Author: jeffreyhoward

http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/truth-behind-mcdonalds-hot-coffee-lawsuit.html

For years there has been this belief that lawsuits are out of control and those greedy trial lawyers are ruining life and everything for everyone in pursuit of gain through frivolous lawsuits.

I am a lawyer and, though I can appreciate your hesitance to be believe me considering the source, I can tell you this is simply not true.

Most people like to point to the infamous “hot coffee” lawsuit as the prime example of litigious insanity.  They’ll tell you all about how coffee is hot and everyone should know that and you shouldn’t get millions if you burn yourself.

But most people don’t know the reality of this case.  See the link above. Here are some salient facts:

• there was testimony that McDonalds kept their coffee dangerously hot, above industry standards, and did this despite reports of many serious injuries before this suit was brought
• the plaintiff here suffered burns requiring skin grafts in places you don’t want to think about.
• the plaintiff here attempted to settle the case for $20,000 (what she had to pay back for health care costs) and McDonalds offered her $800
• despite the jury of her peers giving her $160,000 and then $2.7 million in punitive damages, after appeals and a settlement agreement, she ended up with less than $500,000

None of these facts point to runaway trial lawyers making up facts.  But the gaslighting of the public with regard to this case DOES point to some hideous brainwashing by corporate America to make you, the public, think that it’s those greedy trial lawyers ruining everything for you, the common man.

The reality is that, in our society, it’s us greedy trial lawyers that stand protect you, the consumer, from the multi-billion dollar companies that would gladly bury you and your family if it helped their bottom line.

Think about that the next time you think lawyers are the problem.

For a guy who doesn’t handle property damage claims, I get a lot of questions about them.

This is probably the most popular, and the answer isn’t simple, but let’s start with the easiest part.

IF you have rental car coverage as part of your OWN auto insurance policy, then your insurance can/will pay for a rental.  This coverage will have restrictions (normally a dollar amount/day as well as a 30 day limit).  That’s better than not getting one, so use it if you must.

The less simple answer becomes necessary when you don’t have rental coverage as part of your policy.  When someone else causes an accident, they are in theory responsible for all consequential damages of their negligence.  It seems obvious that a rental car for the victim (assuming their vehicle is damaged enough to need prolonged repairs or is a total loss) would be consequential and therefore compensable.  True.  BUT the other insurance company doesn’t HAVE to provide a rental for you.  Technically, you’re on the hook for that up front, and then you can go after them for reimbursement.  But insurance companies realize they’re likely to pay for it later, so they have used their superior bargaining power to get better rates when they arrange for a rental.  As a result, the at-fault carrier will often (but not always) go ahead and set you up with a rental car when the need arises.

Of course, that’s not forever.  You have a duty to mitigate your damages, which means you can’t keep that rental forever while you dilly dally shopping for a new car.  And if your repairs start to take too long, you might hear some chirping.

Like I said above, I don’t handle property damage claims, but when I represent you in your injury claim, I’ll give you all the free advice in the world on how to handle property damage matters. Call me!  919-929-2992.

If you’re injured in an accident, why would you waste your time trying to figure out how to do my job?  Don’t have you have enough to do already?  You’re injured, you’re trying to get better, getting treatment, still trying to work and take care of your family.  Why would you try to add learning to be a lawyer to all of that?  That’s hard when you’re not injured, so why try now?

If you’ve been injured in an accident in North Carolina I can probably help you.  It doesn’t matter where you are in relation to my office; I handle claims throughout the state.

Call me now to talk about how I can take this burden off of your shoulders while you focus on what’s important, which is you getting back to your normal life.

919-929-2992

This picture has nothing to do with anything, but it’s dope, huh?

If you have a speeding or traffic ticket in Orange County, North Carolina, you could probably use some help.  You don’t want to waste your own time sitting in court all day, and you don’t want to risk getting an outcome that gives you higher insurance rates, or even worse, revokes your driver’s license.  Hire an attorney in Orange County to help with that ticket.  It just so happens I know a good one!

I’ve been doing traffic tickets in Orange County since 2001.  My office is in Chapel Hill, the blue heaven part of Orange County, and I’m a local.  I live here, I work here, I went to college here, I play here.  When you call, you get me, not an assistant or associate.  Let me help you through this and mitigate the consequences of your ticket.

Just call 919-929-2992.  I’m happy to help!

The bad news: The problem with having a dope website with tons of salient video is that, if things change, you gotta change your videos.

The good news: My Alamance Co. traffic ticket video has outdated information!  You CAN get improper equipment reductions in Alamance County now!  If you have the right charge (meaning not too fast) and an OK record (the cleaner, the better) then I have a chance of getting your Alamance County speeding ticket reduced to a non-moving violation (improper equipment) that won’t get you any DMV or Insurance points.  That’s about as good and reasonable of an outcome as you can hope for.

