Atlanta, Georgia Personal Injury Lawyer
Michigan bill would let motorists lower their auto insurance by choosing less medical coverage
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080429/mi_auto_insurance.html?.v=1&printer=1
Associated Press Writer David Eggert write today that some Michigan lawmakers are backing legislation that would let motorists save up to 16 percent on their auto insurance by choosing lower medical insurance coverage. Michigan is the only state to require unlimited personal injury protection benefits, which policyholders pay for through a $123 annual fee per vehicle.
$10 a month isn’t a bad amount of insurance to have unlimited medical coverage in the event of a catastrophic car wreck. However, legislation was introduced last week that would let motorists choose medical insurance coverage worth between $50,000 and $400,000, or continue paying for unlimited coverage through the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association, a fund that helps supports seriously injured accident victims.
Insurance officials argue that 95% of all medical claims stemming from auto accidents are for less than $50,000. Of course, if you are among the 5% that have serious injuries and no coverage, you can lose everything.
Michigan residents would end up footing the bill when motorists with too little medical coverage are hurt in serious car accidents. However, the insurance industry would benefit as these higher costs are shifted to patients' families, health care insurers and ultimately, taxpayers.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080429/mi_auto_insurance.html?.v=1&printer=1
Associated Press Writer David Eggert write today that some Michigan lawmakers are backing legislation that would let motorists save up to 16 percent on their auto insurance by choosing lower medical insurance coverage. Michigan is the only state to require unlimited personal injury protection benefits, which policyholders pay for through a $123 annual fee per vehicle.
$10 a month isn’t a bad amount of insurance to have unlimited medical coverage in the event of a catastrophic car wreck. However, legislation was introduced last week that would let motorists choose medical insurance coverage worth between $50,000 and $400,000, or continue paying for unlimited coverage through the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association, a fund that helps supports seriously injured accident victims.
Insurance officials argue that 95% of all medical claims stemming from auto accidents are for less than $50,000. Of course, if you are among the 5% that have serious injuries and no coverage, you can lose everything.
Michigan residents would end up footing the bill when motorists with too little medical coverage are hurt in serious car accidents. However, the insurance industry would benefit as these higher costs are shifted to patients' families, health care insurers and ultimately, taxpayers.
Labels: car accidents, damages, insurance
Some Vail Valley skiers seeking protection
After her 9-year-old son was sued, Eagle-Vail mom touts benefits of insurance
Reporter Steve Lynn
EAGLE COUNTY — Susan Swimm’s family would have had to pay $25,000 if she had not had insurance when her 9-year-old son, Scott Swimm, was sued in a ski crash.
Since the lawsuit, which is still in federal court, Susan Swimm has told a number of people about the value of personal liability insurance, she said.
“Everybody should know that they should have this policy,” said Susan Swimm, who lives in Eagle-Vail.
Since the Swimm’s case, more customers than usual have asked about whether they have enough personal liability coverage, which insures them in case of a ski accident, said James McGalliard, the Swimm’s insurance counselor and a partner at Alpine Insurance Agency in Edwards.
“It’s been such a high profile case that yeah, it’s really popped up on people’s radars,” McGalliard said.
The importance of insurance
Homeowner’s or renter’s insurance is known for covering people in fires or burglaries, but that insurance also includes personal liability, which covers everything from skiers at fault in ski crashes to homeowners if a pizza delivery man falls and hurts himself in their icy driveway.
Homeowner’s insurance is inexpensive relative to its benefits, insurance agents in the Vail Valley said. How much it costs each year depends on how much money and assets a person wants to insure.
Insurance agents rarely have had clients in the Vail Valley who have had claims made against them in skiing accidents, they said.
Michael Neff, of Michael Neff Agency Inc. in Avon, said he has only had one client who has had a personal liability claim made against them in 10 years — and it wasn’t a skiing accident. He hasn’t gotten an unusual number of calls from people about personal liability insurance lately.
“We’ve certainly had some people ask about it,” he said.
The insurance generally starts at $300,000 in coverage, and it pays for claims or legal fees and settlements in case of a lawsuit, he said.
If people have more money or assets to protect, they can buy more expensive “umbrella” coverage which insures them in $1-million increments, Neff said. Each increment generally costs $150 and up each year.
50 lawsuits filed annually
Insurance covers people who are “negligent” in ski crashes, such as if skiers hit other skiers while talking their cell phones or if they fail to look ahead or to yield to the skier below, said Jim Chalat, a Denver personal injury attorney who represents clients in ski-related lawsuits.
“You don’t have to mean to hurt somebody in order to be responsible for their injuries,” he said.
Insurance does not cover skiers when they cause a crash in which they skied recklessly, such as if he or she intentionally hits another skier, insurance agents said.
But “Unless it’s blatant malicious intent, your coverage is pretty secure,” McGalliard said.
Chalat estimates that 50 skier lawsuits are filed in Colorado courts each year.
Defendants in those lawsuits normally have insurance, he said. Some cases are settled between skiers and insurance companies without involving courts, he said.
A great deal of lawsuits involve children as plaintiffs and defendants, as the Colorado Skier Safety Act applies to everyone regardless of age, Chalat said.
Children are usually victims in ski crashes, and Chalat has represented plaintiffs as young as 4 years old, he said.
Swimms want to end case
The Swimms have agreed to a $25,000 settlement in their son’s ski crash instead of going to trial, she said.
“We want to put this behind us,” she said.
Scott Swimm is accused of running into David Pfahler, 61, of Pennsylvania, on Arrowhead Mountain in January 2007.
Then 7, Scott was skiing slowly and in control when he tried to pass Pfahler, his father, Robb Swimm has said.
Almost eight months later, Scott and his father were named as defendants in a lawsuit alleging that Scott collided with Pfahler, who tore a tendon in his shoulder in the crash.
Pfahler and his wife, Marlene Ambrogio, lost at least $75,000 after the crash, the lawsuit says.
Without insurance, the Swimms also would have had to pay thousands more in attorney’s fees.
Chalat, who is representing Pfahler, declined comment on the case.
The case hasn’t been resolved yet because the Swimms disagree with a condition that would bar Scott from suing Pfahler when Scott turns 18, Susan Swimm said.
“I quite frankly think they should shove that where the sun don’t shine,” she said.
After her 9-year-old son was sued, Eagle-Vail mom touts benefits of insurance
Reporter Steve Lynn
EAGLE COUNTY — Susan Swimm’s family would have had to pay $25,000 if she had not had insurance when her 9-year-old son, Scott Swimm, was sued in a ski crash.
Since the lawsuit, which is still in federal court, Susan Swimm has told a number of people about the value of personal liability insurance, she said.
“Everybody should know that they should have this policy,” said Susan Swimm, who lives in Eagle-Vail.
Since the Swimm’s case, more customers than usual have asked about whether they have enough personal liability coverage, which insures them in case of a ski accident, said James McGalliard, the Swimm’s insurance counselor and a partner at Alpine Insurance Agency in Edwards.
“It’s been such a high profile case that yeah, it’s really popped up on people’s radars,” McGalliard said.
The importance of insurance
Homeowner’s or renter’s insurance is known for covering people in fires or burglaries, but that insurance also includes personal liability, which covers everything from skiers at fault in ski crashes to homeowners if a pizza delivery man falls and hurts himself in their icy driveway.
Homeowner’s insurance is inexpensive relative to its benefits, insurance agents in the Vail Valley said. How much it costs each year depends on how much money and assets a person wants to insure.
Insurance agents rarely have had clients in the Vail Valley who have had claims made against them in skiing accidents, they said.
Michael Neff, of Michael Neff Agency Inc. in Avon, said he has only had one client who has had a personal liability claim made against them in 10 years — and it wasn’t a skiing accident. He hasn’t gotten an unusual number of calls from people about personal liability insurance lately.
“We’ve certainly had some people ask about it,” he said.
The insurance generally starts at $300,000 in coverage, and it pays for claims or legal fees and settlements in case of a lawsuit, he said.
If people have more money or assets to protect, they can buy more expensive “umbrella” coverage which insures them in $1-million increments, Neff said. Each increment generally costs $150 and up each year.
50 lawsuits filed annually
Insurance covers people who are “negligent” in ski crashes, such as if skiers hit other skiers while talking their cell phones or if they fail to look ahead or to yield to the skier below, said Jim Chalat, a Denver personal injury attorney who represents clients in ski-related lawsuits.
“You don’t have to mean to hurt somebody in order to be responsible for their injuries,” he said.
Insurance does not cover skiers when they cause a crash in which they skied recklessly, such as if he or she intentionally hits another skier, insurance agents said.
But “Unless it’s blatant malicious intent, your coverage is pretty secure,” McGalliard said.
Chalat estimates that 50 skier lawsuits are filed in Colorado courts each year.
Defendants in those lawsuits normally have insurance, he said. Some cases are settled between skiers and insurance companies without involving courts, he said.
A great deal of lawsuits involve children as plaintiffs and defendants, as the Colorado Skier Safety Act applies to everyone regardless of age, Chalat said.
Children are usually victims in ski crashes, and Chalat has represented plaintiffs as young as 4 years old, he said.
Swimms want to end case
The Swimms have agreed to a $25,000 settlement in their son’s ski crash instead of going to trial, she said.
“We want to put this behind us,” she said.
Scott Swimm is accused of running into David Pfahler, 61, of Pennsylvania, on Arrowhead Mountain in January 2007.
Then 7, Scott was skiing slowly and in control when he tried to pass Pfahler, his father, Robb Swimm has said.
Almost eight months later, Scott and his father were named as defendants in a lawsuit alleging that Scott collided with Pfahler, who tore a tendon in his shoulder in the crash.
Pfahler and his wife, Marlene Ambrogio, lost at least $75,000 after the crash, the lawsuit says.
Without insurance, the Swimms also would have had to pay thousands more in attorney’s fees.
Chalat, who is representing Pfahler, declined comment on the case.
The case hasn’t been resolved yet because the Swimms disagree with a condition that would bar Scott from suing Pfahler when Scott turns 18, Susan Swimm said.
“I quite frankly think they should shove that where the sun don’t shine,” she said.
Labels: injuries, insurance, ski crashes
Semi's deadly crash into Chicago station probed
Associated Press Writer Karen Hawkins wrote the following regarding an April 25, 2008 wreck:
CHICAGO - Elliott Reed said the scene was surreal: As he walked toward the Chicago Transit Authority train station in the midst of an otherwise normal, busy rush hour, a tractor trailer exiting a nearby expressway made a sudden and violent detour.
Without warning, the truck barreled into a street-level bus shelter, ending part of the way up the station's north stairwell. Two women died on the scene and at least 21 others were injured, authorities said.
Reed and other witnesses stood disbelieving as the truck wedged inside the stairwell. If it hadn't been for a delay at work, Reed, a 30-year-old bank security officer, said he could have been one of the victims.
The Chicago Police Department was still investigating the crash at the Cermak-Chinatown Red Line station on Saturday. That investigation included questioning the truck's driver, who initially went to a hospital but was released and led from the hospital in handcuffs.
The 51-year-old man tested negative for blood alcohol at the hospital, but refused a urinalysis test, said Stroger Hospital spokesman Sean Howard.
The man was not under arrest or had been charged with anything as of late Friday, said police spokesman John Mirabelli.
"We are talking to the driver, that is the extent of it to this time," Mirabelli said.
Police did not identify the driver and could not immediately confirm details of the crash.
