Practice Areas

Feb 26, 2021 - Personal Injury by Cross & Smith

Let an Experienced Tuscaloosa Personal Injury Attorney Help If you’ve been injured due to a pool-related injury in Alabama, then you may have a right to sue and recover damages from the pool owner.  Swimming pool injuries are common, but few plaintiffs understand how liability works in this context.  Let’s take a closer look.

Feb 12, 2021 - Personal Injury by Cross & Smith

Work With an Experienced Tuscaloosa Injury Attorney  In Alabama, if you’ve been injured due to third-party criminal activity on another’s property (such as a retail store), then you can sue the property owner for damages based on an inadequate security claim.

Jan 29, 2021 - Car Accidents by Cross & Smith

Work With a Tuscaloosa Auto Accident Attorney Defective tires can lead to serious car accident injuries. For example, a defective tire could explode at an inopportune moment or could be imbalanced (due to an air leak), making you lose control and crash. If you’ve been injured in an auto accident due to a defective tire, then Alabama law may give you a right of action against the manufacturer (and potentially against other parties, too).  However, it can be difficult to understand how defective tire liability works, so let’s take a brief look at some of the basics.

Jan 15, 2021 - Workers' Compensation/Work Injury by Cross & Smith

An Experienced Tuscaloosa Work Injury Lawyer Can Help In the workplace, not all injuries are caused by “accident.” In fact, it’s not altogether uncommon for a worker to be injured due to a physical attack engaged by either a co-worker or a customer. Our Tuscaloosa work injury lawyer knows that the injured worker may have a right of action under Alabama law to sue and recover damages under these circumstances.

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 […]

Nov 30, 2020 - Workers' Compensation/Work Injury by Cross & Smith

Let an Experienced Tuscaloosa Workers’ Compensation Attorney Help Workplace injuries are common.  In Alabama, employees who suffer workplace injuries may be entitled to workers’ compensation, which can cover their health expenses, but workers’ compensation claims are often denied — that can put the employee in a financially and emotionally vulnerable situation. If you would like to get in touch with an experienced Tuscaloosa workers’ compensation attorney, we encourage you to contact Cross & Smith to schedule a free consultation regarding your case.  Call us at 877-791-0618 or send us a message online today. Here at Cross & Smith, our team has decades of experience working with personal injury claimants, including those who have been injured in a work setting.  We understand how best to navigate the challenges of a workers’ compensation-related dispute, and what is necessary to secure the maximum compensation for our clients (under the circumstances). For now, let’s take a brief look at some of the common reasons behind a workers’ compensation claim denial.  It’s worth noting that if your claim is denied, you may be entitled to challenge the adverse decision and potentially sue to recover benefits. Failure to Notify Employer in a Timely Manner In Alabama, notice of the accident and injury must be given to the employer within five days of its occurrence.  This is a rather short time period, so it’s important not to delay before getting in contact with a Tuscaloosa workers’ compensation attorney who can manage the procedural requirements in a timely […]

Oct 30, 2020 - Workers' Compensation/Work Injury by Cross & Smith

Seek Help From an Experienced Tuscaloosa Work Injury Lawyer Workers’ compensation is a valuable option for recovery, providing a range of benefits to employees who suffer a work-related injury or illness.  These workers’ compensation benefits may include medical expenses (from diagnostic costs to treatment and physical therapy), wage loss, and even disability benefits depending on the severity of the injury. Many would-be claimants aren’t quite sure whether they’re eligible to make a claim for workers’ compensation benefits, however.  For the sake of clarification, let’s take a brief look. What Determines Eligibility? In the state of Alabama, the law requires (generally speaking) that employers with five or more employees — full-time or part-time — provide workers’ compensation coverage.  It’s worth noting, however, that an employer with fewer employees may have still voluntarily chosen to acquire workers’ compensation coverage, so be sure to check if coverage is available for your claim. If your employee has acquired workers’ compensation coverage, then you’ll have to evaluate whether the suffered injury occurred due to an employment-related accident — whether or not it was caused by another’s negligence.  For example, even if the accident is not necessarily your employer’s fault (i.e., an earthquake causes a box to shift slightly and fall on your foot, fracturing your toes), workers’ compensation claim may provide benefits. Critically, the accident must be linked to your employment activity.  In other words, it must have occurred within the “course and scope” of your employment.  On-site activity is almost always considered within the […]

Oct 16, 2020 - Workers' Compensation/Work Injury by Cross & Smith

Experienced Workers’ Compensation Attorney in Tuscaloosa, AL Workers’ compensation claims are often associated with equipment-related accidents on a job site — for example, a warehouse worker getting injured by falling storage boxes, or a lab worker getting burned by loose chemicals. In truth, however, many injuries occurring in the workplace are linked to job site violence. If you’ve been injured due to having been willfully assaulted by a colleague, contractor, or other individuals in the workplace, then you may be entitled to submit a workers’ compensation claim for benefits to cover those losses. Let’s take a closer look. Assault is Covered, But Only If There Is an Employment-Related Cause In Alabama, an intentional assault by a co-worker (or anyone else, in fact) is considered an accident for the purpose of workers’ compensation coverage, so long as the assault was motivated by an employment-related issue, and not personal ill will. How does this work? Suppose that you are attacked by a co-worker, who fractures your nose and ribs. In Example A, the co-worker attacked you because he was under the impression that you had insulted his family.  This would not give rise to workers’ compensation benefits, as the attack was motivated by a personal issue — not an employment-related one. In Example B, however, the co-worker attacked you because he was upset that you had signed up for extra shifts, thus taking up some slots that he would’ve signed up for to earn extra pocket money.  The co-worker’s attack could be […]

Sep 30, 2020 - Personal Injury by Cross & Smith

Let Our Experienced Tuscaloosa Injury Attorney Help If you are on another’s property and were injured due to a criminal attack by a third-party, then Alabama law may entitle you to sue and recover damages from the property owner or possessor.  After all, you may be able to assert that the defendant is liable for negligent security — for failing to implement property safety measures to protect visitors from third-party criminal activity. Negligent security claims are somewhat non-standard, so let’s clarify with a basic introduction to how they work. How a Negligent Security Claim Works — Foreseeability Negligent security claims are a subcategory of premises liability claims.  In essence, a defendant-landlord (or any other party “possessing” and “controlling” a given property) has a responsibility to maintain given premises in a reasonably safe condition for visitors.  If a visitor is injured due to a dangerous condition of the property, then the defendant could be held liable for failing to correct the hazard, or for failing to warn the visitor about the hazard. Where the situation can get confusing is third-party criminal activity. Generally, there is no duty on a defendant — in the premises liability context — to protect visitors from third-party criminal activity, such as a battery or a mugging.  However, a duty to take action (by taking steps to minimize such risks) will be imposed in circumstances where the third-party criminal activity was foreseeable. The issue of foreseeability is central to the plaintiff presenting a successful negligent security claim.  […]