News
Read More
Articles
Toxic Torts
The area of toxic tort law has been developing in recent years. This area of law covers many types of injuries, such as injuries due to tobacco use, lead poisoning, polluted water, contaminated structures or building materials, radiation poisoning, pesticides, injury due to defective drugs or injuries from medical devices, to name a few. These injuries are caused by various sources, from defective medications to contamination or pollution. Although the circumstances surrounding each toxic tort case may be vastly different, the legal aspects of toxic tort claims are similar: The injury must have been caused by hazardous substance and the individual or individuals who were injured must have made contact with that substance.
Read More
How do Insurers Determine What a Car is Worth?
Insurers keep proprietary databases on car prices, similar to the Blue Book or the National Auto Dealers Association (NADA) Official Used Car Guide. The insurer's valuation of your car is mostly based on its age. So, for example, your car might be totaled if it's thirteen years old and receives only minor damage, and it might not be if it's a brand new Porsche that has been in a devastating collision. If your automobile is “totaled,” that means that it would cost more to fix your car then the car is worth. Most auto insurance contracts contain a provision that states if your car is damaged in an accident, your insurer does not have to pay you more than your vehicle is worth. So if your car is “totaled out” by your insurance company, what you will receive is a check for the value of the car. Unfortunately, this is usually not enough to replace your car or to fix the damage to your car. Additionally, if you get back your car and use the money to fix it, insurers may refuse to provide more than basic liability coverage on your vehicle since it has been deemed a total loss.
Read More
|
|
Case Summaries
[01/03]
Johnson v. City of N.Y.
In an action claiming that defendant-officers negligently discharged their firearms in violation of department guidelines, the dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where it was uncontroverted that all of the officers who fired at the suspect did so when they had a clear view of him, and all testified that they did not see any bystanders in the area while firing, such that it could not be said that the officers failed to exercise discretion in discharging their weapons.
[12/31]
Doe v. Fulton-DeKalb Hosp. Auth.
In an action claiming that, while being treated for opiate addiction in defendant's methadone clinic, plaintiffs were subjected to sexual harassment at the hands of a substance abuse counselor, partial summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where: 1) the complaint's factual allegations established that the worker acted purely for his own personal gratification and outside the scope of his employment in his mistreating of plaintiffs; 2) the complaint did not allege that any of the individual defendants procured the worker with the intent to injure the plaintiffs, such that any individual defendant would become a joint tortfeasor with the worker; and 3) the district court did not err in rejecting plaintiffs' claim that the worker's hiring constituted negligence per se.
[12/30]
Lawson v. Safeway, Inc.
In plaintiffs' suit against Safeway, a driver of a Safeway truck, the driver of a pickup, and the State of California, arising from an automobile accident on a U.S. highway, allegedly caused by the illegally parked Safeway tractor trailer on the highway, jury verdict awarding substantial damages to the plaintiffs and apportioning 35 percent fault to Safeway, and 35 percent to the State of California, and 30 percent to the driver of the pickup, is affirmed as a duty to park safely, as well as legally, was owed because of the particular facts of this case, where the parked vehicle was a 65-foot long, 12-1/2 foot tall, 8 1/2-foot wide commercial truck and the evidence showed that the drivers of such trucks are or should be professionally trained to be aware of the risk of blocking other drivers' sight lines when parking, the truck was parked at a high-speed well-traveled intersection, and a safe parking spot was available right around the corner.
[12/30]
Speilman v. Ex'Pression Ctr. for New Media
In plaintiffs' suit against defendant-private postsecondary educational institution, which offers courses in sound arts, digital visual medial, and Web design and development, for violation of Education Code former sections 94312, 94832, and 94875, as well as various other causes of action, claiming that defendant made certain misrepresentations to them, including that it would soon be nationally accredited, that they would graduate from the school with degrees from a nationally accredited institution, that their degrees and credits would be transferable to other accredited institutions, judgment of the trial court is reversed in part, affirmed in part and remanded where: 1) defendant's argument that plaintiffs' claims have been abated by the repeal of the Reform Act, including section 94877, effective January 1,2008 is rejected; 2) there is nothing in the statutes under consideration that would invite or countenance the addition of elements that are not contained in the plain language, particularly where the law expressly states that the remedies provided supplement, but do not supplant, the remedies provided under other provisions of law; 3) the trial court properly sustained the demurrer to the first cause of action of the second amended complaint as to the demurrer plaintiffs; and 4) because there is sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that the directed verdict plaintiffs owed the disputed amounts to defendant, trial court properly denied plaintiffs' motion for directed verdict.
Read More
|
