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Personal Injury
- New York state man recovers $200K for fingers lost to lawn mower
- Eight Powerful Reasons to Hire a Local Attorney
- Court Allows Claims For Emotional Distress After Alleged Breach Of Contract To Continue
- Wal-Mart Limits Subrogation Rights Against Workers
- Pennsylvania Worker recovers for fall from ladder bought at Home Depot
Premises Liability: The Slip and Fall
- NYC to pay $2.75M for softball accident in school gym class
- New case law on slilp and fall on icey sidewalks owned by a City
- Worker who lost leg in construction accident receives $13M
- Boy blinded in ATV rollover gets $6M settlement
- ELMIRA ATTORNEY CONTINUES TO INVESTIGATE OUTBREAK OF LEGIONNAIRES’ DISEASE AT THE FLANNERY TOWERS
Workers' Compensation
- New York Times article on biased "Independant" Medical Examiners
- No Work Jobs
- Prison Guard receives settlement in MRSA case
- New blog post at the Pa Injury Law blog about the effect Bush had on OSHA
- New post on the Pa Work Injury Law Blog about what to do when you're laid off
Vehicle and Automobile Accidents
- Pennsylvania Car Accident Plaintiff's award of $400,000 Upheld On Appeal
- An unsafe intersection in Athens Township?
- Pennsylvania Superior Court Case Quashing Underinsured Motorist Carrier Appeal
- Pa. Superior Court Allows UIM And Bad Faith To Proceed At Same Time
- People injured in Springfield Township, Bradford County automobile crash
General
- Insurance company denials of benefits in Pennsylvania and New York
- CALL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS AND URGE SUPPORT FOR THE ARBITRATION FAIRNESS ACT OF 2009
- Another ATV Death
- Bradford County, Pennsylvania has a new website
- No conflict of interest between Bradford County, Pennsylvania's new Judge and new District Attorney, despite them cousins
Legal News
Judge campaign candidates speak at dinner in Towanda
Judge Beirne unopposed in local race
Attorney General Tom Corbett to visit Bradford County
Beirne will run for full term as judge
Bradford County Employers Laying Off Workers
Death Benefits Not Mandatory for PA Car Insurance
Bradford County: Judge Beirne presiding
Pennsylvania Senate confirms Beirne as Bradford County judge
Legal Library
Personal Injury
- Questions for Your Doctor In Personal Injury Cases
- Traumatic Brain Injury: By The [Staggering] Numbers
- What is an Independent Medical Examination?
- Common Questions About the Legal Process
- The Wrongful Death Of A Child - Part Two
Premises Liability: The Slip and Fall
- Cracked, Broken or Irregular Sidewalks Causing a Fall
- Dog Bites
- If You Have Been Bitten or Attacked by a Dog, Then You Need to Read This Article
- New Pennsylvania Superior Court Case on Dog Attack
- Lead Poisoning Threatens Pregnant Women
Workers' Compensation
- New York Times article on Independent Medical Exams
- Response to Time Magazine Article: "Doctor's View: Can Health Coverage Cause Pain?"
- Specific Loss Benefits
- Reimbursement for Travel Expenes in Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Cases
- Flow of Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Claim Documents Prior To Litigation
Vehicle and Automobile Accidents
- Reducing The Impact of A Whiplash Injury
- Car Accident Injuries: Neck Pain
- Multi-Truck Accident in Susquehanna County Results in Hospitalization
- Repeat Offender Facing DUI Charges After Accident Lands Passenger in Hospital
- Driver Strikes Mother and Daughter in School Crossing Zone
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Personal Injury
New York state man recovers $200K for fingers lost to lawn mower
Pennsylvania Worker recovers for fall from ladder bought at Home Depot
The jury found that Home Depot was to blame because it sold the ladder and failed to mention that it had been in rental service for four years, which is against company policy. Sohngen also sued Louisville Ladder for defective design, but the jury found it wasn't negligent. Home Depot was found 60 percent liable and Sohngen was found 40 percent liable, which reduced the jury's $678,000 award.
To purchase a full report on this case, go to VerdictSearch.com.
Jury awards $20.5M Obstetrician, CMC held liable in botched birth
A Lackawanna County jury handed a Jermyn family $20.5 million in a medical malpractice suit stemming from a boy’s lasting medical problems caused by mistakes made at his birth. Judge Terrence Nealon said the award was the largest he has presided over in a medical malpractice case in his 10 years on the bench.See the whole story here.
Premises Liability: The Slip and Fall
NYC to pay $2.75M for softball accident in school gym class
The City of New York Department of Education must pay $2.75 million to a woman who sustained severe facial injuries in a softball accident four years ago, while attending one of the city's public schools.Chelise Navarro, now 20, was struck in the face by a swung bat during softball drills in gym class at the Bronx's Walton High School. She sued the department of education, alleging that her gym teacher was not supervising the drills. The defense cast blame on the girl who swung the bat, contending that the students had been warned not to execute full swings of the bat. It also contended that Navarro assumed the gym-class activity's inherent risk of injury, but the jury found that the department of education was liable for the accident.