Let me know if you have a speeding ticket in Alamance County.  Call me for help at 919-929-2992.

See!  These things can happen to anyone!

We were driving to Atlanta for Xmas and in stop and go traffic on I85  – BOOM! – some knucklehead causes a 4 car accident because he’s not paying attention.

If this stuff happens to you, don’t handle it alone!  Call me at 919-929-2992

Here’s a quick quiz to let you know if you should handle your own auto injury claim.  Let me know if it helps:

1. Can you explain what the law of Contributory Negligence means?
2. Can you explain how Contributory Negligence is different from Comparitive Negligence.
3. Do you know if you should give a statement to the insurance company or not, and how that might affect your claim?
4. Do you know what the phrase Last Clear Chance means?
5. Do you know the Collateral Source Rule?
6. Do you know  if you can still get lost wages from an auto injury claim if you missed work but used sick leave?
7. Do you know how to document your lost wages for your claim if you are self-employed?
8. Are you aware of the recent changes of NC Rules of Evidence 414 and how they affect the valuation of personal injury claims?
9. Do you know how to value a personal injury claim (Comparing your case to Uncle Fred’s settlement from 1968 and using the interwebs are not valid, by the way)?
10. Do you know how to file suit and litigate your claim in case negotiations don’t work out?

If you answered “No” to any of these questions, you might be putting your injury claim in jeopardy by handling it on your own.

Why not let a professional help?  Call me at 919-929-2992.

There was a time not long ago when locals around the area thought of a traffic ticket/speeding ticket in Alamance County (court in Graham, but anywhere around Burlington, Haw River, Elon, etc.) was pretty much terminal.  It used to be the case that no defense attorneys could get meaningful reductions for clients, and you pretty much ended up getting what you got.

That’s no longer the case.  I’ve been practicing law for 15 years, and for the past 4 years I’ve been going to Alamance County and the climate is much better.  In most cases, the ADAs are fairly understanding and with minor charges and a good record you can get outcomes that aren’t nearly as onerous to your auto insurance rates.  For a very reasonable rate, I can probably help!  Why risk the consequences when you could pay a few bucks and avoid them?

So let me know if you get an Alamance County speeding ticket.  I’m ya boy! 919-929-2992.

When you’re in an accident, you can end up with several kinds of injury: physical, emotional, financial, etc.  Many of my clients want to make sure that they’re compensated not only for their medical expenses and pain and suffering, but also for their lost income.

That’s a reasonable goal.  After all, if the other side’s negligence caused you to miss work and therefore income, that’s foreseeable and they should be on the hook for it.

Of course, nothing is as easy as just asking for it.  There are a few issues that I encounter very often in having this discussion, so I thought I’d lay a few out here for public consumption:

• You exponentially increase your likelihood of recovering lost income when you can document your lost income. The best form of documentation is a letter from your employer stating BOTH how much time you missed AND how much that time was worth.  Remember, get them to write BOTH THINGS!
• If you have to use vacation or sick leave, that is a valid loss as well, so even if you technically get paid for missing work, you still lost the leave time, so you should be compensated for its value.
• Being self-employed is awesome in many ways.  It is generally not awesome when you’re trying to document your lost income.  These are very idiosyncratic, so talk to your attorney about how best to work with your situation.
• If you’re not paying taxes accurately, consider letting your lost wage claim go.
• Know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.  If you missed one 3 hour shift of your $8/hour side job, let’s maybe not spend hours trying to chase down documentation for it.  Let it go.

There ya go.  I hope this helps you understand lost wage claims a little better.  Remember to call me if you have an injury claim. 919-929-2992.

Missing your court date for your NC speeding or traffic ticket can have drastic consequences.  I know, they seem like harmless pieces of paper, but they aren’t.

When you miss your court date, generally the clerks in that county will hold your ticket for 20 days.  There are some counties where, depending on the offense, they might issue a warrant for your arrest.  And that’s a whole other set of problems.  But if there’s no OFA, then after that 20 days they will report your absence to DMV.  Then a bit later DMV will send you a letter telling you to handle your business by a certain date or they will indefinitely revoke your license until you do.

This is where most people get caught up in a snowball.  They might have forgotten to update their address with DMV, so DMV sends this letter to an old address, so there is nothing to remind the defendant of their missed court date.  Then, the next time they get pulled over – either next week or next month, or whenever, they get charged with driving while license revoked, and then it gets even uglier!

The moral of the story is this: Don’t forget about your ticket!  Better yet, hire an attorney – like me! – to handle your ticket so it gets resolved timely and in the best way possible under the circumstances.  Make that call early so you don’t have to worry about forgetting.

The cost of non-compliance is high.