"Right now this is just a tragic traffic accident," said Chicago Police Department Deputy Chief Joseph Patterson.
Twenty-one people were transported to area hospitals, Langford said. Eleven were in critical condition, including four children, eight adults were in stable condition and two adults were in good condition, said fire department spokesman Larry Langford.
"This is rush hour so it's bad," Langford said Friday.
Most of those injured were either in the bus shelter underneath the elevated train station or in the stairwell of the station, said fire department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez. The two women killed were dead on the scene, she said.
The Cook County medical examiner's office said autopsies for the two women were scheduled for Saturday morning.
The truck didn't appear to slow down before ramming into the stairs, witnesses said.
Reed was walking on the street when he "heard the big bang and saw the truck go right into the station."
Reed said he and others on the street were "stunned," asking each other, "Did you see what just happened?"
The intersection has a risky reputation because the traffic lights there change quickly, said Meekus Wong, who works at a restaurant located directly in front of the train station.
"That was always a very dangerous intersection because the traffic lights switch really fast," she said.
"I was supposed to take the train. Thank God I took the bus," she said.
The logo on the side of the white truck read "XTRA Lease" in red letters. A phone message left after business hours with XTRA Lease of St. Louis, Mo., was not immediately returned. The company's Web site says it leases trucks to drivers on a short-term basis.
Engineers determined there was no structural damage to the overhead station, but the stairs sustained "very significant damage," said CTA President Ron Huberman. Trains on the Red Line, which runs to the city's far South Side from downtown, will not stop at the station until further notice, he said.
The station is about two miles south of downtown, just blocks from the city's Chinatown neighborhood and is located near two major expressways, Interstate 55 and Interstate 90/94.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080426/ap_on_re_us/truck_hits_station
Associated Press Writer Karen Hawkins wrote the following regarding an April 25, 2008 wreck:
CHICAGO - Elliott Reed said the scene was surreal: As he walked toward the Chicago Transit Authority train station in the midst of an otherwise normal, busy rush hour, a tractor trailer exiting a nearby expressway made a sudden and violent detour.
Without warning, the truck barreled into a street-level bus shelter, ending part of the way up the station's north stairwell. Two women died on the scene and at least 21 others were injured, authorities said.
Reed and other witnesses stood disbelieving as the truck wedged inside the stairwell. If it hadn't been for a delay at work, Reed, a 30-year-old bank security officer, said he could have been one of the victims.
The Chicago Police Department was still investigating the crash at the Cermak-Chinatown Red Line station on Saturday. That investigation included questioning the truck's driver, who initially went to a hospital but was released and led from the hospital in handcuffs.
The 51-year-old man tested negative for blood alcohol at the hospital, but refused a urinalysis test, said Stroger Hospital spokesman Sean Howard.
The man was not under arrest or had been charged with anything as of late Friday, said police spokesman John Mirabelli.
"We are talking to the driver, that is the extent of it to this time," Mirabelli said.
Police did not identify the driver and could not immediately confirm details of the crash.
"Right now this is just a tragic traffic accident," said Chicago Police Department Deputy Chief Joseph Patterson.
Twenty-one people were transported to area hospitals, Langford said. Eleven were in critical condition, including four children, eight adults were in stable condition and two adults were in good condition, said fire department spokesman Larry Langford.
"This is rush hour so it's bad," Langford said Friday.
Most of those injured were either in the bus shelter underneath the elevated train station or in the stairwell of the station, said fire department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez. The two women killed were dead on the scene, she said.
The Cook County medical examiner's office said autopsies for the two women were scheduled for Saturday morning.
The truck didn't appear to slow down before ramming into the stairs, witnesses said.
Reed was walking on the street when he "heard the big bang and saw the truck go right into the station."
Reed said he and others on the street were "stunned," asking each other, "Did you see what just happened?"
The intersection has a risky reputation because the traffic lights there change quickly, said Meekus Wong, who works at a restaurant located directly in front of the train station.
"That was always a very dangerous intersection because the traffic lights switch really fast," she said.
"I was supposed to take the train. Thank God I took the bus," she said.
The logo on the side of the white truck read "XTRA Lease" in red letters. A phone message left after business hours with XTRA Lease of St. Louis, Mo., was not immediately returned. The company's Web site says it leases trucks to drivers on a short-term basis.
Engineers determined there was no structural damage to the overhead station, but the stairs sustained "very significant damage," said CTA President Ron Huberman. Trains on the Red Line, which runs to the city's far South Side from downtown, will not stop at the station until further notice, he said.
The station is about two miles south of downtown, just blocks from the city's Chinatown neighborhood and is located near two major expressways, Interstate 55 and Interstate 90/94.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080426/ap_on_re_us/truck_hits_station
Labels: truck accident
As reported by ANDRIA SIMMONS The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/06/08
A few minutes after dusk last Monday, five drivers made their way north from Atlanta on I-85, unaware their lives were about to intersect.
Adekunle Akinmola, 42, had just finished checking a rental property he owns in Stone Mountain. He expected a quiet evening at home in Dacula with his wife and four children.
Scott Hoeft, 45, a roofing contractor, had left the VA Hospital to join his wife and son in Suwanee.
Mehboob Hashim, 49, and his 11-year-old son had just come from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where he met his two sisters, in town from London to attend a relative's wedding. The sisters and Hashim's wife rode in a separate car.
"My son was talking about his school, what he wanted to do on spring break," Hashim recalled. "I was telling him hopefully we'll go out somewhere."
They were the lucky ones — Akinmola, Hoeft and Hashim. They made it home at the end of the night, badly shaken and emotionally devastated, but nevertheless alive.
At about 8:30 p.m. Monday, those three drivers were caught up in a five-car, chain-reaction collision that state DOT officials said was the deadliest to occur in northeast Georgia in the past 15 years.
The fates of the remaining two drivers — Mark Anthony Gay, 44, and Carmon Cody Rhoden, 20 — were about to become intertwined.
A baseball fanatic, Rhoden was driving home to Gainesville from the Atlanta Braves home opener, which he attended with a buddy he worked with at the Rhoden family's tire shop in Gainesville. The two young men were discussing fishing and baseball to pass the time on the hourlong ride home, said Jeffrey Sliz, Rhoden's lawyer.
The atmosphere was lighthearted that evening in Gay's Ford Excursion limousine.
Seated in the back, the Randle family was reminiscing happily about a recent trip to their former home near Salt Lake City. The mother and father, the couple's two children, future son-in-law and baby grandson had gone to catch up with old friends and attend a wedding.
Gay, a widower and father to a 15-year-old son, had taken the family to the airport about a week earlier. Now he was taking them home to Lawrenceville.
One family member, Falleen Randle, 43, was talking on a cellphone with her brother, "laughing and joking" as she described the trip, her sister Sulianna Chandler said.
The limousine approached the intersection of Indian Trail Lilburn Road in Norcross, about eight miles from its destination.
In a split-second, the lives of the five drivers converged.
Brakes screeched, glass shattered, metal crunched and a sea of cars traveling behind them ground to a halt as a chain-reaction wreck unfolded.
Police said Rhoden was driving recklessly, speeding and weaving in and out of lanes when he clipped the SUV limo.
The limo slammed into the back of a Toyota Corolla driven by Hashim and flipped several times. A few feet away, Akinmola's Mercedes and Hoeft's Ford F-150 pickup truck collided in the center lane.
Killed were Gay and three members of the Randle family: Alexander Randle, 14; his sister, Whitney Randle, 21; and Whitney's 13-month-old son, Kayden Alexander Randle-Finley.
Demetrius Randle, 45, Alexander and Whitney's father and the baby's grandfather, suffered a severe head injury. He was in critical condition Friday at Gwinnett Medical Center.
Rhoden was arrested the following day on multiple charges, including first-degree vehicular homicide.
The drivers who survived say they are still haunted by memories of the accident.
Hoeft's left knee was banged up in the crash, and he had to take a few days off work because the truck he uses on the job was impounded. Flashbacks keep him awake at night.
"I've seen it every night in my sleep," Hoeft said. "I haven't slept more than two hours a night since it happened."
Hashim considers himself lucky, even though his car was badly damaged and his son suffered a bruise from the seat belt.
If Hashim's wife had not lost her parking receipt at the airport, causing a 10-minute delay, she and his two sisters probably would have been involved in the crash, too.
"Thank God that she wasn't there. It would have been very bad," Hashim said.
Akinmola's neck and back are sore, and he keeps visualizing the grisly aftermath of the crash.
Like the other drivers, Akinmola has been turning the events over in his mind, trying to find answers to the difficult questions of life and death, suffering and salvation.
"I keep thinking about it, how it could have been me," Akinmola said. "People like me and the other people that survived, it's not because we're special or anything. I believe it's just God wants to keep us alive for whatever the reasons are. It's by his grace that we're alive."
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2008/04/05/metwreck_0406a_3DOT.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13
Published on: 04/06/08
A few minutes after dusk last Monday, five drivers made their way north from Atlanta on I-85, unaware their lives were about to intersect.
Adekunle Akinmola, 42, had just finished checking a rental property he owns in Stone Mountain. He expected a quiet evening at home in Dacula with his wife and four children.
Scott Hoeft, 45, a roofing contractor, had left the VA Hospital to join his wife and son in Suwanee.
Mehboob Hashim, 49, and his 11-year-old son had just come from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where he met his two sisters, in town from London to attend a relative's wedding. The sisters and Hashim's wife rode in a separate car.
"My son was talking about his school, what he wanted to do on spring break," Hashim recalled. "I was telling him hopefully we'll go out somewhere."
They were the lucky ones — Akinmola, Hoeft and Hashim. They made it home at the end of the night, badly shaken and emotionally devastated, but nevertheless alive.
At about 8:30 p.m. Monday, those three drivers were caught up in a five-car, chain-reaction collision that state DOT officials said was the deadliest to occur in northeast Georgia in the past 15 years.
The fates of the remaining two drivers — Mark Anthony Gay, 44, and Carmon Cody Rhoden, 20 — were about to become intertwined.
A baseball fanatic, Rhoden was driving home to Gainesville from the Atlanta Braves home opener, which he attended with a buddy he worked with at the Rhoden family's tire shop in Gainesville. The two young men were discussing fishing and baseball to pass the time on the hourlong ride home, said Jeffrey Sliz, Rhoden's lawyer.
The atmosphere was lighthearted that evening in Gay's Ford Excursion limousine.
Seated in the back, the Randle family was reminiscing happily about a recent trip to their former home near Salt Lake City. The mother and father, the couple's two children, future son-in-law and baby grandson had gone to catch up with old friends and attend a wedding.
Gay, a widower and father to a 15-year-old son, had taken the family to the airport about a week earlier. Now he was taking them home to Lawrenceville.
One family member, Falleen Randle, 43, was talking on a cellphone with her brother, "laughing and joking" as she described the trip, her sister Sulianna Chandler said.
The limousine approached the intersection of Indian Trail Lilburn Road in Norcross, about eight miles from its destination.
In a split-second, the lives of the five drivers converged.
Brakes screeched, glass shattered, metal crunched and a sea of cars traveling behind them ground to a halt as a chain-reaction wreck unfolded.
Police said Rhoden was driving recklessly, speeding and weaving in and out of lanes when he clipped the SUV limo.
The limo slammed into the back of a Toyota Corolla driven by Hashim and flipped several times. A few feet away, Akinmola's Mercedes and Hoeft's Ford F-150 pickup truck collided in the center lane.
