Baby Recliner Recalled After Infant Death
Jul 31st
Baby Matters LLC has issued a defective product recall for 30,000 of their Nap Nanny portable baby recliners after the death of a 4-month-old. According to a Consumer Reports article, the recall was issued after one fatality report involving an infant who fell over the side of the Nap Nanny, became entrapped and died. The recall involves all Nap Nanny recliners sold between January 2009 and July 2010. The defective product was sold at children’s retail stores across the country for about $130.
This is a post from BestAttorney.com – BISNAR | CHASE California Personal Injury Lawyers
Daily spam meditations
Jul 30th
Having a long-running blog has brought me many blessings. Top of the list are the great connections I've forged with some of my readers, and their comments to my blog posts.
I also tend to get a lot of comments from spammers. In the old days, the comments were kind of obvious so they were easy to pick out and delete, then the spammers became more clever. These days the spam comments are sometimes almost spiritual.
Here are a few that might inspire you to become a better person (these are copied exactly as they appeared in my in-box just before I deleted them):
- You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.
- I strictly recommend not to hold off until you earn enough amount of cash to buy different goods! You can get the loan or secured loan and feel yourself free.
- I have been readed you blog. For me, it is so luck. Because of your excellent article remind me a lot of memories. Thank you so much.
- I received my first loan when I was a teenager and that helped my family a lot. However, I require the commercial loan again.
Fighting HOA Lawsuits
Jul 30th
One thing to point out before I even begin this post: our law firm does not handle collection cases involving HOAs (or any other kind of collection cases – just serious personal injury claim). The purpose of the Maryland Lawyer Blog is to allow me to muse on topics outside of Maryland personal injury cases. So I feel compelled to put in this caveat so that we get calls on a collections issue. (Honestly, I don’t know anyone who defends HOA collection cases.)
Anyway, with that unnecessarily long prelude, a Maryland homeowners’ association in Prince George’s County is suing P.G. County Executive Jack Johnson for failure to pay his homeowner’s association dues. In an article I read on this case a few minutes ago, his lawyer defending the case is quoted as saying: “It’s a racket. There is no oversight or regulation.”
Exactly. It is absolutely ridiculous how these HOAs run amok going after essentially their own clients. I’m in full support of requiring people to pay their bills and charging them a penalty in the process for not paying their debt. I recently handled one of these types of cases for an employee who made a really honest mistake, thinking she had prepaid for the year. It is absolutely torture dealing with these HOAs that have the agreements with homeowners so rigged that they can extort ridiculous fees that are so out-of-line with the crime of missing a few payments. I also think many deliberately avoid advising the homeowner of the debt so the penalties accumulate.
Then there is dealing with the HOA collection lawyer which is an ordeal in and of itself. In our employee’s case, the guy was impossible to get on the phone. Most HOA collection lawyers are essentially running a factory. Get a live person on the phone? It virtually takes an act of Congress.
These HOA documents are the ultimate adhesion contracts: if you are buying a house, you would confess to murder in the HOA language before you would let it hold up the purchase of the home. Something should be done to put tighter screws to these HOAs. How about just a clause that says that the HOA agrees that the penalties should be reasonable and in line with what the finder of fact believes is the true cost of the debt collection?
State and Local Tax Policy Blogs
Jul 30th
Masters in Accounting was created as a nonprofit resource to serve students considering enrolling in a masters in accounting program. Actively maintained, Masters in Accounting is a nonprofit website which lists and links to every accredited masters in accounting program as well as answers some basic questions about the degree so that students have a single unbiased resource from which they can begin their research.
This blog was listed in the “101 Top Tax Policy Blogs” featured in Masters in Accounting.
Best in Law Blogs : LexBlog Network : July 29, 2010
Jul 30th
It was a big day on the LexBlog Network as the post count hits 148. As a highlight, recent additions Kathy Gallo and Mark Robins make their first appearances in the top 10 post. Also, Steve Lombardi examines the attorney-client relationship and why a lawyer can’t get you into heaven.
