Category: Legal Advice

Legal Advice

Can I sue if something goes wrong during LASIK surgery?

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LASIK eye surgery has become a popular choice for those seeking to reduce their dependence on glasses or contact lenses. While the procedure is generally safe and effective, complications can occur. This article explores the legal aspects of LASIK surgery and what options may be available if something goes wrong.

The Success Rate of LASIK

It’s important to note that LASIK surgery has a high success rate. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, over 90% of LASIK patients achieve 20/20 vision or better. However, like any medical procedure, there are inherent risks and potential complications.

Legal Grounds for a LASIK Lawsuit

If you experience complications after LASIK surgery, you may wonder if you have grounds for a lawsuit. The ability to sue successfully typically depends on proving three key elements:

Negligence: You must demonstrate that the laser eye surgeons failed to meet the standard of care expected in the medical community.
Causation: It’s necessary to establish a direct link between the surgeon’s negligence and your injury.
Damages: You need to show that you suffered actual harm as a result of the negligence.

Proving Negligence in LASIK Cases

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Legal Advice

The Facts About Adult Child Maintenance For Divorced Parents

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Whilst family lawyers may spend many hours working for clients with children under 18 concerning maintenance payments, it often comes as a shock to some clients when they are told by their family lawyers that maintenance payments can also be ordered by the Family Court for children over 18 years of age.

It is an assumption, not just in Australia, but in most countries that, when a child turns 18 they are considered an adult, and thus any child support or maintenance payments by the absent parent are no longer required to be paid. In fact, in Australia, they can end before a child turns 18 if, for example, the child marries, is adopted, or becomes financially self-sufficient.

However, as family law currently exists, an application can be made for “adult child maintenance”, and this is contained in the Family Law Act, Section 661. We must state at the outset that applications cannot be made simply because an adult child continues to live with one of their parents who happens to be divorced, but instead only when one of several specific circumstances exists.

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Legal Advice

How Dental Practices Can Avoid A Legal Minefield By Having A Privacy Policy

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How Dental Practices Can Avoid A Legal Minefield By Having A Privacy Policy

Most businesses require personal information and data from their clients and customers, and for dentists, reading this will apply to your patients. Not only will that data include the information that patients provide, such as their name, address and date of birth, but the subsequent information you add to their files regarding their oral health and treatments, many of which they will have paid for, so you may also have credit cards or bank details stored.

What all of that means, and in line with the relevant commercial law, which for dentists located in Australia is the 1998 Privacy Act, is that the storing and using of personal information must be done in a way that protects that data. Should you fail to protect the data and it is shared deliberately, in error, or due to a security breach, you and your dental business could face penalties.

Lawyers for Dental O So Gentle advised one of the ways you can ensure you comply with privacy law is for your dental business to have a privacy policy. This outlines what steps your business takes to protect data, what legitimate ways it can be used, and how you will handle privacy-related complaints. Read on, and we will explain further.

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Legal Advice

Ways To Prevent Your Landscaping Business From Being Taken To Court

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Ways To Prevent Your Landscaping Business From Being Taken To Court

Being taken to court is not a pleasant experience but when it is landscapers who are subject to legal action it can have ramifications that go as far as threatening the very existence of their landscaping business. The thought that the other party could be awarded a substantial financial settlement that could wipe out all their assets is enough to give most landscapers sleepless nights.

Before any landscaper reading this starts to panic, let us point out first of all that it is extremely rare for a landscaping business to be taken to court. Thankfully, in most cases, a resolution to a dispute can be made without the courts having to step in, and there are also mediation services that can help.

However, we are sure you would still like to avoid your landscaping business being involved in a lawsuit. Not only are there potential financial repercussions but a court case can generate negative publicity that is not helpful to your business in maintaining its reputation. So, if you would like to avoid legal action being taken against your landscaping business, here are some ways that can be achieved.

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Legal Advice

Terms And Conditions A Landscaping Business Should Have To Protect Itself

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Terms And Conditions A Landscaping Business Should Have To Protect Itself

For many landscapers, like those from martincuthbert.com.au who also have responsibility for running their business, there will be many financial and legal necessities that you would much rather not concern yourself with, but the sound running of your business requires you to. Thankfully, much of it can be passed to your accountant or commercial lawyer to deal with, nevertheless, you must still have a reasonable understanding of it all.

One aspect of the legal framework within which you operate is the contract between a client and your landscaping business. Again, this is best left to a legal expert to create the main template and then for you to enter the specifics you have agreed with your client relating to the landscaping work they require.

Within that contract, there must be terms and conditions which apply to any landscaping agreement you have with a client. As for what those terms and conditions should cover, we have outlined the main ones below which should appear on every contract for landscaping work you undertake.

Services

This will outline the landscaping services which you are going to be providing to the client under the contract agreed to. We recommend that you have these as specific as possible and in crystal clear language to prevent any chance of misunderstanding, especially given the fact that not all clients will be cognisant of all landscaping terminology.

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Legal Advice

5 Ways to Avoid Health and Legal Issues with Botox

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5 Ways to Avoid Health and Legal Issues with Botox

If you’ve been reading about a few different Botox legal issues in the media, you might be scared about trying these cosmetic injectables for yourself.

While it’s true that some people have had issues with it before, there are often circumstances leading to problems, such as inexperience, no qualifications, and fake products. If you want to reduce the risk of any health and legal issues with Botox, consider doing the following things.

Go to a Consultation

Going to a consultation for Botox is one of the best ways to know if the person you are getting Botox from is legitimate. The authorised nurse practitioner or medical doctor should explain the entire procedure to you in a consultation before you go ahead with it. This can be face to face or via video conference.

Before this consultation happens, write down any questions you have and ask about risks and complications. The more you know, the more confident you can be.

Look For Registration Information

For someone to legally give Botox injections, they have to be registered. Check out the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency’s website to determine if the person administering it is legally allowed to do so.

Once you’ve identified the registration information you’re looking for, you can ask about their experience levels. Most medical professionals won’t be offended if you ask them how many years they have been performing cosmetic injections.

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