Killed were Gay and three members of the Randle family: Alexander Randle, 14; his sister, Whitney Randle, 21; and Whitney's 13-month-old son, Kayden Alexander Randle-Finley.
Demetrius Randle, 45, Alexander and Whitney's father and the baby's grandfather, suffered a severe head injury. He was in critical condition Friday at Gwinnett Medical Center.
Rhoden was arrested the following day on multiple charges, including first-degree vehicular homicide.
The drivers who survived say they are still haunted by memories of the accident.
Hoeft's left knee was banged up in the crash, and he had to take a few days off work because the truck he uses on the job was impounded. Flashbacks keep him awake at night.
"I've seen it every night in my sleep," Hoeft said. "I haven't slept more than two hours a night since it happened."
Hashim considers himself lucky, even though his car was badly damaged and his son suffered a bruise from the seat belt.
If Hashim's wife had not lost her parking receipt at the airport, causing a 10-minute delay, she and his two sisters probably would have been involved in the crash, too.
"Thank God that she wasn't there. It would have been very bad," Hashim said.
Akinmola's neck and back are sore, and he keeps visualizing the grisly aftermath of the crash.
Like the other drivers, Akinmola has been turning the events over in his mind, trying to find answers to the difficult questions of life and death, suffering and salvation.
"I keep thinking about it, how it could have been me," Akinmola said. "People like me and the other people that survived, it's not because we're special or anything. I believe it's just God wants to keep us alive for whatever the reasons are. It's by his grace that we're alive."
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2008/04/05/metwreck_0406a_3DOT.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=13
Humpty Dumpty Sues Owner Of Wall
OMAHA, Neb. -- Humpty Dumpty sued the owner of the wall where he had his "great fall" in an Omaha courtroom on Wednesday.
It was a personal injury case in which Dumpty was trying to recover the cost of "putting himself back together again."
The jury was a group of fourth-grade students. The goal of the trial was to educate the students about the legal system and courtroom procedure. The jury found in favor of the plaintiff, so now Dumpty can pay all the king's horses and all the king's men.
http://www.ketv.com/education/15971659/detail.html?rss=oma&psp=news
OMAHA, Neb. -- Humpty Dumpty sued the owner of the wall where he had his "great fall" in an Omaha courtroom on Wednesday.
It was a personal injury case in which Dumpty was trying to recover the cost of "putting himself back together again."
The jury was a group of fourth-grade students. The goal of the trial was to educate the students about the legal system and courtroom procedure. The jury found in favor of the plaintiff, so now Dumpty can pay all the king's horses and all the king's men.
http://www.ketv.com/education/15971659/detail.html?rss=oma&psp=news
Labels: fall, injury, lawsuit, trial
An article posted by www.postonline.co.uk touted “Insurers near breakthrough in battle against whiplash fraud.” The article notes that Thatcham, the British Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre, announced that it expects to produce "court admissible" whiplash research to help insurers fend off “fraudulent” motor claims by the end of next year. The work is part of an international insurance program involving insurers from Sweden, Germany and Switzerland. The motor research center has also hired judges and law firms to ensure that the evidence it has conjured is to be admissible in court. Nothing like paying some lawyers to make sure everything is fair towards the people paying their bills.
Earlier this year Thatcham began investigating the effects of car collisions at five to eight mph. Work is shortly due to begin on crashes at 15mph. Insurers hope the research will result in "compelling evidence" that proves injuries cannot be sustained in collisions below a certain speed.
Of course, what Thatcham can’t replicate it that most wrecks are unexpected occurrences and not something that can be compared to a low speed planned collision in a laboratory.
Thatcham's research crash manager, Matthew Avery, said: "We are looking at how we can curb whiplash fraud. He added that by the end of the year the developers hoped to have produced a prototype of a computer-based whiplash injury tool kit or "witkit", which analyses the injury risk resulting from crashes at different speeds and involving different types of cars and seats. Insurers will then be able to take this “data” and decide whether or not to refute a personal injury claim. H’mm, I wonder whether they would do that. Of course, the program has not been described as being able to discern the affect of trauma on men versus women, old versus young, previously injured but recovered versus those never injured.
David Williams, claims director at Axa, added that it is not only insurers who should be positive about the research but also claimant solicitors as they are duty-bound to ensure people don't put fraudulent claims through the courts. I wonder whether plaintiff’s lawyers were asked their position about the validity of such testing.
Earlier this year Thatcham began investigating the effects of car collisions at five to eight mph. Work is shortly due to begin on crashes at 15mph. Insurers hope the research will result in "compelling evidence" that proves injuries cannot be sustained in collisions below a certain speed.
Of course, what Thatcham can’t replicate it that most wrecks are unexpected occurrences and not something that can be compared to a low speed planned collision in a laboratory.
Thatcham's research crash manager, Matthew Avery, said: "We are looking at how we can curb whiplash fraud. He added that by the end of the year the developers hoped to have produced a prototype of a computer-based whiplash injury tool kit or "witkit", which analyses the injury risk resulting from crashes at different speeds and involving different types of cars and seats. Insurers will then be able to take this “data” and decide whether or not to refute a personal injury claim. H’mm, I wonder whether they would do that. Of course, the program has not been described as being able to discern the affect of trauma on men versus women, old versus young, previously injured but recovered versus those never injured.
David Williams, claims director at Axa, added that it is not only insurers who should be positive about the research but also claimant solicitors as they are duty-bound to ensure people don't put fraudulent claims through the courts. I wonder whether plaintiff’s lawyers were asked their position about the validity of such testing.
Labels: avoiding personal injury, fraud, insurance, neck, whiplash
Volvo has a project for a new automobile - called PreVENT. The project is based on computer software that uses existing technology that, in event of a possible collusion, allows the car's intelligent system to take over and execute evasive maneuvers. Despite using currently available equipment, it will be some time before we see this system implemented in the real world. For now you'll just have to keep relying on airbags, seatbelts, and luck.
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9922480-1.html?tag=cnetfd.mt
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9922480-1.html?tag=cnetfd.mt
Labels: avoiding car accidents, car crashes, car wreck
US veterans sue over 'poor care'
By Maggie Shiels
BBC News, San Francisco
US veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are suing the government, claiming inadequate care is leading to an increase in suicides.
A San Francisco court will hear the class action lawsuit against the Department of Veteran Affairs.
The veterans say the department has been unable to deal with the growing incidence of depression and suicides.
But government lawyers argue the department has been devoting more resources to mental health.
In court papers the two non-profit groups representing the veterans write "that failure to provide care is manifesting itself in an epidemic of suicides".
"The bottom line is that we're not taking care of the veterans and we need to change that," says lead lawyer, Gordon Erspamer
Raft of complaints
An average of 18 war veterans kill themselves each day - five of them under Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) care - according to a December e-mail between top department officials that has been filed as part of the federal lawsuit.
What I would like to see from the VA is that they actually treat patients with respect - Bob Handy, Veterans United for Truth
The Rand Corporation has recently released a study that shows some 300,000 US troops - about 20% of those deployed - are suffering from depression, or post traumatic stress disorder, after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
"We find that the VA has simply not devoted enough resources. They don't have enough psychiatrists," said Mr Erspamer.
In 2006 suicide rates were reported to be the highest in 26 years, at 99 confirmed suicides.
The two organisations involved in the legal action are asking US District Court Judge Samuel Conti, a World War II army veteran, to order the VA to overhaul its system drastically.
"What I would like to see from the VA is that they actually treat patients with respect," says Bob Handy, the head of Veterans United for Truth, one of the bodies suing the agency.
Mr Handy formed the group after hearing a raft of complaints from veterans about their treatment, when he was a member of the Veterans Caucus of the state Democratic Party.
More professionals
Government lawyers say the VA has been making mental health and suicide prevention a top priority.
In court filings, the VA states that for 2008, $3.8b will be spent on mental health.
Also, more than 3,700 new mental health professionals have been hired in the past two-and-a-half years, bringing the total to just under 17,000.
The VA's lawyers have filed papers arguing that the courts have no jurisdiction to tell the VA how to operate, and no business wading into the everyday management of a network that includes 153 medical centres nationwide.
The case will be heard without a jury and is expected to last about two weeks.
Plaintiffs are hoping the judge will order broad changes in the administration of veterans' benefits, or perhaps even appoint an outside administrator to oversee changes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7357909.stm
By Maggie Shiels
BBC News, San Francisco
US veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are suing the government, claiming inadequate care is leading to an increase in suicides.
A San Francisco court will hear the class action lawsuit against the Department of Veteran Affairs.
The veterans say the department has been unable to deal with the growing incidence of depression and suicides.
But government lawyers argue the department has been devoting more resources to mental health.
In court papers the two non-profit groups representing the veterans write "that failure to provide care is manifesting itself in an epidemic of suicides".
"The bottom line is that we're not taking care of the veterans and we need to change that," says lead lawyer, Gordon Erspamer
Raft of complaints
An average of 18 war veterans kill themselves each day - five of them under Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) care - according to a December e-mail between top department officials that has been filed as part of the federal lawsuit.
What I would like to see from the VA is that they actually treat patients with respect - Bob Handy, Veterans United for Truth
The Rand Corporation has recently released a study that shows some 300,000 US troops - about 20% of those deployed - are suffering from depression, or post traumatic stress disorder, after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.
"We find that the VA has simply not devoted enough resources. They don't have enough psychiatrists," said Mr Erspamer.
In 2006 suicide rates were reported to be the highest in 26 years, at 99 confirmed suicides.
The two organisations involved in the legal action are asking US District Court Judge Samuel Conti, a World War II army veteran, to order the VA to overhaul its system drastically.
"What I would like to see from the VA is that they actually treat patients with respect," says Bob Handy, the head of Veterans United for Truth, one of the bodies suing the agency.
Mr Handy formed the group after hearing a raft of complaints from veterans about their treatment, when he was a member of the Veterans Caucus of the state Democratic Party.
More professionals
Government lawyers say the VA has been making mental health and suicide prevention a top priority.
In court filings, the VA states that for 2008, $3.8b will be spent on mental health.
Also, more than 3,700 new mental health professionals have been hired in the past two-and-a-half years, bringing the total to just under 17,000.
The VA's lawyers have filed papers arguing that the courts have no jurisdiction to tell the VA how to operate, and no business wading into the everyday management of a network that includes 153 medical centres nationwide.
The case will be heard without a jury and is expected to last about two weeks.
Plaintiffs are hoping the judge will order broad changes in the administration of veterans' benefits, or perhaps even appoint an outside administrator to oversee changes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7357909.stm
Labels: depression, lawsuit, PTSD
Whiplash: A Pain in The Facets?
http://www.spinalinjuryfoundation.org/101_new/Cervical%20Facet%20Trouble.htm
Christopher J. Centeno, MD
As little as ten years ago, medical doctors knew very little about how the human neck got injured in a car crash. We knew about broken bones we could see on x-ray or herniated discs we could see on MRI, but not much else.
A Japanese orthopedic surgeon changed all that by placing medical students on a sled and recreating rear end car crashes (it's amazing what you can do with students in Japan!) These experiments showed that the neck bones were moving differently than we expected. Up until that time, all medical providers including medical doctors and chiropractors assumed that it was the neck 'whipping' backwards that caused the injury. However, this research showed that the joints in the neck were in fact spearing themselves.