- Hurricane Preparedness: Are You Contract Ready? – Mississippi attorney Brenda Redfern of Robinson, Biggs, Ingram, Solop & Farris on the firm’s blog, Construction Law Toolbox
- Are Your Objections Garbage? – Californiad discovery referee Kathy Gallo on her blog, Resolving Discovery Disputes
- Due Process For Deported Immigrants: The Right To Reopen Proceedings Under Carachuri-Rosendo – Immigration lawyer Carlos Batara on his blog, Immigration Law, Policy & Politics
- Proposed Amendments May Take FMLA Benefits to New Heights – Long Beach attorney Walter Haines of United Employees Law Group on the firm’s blog, The California Employee Advocate
- Decedent’s Purported Transfer of Residence To Wife Fails For Non-Delivery of Deed – Uniondale attorney Eric Penzer of Farrell Fritz on the firm’s New York Trusts & Estates Litigation Blog
- WSJ’s Latest Blasting of Attorney General Hood Goes Too Far – Mississippi personal injury lawyer Philip Thomas on his MS Litigation Review & Commentary
- Online directories or referral services: which option provides biggest bang for buck? – Mark Robins of LawyerLocate.ca on their blog, Discover Canadian Lawyers
- A Tale of Reluctant Reconsideration in the Business Court – Greensboro attorney John Buford of Brooks Pierce on the firm’s blog, North Carolina Business Litigation Report
- The Lawyer Can’t Get You into Heaven; Fact is we aren’t even trying. – West Des Moines lawyer Steve Lombardi on his blog, The Iowa Edict
- Supreme Court of Virginia Issues Show Cause Order – Roanoke appellate attorney Jay O’Keeffe of Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore on his blog, De Novo
Trucking hours of service rule may change again
Jul 30th
As a Georgia trucking accident trial attorney based in Atlanta, one of the things I always look at after a catastrophic crash is whether a truck driver was dangerously fatigued due, in part, to violation of hours of service rules. It looks like the rules may change yet again.
Prior to 2003, interstate truckers could drive 10 hours out of a 15 hour work day.
Since 2003, truckers have been allowed to drive 11 consecutive hours a day and work up to 14 hours, followed by a 10-hour off-duty period.
Now the safety advocacy group Public Citizen is pushing for a rule limiting truckers to driving 8 hours in a 12 hour work day.
This week, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration submitted its proposed truck driver hours of service rule to the Office of Management and Budget. Details were not released, but most expect some shortening of driving and work hours.
While fatigue from long hours on the road contributes to serious accidents, trucking industry representatives say that shortening the work day will drive up shipping costs and that increasing the number of trucks on the road will increase safety risks.
Two things we can count on are that the controversy will continue in some form far into the future and that those who want to cheat will find ways to cheat.
Ken Shigley, author of Georgia Law of Torts: Trial Preparation & Practice, is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, he has been listed as a “Super Lawyer” (Atlanta Magazine), among the “Legal Elite” (Georgia Trend Magazine), and in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers . He practices law at the Atlanta law firm of Chambers, Aholt & Rickard, and has broad experience in catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, products liability, spinal cord injury, brain injury and burn injury cases. He is also president-elect of the State Bar of Georgia. This post is subject to our ethical disclaimer.
Tire Blowout Causes Irvine Car Accident
Jul 30th
A woman was injured in an Irvine car accident after her vehicle blew and tire and she lost control on the 405 Freeway. According to a news report in The Orange County Register, the injury crash occurred the morning of July 28, 2010 at Laguna Canyon Road. California Highway Patrol officials say the Lexus ES300 blew a tire and swerved into the center divider. The female driver was transported to a local hospital with neck and back injuries. Her injuries were not life-threatening.
I’m relieved to hear that this accident did not result in catastrophic or fatal injuries. I wish this injured victim the very best for a quick and complete recovery. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
This is a post from BestAttorney.com – BISNAR | CHASE California Personal Injury Lawyers
Can the paternity of a child born during a marriage be challenged?
