Legal Question in Personal Injury in North Carolina

Re: Dog Bite

You (the animal owner) would be civilly liable only if the dog had some "dangerous propensity." As a general matter, if the dog had not attacked before, you could not be liable. The general test/rule in NC has been stated as follows, "A person injured by a domestic animal, in order to recover damages, must show two essential facts: (1) The animal inflicting the injury must be dangerous, vicious, mischievous or ferocious, or one termed in the law as possessing a vicious propensity. (2) The owner must have actual or constructive knowledge of the vicious propensity, character and habits of the animal." Based on the facts provided, the technician would not have a case. As for the fact that you were not initially given notice of this, I personally give this very little weight. A person may have many reasons for not reporting the incident immediately. If the tech says that he was bitten, and you have no positive evidence to the contrary, he will convince a judge/jury/insurance company about that. As for whether to advise the tech's lawyer of your liability carrier, that's a judgment call. If you do not, however, he/she might have to sue you to get that. (I have actually seen that very thing happen in a dog bite case.) My strong suggestion would be to forward the letter to your local insurance agent, and perhaps directly to the insurer. If you are sued, they will hire a lawyer for you. You have little or nothing to gain by hiring your own lawyer, unless perhaps you want to pay them directly to settle the claim, which is strongly sounds like you do not want to do. (As a partial aside, the tech probably has a workers compensation claim, but I won't go into those technicalities...) You may of course consult a lawyer. And be careful what you disclose/say to the tech and/or his lawyer.