Labor and Immigrants and Injuries, Oh My!
Building the Empire State Building This piece is about the importance of New York’s Labor Law for people who work at heights, but it starts in faraway Boston. It starts there because the story from the Boston Globe is shocking, and it should wake folks up to what goes on behind the scenes. The basic story is simple enough: Jose Martin Paz Flores had a job taping drywall for Tara Construction. He fell off a ladder and broke his femur in March 2017. The injury required immediate surgery. “But Paz — a father of five — could not get compensation for that injury because the company’s workers’ compensation insurance policy had lapsed.” What to do? The owner of Tara Construction, Pedro Pirez, decided to make …
Words You Should Never Use
Over the weekend, W. Virginia Chief Justice Beth Walker tweeted out a list of words that are banned from her opinions. It’s a good list, and one that all lawyers should note, as these words don’t belong in briefs either. I’ve written before about crappy legal writing, from both the bar and the bench. It’s not that concise writing will necessarily win your client’s case but that at least your arguments can be appreciated. Far worse than writing a losing argument is writing an argument that isn’t even read because it makes the eyes glaze over. Lawyers are (in)famous for cluttering our letters and briefs with pretentious, and wholly unnecessary, language, thereby distracting from the point. A good quote to keep…
Don’t Let Potholes Get You Down
While there are hundreds of remarkable things to see and do in New York City, there is an endless supply of not-so beautiful things—like the potholes that litter our streets. Not only unpleasant to behold, they are a serious hazard that can ruin vehicles and cause crashes. The good news is you can seek compensation for relatively minor issues like damage to your tires and rims from the City; the bad news is there are restrictions on them. When a person is seriously hurt in a crash due to a pothole, the situation becomes more complicated. That’s when you need a top NYC injury attorney on your side to make sure your rights are protected. You have a narrow window for filing a claim against the …
Philip Russotti Talks About Birth Injuries
Birth injuries are one of the areas of medical malpractice that Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro & Halperin, LLP, specializes in. The top New York personal injury firm understands all aspects of the process leading up to delivery, whether it’s properly assessing a mother prior to delivery, the circumstances under which delivery should be expedited through an emergency C-section, or the proper way to resuscitate a baby. Philip Russotti, a partner with WRSH, talked about the firm’s expertise in a series of YouTube videos. Here’s what he had to say: Why Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro & Halperin, LLP? “[We have handled] a failure to have the correct preterm care, the failure to properly watch fetal heart strips during labor, and the failure to properly resuscitate an infant after birth, …
FATAL ACCIDENT DAMAGES CONSIDERED: BLAKE -v- MAD MAX LIMITED
Zenith PI: PERSONAL INJURY LITIGATION IN PRACTICE In Blake v Mad Max Ltd [2018] EWHC 2134 (QB) Peter Marquand (sitting as a High Court Judge) considered several disputed aspects of damages in a fatal claim. The judgment provides a useful guide to general damages in mesothelioma cases, it confirms the view that damages cannot be awarded for a “wake” and provides a useful guide to some issues that are often disputed. THE CASE Mr Blake died from mesothelioma at the age of 61. His widow brought an action. Liability was agreed, the judge had to decide a number of disputed issues relating to damages. DAMAGES FOR PAIN SUFFERING AND LOSS OF AMENITY The judge was presented with a number of cases. He concluded that the correct award was…
The Unjust “Sporting Theory Of Justice” In Federal Courts
Over a century ago, in 1906, law professor Roscoe Pound outlined “The Causes of Popular Dissatisfaction with the Administration of Justice” in a speech to the American Bar Association. After conceding “dissatisfaction with the administration of justice is as old as law,” Pound went on to perform a “diagnosis” of the “more than the normal amount of dissatisfaction with the present-day administration of justice in America.” One particularly “potent source of irritation” was “our American exaggerations of the common law contentious procedure,” which produced a bizarre, unjust, and “sporting” sense of justice: It grants new trials because by inability to procure a bill of exceptions a party has lost the chance to play another inning in the game of justice. It creates vested rights …
Watch “The Bleeding Edge” And Demand Medical Device Safety Reform
Imagine if lights, kitchen equipment, and home electronics didn’t need to be tested for electrical shock and fire hazards, and that no one ever certified that the devices were safe. Would you put them in your home? What about a car that had just one crash test, at low speed, and Congress had passed a special law making it impossible for anyone to sue the car company, so the company couldn’t be held responsible for people’s injuries? Would you put your family in one? Yet, those examples above describe the state of the $156 billion American medical device market. Most medical devices aren’t tested with clinical trials. The medical devices which are tested can pass with a minimal showing, and Congress passed a special law that says …
Top on the Job Injuries that Lead to New York Workers’ Comp Claims
Anyone who’s ever held a job knows that it’s all too easy to get injured while at work. Whether it’s a bad burn, a slip or fall, or even stress, workers’ compensation (more commonly referred to as “workman’s comp”) is insurance that will cover the cost of lost wages and medical expenses should an accident occur. If you are ever injured at work and decide to make a worker’s comp claim, it’s essential that you understand that you then automatically give up your rights to sue the employer. Of all the accidents that occur in the workplace, a few that crop up time and time again. The top five job injuries that lead to New York City workers’ comp claims are: • Overexertion. The most common types …
Roadpeace AGM is being held at Fieldfisher on Friday 17th
This is a fantastic charity providing support and advice to those unfortunate to be involved in road traffic accidents. The afternoon conference which is open to all starts at 6pm and includes the campaign to improve police investigations and various parliamentary guest speakers. Drinks and nibbles will follow on the terrace.
Teen Killed in Kayaking Accident in New England
With the weather getting a lot warmer and the days getting longer, more people will be taking to the outdoors for all kinds of fun activities. Kayaking has become a popular pastime across the nation, including here in the Commonwealth. According to a recent news feature from the Press Herald, rescue workers have just recovered the body of a 14-year-old boy from a river in the New England area. Authorities say the young victim was riding in a two-person kayak when it capsized. The other person in the kayak was a friend who was wearing a life jacket at the time of the deadly accident. The victim was not wearing one, which likely contributed to him drowning. This was the first time he had been …
The Details Of Judge Curiel’s Trump University Orders
Popehat already explained in general why there’s nothing unusual about Judge Curiel’s rulings in the Trump University case, i.e., that denying summary judgment is the norm. Nonetheless, Kevin Drum recently mused: I think we all know perfectly well that Curiel is just an ordinary judge, and Trump is ranting against him because that’s what Trump does whenever something doesn’t go his way. He whines. Endlessly. Still, I’m kind of curious. It would be interesting if some kind of qualified lawyer type went through the records of these trials and reported back on whether Curiel seems to be conducting things fairly. Maybe he’s not! Maybe he really does hate Trump. Unfortunately, I suppose that would be a lot of work. Oh well. Let’s …
Clean air: a claim under Article 1?
In February 2013 nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah from Hither Green in South London died after suffering a severe asthma attack. “Can the courts be used to establish that we have a human right to clean air?” asked Nick Robinson on the Today Programme this morning. A report by Royal College of Physicians has apparently linked 40,000 deaths to pollution each year. A successful case against the government would arguably put the government under considerable pressure as well as resulting in justice for affected families. Ella’s mother and her lawyer were interviewed on the programme. Ella had very severe asthma. According to the Today Programme, nitrogen dioxide levels around their home on the South Circular are double the EU legal limit. Her lawyer, Jocelyn Cockburn…