Meet your host:
 Attorney Kenneth Phillips is the author of this web site. He has a unique law practice: he represents only people who have been bitten by a dog.
His clients include children and adults throughout the United States.
Mr. Phillips welcomes E-mail from visitors to this website, especially dog bite victims and their families. He responds personally and answers questions for free. Click here to write to him and receive his personal reply within hours (his E-mail address is kphillips@dogbitelaw.com). Reporters seeking interviews or information are welcome to click here.
Mr. Phillips is widely recognized as the nation's leading authority on dog bite law. A frequent guest on CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, MS-NBC, Fox News Channel, and Court TV, he has been called "the dog bite king" (Today Show and Lawyers Weekly), "a leading expert in dog bite law" (Good Housekeeping), and "the nation's best known practitioner of terrier torts" (Los Angeles Times).
Find out more about him at Meet Kenneth Phillips. For announcements about his own cases and the work flow at his law office, go to Kenneth Phillips on Twitter.
Overview of Dog Bite Law :
American dog bite law consists of civil and criminal law, found in state statutes, county and city ordinances, and court decisions. The laws vary widely among jurisdictions.
The key issue in a dog bite case is the extent to which the jurisdiction follows the old English "one bite rule." This ancient law shields a dog owner or harborer from liability, civilly and criminally, until he has a certain degree of knowledge that his dog is dangerous or vicious. When he has this knowledge, however, criminal laws may impose serious consequences on the dog owner or harborer, such as jail time or a fine, animal control laws may impose enthanasia or conditions for retaining the dog, and the civil justice system makes the owner or harborer strictly liable for all losses and damages resulting from the bite.
Twenty-eight states (the "strict liability states") and the Distrcit of Columbia have statutes which either eliminate or substantially modify the one-bite rule, making dog owners (and sometimes harborers and keepers) civilly liable for all or most dog bites as long as the victim neither trespassed nor provoked the dog. In some states, liability is automatic, while in others there are conditions for or limitations upon it. Likewise, criminal laws and animal control laws may impose consequences upon the dog and its owner or harborer in a number of situations where the dog did not previously display viciousness toward people.
Eighteen states (the "one bite states") do not have dog bite statutes; these states follow the one bite rule, as do 4 other states (the "mixed dog bite statute states") have that dog bite statutes which essentially incorporate the one bite rule.
Whether or not a state follows the one bite rule, liability can result from the negligent handling or confinement of a dog, or the violation of a leash law or other animal control law intended to protect against bodily injury to people. Injuries caused by negligence make a dog owner, harborer or keeper liable in almost every state. Furthermore, recent court decisions have imposed liability on animal control departments and related public entities which failed to take action against dangerous dogs.
To learn more about the civil laws, start at Legal Rights of Dog Bite Victims in the USA and from there click on the link to your state. For criminal laws, go to Dangerous and Vicious Dogs. For model laws that create a fair balance between the rights of the community and dog owners, see Model Dog Bite Laws.
To help decide what to do after a dog bite, read Does an Adult Need a Lawyer for a Dog Bite Claim? or Should Parents Get a Lawyer for Their Injured Child?
To learn the statistics and how to prevent dog bites, go to the list of topics in For Journalists, Lawmakers and Academics.
Search the Dog Bite Law Website :
Try the Index, the Glossary, or Google Search:
|
|
The Dog Bite Law Bookstore :
What To Do If Your Dog Is Injured Or Killed
by Attorney Kenneth Phillips is a legal self-help book that tells a dog owner how to get reimbursed for vet bills,
and compensated for your anguish when your dog is wrongfully injured or killed.
Download immediately and use today.
|
Pleadings, interrogatories, admissions, document production, a 50-topic deposition outline, and much more.
Save hours of work with Mr. Phillips'
Dog Bite Litigation Forms.
Only for plaintiffs' lawyers. Good in all states. Cheaper than the cost of typing them.
Download immediately and use today.
|
Tips and tricks that cannot be found anywhere else.
Anatomy of a Dog Bite Case
is a video of Mr. Phillips' 2-1/2 hour seminar for plaintiffs' lawyers.
