Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone in the Delmarva area, or anyone anywhere for that matter, that doesn't recognize the names Yeardley Love or George Huguely.

In case you've had your head in the sand and haven't heard these names, the story here is tragic. Yeardley Love was a popular and beautiful University of Virginia lacrosse player, whose was killed in an awful and vicious manner. Love's former boyfriend, George Huguely, was convicted of her death and is currently awaiting sentencing.

It is being reported that Yeardley Love's family has filed a lawsuit against George Huguely, and is asking for $29.45 million dollars in compensatory damages, with another $1 million being sought in punitive damages. The lawsuit states that Huguely "acted with such indifference to Love that his conduct constituted an utter disregard of caution amounting to a complete neglect of safety for Love." Moreover, the suit said that Huguely "was aware, or should have been aware' that Love was severely injured after the physical altercation that would result in her death." The suit names Love's sisters as beneficiaries of her estate.

Now obviously, the probability that they would ever see a penny from a verdict in this suit is pretty low...I'm even going to go out on a limb and say zero (Ronald Goldman's family is still waiting for a payout in their lawsuit). But, if a hefty verdict against Huguely is what the family seeks in order to move on, then so be it. I can't say it is what I think I would do. But how can anyone pretend to be able to put themselves in the shoes of those parents?

Regardless of the outcome, this was a senseless and tragic death, and one can only hope that somebody, somewhere has learned from this case.

A California woman has sued Honda alleging Honda exaggerated the miles per gallon she could expect. A small claims judge agreed with her.

After purchasing a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid, the Plaintiff expected that her vehicle would get the 50 miles per gallon that it advertised. Instead, it was only getting around 30, and never got more than 42 (personally, I’d be thrilled if my car got 30 miles per gallon, let alone 42). So she sued, asking that Honda pay for her trouble and the extra money that she spent on gas.

The judge ruled that Honda misled her when it claimed that its Civic hybrid could drive up to 50 miles on a gallon of gas, and awarded her more than $9,800 in damages.

Interestingly enough, instead of joining other Honda owners in a class-action lawsuit, she filed in small claims court (she’s a former lawyer, no surprise there). She said that a small claims suit could cost the company up to $10,000 in her case, and with 200,000 of these cars out there, if every other individual owner filed in the same manner, “That's a potential payout of $2 billion." She said that she doubts that all other owners will take the same route, but suggests that the penalty could be substantial for the company if a large percentage of the owners file individually.

As you might expect, Honda plans to appeal the decision. Ultimately, I think this is a good lawsuit because it keeps car manufacturers honest. But I don't particularly like these cases, particularly filed as individual cases just because they clog up our court system with relatively insignificant damages without physical injury. If you think Honda is not playing straight with its MPG estimate, buy a Ford.

• Family of 15 Year Old Drowning Victim Sues

  The family of a 15-year-old boy who drowned at a Michigan camp last summer has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the camp and several camp employees.

  According to the suit, the victim, along with other boys, was swimming after 10 p.m. in an area of the water that was not illuminated. A lifeguard lost sight of the boy, who had gone under. Unbelievably, he was underwater for almost 30 minutes before police and camp employees found him.

• New Claims in the Lawsuit Over Pregnant Inmate's Death

  Attorneys representing the estate of a pregnant woman, who died while in a Pennsylvania county jail, are asking for the judge to allow them to amend their complaint, adding new allegations to their lawsuit.
  
  The allegations here are sad. The 27 year old inmate died of pneumonia after being moved to a hospital from the jail. The amended complaint said that during December 2009, the woman’s cell block had "little or no heat" and inmates "could see their breath." It is alleged that the walls and ceiling were leaking water, and that there was a strong smell of sewage coming from her sink. It is further alleged that there was black mold growing on and around her toilet and wall. The conditions sound absolutely deplorable.

  On Friday, the Judge denied a motion by the county to dismiss the complaint, but has yet to rule on the request to amend.

• Jury Awards $11.35 Million Dollars to Plane Crash Victims

  A Philadelphia jury awarded an Akron doctor and his fiancé, a pilot, $11.35 million as compensation for injuries suffered in a 2007 plane crash, one of the largest air crash disaster verdicts awarded to Ohio residents. The verdict was against the company that maintained the plane, as the jury found that the plane had not been properly maintained prior to the crash.

  The plane, owned by the doctor and flown by his fiancé, developed engine problems shortly after taking off from DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in Atlanta, and crashed in a non-populated area near a water treatment facility. The doctor was rendered unconscious, but was revived by his fiancé whose legs were crushed. Incredibly, making matters much worse, while the doctor was helping his fiancé out of the plane, a wing exploded - engulfing both in fire. He suffered lung and respiratory system injuries from breathing in flames and fuel and third-degree burns, while she suffered third-degree burns to 40 percent of her body. Sadly, she can no longer fly because she has been unable to pass the FAA's medical examination.

