How would I go about getting a lawyer for my injured brother? -

In Nome, Alaska one year ago, my brother was driving an ATV and was injured. He drove down a well known access road to the beach. The custodian for the property had recently put up a chain hooked to two beach logs to stop access on the property. The chain was NOT well marked. There were no No Trespassing signs. My brother drove over the chain, it lobbed one log out of the ground, the log flew 20 feet and crashed my brothers skull. He was medivaced to Anchorage, was in Intensive Care for a while then had to go to rehab also. He is not the same person. It was a miracle he survived with the injuries he sustained. I am hoping the owner of the property is accountable for gross negligence or something along those lines. Does anyone know the procedure to start a case or get lawyer? Also, my brother is low-income, so if I could find a pro-bono until settlement lawyer would be ideal.

You need to look in the yellow pages and hire a good personal injury lawyer. At common law, a property owner owed virtually no duties to a trespasser, except a duty to warn of any hidden or concealed dangers which are the result of the owner s activities on the land. That is, a trespasser was owed almost no duty. However, if a landowner places spring-guns, bear traps or other hidden devices on his property that he knows or should know may injure someone, he has liability for those injuries. Now going to the law in Alaska as it has recently changed, or so we are led to believe. Today a property owner s liability to others is not predicated upon the common law classifications of the status of the person entering upon the land (in other words as a trespasser, invitee, or licensee). Webb v. City and Borough of Sitka 561 P.2d 731, 733 (Alaska 1977). Today the rule has been adopted that , “A landowner *** ... *** must act as a reasonable person in maintaining his property in a reasonably safe condition in view of all the circumstances, including the likelihood of injury to others, the seriousness of the injury, and the burden on the respective parties of avoiding the risk.” The Alaska Supreme Court dictated 7 factors to be considered in a situation like this in a case called D. S. W. v. Fairbanks North Star Borough School Dist., 628 P.2d 554, 555 (Alaska 1981). To-wit: 1. The foreseeability of harm to the plaintiff, the degree of certainty that the plaintiff suffered injury, the closeness of the connection between the defendant s conduct and the injury suffered, 2. The moral blame attached to the defendant s conduct, 3. The policy of preventing future harm, 4. The extent of the burden to the defendant ---- 5. Against the consequences to the community; 6. Imposing a duty to exercise care; with resulting liability for breach, and 7. The availability, cost and prevalence of insurance for the risk involved. Taking the list above, if the owner of the property put up a chain, knowing that people use the road to the beach regularly, and knowing that some will encounter the chain; then it is probable that the issue could be brought before a jury to decide liability based in part on some of the factors above. Taken all of the above, you should have your brother hire a lawyer and sue the guy who failed to warn trespassers. Hope that answers your question.

Call the State Bar in Alaska and ask if they have an attorney referral service. They should be able to link you to a lawyer who handles your kind of case.

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