Author: jeffreyhoward

http://news.yahoo.com/amtrak-train-truck-collide-north-carolina-several-hurt-180638852.html

Quick Summary:  Gigantic truck carrying modular building, escorted by State Troopers, got stuck at a rail crossing.  Train smashed into it.  Many injured.

How in the heck does this happen in this day and age?  Normally, the way this works is there’s some knucklehead in a pick-up who just can’t quite figure out that it’s the pedal on the right that needs stomping.

But in this situation, there seemed to have been several ways to avoid this.  Let’s discuss:

First, if you’ve got a Trooper escort, then you realize already that this is a special situation.  That being the case, why didn’t they route this over a clearer highway route?  Why were they at this intersection, particularly given the difficulty of the turn described in the article and the mega-trailer involved?

Second, when the truck appears to be stuck, shouldn’t the Trooper be able to communicate to the rail folks that there’s a dangerous situation and any trains need to be diverted or stopped?  We need to know the time-line a little better, but it seems plausible that there was time to warn the train with sufficient notice to stop to avoid the collision.

Third, sometimes these crossings are just poorly designed, and the State is to blame.  But from these facts it seems like it’s more likely the crossing and turn in relation to the size of the vehicle involved, so I’m not sure that the crossing design is to blame.

Fourth, what about Amtrak?  Couldn’t they have a better system for spotting these sorts of troubles?  If we can have cell phones connected to our home alarms, can’t they monitor crossings better?

Finally, the driver…shouldn’t he have been able to see that his truck wasn’t going to be able to do this in the first place?

There’s plenty of blame to spread around here and I hope the people on this train that were injured get a fair award for their injuries.

If you know of any of them, tell them to call me!

919-929-2992

http://www.columbian.com/news/2015/feb/10/lawsuit-injured-teen-gymnast-evergreen-schools/

I don’t know all of the details on this case, but in a nutshell a girl was practicing her uneven bars routine at a school gymnastics practice and injured her neck, requiring several surgeries and future care.  Parents filed a lawsuit based on the negligent supervision of the school faculty.

What are your thoughts on school sports injury lawsuits?  Are they a good thing?  A bad thing?

I think like everything else, it all depends on the details.  Many sports are inherently dangerous, as many physical activities can be.  As I like to say, “Physics is a b!#$%.” Even with the most diligent supervision, accidents can happen.  So parents and students have to make informed decisions as to how much they are willing to risk to engage in these activities.

Let’s say there was a fencing class, and there’s a coach teaching technique, everyone is wearing the proper masks and vests, but a brand new foil fails, snaps, and the jagged end pierces a students arm.  Should the school be held responsible for that?  Or is that just a “stuff happens” moment?  Clearly, there may be a products liability case against the sword manufacturer, but then we get back to this issue:  Shouldn’t you expect to possibly get stabbed if you are playing with swords?

In the case of the gymnast, I’m not sure what the proper supervision would have been, if it was there, or if it had been there this could have been avoided.  I just don’t know enough to form an opinion.

What are your thoughts on these sorts of claims?  Should they be allowed at all?  Should there be an automatic waiver for school sports injury claims?  Let me know what you think.

http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/driver-in-lawsuit-over-boy-s-death-wants-change-of/article_7f07e87e-b64d-11e4-864a-5f1ea339dec4.html

We’ve all been behind school buses and this only ever happens when we are in a hurry.  I know.  But ask yourself this very helpful question:

“Is getting there 2 minutes faster worth maybe killing some kid?”

The answer is, of course, “No.”

So don’t pass stopped school buses.  Just don’t.  ‘K?

https://screen.yahoo.com/videos-for-you/scalded-coffee-then-news-media-104632481.html

People believe such nonsense about this case.  Special interests took hold of this case early and warped it into an urban legend to support their goal of being negligent with impunity.  Please, if you live in America, watch this video to learn more.  It’s important you understand the facts before you judge.  Always.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/06/sports/family-of-player-with-cte-who-killed-himself-sues-pop-warner.html?_r=1

The family of a 25 year old Pop Warner player sued Pop Warner after the man’s suicide due to CTE.  Do you think there will come a time when this lawsuit happens in NC?  I think it’s only inevitable that it will happen.  But in the immortal words of my favorite law school Professor Mark Morris, “It’s not whether or not you can sue, because you can always sue; it’s whether or not you will win.”