These joints (facet joints) were later discovered to have small fractures, tears in the cartilage, and ligament tears that couldn't be seen on the best x-rays, CT Scans, or MRI's. This began our modern understanding of what causes most chronic neck pain from a car crash. Never heard of a facet joint? It's not surprising. This research is still winding its way from the lab to your doctor. There are now hundreds of research papers on this topic. Why is this important? If you or someone you know has chronic neck pain from a car crash, there's about a 50% chance that this is what's causing the pain.
There are 14 facet joints in the neck. They are small joints about the size of a finger joint. They control motion in the neck. For instance, one of the reasons you can't turn your head around 360 degrees is that motion is limited by these joints. When you look up for any length of time, turn your head, or look down to read and then try to bring your head back up, these joints are stressed. If the facet joints are injured, these motions will usually cause pain.
So if you have a bad facet joint or joints in your neck, what can be done? Conservative care such as physical therapy, chiropractic, or massage can help reduce the symptoms and allow these joints to heal. What happens if you've tried 6-8 weeks of that type of care and you still have problems?
The next step is usually injecting a small amount of anti-inflammatory into the joint to put out the fire. This helps about half of our patients make gains with physical therapy or chiropractic that weren't possible before the injection. For the other half of our patients who have joints that are too damaged to help with a simple injection and conservative care, radiofrequency is the answer. This is a treatment that reduces the amount of pain signals the joint can report for about 1-2 years per treatment. One study showed the mean duration of relief from a single RF treatment to be 422 days. For patients who have this type of injury, this treatment is a godsend.
One patient that comes to mind is a great example. This is a woman who ran a ranch in northern Colorado. She had an upper cervical facet injury that caused not only significant pain, but also dizziness (as this particular facet joint provides position sense information to the brain). She couldn't care for her horses, go horseback riding (her one love in life), or run her ranch.
Her doctors didn't recognize this problem for a year, so she tried medications, narcotics, chiropractic, physical therapy, massage, and acupuncture without any long-term relief. She was pretty hopeless when we first performed an evaluation. We were able to quickly identify that the right C2-C3 joint had been injured. Radiofrequency treatment took her pain down from an 8-9/10 to 0-1/10 (from miserable to just a slight intermittent discomfort). She now comes in for RF treatments about once a year and between those treatments she's returned to horseback riding and running her ranch by herself.
So if you have chronic neck pain from a car crash that's not getting better, you shouldn't loose hope. There are a host of treatments that can give you long-term relief and give you your life back!
http://www.spinalinjuryfoundation.org/101_new/Cervical%20Facet%20Trouble.htm
Christopher J. Centeno, MD
As little as ten years ago, medical doctors knew very little about how the human neck got injured in a car crash. We knew about broken bones we could see on x-ray or herniated discs we could see on MRI, but not much else.
A Japanese orthopedic surgeon changed all that by placing medical students on a sled and recreating rear end car crashes (it's amazing what you can do with students in Japan!) These experiments showed that the neck bones were moving differently than we expected. Up until that time, all medical providers including medical doctors and chiropractors assumed that it was the neck 'whipping' backwards that caused the injury. However, this research showed that the joints in the neck were in fact spearing themselves.
These joints (facet joints) were later discovered to have small fractures, tears in the cartilage, and ligament tears that couldn't be seen on the best x-rays, CT Scans, or MRI's. This began our modern understanding of what causes most chronic neck pain from a car crash. Never heard of a facet joint? It's not surprising. This research is still winding its way from the lab to your doctor. There are now hundreds of research papers on this topic. Why is this important? If you or someone you know has chronic neck pain from a car crash, there's about a 50% chance that this is what's causing the pain.
There are 14 facet joints in the neck. They are small joints about the size of a finger joint. They control motion in the neck. For instance, one of the reasons you can't turn your head around 360 degrees is that motion is limited by these joints. When you look up for any length of time, turn your head, or look down to read and then try to bring your head back up, these joints are stressed. If the facet joints are injured, these motions will usually cause pain.
So if you have a bad facet joint or joints in your neck, what can be done? Conservative care such as physical therapy, chiropractic, or massage can help reduce the symptoms and allow these joints to heal. What happens if you've tried 6-8 weeks of that type of care and you still have problems?
The next step is usually injecting a small amount of anti-inflammatory into the joint to put out the fire. This helps about half of our patients make gains with physical therapy or chiropractic that weren't possible before the injection. For the other half of our patients who have joints that are too damaged to help with a simple injection and conservative care, radiofrequency is the answer. This is a treatment that reduces the amount of pain signals the joint can report for about 1-2 years per treatment. One study showed the mean duration of relief from a single RF treatment to be 422 days. For patients who have this type of injury, this treatment is a godsend.
One patient that comes to mind is a great example. This is a woman who ran a ranch in northern Colorado. She had an upper cervical facet injury that caused not only significant pain, but also dizziness (as this particular facet joint provides position sense information to the brain). She couldn't care for her horses, go horseback riding (her one love in life), or run her ranch.
Her doctors didn't recognize this problem for a year, so she tried medications, narcotics, chiropractic, physical therapy, massage, and acupuncture without any long-term relief. She was pretty hopeless when we first performed an evaluation. We were able to quickly identify that the right C2-C3 joint had been injured. Radiofrequency treatment took her pain down from an 8-9/10 to 0-1/10 (from miserable to just a slight intermittent discomfort). She now comes in for RF treatments about once a year and between those treatments she's returned to horseback riding and running her ranch by herself.
So if you have chronic neck pain from a car crash that's not getting better, you shouldn't loose hope. There are a host of treatments that can give you long-term relief and give you your life back!
U-Haul International Inc. must pay $84 million to a 74-year-old man who was injured when the truck he rented ran over him when the parking brake failed. According to the man’s lawyer, "The truck's parking brake did not work at all. He stepped out of the truck and it rolled right over him."
A Dallas jury found U-Haul negligent and awarded Waldrip $84.25 million, including $63 million in punitive damages. Punitive damages are meant to punish a Defendant for improper conduct. Perhaps the jury was angry that the U-Haul truck had 234,000 miles on it. Or maybe the jury was outraged because evidence showed that six previous renters had similar problems with the truck. Yet U-Haul continued to rent it to the public.
Waldrip's pelvis was crushed in the 2006 accident, leaving him unable to walk and with no bowel control. Instead of accepting responsibility, U-Haul said it would appeal the verdict. In fact, U-Haul stated that "The final verdict is another example of abuse of the legal system against corporate citizens in America."
That’s an interesting perspective since in February 2008, U-Haul settled another case involving a defective parking brake on a truck that killed a customer in San Francisco. In that case, Demetrio T. Nagtalon was killed at a U-Haul center in San Francisco in December 2006, when he was crushed between a post and a rental truck.
Nagtalon had returned the truck because the parking brake didn't work. A U-Haul employee was working on the brake when the truck suddenly began rolling forward. According to a police report, Nagtalon rushed to the cab, apparently trying to climb in to stop the truck, but was pinned against the post.
Where is the corporate responsibility?
Full article at:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-uhaul19apr19,1,6754747.story?track=rss
A Dallas jury found U-Haul negligent and awarded Waldrip $84.25 million, including $63 million in punitive damages. Punitive damages are meant to punish a Defendant for improper conduct. Perhaps the jury was angry that the U-Haul truck had 234,000 miles on it. Or maybe the jury was outraged because evidence showed that six previous renters had similar problems with the truck. Yet U-Haul continued to rent it to the public.
Waldrip's pelvis was crushed in the 2006 accident, leaving him unable to walk and with no bowel control. Instead of accepting responsibility, U-Haul said it would appeal the verdict. In fact, U-Haul stated that "The final verdict is another example of abuse of the legal system against corporate citizens in America."
That’s an interesting perspective since in February 2008, U-Haul settled another case involving a defective parking brake on a truck that killed a customer in San Francisco. In that case, Demetrio T. Nagtalon was killed at a U-Haul center in San Francisco in December 2006, when he was crushed between a post and a rental truck.
Nagtalon had returned the truck because the parking brake didn't work. A U-Haul employee was working on the brake when the truck suddenly began rolling forward. According to a police report, Nagtalon rushed to the cab, apparently trying to climb in to stop the truck, but was pinned against the post.
Where is the corporate responsibility?
Full article at:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-uhaul19apr19,1,6754747.story?track=rss
Labels: negligence, punitive damages, verdict
An article in the recent Lawyers Weekly states that accidental overdoses, bad drug reactions and medicine mix-ups harm roughly one out of 15 hospitalized children, according to a study published in the April issue of the medical journal Pediatrics.
That number is far higher than earlier estimates.
Last year, this area received a lot of public attention because actor Dennis Quaid notified the public about what happened to his children. Quaid's twins received accidental life-threatening heparin overdoses in a Los Angeles hospital shortly after they were born last November. The actor and his wife, Kimberly, have since formed a foundation to prevent medical errors.
Research has shown that relying on hospital employees to report such a mistake would reveal less than 4 percent of the malpractice.
More than half the problems the study found were related to overdoses and allergic reactions to pain killers like morphine. Symptoms include shallow breathing and low blood pressure.
That number is far higher than earlier estimates.
Last year, this area received a lot of public attention because actor Dennis Quaid notified the public about what happened to his children. Quaid's twins received accidental life-threatening heparin overdoses in a Los Angeles hospital shortly after they were born last November. The actor and his wife, Kimberly, have since formed a foundation to prevent medical errors.
Research has shown that relying on hospital employees to report such a mistake would reveal less than 4 percent of the malpractice.
More than half the problems the study found were related to overdoses and allergic reactions to pain killers like morphine. Symptoms include shallow breathing and low blood pressure.
Labels: malpractice, medical error
Forsyth woman killed in collision with logging truck
Authorities are still trying to determine what caused a log truck to collide with a pickup on April 12 in Dawson County, killing a 33-year-old Forsyth County woman. Cpl. Rinehart of the Georgia State Patrol’s Cumming post was the first police officer to the scene. He stated it appears the log truck lost control while traveling west on Kelly Bridge.
"The logs came loose as it overturned." The truck struck the deceased woman’s pickup head on, spilling its cargo onto her truck, authorities said.
The patrol’s specialized collision reconstruction team is handling the investigation. The unit will determine what, if any, charges the driver of the 18-wheeler may face.
"The SCRT team will only investigate prosecutable fatalities," Rinehart said. Donna Garrett with Georgia State patrol noted that "the team reconstructs the accident to determine the cause."
The truck driver worked for Reece Logging Co. of Jasper, Georgia. A spokesman said he could not comment on whether the logs were properly secured or give out any other information.
This sad story illustrates the need for trucking companies to make sure that its employees follow safety regulations requiring that cargo is secured. Death and catastrophic injuries can occur when safety rules are not followed. This story also shows that a prompt investigation can secure crucial evidence which can mean the difference in whether a truck driver is held responsible for negligence or misconduct.
Source: http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/article/4861/
Authorities are still trying to determine what caused a log truck to collide with a pickup on April 12 in Dawson County, killing a 33-year-old Forsyth County woman. Cpl. Rinehart of the Georgia State Patrol’s Cumming post was the first police officer to the scene. He stated it appears the log truck lost control while traveling west on Kelly Bridge.
"The logs came loose as it overturned." The truck struck the deceased woman’s pickup head on, spilling its cargo onto her truck, authorities said.
The patrol’s specialized collision reconstruction team is handling the investigation. The unit will determine what, if any, charges the driver of the 18-wheeler may face.
