Posts tagged general personal injury

• Court of Appeals (Incorrectly) Dismisses Wrongful Death Appeal Due to Untimely Notice of Appeal After Plaintiff Attempts to Obtain a Change to the Breadth of the Trial Court's Judgment

  Geoff Trachtenberg | June 01, 2007 3:00 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Automobile Accidents
  

  Frank Zappa said, "We are a nation of laws; badly written and randomly enforced." That's probably the way that Joe Burkhamer feels, having lost his daughter (and son-in-law) in tragic accident in 2003, and now having had his appeal dismissed in a published opinion from Division Two, Burkhamer v. State of Arizona, because two of the three Judges on the panel decided that the appeal was filed too...

• Circumstances of Death Are Admissible in Wrongful Death Actions To The Extent They Impact on Shock, Grief and Emotional Distress of Statutory Survivors

  Geoff Trachtenberg | May 26, 2007 3:43 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Wrongful Death
  

  Division One just put out an opinion in Girouard v.Skyline Steel involving interpretation of the wrongful death statute. The case involved admitted liability, but disputed damages where the decedent burned to death in car accident. The Court clarified that, while pre-death suffering is not compensable in a wrongful death action, the horrific circumstances of the death, the necessity of closed...

• Supreme Court Accepts Review in State Farm v. Premier

  Geoff Trachtenberg | May 25, 2007 9:02 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Late last year Division One handed down an awful decision in State Farm Ins. Cos. v. Premier Manufactured Systems, Inc., in which the court addressed whether the principles of comparative fault established are applicable to the participants in the chain of distribution of an allegedly defective product. In essence, Division One held that Arizona's comparative fault statute overrules...

• Message to the Trial Courts: "Show Your Work"

  Geoff Trachtenberg | May 24, 2007 1:50 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  You know the old phrase from algebra, "show your work," well that is the message to the trial courts. Regretably, trial courts often rule on disputed issues with nothing more than a summary decision and without articulating their reasoning. Obviously, some of this is due the sheer volume of work that trial courts perform, but some of it is also due to habit and being lazy.The trouble with such...

• Arizona Court of Appeals Describes the Quantum of Evidence Needed to Prove Lost Earning Capacity and Addresses Damages for the "Increased Risk" of Harm

  Geoff Trachtenberg | May 23, 2007 1:40 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Automobile Accidents
  

  New case from Division One, Felder v. Physiotherapy Assoc., that has some good stuff in it concerning lost earning capacity and anxiety over the "increased risk" of harm.The first and main issue in the case concerns the quantum of evidence needed to prove lost earning capacity. Although the standard is "reasonable certainty" in predicting the future in such cases, the Court "conclude[d] that...

• Statutes and Rules that Require Mandatory Disclosure of Medical Records Violate HIPPA

  Geoff Trachtenberg | May 19, 2007 8:34 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Automobile Accidents
  

  Arizona requires mandatory disclosure of medical records in medical malpractice cases and, amazingly, is currently considering a change to mandatory arbitration procedures to require the same thing. As we have often explained, these provisions violate HIPPA, the comprehensive federal scheme that provides essential privacy rights for medical records.The voice of reason is finally kicking in: ...

• What If You Are Injured at Work? Can You Sue for Pain and Suffering?

  Geoff Trachtenberg | May 18, 2007 9:03 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Generally, but the remedies are very much stacked against you.Arizona workers' compensation laws are your avenue for redress if you have sustained injuries at work as a result of a co-worker or employer. You don't need to show negligence on the part of your employer to make a claim. What you need to show is that you were in the "course and scope" of your employment at the time you were injured...

• Parental Liability for Uninsured Minors That Cause Injury Accidents

  Geoff Trachtenberg | May 18, 2007 10:39 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Automobile Accidents
  

  In Arizona, if you are under 18, your application for an instruction permit or driver's license must be signed by at least one adult. The adult may be responsible for any negligence or willful misconduct when the minor is driving.The statute, A.R.S. 28-3160, provides that "[n]egligence or wilful misconduct of a minor when driving a motor vehicle on a highway is imputed to the person who signs...

• Defamation, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress and the Relationship of Larry Flynt and Jerry Falwell

  Geoff Trachtenberg | May 16, 2007 3:46 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  I often get asked about defamation suits and whether they are viable. Every time I deal with the issue I explain that the close cousin of defamation is intentional infliction of emotional distress and that both present difficult challenges. While defamation liability can be established fairly easily, damages can prove a problem for most cases. Intentional infliction of emotional distress, by...

• What Happens if I Was Bit or Attacked by Someone's Dog?

  Geoff Trachtenberg | May 15, 2007 8:56 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ Category: Miscellaneous
  

  You can typically recover if you are injured by someone's dog, and generally their homeowner's insurance policy will provide liability coverage for these accidents. In addition, in Arizona we have a dog bite statute creating strict liability for such situations. Therefore, dog owners are liable for such injuries regardless of fault or alleged provacation of the dog.