Legal Updates May 19, 2012
by Get Law Suit Funding ~ May 19th, 2012- Cities Prune Budgets to Monitor Aging Trees as Injury Claims Add Up
Sitting or walking under an aging tree can be dangerous, lawsuits reveal. The case of Alexis Handwerker illustrates the hazards, the New York Times reports. She was seated on a bench beneath an elm in Manhattan’s Stuyvesant Square Park in 2007 when a tree limb 30 feet above broke off and fell on top of her. She received a $4 million settlement in February after her lawyers found evidence that park workers missed indications the tree was rotting. In the last 10 years, New York City has faced at least 10 lawsuits over death or injuries from older trees, the story says. Millions of dollars in…
- Lawyer Gets New Trial on Claim He Had No Authority for $350K Deal; Jury Would Have Awarded $9M
A California trial lawyer is getting a second chance after he agreed to settle his brain-injured client’s case for $350,000 shortly before jurors revealed they planned to award $9.4 million. Lawyer C. Michael Alder argued he quickly agreed to the settlement without conferring with his client. On Wednesday, Judge Michael Johnson of Los Angeles gave Alder an opportunity for a retrial and set a Jan. 28 date, the National Law Journal reports. But the judge also allowed defense lawyers to file a counterclaim over the settlement negotiations. Alder likely suspected a defense verdict when jurors announced during the…
- Attractive Nuisance? When Fun Factor Overshadows Risk, Lawsuits Are Sure to Follow
- Around the Blawgosphere: Pinterest Business Card Fishbowl; Legal Foundation of ‘Downton Abbey’
Pin and Win Carolyn Elefant—Washington, D.C., solo and Pinterest member—has invited My Shingle readers to ” ‘drop’ your business card into the MyShingle Online Fishbowl at Pinterest.” Those who participate by Thursday, March 15, will be entered into a raffle for one of two Amazon gift cards. Several of those who have already participated have included, along with the photos of their business cards, short narratives on why they made the conventional or unusual choices they made. Elefant thinks the platform for exchanging business cards will accomplish two things. “First, a virtual fishbowl provides a chance to openly and leisurely examine…
- Elderly Man Is ‘Surprised as Hell’ When Passengers in His Stolen Car Sue over Crash
A 91-year-old Oregon man says he was “surprised as hell” to learn he is the defendant in a lawsuit filed by two passengers injured in his stolen car. George Hinnenkamp of Lorane Valley reported his Thunderbird stolen in June 2009, the Register-Guard reported last month. Later he learned that the alleged thief, a man he had hired to do odd jobs, had crashed the car, injuring two passengers. Now the passengers are suing both Hinnenkamp and the driver, who was convicted of auto theft for stealing the car, according to the Register-Guard and the Seattle Weekly. Despite the conviction, the passengers claim Hinnenkamp gave the…
- Colo. Supreme Court OKs $10M Award Against Wal-Mart in Truck Driver’s Slip-and-Fall Case
Reversing a lower court’s determination that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was entitled to a new trial, the Colorado Supreme Court today approved a $10 million award to a truck driver who had to have multiple spinal surgeries after slipping on grease while making a delivery at a store in Greeley. A lawyer for Holly Averyt, 41, of Cheyenne says it is one of the highest judgments ever in a slip-and-fall case, KMGH in Denver reports. She could not return to work, had her truck—in which she also lived—repossessed and incurred about $500,000 in medical bills. The store did not immediately respond to the station’s request for comment. A jury…
- Thrown for a Loss: Retired Players Sue, Claim NFL Hid Brain Damage Info
- Top Mich. Court to Decide If Mom Who Saw Biker Son’s Fatal Crash Can Collect on Her Own Auto Policy
Insurance companies write the policies under which they contract to cover customers for automobile accidents and related injuries. So it is a general rule of interpretation that any ambiguity in the policy should be resolved in the customer’s favor. But a Michigan appellate court went too far when it decided that a mother who, while driving her own vehicle, saw her son’s fatal motorcycle accident transpire directly in front of her as the two were returning from a wedding, should be allowed to collect personal injury benefits under her own policy, contends Cincinnati Insurance Co. Now, in what Gale Boertmann’s lawyer calls a bad sign for his client, the state’s…
- Lawyer Uses His Head in My Bald Lawyer Ad Campaign
If you are injured and in need of a lawyer, Chandler Mason hopes you will remember his bald head. Mason, an Atlanta personal injury lawyer, is differentiating himself in a crowded field with billboards picturing himself and promoting his website, MyBaldLawyer.com. Legal Blog Watch and the legal marketing blog The Matte Pad have the story. “Most laypersons, particularly those who have never had the occasion to hire or work with an attorney, are under the misguided impression that all lawyers are ‘too uptight’ and ‘too expensive,’ ” Mason told The Matte Pad. “So, my idea initially seeks to overcome those…
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