"The SCRT team will only investigate prosecutable fatalities," Rinehart said. Donna Garrett with Georgia State patrol noted that "the team reconstructs the accident to determine the cause."
The truck driver worked for Reece Logging Co. of Jasper, Georgia. A spokesman said he could not comment on whether the logs were properly secured or give out any other information.
This sad story illustrates the need for trucking companies to make sure that its employees follow safety regulations requiring that cargo is secured. Death and catastrophic injuries can occur when safety rules are not followed. This story also shows that a prompt investigation can secure crucial evidence which can mean the difference in whether a truck driver is held responsible for negligence or misconduct.
Source: http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/article/4861/
Labels: investiagation, logging truck, truck accident, wrongful death
Greg Land of The Fulton County Daily Report recently wrote an article about an Atlanta Law Firm Getting Into Trouble for Lawsuit “Loans”
In the article, it notes that Lawsuit Financial Inc. of Southfield, Mich., sued Atlanta lawyer Earl A. Davidson and his firm, Giddens, Davidson & Mitchell, in Fulton County Superior Court earlier this month to collect its $25,000 loan plus much more than that in fees and interest. Lawsuit Financial was charging 100% a year in interest.
Davidson, the attorney that was sued for taking the loan, was disbarred earlier this year by the Georgia Supreme Court for misusing funds in his trust account, not paying his dues to the State Bar of Georgia and not complying with continuing legal education requirements.
Lawsuit Financial is one of a number of businesses that finance lawsuits by providing money to personal injury victims who pledge to pay back the funds if they successfully resolve their cases. While these are frequently called loans, the documents fine print shows that the advances are generally regarded by state regulators as investments. As a result, Georgia bank regulations and usury laws don’t apply.
According to Lawsuit Financial's Complaint filed March 4 in Fulton County Superior Court, Davidson assigned portions of the outcomes of 10 suits in Fulton and DeKalb County State Courts to Lawsuit Financial for $25,000.
According to the DeKalb County court records, at least two of the cases were settled several years ago; one could not be located. In Fulton State Court, all of the cases had settled by 2003.
Lawsuit Financial’s representative noted, "Obviously, anytime an attorney is getting advances from a company like mine, they may be having issues," he said. "But he was with a well-regarded firm, [and had a] good reputation, member of the bar in good standing when I checked."
Another company specializing in funding for lawyers and law firms, Advocate Capital, located in Brentwood, Tenn., did not respond to a request for comment. But its Web site says, "If a case is abandoned or lost, you would be required to repay the amount advanced against the case and any outstanding interest."
Most loans to injured plaintiffs average $3,500 or so. Some lawfirms may borrow as much as $250,000 and $1 million, although they can go much higher.
The case is Lawsuit Financial v. Giddens, Davidson & Mitchell, No. 2008CV141417.
The article is found at http://www.law.com/jsp/law/LawArticleFriendly.jsp?id=1206528548016
In the article, it notes that Lawsuit Financial Inc. of Southfield, Mich., sued Atlanta lawyer Earl A. Davidson and his firm, Giddens, Davidson & Mitchell, in Fulton County Superior Court earlier this month to collect its $25,000 loan plus much more than that in fees and interest. Lawsuit Financial was charging 100% a year in interest.
Davidson, the attorney that was sued for taking the loan, was disbarred earlier this year by the Georgia Supreme Court for misusing funds in his trust account, not paying his dues to the State Bar of Georgia and not complying with continuing legal education requirements.
Lawsuit Financial is one of a number of businesses that finance lawsuits by providing money to personal injury victims who pledge to pay back the funds if they successfully resolve their cases. While these are frequently called loans, the documents fine print shows that the advances are generally regarded by state regulators as investments. As a result, Georgia bank regulations and usury laws don’t apply.
According to Lawsuit Financial's Complaint filed March 4 in Fulton County Superior Court, Davidson assigned portions of the outcomes of 10 suits in Fulton and DeKalb County State Courts to Lawsuit Financial for $25,000.
According to the DeKalb County court records, at least two of the cases were settled several years ago; one could not be located. In Fulton State Court, all of the cases had settled by 2003.
Lawsuit Financial’s representative noted, "Obviously, anytime an attorney is getting advances from a company like mine, they may be having issues," he said. "But he was with a well-regarded firm, [and had a] good reputation, member of the bar in good standing when I checked."
Another company specializing in funding for lawyers and law firms, Advocate Capital, located in Brentwood, Tenn., did not respond to a request for comment. But its Web site says, "If a case is abandoned or lost, you would be required to repay the amount advanced against the case and any outstanding interest."
Most loans to injured plaintiffs average $3,500 or so. Some lawfirms may borrow as much as $250,000 and $1 million, although they can go much higher.
The case is Lawsuit Financial v. Giddens, Davidson & Mitchell, No. 2008CV141417.
The article is found at http://www.law.com/jsp/law/LawArticleFriendly.jsp?id=1206528548016
Labels: attorney, Dekalb County, lawsuit, lawyer, loan
This is a tragic case of driver inattentiveness. http://www.thederrick.com/stories/04182008-5006.shtml
Defense begins case in hit-run trial
By SHEILA BOUGHNER
Epanthamie Barker's attorney says there's not enough evidence to convict her of any of the crimes with which she's charged.
The defense began its case Thursday in Venango County court in the jury trial of an Oil City woman arrested for the hit-run death of a 70-year-old pedestrian at an Oil City intersection in late 2006.
Epanthamie S. Barker, 27, of Oil City, is accused of striking Elizabeth "Betty" Harmon of Oil City with her vehicle on the afternoon of Friday, Dec. 29, 2006, at the intersection of Central Avenue and First Street on the city's South Side, and leaving the scene of the accident. Harmon was knocked or dragged into the intersection by the force of the impact, according to police, and she later died from injuries she received in the accident.
Police say Barker was driving on a suspended North Carolina license at the time of the accident. She was driving a minivan belonging to her aunt, Sandra Blanchard of 315 Central Ave. in Oil City, and was taking a 2-year-old cousin home when the accident occurred, according to witness accounts. Another cousin, Sharon Blanchard, was also a passenger in the vehicle.
Barker returned to her aunt's house on Central Avenue after the accident rather than stopping at the scene to render aid and provide information, according to witnesses.
In her opening remarks, defense attorney Pamela Logsdon Sibley acknowledged "the rear wheel" of Barker's vehicle "did roll over Betty Harmon." She argued, however, that there is not enough evidence to "convict her (Barker) of any of the crimes with which she has been charged."
Charges against Barker include homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death or personal injury, accidents involving death/injury while not properly licensed and failure to stop and give information and render aid.
Only one witness has argued that Barker failed to stop at the stop bar in front of the crosswalk, testimony that is countered by three other witnesses, Sibley said.
Barker's adult passenger "saw no one in the crosswalk," Sibley said, and when Barker "felt a bump," she had "no reason to believe the van had rolled over a pedestrian."
When David Waters Jr. chased Barker down the street and pounded on her window to alert her to the accident, Barker was "extremely frightened," Sibley said. She also had a "frantic disabled cousin and a 2-year-old in her care," Sibley added.
She explained that Barker returned to her aunt's where she knew she "would be able to see to her cousins and return" to the nearby accident scene.
Sibley said that Barker told her aunt, "They're saying I hit an old lady, and you have to take me back (to the scene)."
Sibley said Polk Borough Police Chief Ed Sharp's vehicle was blocking the exit of the Blanchard vehicle from the driveway. Sharp was flagged down by Waters, who along with witness Rachel Shotts, followed the van back to the Central Avenue home.
"He (Sharp) told them, 'You stay here,'" Sibley said.
Sibley told the jury that Barker "is not the woman the Commonwealth would have you believe" and painted a picture of a woman with "a strong faith in God," who "has spent her entire adult life taking care of other people."
Sibley argued that Barker agreed to drive her young cousin home in an effort to relieve the young girl's distress. The girl was demanding to go home and was so distraught that the adults in the room were covering their ears "to muffle the screaming," according to Sibley.
Only after other efforts to arrange a ride for the girl had fallen through did Barker offer to drive her home, Sibley said.
She also noted that any drinking Barker did on Dec. 29 was long after the accident.
Sibley agreed that Harmon's death was tragic.
"But this is not a court of vengeance, it's a court of justice," Sibley said and asked jury members to turn their attention to factors "both large and small that played a part in the accident."
During her testimony, Barker's aunt, Sandra Blanchard said she was permitted by Oil City police to use the van to drive her granddaughter home after the accident. She said that when the van was impounded by police, it was towed in a manner that allowed the rear wheels to maintain contact with the road.
She also testified about a pronounced bump in the road at the intersection of Central and West First that existed at the time of the accident.
She said the bump, which remains, "rocks the whole van" depending "on how you hit it."
Sharon Blanchard testified that after Waters pounded on the van, she urged Barker to return to the Blanchard home.
"I thought he was trying to hurt my cousin. I said, 'Go home now. We need my mom,'" she said.
"We had a madman at the window and a child in the car. I said, 'Get straight to the house, now,'" she said.
Also testifying were two eyewitnesses, Todd Jansen and Josh Russo, who were passengers in a vehicle driven by Broc Manross. The Manross vehicle was behind Barker's on Central Avenue when the accident occurred.
The trial is expected to conclude today. It resumes at 9 a.m.
Defense begins case in hit-run trial
By SHEILA BOUGHNER
Epanthamie Barker's attorney says there's not enough evidence to convict her of any of the crimes with which she's charged.
The defense began its case Thursday in Venango County court in the jury trial of an Oil City woman arrested for the hit-run death of a 70-year-old pedestrian at an Oil City intersection in late 2006.
Epanthamie S. Barker, 27, of Oil City, is accused of striking Elizabeth "Betty" Harmon of Oil City with her vehicle on the afternoon of Friday, Dec. 29, 2006, at the intersection of Central Avenue and First Street on the city's South Side, and leaving the scene of the accident. Harmon was knocked or dragged into the intersection by the force of the impact, according to police, and she later died from injuries she received in the accident.
Police say Barker was driving on a suspended North Carolina license at the time of the accident. She was driving a minivan belonging to her aunt, Sandra Blanchard of 315 Central Ave. in Oil City, and was taking a 2-year-old cousin home when the accident occurred, according to witness accounts. Another cousin, Sharon Blanchard, was also a passenger in the vehicle.
Barker returned to her aunt's house on Central Avenue after the accident rather than stopping at the scene to render aid and provide information, according to witnesses.
In her opening remarks, defense attorney Pamela Logsdon Sibley acknowledged "the rear wheel" of Barker's vehicle "did roll over Betty Harmon." She argued, however, that there is not enough evidence to "convict her (Barker) of any of the crimes with which she has been charged."
Charges against Barker include homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death or personal injury, accidents involving death/injury while not properly licensed and failure to stop and give information and render aid.
Only one witness has argued that Barker failed to stop at the stop bar in front of the crosswalk, testimony that is countered by three other witnesses, Sibley said.
Barker's adult passenger "saw no one in the crosswalk," Sibley said, and when Barker "felt a bump," she had "no reason to believe the van had rolled over a pedestrian."
When David Waters Jr. chased Barker down the street and pounded on her window to alert her to the accident, Barker was "extremely frightened," Sibley said. She also had a "frantic disabled cousin and a 2-year-old in her care," Sibley added.
