Dog Bites | InjuryBoard Oklahoma City

I was recently reading “West’s Jury Verdicts – Oklahoma Reports” when I came across a reported settlement by what I assume is State Farm in a dog bite incident. Basically, a minor was bitten by a...

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Okla. Stat. Tit 4 § 42.2 basically defines when you can recover for a dog bite on the dog owners property and when you can recover for a dog bite in a public place. The statute reads as follows: "a person shall be considered to be lawfully upon the private property of the owner of a dog when he or she is on the property in the performance of any duty imposed upon the person by the laws of...

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I just settled a dog bite case today. I had some good facts working for my case and some bad facts. The bad facts were simply it took forever to find the owner of the dog as my client tried to clean his wound's himself and finally gave up and went to the doctor. Only after going to the doctor did he call animal control. Luckily we found the dog but I thought I would write some pointers on...

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Oklahoma dog bite laws are clear and explicitly stated Okla. Stat. Tit 4 § 42.1. Section 42.1 states that the owner or owners of any dog shall be liable for damages to the full amount of any damages sustained when his dog, without provocation, bites or injures any person while such person is in or on a place where he has a lawful right to be.What does that mean? Well it practically means if...

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Oklahoma is a strict liability state for dog bites against the owner of the dog if you are able to prove ownership and that the dog actually bit someone. Strict liability may seem easy to prove, but when insurance companies are involved it is not always so ease. I'm going to write a short three part series explaining the basic principles of dog bite law in Oklahoma. In the coming days I will...

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A recent comprehensive study of dog attack injuries revealed that dogs bite approximately 4.7 million Americans every year. Of these, about 800,000 dog bite victims require medical attention. Each year, 1.8% of the U.S. population is bitten by a dog. One out of every six of the dog bite victims has to seek medical care because of an attack. Tragically, almost half of all dog bite victims are...

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I was discussing tort reform with a friend today and I heard my favorite term, Jackpot Justice. Of course I convinced my friend of the error of his ways and the utter fallacy of the tort reform movement. However, I got to thinking, what is Jackpot Justice. I better add a disclaimer, after reading this, this is truly a late night rant against the rhetoric of politicians.Now understand one...

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I just recieved one of those calls that every attorney fears. A potential client calls telling me how his daughter was hurt seriously in an accident and that he has been unsuccessfully trying to deal with the insurance company for a long time. He stated his daughter had numerous medical bills and needed an attorney. He told me she had back surgery and permanent injuries. For those of us in...

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Minors in Oklahoma cannot initiate a lawsuit. When a minor, for example, has an auto accident claim that requires litigation, the lawsuit is brought by the minor's parents. The parents, in the context of litigation, are referred to and named in the lawsuit as "next friend." At times, a guardian must be appointed and approved by a court if the parents are not alive or do not have the capacity...

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Dog Bite cases are becoming more and more common in our practice. People often do not understand that if your bitten by a dog, you have a legal recourse. People carry home owners insurance for these specific types of incidents. Don't let insurance companies get away with paying nothing for your injuries.

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I've noticed recently a prevelance of dog bite cases. I've written before about the need to retain counsel to allow one to get the appropriate amount of compensation for their injuries, but I feel I neglected to tell the human side of it and the need to hold those responsible for harboring and/or allowing dangerous dogs to run free. I recently began working on a dog bite case where a three...

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