A federal judge in Pennsylvania who has overseen a sprawling, multidistrict litigation has made an important ruling on whether Jones Act plaintiffs can seek punitive damages. Merchant marine workers and their survivors are suing ship owners, alleging that exposure to ship-born asbestos scarred their lungs and/or contributed to their deaths. They are suing under the […]
I just had to share this photo with all my fellow Cajuns. I’ve heard of a chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey. However, this Cajun took it one step further. Thanks to our friend Joe Nichols for sharing this photo with us.
Most truck trailers have underride guards that are supposed to keep your car from running up underneath the trailer in the event of a rear end collision. However, the design of many of these guards is inadequate to protect us from serious injury or death. In 2011, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety petitioned the […]
Here are some important reminders for all of us: Cell phones were involved in 23% of auto accidents in 2011 – that’s 1.3 million crashes; Texting takes your attention from the road for a minimum of 5 seconds – at 55 mph that equals driving the length of a football field without looking at the […]
A young man in Tennessee was detained at a DUI checkpoint and his car was searched without his permission. He filmed the entire episode. His video raises important questions about Constitutional rights and obligations of citizens when stopped by the police. Who do you think was right in this instance? httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-WMn_zHCVo
Austin television station KXAN has uncovered information about insurance companies in Texas that would shock many consumers. According to their investigation, more than $27 million was paid out to consumers in 2013 after they filed complaints with the Texas Department of Insurance. Among auto insurers, the largest amount, more than $4.9 million, was paid by […]
It was the 1994 jury verdict that was used as a justification for twenty years of “tort reform”. Special interest groups used the McDonald’s hot coffee jury verdict to justify changes in our legal system — changes supposedly needed to stop “runaway juries”. But was the McDonald’s jury really a “runaway jury”? Did McDonald’s […]
The Jones Act grants maritime workers, including commercial fishermen and oil workers, the right to sue their employers if they are injured on the job. If you are a maritime worker, you may be wondering how the process works. First, you must report your injury to your employer. Federal law requires you to report any […]
Attorneys and witnesses often play word games in depositions. Attorneys too often coach their witnesses to be evasive. This hilarious dramatization of the actual transcript from a deposition in Ohio demonstrates what can result from that strategy. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZbqAMEwtOE
A federal court jury in Lafayette, Louisiana found that the manufacturers of the diabetes drug, Actos, failed to warn users that Actos could cause bladder cancer. The suit was brought by Terrence Allen, who began taking Actos in 2006 to treat his Type 2 diabetes. He was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2011. Six months later, […]