She explained that Barker returned to her aunt's where she knew she "would be able to see to her cousins and return" to the nearby accident scene.
Sibley said that Barker told her aunt, "They're saying I hit an old lady, and you have to take me back (to the scene)."
Sibley said Polk Borough Police Chief Ed Sharp's vehicle was blocking the exit of the Blanchard vehicle from the driveway. Sharp was flagged down by Waters, who along with witness Rachel Shotts, followed the van back to the Central Avenue home.
"He (Sharp) told them, 'You stay here,'" Sibley said.
Sibley told the jury that Barker "is not the woman the Commonwealth would have you believe" and painted a picture of a woman with "a strong faith in God," who "has spent her entire adult life taking care of other people."
Sibley argued that Barker agreed to drive her young cousin home in an effort to relieve the young girl's distress. The girl was demanding to go home and was so distraught that the adults in the room were covering their ears "to muffle the screaming," according to Sibley.
Only after other efforts to arrange a ride for the girl had fallen through did Barker offer to drive her home, Sibley said.
She also noted that any drinking Barker did on Dec. 29 was long after the accident.
Sibley agreed that Harmon's death was tragic.
"But this is not a court of vengeance, it's a court of justice," Sibley said and asked jury members to turn their attention to factors "both large and small that played a part in the accident."
During her testimony, Barker's aunt, Sandra Blanchard said she was permitted by Oil City police to use the van to drive her granddaughter home after the accident. She said that when the van was impounded by police, it was towed in a manner that allowed the rear wheels to maintain contact with the road.
She also testified about a pronounced bump in the road at the intersection of Central and West First that existed at the time of the accident.
She said the bump, which remains, "rocks the whole van" depending "on how you hit it."
Sharon Blanchard testified that after Waters pounded on the van, she urged Barker to return to the Blanchard home.
"I thought he was trying to hurt my cousin. I said, 'Go home now. We need my mom,'" she said.
"We had a madman at the window and a child in the car. I said, 'Get straight to the house, now,'" she said.
Also testifying were two eyewitnesses, Todd Jansen and Josh Russo, who were passengers in a vehicle driven by Broc Manross. The Manross vehicle was behind Barker's on Central Avenue when the accident occurred.
The trial is expected to conclude today. It resumes at 9 a.m.
The following are resources on traffic accidents in the State of Georgia.
Safety and Fitness Electronic Records System (SAFER) Information on all trucking companies registered with the Department of Transportation.
savealifega.org
Organization dedicated to Georgia teen driving safety.
Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute
Information on traffic prevention from the Governor of Georgia.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Federal administration overseeing traffic safety.
National Center for Statistics and Analysis
U.S. Department of Transportation's statistics analysis bureau.
United States Department of Transportation
Website for the federal department regulating transportation.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Information on government regulations, inspection of trucks, moving and equipment violations for individual trucking companies.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Federal bureau providing data collection, analysis, and reporting of transportation statistics.
Safety and Fitness Electronic Records System (SAFER) Information on all trucking companies registered with the Department of Transportation.
savealifega.org
Organization dedicated to Georgia teen driving safety.
Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute
Information on traffic prevention from the Governor of Georgia.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Federal administration overseeing traffic safety.
National Center for Statistics and Analysis
U.S. Department of Transportation's statistics analysis bureau.
United States Department of Transportation
Website for the federal department regulating transportation.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Information on government regulations, inspection of trucks, moving and equipment violations for individual trucking companies.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
Federal bureau providing data collection, analysis, and reporting of transportation statistics.
http://www.breitbart.com/print.php?id=D8VGLPDG3&show_article=1
By MITCH STACY
Associated Press Writer
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Capt. Clint Roberts makes his living cutting accident victims out of hideously mangled vehicles, but even he could hardly believe it when two people in a 2007 midsize car survived a head-on crash with a full- sized pickup last year.
The Ford Fusion's reinforced steel construction probably saved the lives of the 18-year-old driver and his 16-year-old passenger. But Roberts said it gave his Hillsborough County Fire Rescue crew fits as they tried to free them last November.
Because hydraulic cutters couldn't shear the roof posts, rescue workers had to turn to heavy-duty electric saws, replacing blade after blade as they dulled on the rugged material.
"It was just beating the snot out of the tools," adding minutes and delaying medical treatment, Roberts said.
There is no question that today's cars save lives by cocooning motorists in reinforced alloys, impact-absorbing crumple zones and as many as a dozen air bags.
But in interviews with The Associated Press, rescue officials and experts from around the United States said the new technology is also hindering extrication of injured people, increasingly forcing crews to work deeper into the critical "golden hour" between accident and treatment by emergency room doctors. On many 2005 and later cars, an extrication that once took 10 or 15 minutes can now take twice that or longer.
To catch up, counties and cities are spending tens of thousands of dollars—if they can afford it—to buy more powerful equipment that can cut through newer cars' reinforced steel and the lighter, tougher exotic metals used in roofs, posts and doors.
Then there are obstacles that endanger rescuers' safety. Pressurized gas canisters that inflate air bags can explode if pierced by cutting tools. Rescuers can be blown from cars when air bags suddenly inflate. Hidden battery cables in hybrid cars can deliver a powerful shock.
To protect themselves, workers now have to peel away the ceiling and interior plastic to see what's underneath before they can even start cutting.
Experts cannot say for certain whether the delays in getting these victims to the hospital have resulted in people dying. But that's the fear.
"We build more fire stations, we make faster fire trucks, we've got helicopters to get you to the hospital," said Roberts, an expert who teaches extrication to colleagues around Florida. "But what's slowing us down are these vehicles that are harder for us to get into."
The problem has rescue workers scrambling to update their tools and explore different ways to attack cars with their cutters, spreaders and saws. Some agencies with equipment more than a few years old are arriving at accident scenes and finding out that it will no longer do the job.
"Because their shearing materials had been so successful for so many years, some agencies hadn't developed a Plan B," said Tom Hollenstain, who works to educate rescuers about new auto technology at the State Farm Insurance vehicle research center.
Leading hydraulic-tool makers such as Hurst Jaws of Life—whose namesake George Hurst introduced the first hydraulic extrication tools for auto racing in the early 1970s—must keep putting more oomph into their equipment, making it heavier and more expensive. A single Hurst cutter and power unit runs about $25,000. Add hydraulic spreaders and other tools and the price rises quickly.
A fire crew in Bonita Springs, Fla., discovered the problem last year when it rolled up on a 2007 Lexus that had overturned. Hydraulic cutters only a few years old wouldn't shear the strengthened steel roof posts, so the crew had to move quickly to cut other parts of the car. A job that should have taken a few minutes required 20 minutes of cutting and sawing to remove the driver.
Assistant Chief Ken Craft said the incident led the department to buy new heavy rescue tools costing $54,000—a sizable expense for a city of around 40,000.
"If the automakers roll out something new next year, we could be right back where we were at," Craft said. "That's the problem we're confronted with."
Mike Ader, a volunteer firefighter in Rockville, Md., recalled the layered-steel roof post from a 2008 Toyota Camry that wouldn't budge under the blades of a hydraulic cutter after a broadside crash Jan. 2. The patient, whose injuries were serious but not life-threatening, finally had to be maneuvered around the post.
Ader used two types of saws and numerous blades to remove the post after the patient was removed. The department quickly decided to buy a new, more powerful cutter.
The flip side, of course, is that more people are surviving horrific crashes that would have killed them just a few years ago.
The Fusion's passenger, for example, was hurt but conscious and joking with Roberts as the crew worked to get him out. The driver of the other vehicle—a 2001 Ford F-150 pickup—was dead at the scene.
With about three people hurt in car crashes every minute in the United States, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spokesman Rae Tyson said he is comfortable with the trade-off. Rescue workers, he said, will have to work harder to keep up with technology, just like everybody else.
"The fatality rate for passenger vehicles is the lowest in history," Tyson said. "That, to me, is a pretty good news story."
One problem for rescue workers is how to get the latest technical information about newer cars and how to deal with them.
Later this year, the nonprofit group COMCARE Emergency Response Alliance, with cooperation from automakers, is introducing a single Web site that will offer schematics and safety specs for most cars on the road. Rescue workers could flip open a laptop computer on the way to a crash scene to find out about the construction of the car, placement of air bag canisters and other details.
Automakers say they are doing more to make safety information available to rescuers and tool makers before new models come out. For instance, Ford is already offering a look at the skeleton of the 2009 F-150 pickup, built with the strongest steel construction the company has ever used.
"We want to facilitate the discussion as much as possible, because we understand the critical nature of their work," Ford spokesman Wesley Sherwood said.
By MITCH STACY
Associated Press Writer
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Capt. Clint Roberts makes his living cutting accident victims out of hideously mangled vehicles, but even he could hardly believe it when two people in a 2007 midsize car survived a head-on crash with a full- sized pickup last year.
The Ford Fusion's reinforced steel construction probably saved the lives of the 18-year-old driver and his 16-year-old passenger. But Roberts said it gave his Hillsborough County Fire Rescue crew fits as they tried to free them last November.
Because hydraulic cutters couldn't shear the roof posts, rescue workers had to turn to heavy-duty electric saws, replacing blade after blade as they dulled on the rugged material.
"It was just beating the snot out of the tools," adding minutes and delaying medical treatment, Roberts said.
There is no question that today's cars save lives by cocooning motorists in reinforced alloys, impact-absorbing crumple zones and as many as a dozen air bags.
But in interviews with The Associated Press, rescue officials and experts from around the United States said the new technology is also hindering extrication of injured people, increasingly forcing crews to work deeper into the critical "golden hour" between accident and treatment by emergency room doctors. On many 2005 and later cars, an extrication that once took 10 or 15 minutes can now take twice that or longer.
To catch up, counties and cities are spending tens of thousands of dollars—if they can afford it—to buy more powerful equipment that can cut through newer cars' reinforced steel and the lighter, tougher exotic metals used in roofs, posts and doors.
Then there are obstacles that endanger rescuers' safety. Pressurized gas canisters that inflate air bags can explode if pierced by cutting tools. Rescuers can be blown from cars when air bags suddenly inflate. Hidden battery cables in hybrid cars can deliver a powerful shock.
To protect themselves, workers now have to peel away the ceiling and interior plastic to see what's underneath before they can even start cutting.
Experts cannot say for certain whether the delays in getting these victims to the hospital have resulted in people dying. But that's the fear.
"We build more fire stations, we make faster fire trucks, we've got helicopters to get you to the hospital," said Roberts, an expert who teaches extrication to colleagues around Florida. "But what's slowing us down are these vehicles that are harder for us to get into."
The problem has rescue workers scrambling to update their tools and explore different ways to attack cars with their cutters, spreaders and saws. Some agencies with equipment more than a few years old are arriving at accident scenes and finding out that it will no longer do the job.
"Because their shearing materials had been so successful for so many years, some agencies hadn't developed a Plan B," said Tom Hollenstain, who works to educate rescuers about new auto technology at the State Farm Insurance vehicle research center.
Leading hydraulic-tool makers such as Hurst Jaws of Life—whose namesake George Hurst introduced the first hydraulic extrication tools for auto racing in the early 1970s—must keep putting more oomph into their equipment, making it heavier and more expensive. A single Hurst cutter and power unit runs about $25,000. Add hydraulic spreaders and other tools and the price rises quickly.