To see the full report go to VerdictSearch.com.
Hotel guest injured when chair broke awarded $550,000
A jury awarded $550,000 to a man who injured his back and shoulder when he fell from a broken chair at a motel. John Karetas, a conductor with Norfolk Southern Inc., was staying at the McIntosh Inn in Allentown when the back of his chair broke, causing him to twist his back and fall on his shoulder. He sued the inn and his employer because he had taken a freight train from Harrisburg to Allentown, which required him to stay in the motel overnight. His lawyer argued that the back portion of the chair wasn't properly attached to the base. The jury found tMcIntosh Inn 70 percent liable and Norfolk Southern 30 liable.
Karetas v. Norfolk Southern Corp.
To see the full report, go to VerdictSearch.com
Vehicle and Automobile Accidents
Federal Verdict Against GM in Rollover Lawsuit
A jury found General Motors negligent in a rollover crash that killed a 14-year-old boy, awarding what may be a record amount to the parents who brought a lawsuit in federal court against the auto maker. The trial lasted two weeks.Garland Reynolds and his wife, Bonnie, were awarded $3.5 million in connection with the 2002 rollover accident that claimed the life of their son, Matthew. The Reynolds sued GM in 2006, alleging that the design of the 1995 Chevrolet Blazer created stability issues that contributed to the fatal wreck. The jury awarded no punitive damages.
A jury of five men and three women deliberated for nearly three days in U.S. District Court in Gainesville, GA before finding GM at fault.
The jury said to General Motors that the Blazer is unsafe and it should not have been designed without proper stability, attorney for the plaintiff said.
On June 3, 2002, Bonnie Reynolds was driving a 1995 Chevy Blazer on the Interstate with her son in the front seat when the Blazer was struck by a drunk driver who lost control of his Pontiac Sunbird.
The Blazer flipped several times and Matthew Reynolds was ejected. He died the following day in an area hospital.
The driver who struck the Reynolds' car was later convicted of first-degree vehicular homicide and is serving a lengthy prison sentence.
Plaintiffs presented evidence at trial of other rollover accidents involving the Blazer. The plaintiffs contended that the make and model was built with too high a center of gravity for the wheel base, and that the "track," or distance between the wheels, should have been widened to prevent stability problems.
Blazers manufactured from 1995 through 2002 have similar design flaws. The Blazer was subsequently phased out in favor of the TrailBlazer, which has a wider wheelbase.
Evidence presented at trial called for a recall.
General Motors maintains that the vehicle is safe.
Company spokeswoman Geri Lama said GM was disappointed in the jury's verdict. They contend that the rollover accident is the sole fault of the drunk driver who struck the Blazer. GM is considering its options of an appeal.There was never an offer to settle, according to Plaintiffs attorneys.
GM was represented by a team of King & Spalding attorneys led by partner W. Ray Persons,
The case, in the Northern District of Georgia, is Garland Reynolds Jr. et al., v. General Motors Corp., No. 2:04-CV-106.
Teen injured in near-fatal crash gets $14.8M
General
Top Pa. judge: Counties to get longer jury lists
From The Associated Press:
Starting this fall, the odds of being picked for jury service are likely to increase for some Pennsylvanians and decrease for others, Chief Justice Ronald Castille said Monday.
The state court system is compiling a statewide master list of prospective jurors based on voting records from the Department of State, tax records from the Department of Revenue, motor-vehicle data from the Department of Transportation and welfare records from the Department of Public Welfare under a state law signed last year.
Sub-lists for individual counties will be provided upon request starting in October or November.
"If you vote, pay taxes, drive or receive welfare or food stamps, your name will be on that list," Castille told a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon at a Harrisburg hotel.
Currently, counties use different public records to identify residents eligible for jury duty, including voter-registration and driver's license lists. But those exclude people who do not vote or drive, often resulting in jury pools with a racial and gender makeup that does not reflect the county's population.
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FAQs
Personal Injury
- How long is all this going to take?
- The insurance company offered me a settlement almost immediately after my serious accident. Should I accept it?
- The insurance company says that I don’t need a lawyer to settle this. What do you think?
- What is my case worth?
- What factors determine who is at fault in a car accident?
Workers' Compensation
- What happens if I return to a modified duty job and then I am laid off?
- If I am unable to return to the type of work I did before I was injured, what happens?
- If I am injured on the job can I choose the doctor who treats me?
- Should an injured worker apply for unemployment benefits?
- What medical benefits does the Act provide to a worker after they have sustained an on-the-job injury?
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