Dog Bite Law

The first things to do after being bitten

It is important to identify the animal that bit you, because if it is a stray and you cannot identify it, you're facing the possibility of having to submit to treatment for rabies, which can be painful. Also, if you were attacked by a dog or any wild animal being kept by a person, you probably are entitled to receive compensation from the animal's owner, and you might really need that compensation to pay your medical bills, reimburse you for lost income, pay for cosmetic surgery in the future, and help you overcome the pain and suffering from your injuries. (See Legal rights of a dog bite victim.)

After that, get medical attention. You will be in good company, because 1,000 Americans arrive in emergency rooms every day of the year because of dog bites alone! If you are wounded on the face, insist on treatment by a plastic surgeon because emergency room doctors are great at keeping people alive but not necessarily the best at making stitches and wounds look good. After that, be sure to follow the directions of the physician and take all the medications that are prescribed (except for the painkillers, which usually are at your discretion). You might also be ordered to stay out of the sun, use sun block, use scar reduction lotion, change bandages, report for follow up treatment, report for removal of stitches, massage the healing areas, etc. If so, do it!

The decision as to whether you need rabies shots must be left to your doctor. Shots are not always called for, because rabies may not be in your geographic area. Don't be alarmed if your physician tells you that you don't need this painful treatment.

If the dog owner is insured, you might get a call from an insurance company representative. You should ask him or her for the following information:

• Name of insurance company
• Address of his or her office
• Telephone number
• Claim number
• Name of the person who is insured
• The amount of money available to pay medical expenses (not everything, just medical expenses)

• Do not discuss money, payment of money, settlement, injury value or anything else involving money
• Do not set up an appointment
• Do not write a letter or a memo
• Do not permit yourself to be tape recorded
• Do not allow the victim to be photographed
• Do not discuss who is responsible
• Do not accept any money

Consider retaining an attorney who is experienced in dog bite cases. See below.

Steps to protect your rights

A dog bite victim needs to do the following things to protect his or her rights:

• Identify the dog. In an extremely serious case, this might entail obtaining and analyzing a DNA sample, which would require an attorney's involvement.

• Get the name and address of the owner of the dog, if possible. If you can, obtain the dog license information. 

• Get the name, address and telephone number of any potential witnesses.  You may have to return to the accident scene, and knock on the doors of nearby homes and businesses.  You also should revisit the scene of the accident several times at the same time at which the accident took place, because people may have a habit of going to the same places as part of their daily routine. 

• Take photos of all of your wounds, bruises and bloody clothing. (See Photography in dog bite cases.)

• If possible, obtain insurance information from the dog owner. (See How to find out whether the dog owner is insured.)

• If skin was lacerated or worse, or if the injury was to the face, or if the victim was a child, you can and should talk to a lawyer for free. To learn more about getting an attorney, see Does an Adult Need a Lawyer for a Dog Bite Claim? or Should Parents Get a Lawyer for Their Injured Child?

• Get your lawyer started while the facts are fresh! The facts of your claim have to be proved; the extent of your injuries have to be established. As obvious as the facts and injuries might be to you, they will not be obvious to an insurance adjuster sitting at a desk in an office building a few weeks or months after the attack. Furthermore, doctors are more interested in healing you than proving the nature and extent of your injuries to an insurance company, so the proper documentation must be requested from them at the proper times. Your attorney will get the necessary evidence and monitor your medical treatment, so that the insurance adjuster will understand exactly what happened, and will give you an adequate sum of money, if possible. 


• Retain your attorney prior to participating in any proceeding involving the dog! The laws of most cities, counties and states permit local authorities to determine whether a dog is dangerous and, if so, the fate of the dog. Often this is referred to as a "dangerous dog hearing," but it goes by other names as well. Because "dog court" procedures may unintentionally compromise the victim's rights, she should not communicate with animal control authorities until her lawyer reviews the city and county ordinances, obtains the department's commitment as to which laws and procedures they will be following, and is satisfied that the issues addressed below will be resolved fairly. If the victim receives a subpoena, her testimony is required, making it even more important to immediately consult with an attorney -- because a subpoena must be obeyed, to its letter. (See Dog bite victims need an attorney for "dog court.")

The victim must never do the following:

• Do not sign anything! Yes, you normally can sign the hospital admission paperwork (provided that you were not bitten in the hospital itself). However, sign nothing presented by any insurance company, the owner of the dog, or the landlord or other owner of the property where the attack took place. Do not write to, or make a report for, any insurance company, dog owner, or landlord or other property owner.
  