A fire crew in Bonita Springs, Fla., discovered the problem last year when it rolled up on a 2007 Lexus that had overturned. Hydraulic cutters only a few years old wouldn't shear the strengthened steel roof posts, so the crew had to move quickly to cut other parts of the car. A job that should have taken a few minutes required 20 minutes of cutting and sawing to remove the driver.
Assistant Chief Ken Craft said the incident led the department to buy new heavy rescue tools costing $54,000—a sizable expense for a city of around 40,000.
"If the automakers roll out something new next year, we could be right back where we were at," Craft said. "That's the problem we're confronted with."
Mike Ader, a volunteer firefighter in Rockville, Md., recalled the layered-steel roof post from a 2008 Toyota Camry that wouldn't budge under the blades of a hydraulic cutter after a broadside crash Jan. 2. The patient, whose injuries were serious but not life-threatening, finally had to be maneuvered around the post.
Ader used two types of saws and numerous blades to remove the post after the patient was removed. The department quickly decided to buy a new, more powerful cutter.
The flip side, of course, is that more people are surviving horrific crashes that would have killed them just a few years ago.
The Fusion's passenger, for example, was hurt but conscious and joking with Roberts as the crew worked to get him out. The driver of the other vehicle—a 2001 Ford F-150 pickup—was dead at the scene.
With about three people hurt in car crashes every minute in the United States, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spokesman Rae Tyson said he is comfortable with the trade-off. Rescue workers, he said, will have to work harder to keep up with technology, just like everybody else.
"The fatality rate for passenger vehicles is the lowest in history," Tyson said. "That, to me, is a pretty good news story."
One problem for rescue workers is how to get the latest technical information about newer cars and how to deal with them.
Later this year, the nonprofit group COMCARE Emergency Response Alliance, with cooperation from automakers, is introducing a single Web site that will offer schematics and safety specs for most cars on the road. Rescue workers could flip open a laptop computer on the way to a crash scene to find out about the construction of the car, placement of air bag canisters and other details.
Automakers say they are doing more to make safety information available to rescuers and tool makers before new models come out. For instance, Ford is already offering a look at the skeleton of the 2009 F-150 pickup, built with the strongest steel construction the company has ever used.
"We want to facilitate the discussion as much as possible, because we understand the critical nature of their work," Ford spokesman Wesley Sherwood said.
Labels: avoiding car accidents, car wreck, injury, rescue
CNN
JACKSON, Missouri (March 29) - Debbie Shank breaks down in tears every time she's told that her 18-year-old son, Jeremy, was killed in Iraq. The 52-year-old mother of three attended her son's funeral, but she continues to ask how he's doing. When her family reminds her that he's dead, she weeps as if hearing the news for the first time.
"Who Needs The Money More?"
Debbie Shank, 52, suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident in 2000. The Wal-Mart employee received about $470,000 from the retailer's health plan for medical expenses, but the company has sued to get the payout back.
Shank suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident nearly eight years ago that robbed her of much of her short-term memory and left her in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home.
It was the beginning of a series of battles -- both personal and legal -- that loomed for Shank and her family. One of their biggest was with Wal-Mart's health plan.
Eight years ago, Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart's health and benefits plan.
Two years after the accident, Shank and her husband, Jim, were awarded about $1 million in a lawsuit against the trucking company involved in the crash. After legal fees were paid, $417,000 was placed in a trust to pay for Debbie Shank's long-term care.
Wal-Mart had paid out about $470,000 for Shank's medical expenses and later sued for the same amount. However, the court ruled it can only recoup what is left in the family's trust.
The Shanks didn't notice in the fine print of Wal-Mart's health plan policy that the company has the right to recoup medical expenses if an employee collects damages in a lawsuit.
The family's attorney, Maurice Graham, said he informed Wal-Mart about the settlement and believed the Shanks would be allowed to keep the money.
"We assumed after three years, they [Wal-Mart] had made a decision to let Debbie Shank use this money for what it was intended to," Graham said.
The Shanks lost their suit to Wal-Mart. Last summer, the couple appealed the ruling -- but also lost it. One week later, their son was killed in Iraq.
"They are quite within their rights. But I just wonder if they need it that bad," Jim Shank said.
In 2007, the retail giant reported net sales in the third quarter of $90 billion.
Legal or not, CNN asked Wal-Mart why the company pursued the money.
Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley, who called Debbie Shank's case "unbelievably sad," replied in a statement: "Wal-Mart's plan is bound by very specific rules. ... We wish it could be more flexible in Mrs. Shank's case since her circumstances are clearly extraordinary, but this is done out of fairness to all associates who contribute to, and benefit from, the plan."
Jim Shank said he believes Wal-Mart should make an exception.
"My idea of a win-win is -- you keep the paperwork that says you won and let us keep the money so I can take care of my wife," he said.
The family's situation is so dire that last year Jim Shank divorced Debbie, so she could receive more money from Medicaid.
Jim Shank, 54, is recovering from prostate cancer, works two jobs and struggles to pay the bills. He's afraid he won't be able to send their youngest son to college and pay for his and Debbie's care.
"Who needs the money more? A disabled lady in a wheelchair with no future, whatsoever, or does Wal-Mart need $90 billion, plus $200,000?" he asked.
The family's attorney agrees.
"The recovery that Debbie Shank made was recovery for future lost earnings, for her pain and suffering," Graham said.
"She'll never be able to work again. Never have a relationship with her husband or children again. The damage she recovered was for much more than just medical expenses."
Graham said he believes Wal-Mart should be entitled to only about $100,000. Right now, about $277,000 remains in the trust -- far short of the $470,000 Wal-Mart wants back.
Refusing to give up the fight, the Shanks appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. But just last week, the high court said it would not hear the case.
Graham said the Shanks have exhausted all their resources and there's nothing more they can do but go on with their lives.
Jim Shank said he's disappointed with the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case -- not for the sake of his family -- but for those who might face similar circumstances.
For now, he said the family will figure out a way to get by and "do the best we can for Debbie."
"Luckily, she's oblivious to everything," he said. "We don't tell her what's going on because it will just upset her.
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/wal-mart-sues-disabled-ex-employee/20080329083609990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
JACKSON, Missouri (March 29) - Debbie Shank breaks down in tears every time she's told that her 18-year-old son, Jeremy, was killed in Iraq. The 52-year-old mother of three attended her son's funeral, but she continues to ask how he's doing. When her family reminds her that he's dead, she weeps as if hearing the news for the first time.
"Who Needs The Money More?"
Debbie Shank, 52, suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident in 2000. The Wal-Mart employee received about $470,000 from the retailer's health plan for medical expenses, but the company has sued to get the payout back.
Shank suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident nearly eight years ago that robbed her of much of her short-term memory and left her in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home.
It was the beginning of a series of battles -- both personal and legal -- that loomed for Shank and her family. One of their biggest was with Wal-Mart's health plan.
Eight years ago, Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart's health and benefits plan.
Two years after the accident, Shank and her husband, Jim, were awarded about $1 million in a lawsuit against the trucking company involved in the crash. After legal fees were paid, $417,000 was placed in a trust to pay for Debbie Shank's long-term care.
Wal-Mart had paid out about $470,000 for Shank's medical expenses and later sued for the same amount. However, the court ruled it can only recoup what is left in the family's trust.
The Shanks didn't notice in the fine print of Wal-Mart's health plan policy that the company has the right to recoup medical expenses if an employee collects damages in a lawsuit.
The family's attorney, Maurice Graham, said he informed Wal-Mart about the settlement and believed the Shanks would be allowed to keep the money.
"We assumed after three years, they [Wal-Mart] had made a decision to let Debbie Shank use this money for what it was intended to," Graham said.
The Shanks lost their suit to Wal-Mart. Last summer, the couple appealed the ruling -- but also lost it. One week later, their son was killed in Iraq.
"They are quite within their rights. But I just wonder if they need it that bad," Jim Shank said.
In 2007, the retail giant reported net sales in the third quarter of $90 billion.
Legal or not, CNN asked Wal-Mart why the company pursued the money.
Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley, who called Debbie Shank's case "unbelievably sad," replied in a statement: "Wal-Mart's plan is bound by very specific rules. ... We wish it could be more flexible in Mrs. Shank's case since her circumstances are clearly extraordinary, but this is done out of fairness to all associates who contribute to, and benefit from, the plan."
Jim Shank said he believes Wal-Mart should make an exception.
"My idea of a win-win is -- you keep the paperwork that says you won and let us keep the money so I can take care of my wife," he said.
The family's situation is so dire that last year Jim Shank divorced Debbie, so she could receive more money from Medicaid.
Jim Shank, 54, is recovering from prostate cancer, works two jobs and struggles to pay the bills. He's afraid he won't be able to send their youngest son to college and pay for his and Debbie's care.
"Who needs the money more? A disabled lady in a wheelchair with no future, whatsoever, or does Wal-Mart need $90 billion, plus $200,000?" he asked.
The family's attorney agrees.
"The recovery that Debbie Shank made was recovery for future lost earnings, for her pain and suffering," Graham said.
"She'll never be able to work again. Never have a relationship with her husband or children again. The damage she recovered was for much more than just medical expenses."
Graham said he believes Wal-Mart should be entitled to only about $100,000. Right now, about $277,000 remains in the trust -- far short of the $470,000 Wal-Mart wants back.
Refusing to give up the fight, the Shanks appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. But just last week, the high court said it would not hear the case.
Graham said the Shanks have exhausted all their resources and there's nothing more they can do but go on with their lives.
Jim Shank said he's disappointed with the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case -- not for the sake of his family -- but for those who might face similar circumstances.
For now, he said the family will figure out a way to get by and "do the best we can for Debbie."
"Luckily, she's oblivious to everything," he said. "We don't tell her what's going on because it will just upset her.
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/wal-mart-sues-disabled-ex-employee/20080329083609990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
Labels: avoiding personal injury, brain, damages, money
Our firm has had two premises liability verdicts in February. In the first, a United States District Court jury returned a verdict for $340,000 in a negligent security case. A truck driver parked his truck at a local truck stop. The truck stop had only 1 security guard on duty despite knowing of prior violent crimes. The client was hit on the back of the head and suffered a concussion (a mild brain injury) and a herniated disc in his neck. The plaintiff later had surgery to have his spine fused.
In the second, a Canadian family was staying at a local hotel. The water temperature in the shower was allowed to reach scalding levels and the father suffered a second degree burn which caused a scar on his chest. Attorney Dwayne Adams presented evidence showing that the Defendant had destroyed evidence relating to maintenance records. An expert showed how the boiler was 35 years old and the hotel knew that it had frequently hit unsafe temperatures. The Dekalb County jury returned a verdict of $75,000 for pain and suffering.
In the second, a Canadian family was staying at a local hotel. The water temperature in the shower was allowed to reach scalding levels and the father suffered a second degree burn which caused a scar on his chest. Attorney Dwayne Adams presented evidence showing that the Defendant had destroyed evidence relating to maintenance records. An expert showed how the boiler was 35 years old and the hotel knew that it had frequently hit unsafe temperatures. The Dekalb County jury returned a verdict of $75,000 for pain and suffering.
Labels: avoiding personal injury, brain, damages, pain, spine, suffering, trial, verdict
The Sun was in my Eyes
The teenage Defendant driving a Lexus SC 400 rear ended my client. He claimed the car wreck was caused because the sun was in his eyes and suddenly blinded him. We hired an expert in sun positioning to re-create the accident scene including the position of the sun at the time. Our expert witness disproved the Defendant's arguments.