Jul 30th
Paternity testing during a divorce case is not extremely common, but this issue does arise. The Georgia Court of Appeals recently affirmed a trial court’s denial of a mother’s motion to compel paternity testing of her husband. Williamson v. Williamson, 302 Ga. App. 115 (2010). In that divorce case, the wife alleged that the child born during the marriage might not be the biological child of the father and requested paternity testing. Id. at 116. After a temporary hearing in which the parties were awarded joint legal custody, the wife’s attorney sent a letter to the husband’s attorney confirming the parties’ agreement that paternity was no longer an issue. Id. Subsequently, the wife retained a new attorney and filed a motion requesting a paternity test, which the husband opposed. Id. The child’s guardian ad litem testified that a paternity test would not be in the child’s best interest and the court denied the wife’s motion. Id.
In her appeal, the wife alleges “she is not precluded from contesting paternity.” Id. The Georgia Court of Appeals agreed with her, stating neither the purported agreement nor the temporary order determined the issue on a final basis as there was not yet a final order in the case. Id. at 177.
However, even the Georgia Court of Appeals held that the wife had the right to contest paternity, it agreed with the trial court’s denial of her motion, which was based on the “best interest of the child” standard. Id. The wife had a huge hurdle to overcome since “[a]ll children born in wedlock are deemed under law to be legitimate.” Id. Further, “[t]he public policy favoring the presumption of a child’s legitimacy is one of the most firmly-established and persuasive precepts known in law.” Id., quoting Baker v. Baker, 376 Ga. 778, 779 (1) (582 SE2d 102) (2003). In affirming the denial of the wife’s motion to compel paternity testing, the Court of Appeals followed established Georgia law and held, “…even when the child’s legal father may not be the biological father, a mother who wishes to delegitimate her child is not automatically entitled to compel the legal father to submit to genetic paternity testing but must first come forward with evidence sufficient to show that delegitimating the child is in the child’s best interest. The record in this case contains no such threshold showing.” Williamson, 302 Ga. App. at 118.
Lawsuit for Every Injustice Week
Jul 30th
Fired but possibly rehired Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod says she will pursue a lawsuit against conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart.
What happened was incredibly unfair to Sherrod and Breitbart should be publicly excoriated for what he did. But I don’t understand why a lawsuit should come from this. Her reputation is fully intact and then some. She was offered her job back. She is going to write a book and make a fortune (you know it is coming). Things are great. The only way to blow it is to come off looking petty by filing a lawsuit.
The CNN story is here.
- Titans Lawsuit Against USC (one of many unnecessary lawsuits I’ve seen this week)
Two Cook County Personal Injury Lawsuits Seek Damages from Airlines
Jul 30th
In Cook County Circuit Court, two Illinois personal injury lawsuits have been filed seeking financial recovery from US Airways and Southwest Airlines, respectively. The alleged injuries took place while the planes were in flight.
On Friday, Diana Burgess filed her Cook County injury complaint against U.S. Airways for injuries she sustained while on a flight to Chicago in August 2008. Burgess contends that she experienced emotional and physical trauma because the airline allowed a passenger to take a skateboard that came with “heavy sharp metal wheels” on the plane. The person stowed the skateboard in the compartment over her head but there was nothing to keep it in place.
She is seeking unspecified damages.
In another Cook County injury complaint, this one involving injuries to a minor, the skies may have been a little too friendly for the plaintiff. The Chicago man is suing Southwest Airlines because he claims that the airline’s flight attendants failed to protect the teenager during a flight headed to Orlando, Florida on July 13, 2008 from the sexual advances of an older female who also allegedly offered him drugs.
The father is accusing the flight attendant of ignoring the boy’s requests that he be transferred to another seat. His father says that the experience scared the teenager to the degree that he refused to fly home by himself. His dad had to fly over to get him so they could travel together.
In his Cook County injuries to a minor complaint, the plaintiff is seeking over $50,000 in damages.
Suit: Passenger hurt on flight after skateboard stored above her head, Sun-Times, July 23, 2010
Suit: Woman injured by falling skateboard on plane, Chicago Breaking News, July 23, 2010
Man says son was sexually harassed on flight, MSNBC, July 13, 2010
Related Web Resource:
Nolo