• Do not hesitate to consult an attorney! There are laws called "statutes of limitations." They say that you lose all of your rights unless you file a court case within a certain amount of time after sustaining a bodily injury. Therefore, call a lawyer as soon as possible. (See Beware of the statute of limitations!)

The dog bite victim's right to a lawyer

A dog bite victim may incur many different kinds of damages and losses, from medical bills and emotional damage, to loss of the opportunity to earn income in the future because of disfigurement. A victim may be entitled to recover these losses from another person and that person's insurance company, provided that the victim presents the necessary proof, first to the insurance company and then possibly in a court of law. There are two sets of laws the victim must abide by, namely those spelling out who is liable for the injuries and losses, and those imposing strict rules of evidence and procedure to establish that liability. 

Parents have special considerations when their kids are injured. Please read Should parents get a lawyer for their injured child?

An injured person and his or her family are not emotionally capable of vigorously enforcing their rights. The most important task they face is making sure the victim heals. In death cases, the family grieves; it does not gather evidence and prepare legal briefs. In cases short of death, the victim and his or her family must be optimistic, so the tendency is to minimize the suffering, even ignore it as much as possible. Nevertheless, it is there, and it may remain there for a long time -- permanently, if wounds turn into ugly scars. Therefore, a vigorous advocate is a necessity. 

An attorney with expertise in representing people with these injuries brings value to your claim. He or she has studied the effects of dog bite injuries, how to gather the evidence necessary to completely prove not only what happened in the past but also what the future effects will be, the practices and procedures of insurance companies when handling serious cases like these, and how to properly evaluate these cases to make sure that the victims receive what they deserve. An attorney with expertise has the ability to objectively evaluate both the strengths and the weaknesses of a claim. Furthermore, an attorney is the only person who can turn a claim into a lawsuit if you are not being treated fairly. Without the threat of a lawsuit, you are at the mercy of the insurance company. 

Furthermore, the procedures often followed by animal control departments in "dog court" hearings may unintentionally compromise the victim's rights. A victim and her family therefore should not communicate with animal control authorities until her lawyer reviews the city and county ordinances, obtains the department's commitment as to which laws and procedures they will be following, and is satisfied that the issues addressed elsewhere in Dog Bite Law will be resolved fairly. (See Dog Bite Victims Need an Attorney for "Dog Court.")

The risks of not retaining an attorney

Other people with similar injuries have retained attorneys to present their claims to that same insurance company. One thing that all those people have in common is an attitude of seriousness about what happened to them, and a driving desire to make sure they are treated fairly. The insurance company will pay the proper amount to those people, but not the ones who don't take the initial step of protecting their rights by retaining an attorney.

The person at the insurance company that you are dealing with (called the "adjuster") might well appear sincere and sympathetic -- a very, very nice person, a caring person. However, he or she has to report to other people you will never talk to: a supervisor, a claims examiner, a regional manager, and finally the corporate office. The adjuster is paid a salary and has a family. He or she wants to continue working for that company, and maybe get a raise and a promotion. None of that will be risked for you. 

Even if the adjuster wants to help you, because of some bond that you believe has developed between the two of you, you will not necessarily be treated fairly by the supervisor, claims examiner, regional manager, and corporate office. They don't know you. To them, you are nothing but a person without an attorney.

You are not dealing with the adjuster, you are dealing with a faceless corporation, and to that corporation you are nothing but a file, a liability, someone who wants money that otherwise would be distributed to the shareholders as profit.

If you do not retain an attorney, you are on your own, against all those people at the insurance company, and all of its lawyers. When was the last time that you heard a happy ending to that story?

You will NOT have to pay your lawyer "up front"  

Personal injury attorneys accept cases on a "no recovery, no fee" basis. In other words, the client does not pay his lawyer anything "up front." If and when money is recovered, the attorney receives a portion of it as his fee. This is called a "contingency fee," because receiving a fee is contingent (i.e., dependent) upon the success of the claim. 

The amount of the fee depends upon the prevailing practice in your geographic area. The usual fee for adults and children is 33 1/3% of the total amount recovered, rising to 40% if the case goes into litigation. About 98% of cases settle without the necessity of a trial. However, when the victim is a minor when the case settles (not when the incident occurred), some courts reduce the fee to 25%. 

In addition to providing services without an "up front" payment, personal injury lawyers use their own money to pay for the costs of making the claim, at least until there is a reasonable settlement offer. The client is not asked to contribute toward costs. At the conclusion of the case, the lawyer is reimbursed for whatever he expended on the direct costs of the case. Like the attorney's fee, reimbursement is contingent upon the success of the claim. However, the client might be required to pay costs if he refuses to accept a reasonable settlement offer which is recommended by his lawyer.