In North Carolina, the question would boil down to what the duty of Pop Warner was and did they fail in that duty.  Do sports organizers have a duty to warn you that sports are dangerous for participants?  Do they, or did they at the time, even understand the dangers of multiple head injuries?  Did they fail to warn if they did know?  I don’t think this is an easy win in North Carolina.  And would contributory negligence be raised as a defense?  Should the parents have recognized the dangers even if they weren’t warned?  And would that even be contributory negligence, or would it be a cross claim against the parents?

This is a complicated and sad issue.  People may not like attorneys in general, but everyone is glad they are around when they need them.

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/crime/2015/02/01/mcdonalds-drink-focus-muncie-teens-lawsuit/22696595/

Believe it or not, I’ve had this case.  TWICE.  Client goes to fast food joint, gets a drink, takes a sip, and it’s cleaning solution of some sort.  Bleh.

The case in the article is a little different, in that the solution was in the tea dispenser, not simply in the cup.  But the causation is probably the same; the employees are cleaning, forget what they put where, and the next thing you know someone is poisoned.

If this happens to you, bring it to someone’s attention immediately.  Have multiple people on site observe the substance to confirm that it ain’t Coca-Cola, and get their contact information.  Take care of your health, of course, and seek medical attention, but make sure you document that it happened when it happened and it wasn’t you who put the stuff in there.  That’s where these cases fall apart.

It’s sad that we live in a world where you have to think about building your case immediately, but it’s a fact.  The fast food company will do whatever they can to deny your claim, and if you don’t have some testimony to help substantiate that it was their employee who screwed up, your case might fall through.

Protect yourself, protect your case.  Call me. 919-929-2992.

In North Carolina we have plenty of personal injury attorneys.  We also have plenty of lawyers who will take on personal injury cases.  In addition, we have big-time advertising machines that staff lawyers to work on personal injury cases.  Those may sound like the same thing, but they aren’t.  Let’s discuss: We’ll go from last to first:

Throughout the state there are several firms that spend thousands of dollars on advertising.  You see them on television, you get letters from them when you’re in an accident, they dominate the internet with their money.  If you have a claim that they are interested in, they will send a runner to your home to get you to sign their contract.  This runner is not legally capable of giving you legal advice, but that person is supposed to answer all of your questions.  If you sign up with them, when you call you will, on most occasions, be dealing with a “case manager” who spends more time on your file, relatively speaking, than anyone else. What credentials will this case manager have?  They almost certainly will not have a license to practice law and therefore can’t give legal advice (but aren’t they the ones answering your questions?).  They almost certainly won’t have gone to law school.  So what are their qualifications?  I don’t know. And when, exactly, are you going to deal with an actual attorney?  The question on their side is, “Does that case warrant an attorney’s involvement?”  Who knows?

Then you have attorneys who do a little bit of everything.  Perhaps they spend most of their time in district court handling drug paraphernalia charges, and DWIs.  But you call them because they got you out of a ticket, ask who they’d recommend for a personal injury claim, and they tell you, “Oh, I can do that!”  I suppose they can.  But do they do it often?  Are they keeping up with the changes in the law?  When they do their annual 12 hours of continuing education are they spending most of their time on DWI stuff, or are they learning more about handling personal injury claims?  Do they have processes in place to actively and successfully manage a personal injury claim from start to finish, or is the same secretary who does traffic ticket letters handling your case as best she can?  I don’t know.

Finally, you have personal injury attorneys.  These guys and girls devote the majority of their time in their practices to handling personal injury cases.  They probably belong to the NCAJ and keep up with the latest developments in this area of law.  When you call them, you get to them.  When they sign you up to handle your case, you deal with them, not their assistant or case manager.  When you need help, they will answer.  If you need them to come visit you, they will come – personally.  If you want top-notch personal service these are the attorneys you should hire to handle your personal injury claim.

I am proud to say that I belong to the third category.  When you hire me, you get me.  I work on your case personally.  When you call, you get me.  Remember, if you are at UNC Hospitals, I am only minutes away and routinely visit people there upon request.

If you have a personal injury claim and want advice, give me a call.  919-929-2992.