• Woman and Children Awarded $8.5 Million in Wrongful Death Claim

A federal court jury has awarded a New Hampshire woman and her two children $8.5 million in a wrongful death lawsuit against a trucking company. Tragically, the husband and father was killed when a tractor-trailer ran over him while he was bicycling in Porter, Maine.

Court records detail that, in mediation, the plaintiffs asked for a $5 million settlement, and the company offered $100,000 to avoid a trial.

What do you call 1,000 lawyers at the bottom of the sea - A good start. I’ve heard them all. Lawyers often get bad raps due to frivolous law suits that have been filed. Sadly, many of these suits have merit, but the facts get so distorted by groups attacking personal injury lawyers, that the public doesn’t have the opportunity to learn the actual facts of the case, and in turn, they don’t realize that the Plaintiff has a legitimate claim.

On the other hand, there are ridiculous suits that are filed pro se, in which the public automatically assumes that suit was filed by an attorney. The latest story making headlines, which has people calling for the disbarment of a lawyer, one that doesn’t exist, takes place in Kansas. The suit is being brought pro se, by a convicted criminal serving an 11-year sentence.

Continue reading "Man Sues Couple He Kidnapped" »

My two volume treatise Insurance Settlements is now available from James Publishing. The book discusses how to position a lawyer's car accident, truck accident, medical malpractice or product liability case to the best possible settlement at every step along the way (until the state's high court affirms the judgment).

Click on the James Publishing link. If you have any comments on the book, please email me at ronmiller@millerandzois.com under the subject "Insurance Settlements Comments."

Two links for Missouri accident and injury lawyers from last week:

The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog has a post on a new rule regarding expert witnesses.

The Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog has a post about a legally correct yet troubling opinion from the Missouri Supreme Court regarding a personal injury truck accident.

Legalwriting.net has a post on the 10 legal words or phrase we could do without. I've been guilty of using the "instant case" although I now promise to stop. The word I hate more than all of these is the word "same" as in, "I will write a memorandum on the issue and the discuss same with Mr. Smith." I just find it incredibly annoying. The foolishness of using these kind of words is underscored in a new book on advocacy from Justice Scalia He says that words and phrases used almost exclusively by lawyers in place of plain-English are ill advised.

I agree. Let's all agree to stop it.

Blog posts of interest to personal injury lawyers:

*The new IPO (Legal Process Outsourcing) News Blog has an interesting post on the increasing demand for lawyers in India. Demand for lawyers in India has risen such that some lawyers are seeing salary increases of up to 100%. I'm not sure that a lot of personal injury lawyers are going to come out of India for obvious logistical reasons but I would not be surprised if support staff from India becomes far more common over the next 10 years.

*The Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer Blog has a post on a defense medical malpractice lawyer who questioned the fairness of jurors in the entire city of Baltimore.

*Dave Swanner's always excellent South Carolina Trial Blog suggests giving employees Friday afternoons off. This is a great idea but I worry about taking care of new and existing clients who call in on Friday afternoon.

*The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog has a post on the sanctions incurred when one lawyer could not control his client in deposition. These people rarely sneak up on lawyers; you can usually spot a client that you cannot control from a mile away. Obviously, there is a sliding scale of what a lawyer will tolerate depending upon the size of the case but there has to be some sort of minimum hurdle of decency a client has to be able to advance. This client did not meet that hurdle and 99% of the time, this is foreseeable to the lawyer who agreed to provide representation.

*My Shingle has a blog post about Carolyn Elefant's new book Solo by Choice. I have not read the book but the reviews have been excellent.

*The Birmingham Injury Blog has a post on mandatory arbitration clauses in nursing home contracts. This issue is not going away. Some courts are going to acknowledge the insanity of limiting a patient's rights given the unequal bargaining power of the nursing home. Other states are going to say that a contract is a contract.

*Also from Alabama (and also a Justia blog), the Alabama Product Injury Lawyer Blog has a blog post on drug companies and their propensity to ghostwrite studies about their drugs or medical devices and then having doctors agree to author the study to lend credence to what is often the propaganda of the drug companies.

*The New York Personal Injury Lawyer Blog and the Maryland Lawyer Blog posts on a blog called ER Stories, which appears to be made up stories of malpractice cases from an undisclosed doctor. To make it fun for the whole family, the New York Personal Injury Attorney Blog post title is Malpractice, Oral Sex, and Urban Legends.

I hope these posts are of interest. For the best and consistent lawyer blog roundups on the Internet of interest to injury and malpractice lawyers, visit Brooks Schuelke Personal Injury Law Round-Up #59.