The costs of making a claim usually are relatively small, compared to the amount of money that will be obtained. In an average claim, they might come to between $1000 and $2000. However, cases that are being prepared for trial become very expensive -- tens of thousands of dollars. Fortunately only 2% of claims actually go to trial, so there is no significant risk of the costs "eating up" the recovery.

It should be noted that the contingency fee system is uniquely American and that it has been under attack in recent years. Because it enables ordinary citizens to obtain legal help, the corporate world -- insurance companies and other industries -- has been trying to pass laws to abolish or cripple it. These laws take several different forms, such as an arbitrary limit on the amount that a victim's attorney can charge. Note that only the victim's attorney would be subject to any limitation, while the insurance industry's lawyers would continue to not only charge their usual hourly rates but also rely upon the vast monetary coffers of their wealthy clients. The tort system exists for the benefit of ordinary people as opposed to the interests of the business world, and therefore the system and its key players (the victims and their attorneys) constantly suffer attacks and constantly must fight for their rights.

You will receive MORE money -- not less -- even after paying the legal fee

By not having an attorney, you will end up with less money, even though your lawyer will be paid from the settlement. This is because people without attorneys receive only 10% - 20% of the value of the claim (measured by the ultimate yardstick, namely the amount that a jury would award after a trial). In other words, the insurance company ends up keeping 80% - 90% of your money for itself.

With an attorney, however, you will receive more money because the insurance company has to pay 100% of the value of the claim -- not just 10% or 20% of it. This means that you will receive 67% of the value of the claim. The other 33% will go to your attorney, assuming his fee is that much. This 67% is obviously several times more than the "do-it-yourselfer's" 10% - 20%. (Remember also that with or without a lawyer, you also have to pay for costs.)

Cosmetic surgery in the future will NOT be covered by your health insurance

Some people do not realize that future surgery will be considered to be "cosmetic" and therefore will not be covered by their own health insurance. The only way to get those costs paid is to bring a claim right now against the dog owner or other liable person. Why should you have to pay for any of these costs out of your own pocket, years from today?

An experienced attorney knows how to make an insurance company pay for future surgery. Getting the necessary legal-medical report from a credible plastic surgeon is one of the things that your lawyer will be paying for. The cost of this kind of a report can be from $250 - $750, but an insurance company will not pay for future medical treatment without this documentation.

Your lawyer will help you to deal with the dog

You may or may not want to make sure that the dog owner is officially ordered to keep the dog muzzled, or in a dog run, or even to put the dog down. Often the decision is made by animal control, but frequently the authorities are focused on preventing animal cruelty, organized dog fights, or the violations of other animal health and safety laws. If the dog is a threat and you want to do something about it, consider the following possible remedies:

• A small claims court action, if the dog has destroyed property or has inflicted a very minor injury (i.e., no blood, no disability, little pain, no scar). This is something that you can do without an attorney.

• A complaint to the police, private patrol company, homeowners' association or landlord. In an appropriate case, a letter from your attorney will be taken more seriously.

• A report to animal control officials. This has to be done only by you, not your lawyer. However, it is uncommon for animal control departments to actually do something about a dangerous dog. Therefore, an attorney is often required for the purpose of prodding them into doing their job properly.

• Making an insurance claim will frequently will result in pressure upon the dog owner from the insurance company. The owner might be told that his insurance will be cancelled or coverage limited if he keeps the dog. Many times this is the most effective way of dealing with a dangerous dog.

• Grassroots citizen action, taken at the city council level. Dangerous dogs are a nationwide issue, and the containment of this growing problem is every city's concern. When a person suffers injury because of a dog, the elected city officials will listen and often will take action of some sort, if you speak up. The available remedies can range from their putting pressure on the animal control department, to the passage of tighter laws to control dangerous dogs. If you have an attorney to assist you with a proposal for action, you stand a good chance of changing things for the better in your community.

www.dogbitelaw.com and each of its sections and products, including Dog Bite Law, The Dog Bite Law Adviser, Dog Bite Litigation Forms, What To Do If Your Dog Is Injured Or Killed, Avoiding Liability When You Train, Shelter or Adopt-Out, Anatomy of a Dog Bite Case, and the foregoing text, are (c) 1999-2008 Kenneth M. Phillips. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part prohibited except where advance permission is granted in writing. Please read the disclaimer and our rules for linking and quoting. Reporters seeking interviews are welcome to click here.