Each year, over 2 million German citizens visit the United States of America, along with over 400,000 Swiss citizens, 300,000 Belgian citizens, 200,000 Austrian citizens, and many thousands of other citizens of European Union countries. The vast majority of these vacation and business visitors have a safe and memorable stay, enjoying the weather, hospitality, and vast diversity that is America. Unfortunately for others, their experience results in life altering injuries, permanent disability, or even death.
If you are seriously injured, or have a loved one who dies, while visiting the United States, our experienced personal injury attorneys at Urban Thier & Federer can help you. With offices in the USA and Europe, we are uniquely positioned to work with you to secure medical records, testimony, and other evidence in both Europe and the USA. Simultaneously, having handled many 100s of active lawsuits, we are very experienced in navigating you through the USA legal system and aggressively representing your interests in the United States federal and state courts to ensure you receive the compensation and justice to which you are entitled.
Most cases are handled on a contingency/No Win No Fee basis. This means that if we agree to accept your case (which is done via a written Legal Representation Agreement), we will advance case-related costs and our team is paid from any actual recovery we achieve on your behalf. In other words, our compensation is based on a percentage of funds actually recovered on your behalf. If we fail to recover funds, you owe us nothing and we write off the costs we advance. As a result, you can rest assured that our legal team’s interests and goals are the same as yours – to ensure the maximum compensation for your injuries and loss.
Why is it so important to hire an international legal team if my case involves an injury or death in the United States?
We are not aware of any other law firm with offices in the United States and Europe which has handled as many international injury or death cases as Urban Thier & Federer. Most United States-based firms do not have German speaking attorneys and staff. Even more importantly, most United States-based firms do not have the experience to secure medical and billing records from European based medical and other healthcare providers. With our experience and offices in Europe, we are able to collect the necessary evidence to build your case. This is especially important because most of our European based clients wish to return home as soon as possible after an injury. As such, they receive the majority of their healthcare treatment and rehabilitation in Europe.
We work to settle or otherwise resolve each case without the need for filing a lawsuit. However, if necessary, we will file a lawsuit on your behalf and, as the case may require, work with colleagues in the local area in the United States where the accident occurred. We find that this approach of working as a team, with one legal representation agreement/contract covering all attorneys and colleagues involved in the case, is in the best interest of the client and helps ensure the best result given the law and facts applicable to any given case. It is also important to note that each state within the United States of America has its own laws, own Statute of Limitations (time limit for bringing a lawsuit), and other local factors, which is why we work with colleagues, as needed, who are experienced in litigating cases within the local courts.
However, the basic steps for any injury or death case in the United States courts are similar. These steps are the filing of the lawsuit with the proper court, the defendant’s response to the lawsuit, a discovery phase (where the parties to the lawsuit exchange information and documents), mediation (where a court appointed mediator leads a video conference with the parties and attorneys to attempt to reach a settlement of the case), and then, if the case is one of the very small percentage of cases that does not settle, the trial.
Examples of personal injury and death cases suffered by European resident tourists visiting the United States
- Automobile and motorcycle accidents are some of the most common causes of significant personal injury or death. We encourage all visitors from Europe to the United States, whether vacationing or on business, to purchase the extra insurance coverages, including uninsured and underinsured motorist insurance coverage (which may be included under Liability Insurance Supplement or other liability insurance) offered with your rental. These insurance coverages may protect you if you cause an accident and may also provide you additional avenues for recovery if someone is at fault for an accident that causes injury or death.
- Negligent security incidents, such as assaults, robberies, murders, rapes, and other violent crimes committed on hotel, resort, and other business premises against guests and other business invitees, are another cause of significant personal injury or death.
- Premises liability cases are another common cause of significant personal injury or death. These include slips, trips and falls, whether on public or private property, including doorways, sidewalks, curbs, hotels, etc. These also include falling objects, wet floors, defective furnishings, and even bed bug and other infestations. Also see these related articles on premises liability – https://www.urbanthier.com/blog/2021/05/does-premises-liability-include-violent-crimes/ https://www.urbanthier.com/blog/2021/09/understanding-fault-when-a-guest-suffers-an-injury-at-a-hotel/
- Also see this related article on injuries – https://www.urbanthier.com/blog/2023/01/most-common-ways-people-are-injured-while-traveling-in-the-united-states/
What do I do if I am injured or a loved one dies while visiting the United States of America?
If you are injured, or a loved one dies, while visiting the United States, Urban Thier & Federer can help you. The first step is to immediately contact us via our Contact Us form, Chat Assistant or by calling our office.
We will immediately start gathering data about your specific matter to promptly determine if we can be of assistance. We make every effort to gather all supporting information, pictures, videos, medical records and other evidence that supports your case. We encourage anyone who is injured, or has a loved one die, while visiting the United States to make every effort to take pictures and videos of the scene and all injuries, to collect and keep copies of all relevant documents (medical records, accident reports, rental car contracts, receipts, tickets, etc.), and otherwise document the who, what, where, when and how relevant to your case. This information can be critically important to building a strong case.
Also see this related article on what to do – https://www.urbanthier.com/blog/2022/11/how-to-pursue-legal-action-if-i-am-injured-while-traveling-in-the-united-states/
This article and this website are for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This information provided should not be used as a substitute for obtaining legal advice from an attorney licensed or authorized to practice in your jurisdiction. You should always consult a suitably qualified attorney regarding any specific legal problem or matter and not rely on the content of this article. Nothing on this site is intended to create an attorney-client relationship and nothing posted constitutes legal advice. We cannot guarantee that the information is accurate, complete or up to date.