Learn strategies and tactics, the new causes of action, how to overcome all of the common defenses,
how to settle your case, and more. Inexpensive. Good in all states.
|
Avoiding Liability When You Train,
Shelter or Adopt Out is an all-in-one self-help package for trainers, rescue groups, and shelters. Includes ready-to-use legal documents by Mr. Phillips, and his 1-1/2 hour seminar explaining everything in plain, simple language. The Q&A sessions on this DVD are fun and illuminating. Prevent trouble before it begins!
|
|
 If you have a valid case but it's not "big enough" for a lawyer, the $1 Dog Bite Forms are for you. Attorney Kenneth Phillips wrote "fill-in-the-blanks" letters and forms to help the dog bite victim get the compensation he or she deserves. Powerful self-help for only $1 per form. Buy just what you need. New ones are being added every week, by request.
|
In the news:
Persons killed by dogs in January 2010: In the USA, two people have been killed by dogs this month.
On January 11, 2010, Omar Martinez, 3, was killed by a pit bull in his backyard in Apple Valley, California, a strict liability statute state.
On January 17, 2010, Johnny Wilson, 56, a resident of Chicago, Illinois, was killed in his own home by pit bulls being raised by his daughter. Illinois is a strict liability state.
Read The Dog Bite Law Blog for information and commentary on recent death cases, plus updates on dog owner prosecutions and other legal news pertaining to dog ownership.
The death count: The USA has sustained two fatal dog attacks in 2010. There were 33 in 2007, 23 in 2008, and 33 in 2009. For details (including a month-by-month breakdown of canine homicides since July 2006) see Dangerous and Vicious Dogs. For Attorney Kenneth Phillips' commentaries about "canine homicides" and related issues, go to The Dog Bite Law Blog.
 Abolish the "one bite rule" and prevent dog bites: In 2007 and 2008, there were 29 canine homicides in the 22 states that either do not have a dog bite statute, or have one that incorporates the one bite rule. (See the breakdown of fatalities and state laws at Dog Bite Statistics.)
By contrast, the same period saw only 27 fatal attacks in the other 28 states, which are the ones that have rejected the one bite rule in whole or in significant part. (To see which states have which laws, see Legal Rights of Dog Bite Victims.)
In other words, the states that do not impose strict liability have more fatal dog attacks. That statistic supports the view that the one bite rule needs to be abolished in the USA. This old English law demands little or no vigilance on the part of dog owners. A single dog owner can own one biting dog after another, without fear of civil liability, because every dog gets that one free bite, mauling or killing. (To learn more about the deadly one bite rule, see The One Bite Rule.)
Twenty-eight American states and the District of Columbia have rejected the one bite rule in whole or part because its primary effect in modern times is to prevent dog bite victims from making insurance claims for anything more than medical expenses. Dog bites are covered by liability insurance, such as homeowners, renters and some umbrella insurance policies, but the victim still must prove that his claim rests on legal grounds. The one bite rule makes this difficult or impossible in many cases, and therefore benefits insurance companies at the expense of the injured, who are mostly children.
There should be no right to bite. The one bite rule should be rejected in every state and country. Children in one bite states like Texas, North Carolina and Maryland are entitled to the same rights as kids in strict liability states.
Famous dog bite cases: The Diane Whipple case (People v. Knoller). The Lilian Stiles case (Texas v. Jose Hernandez). For more news and opinion: Read the "editorial section" of Dog Bite Law. Hard-hitting and opinionated, it covers the daily news about dogs (from killings of humans, to cruelty, to new and sometimes terrible laws for dog owners), and presents Attorney Kenneth Phillips' brutally incisive opinions about laws, mistakes and moral issues involving dogs.
Tip of the month:
For January 2010: Animal control authorities and related public entities may be held liable for failing to confiscate dangerous and wild dogs that eventually injure people. Such cases are rare but there is an emerging trend to hold these agencies accountable under a growing set of circumstances.
|
Dog Bite Litigation Forms
Here are some of the most controversial and important cases and issues in dog bite law. These topics are for students in high school, college or law school who wish to write about dogs and the law. 
