Syndrome, or by rotational forces, such as with a car accident.

Tax time has come and gone another year. Income taxes owed (either federal or state) can be discharged in a bankruptcy if...

Slip and fall cases are very tough in Kansas as there is no recovery unless the property owner was more than 50% at fault for the fall. Even when a store has a slippery condition on the floor, if a jury finds both parties 50% at fault for the fall, there is no recovery. Missouri does not have this threshold.

A court-imposed fine or penalty is normally not dischargeable in bankruptcy unless it is considered "pecuniary in nature." A recent federal court has found that incarceration costs imposed on a criminal defendant are pecuniary and thus are dischargeable in bankruptcy.

Generally, Kansas has a two-year statute of limitations on making a claim for personal injury damages. This period can stretch to five years if the claim arises from an uninsured motorist causing the injury.

A suspended driver’s license can be reinstated after a bankruptcy filing if the suspension arose because of unpaid damages from an accident.

Income taxes are generally dischargeable in a chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy if they are more than three years old (as determined by the April 15 date they were due).

Most recoveries in a personal injury case (medical expenses and pain/suffering) are not taxable to the injured person who gets a recovery.

Many good people do everything they can to downplay how hurt they are after an auto accident. Adrenaline at the time of an accident does a good part of the initial work, and thereafter many just try to “suck it up” and hope their pain gets better without seeking treatment.