The taillights weren't working
The twenty something Defendant driving a van told the police officer he looked down from the road to pick up a cell phone just before he crashed into the back of my client's car. After the lawsuit was filed, he couldn't remember whether my client's car's taillights were on before the wreck. We hired an engineer to examine the client's car. The Defendant also hired an engineer. Both engineers looked at the client's car's taillight and agreed it was working at the time of the accident.
The "He tripped over his own feet" defense
In a serious fall case, a homeowners association's President stated that his eyewitnesses (who all happened to live there) clearly saw that my client had tripped forward before falling down a flight of stairs that had no handrail. We hired a biomechanical engineer to examine the injuries sustained in the fall. He determined that the method of the fall suggested by the defense was inconsistent with the story told by the Defendant.
All of these defenses required us to hire experts to disprove arguments. This costs thousands of dollars but illustrates the lengths that some insurance companies will go to avoid responsibility for serious injuries. Good lawyers have to do their homework to find experts to disprove these frivolous defenses.
The teenage Defendant driving a Lexus SC 400 rear ended my client. He claimed the car wreck was caused because the sun was in his eyes and suddenly blinded him. We hired an expert in sun positioning to re-create the accident scene including the position of the sun at the time. Our expert witness disproved the Defendant's arguments.
The taillights weren't working
The twenty something Defendant driving a van told the police officer he looked down from the road to pick up a cell phone just before he crashed into the back of my client's car. After the lawsuit was filed, he couldn't remember whether my client's car's taillights were on before the wreck. We hired an engineer to examine the client's car. The Defendant also hired an engineer. Both engineers looked at the client's car's taillight and agreed it was working at the time of the accident.
The "He tripped over his own feet" defense
In a serious fall case, a homeowners association's President stated that his eyewitnesses (who all happened to live there) clearly saw that my client had tripped forward before falling down a flight of stairs that had no handrail. We hired a biomechanical engineer to examine the injuries sustained in the fall. He determined that the method of the fall suggested by the defense was inconsistent with the story told by the Defendant.
All of these defenses required us to hire experts to disprove arguments. This costs thousands of dollars but illustrates the lengths that some insurance companies will go to avoid responsibility for serious injuries. Good lawyers have to do their homework to find experts to disprove these frivolous defenses.
Armed thieves struck 2 Gainesville convenience stores early Thursday
Two armed robberies within minutes at a pair of Gainesville convenience stores Thursday have police looking for suspects who could strike again.
Meanwhile, one expert on store security said that with a few exceptions, most convenience stores don’t do enough to dispel their reputation among robbers as easy targets.
At about 4 a.m. Thursday, two men entered the Kangaroo at 1680 Park Hill Drive and robbed a 25-year-old clerk at gunpoint. Minutes later, a 63-year-old clerk at the Kangaroo at 615 E.E. Butler was robbed by the same two men, police believe.
Neither clerk was injured, and the men got away with a small amount of cash, Gainesville police Lt. Brian Kelly said. They were described as black males in their 20s, wearing clothing over their faces, one with baggy jeans that exposed green checkered boxer shorts. A gold 1990s Chevrolet Blazer was seen leaving the scene of the second robbery.
It was the second time since November that the Park Hill Drive Kangaroo has been robbed at gunpoint. Two men were later arrested in the Nov. 12 robbery, Kelly said.
J.R. Roberts, a Savannah-based security consultant, said the circumstances of Thursday’s robberies are particularly troubling.
"Statistically, when you have more than one perpetrator, the risk of violence goes up," Roberts said. And a "spree" offense, in which more than one crime is committed in a short span of time, "has the potential of becoming more violent more quickly," Roberts said.
"Unless these guys are caught, they’re going to continue," Roberts said.
Roberts said convenience stores are often regarded as "stop and robs" by criminals because of the perception that they are a "quick, easy and a low risk to the felon."
Roberts pointed to Florida, which passed legislation mandating that convenience stores meet a certain level of security, and how it led to a 26 percent reduction in armed robberies.
"Crime prevention through environmental design makes a difference," Roberts said.
One industry leader is QuickTrip, which sees fewer armed robberies than other convenience stores largely due to its emphasis on security.
"I think it’s well known by everyone that the safety of our customers and employees is paramount," said Mike Thornbrugh, manager of government and public affairs for the Tulsa, Okla.-based company, which operates 110 stores in Georgia, including one on U.S. 129 in Gainesville.
Employee training, technology, lighting, store design and location go into making a safer store, Thornbrugh said.
Clerks work on raised platforms for a better vantage point, windows are largely clear of view-blocking signages and parking lots are brightly lit. Activities are monitored with multiple cameras, and employees are trained on what to do when a crime occurs, Thornbrugh said.
A heavy law enforcement presence also helps. Local police and deputies are encouraged to stop in during breaks, adding another layer of security.
As some stores become harder targets, Roberts, the security consultant, has noticed an emerging trend: criminals are increasingly targeting drive-through restaurants, many of which have in recent years added the late-night hours that robbers prefer.
"As convenience stores began to make changes, I see them moving over to the fast-food joints," Roberts said.
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/article/4805/
Two armed robberies within minutes at a pair of Gainesville convenience stores Thursday have police looking for suspects who could strike again.
Meanwhile, one expert on store security said that with a few exceptions, most convenience stores don’t do enough to dispel their reputation among robbers as easy targets.
At about 4 a.m. Thursday, two men entered the Kangaroo at 1680 Park Hill Drive and robbed a 25-year-old clerk at gunpoint. Minutes later, a 63-year-old clerk at the Kangaroo at 615 E.E. Butler was robbed by the same two men, police believe.
Neither clerk was injured, and the men got away with a small amount of cash, Gainesville police Lt. Brian Kelly said. They were described as black males in their 20s, wearing clothing over their faces, one with baggy jeans that exposed green checkered boxer shorts. A gold 1990s Chevrolet Blazer was seen leaving the scene of the second robbery.
It was the second time since November that the Park Hill Drive Kangaroo has been robbed at gunpoint. Two men were later arrested in the Nov. 12 robbery, Kelly said.
J.R. Roberts, a Savannah-based security consultant, said the circumstances of Thursday’s robberies are particularly troubling.
"Statistically, when you have more than one perpetrator, the risk of violence goes up," Roberts said. And a "spree" offense, in which more than one crime is committed in a short span of time, "has the potential of becoming more violent more quickly," Roberts said.
"Unless these guys are caught, they’re going to continue," Roberts said.
Roberts said convenience stores are often regarded as "stop and robs" by criminals because of the perception that they are a "quick, easy and a low risk to the felon."
Roberts pointed to Florida, which passed legislation mandating that convenience stores meet a certain level of security, and how it led to a 26 percent reduction in armed robberies.
"Crime prevention through environmental design makes a difference," Roberts said.
One industry leader is QuickTrip, which sees fewer armed robberies than other convenience stores largely due to its emphasis on security.
"I think it’s well known by everyone that the safety of our customers and employees is paramount," said Mike Thornbrugh, manager of government and public affairs for the Tulsa, Okla.-based company, which operates 110 stores in Georgia, including one on U.S. 129 in Gainesville.
Employee training, technology, lighting, store design and location go into making a safer store, Thornbrugh said.
Clerks work on raised platforms for a better vantage point, windows are largely clear of view-blocking signages and parking lots are brightly lit. Activities are monitored with multiple cameras, and employees are trained on what to do when a crime occurs, Thornbrugh said.
A heavy law enforcement presence also helps. Local police and deputies are encouraged to stop in during breaks, adding another layer of security.
As some stores become harder targets, Roberts, the security consultant, has noticed an emerging trend: criminals are increasingly targeting drive-through restaurants, many of which have in recent years added the late-night hours that robbers prefer.
"As convenience stores began to make changes, I see them moving over to the fast-food joints," Roberts said.
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/article/4805/
Late Friday, April 4, 2008, the District Court of Appeals, First District, State of Florida upheld the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation’s suspension of Allstate from writing insurance in the State of Florida. The Office had suspended Allstate weeks before for a refusal to produce the McKinsey documents during an investigation of the company. That investigation, started as a result of the media surrounding Trial Guides From Good Hands to Boxing Gloves, and Robert Hunter’s reference to it, resulted in Allstate being cut off from a market comprising 17% of its national sales.
The court found Allstate guilty of arbitrary reductions of “bodily injury claim payments to its policyholders and beneficiaries by up to 20%.” It also determined that Allstate was engaged in ongoing criminal activity by failing to cooperate with the Office of Insurance Regulation’s investigation of a crime, and that this constituted a danger to the public health, safety or welfare of citizens.
Realizing the seriousness of this, given the pending shareholder lawsuit against the company for other problems resulting from the company’s refusal to turn over the documents in several cases nationally, Allstate posted 150,000 documents related to McKinsey on their web site. This number of documents is substantially more than the number they had represented were “all” of the McKinsey documents, to several courts in the country.
The court found Allstate guilty of arbitrary reductions of “bodily injury claim payments to its policyholders and beneficiaries by up to 20%.” It also determined that Allstate was engaged in ongoing criminal activity by failing to cooperate with the Office of Insurance Regulation’s investigation of a crime, and that this constituted a danger to the public health, safety or welfare of citizens.
Realizing the seriousness of this, given the pending shareholder lawsuit against the company for other problems resulting from the company’s refusal to turn over the documents in several cases nationally, Allstate posted 150,000 documents related to McKinsey on their web site. This number of documents is substantially more than the number they had represented were “all” of the McKinsey documents, to several courts in the country.
On March 19, 2008, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced he was forcing Allstate Corporation to reduce insurance rates in California by 15.9% "It was very clear that they were charging too much," said Douglas Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights.
The order, which came at the close of a lengthy proceeding before an administrative law judge, was more than twice what the Northbrook, Ill., company wanted to grant its policyholders.
According to the order issued by Poizner on Friday, Allstate had requested permission to lower its rates by 7.1%. The department's rate-setting formula calculated that a 19.4% reduction was merited. After months of legal arguments, a state administrative law judge ordered the final rate reduced 5.9%.
Why are Allstate's rates so high that it requires a forced reduction by California's Insurance Commissioner? Because under Allstate's claims handling process implemented in the early 1990s, Allstate's claims payments have dropped to approximately 50% of the level they were at in 1992. At the same time, Allstate has requested over 700 rate increases throughout the country. The system implemented by Allstate to help cut claims so deeply, was developed by the same consultant used by State Farm, Liberty Mutual, USAA, and others.
Something to keep in mind next time you hear insurance companies complaining about business.
The order, which came at the close of a lengthy proceeding before an administrative law judge, was more than twice what the Northbrook, Ill., company wanted to grant its policyholders.
According to the order issued by Poizner on Friday, Allstate had requested permission to lower its rates by 7.1%. The department's rate-setting formula calculated that a 19.4% reduction was merited. After months of legal arguments, a state administrative law judge ordered the final rate reduced 5.9%.
Why are Allstate's rates so high that it requires a forced reduction by California's Insurance Commissioner? Because under Allstate's claims handling process implemented in the early 1990s, Allstate's claims payments have dropped to approximately 50% of the level they were at in 1992. At the same time, Allstate has requested over 700 rate increases throughout the country. The system implemented by Allstate to help cut claims so deeply, was developed by the same consultant used by State Farm, Liberty Mutual, USAA, and others.
Something to keep in mind next time you hear insurance companies complaining about business.
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