Miscellaneous

• Gary K. Shipman, Attorney at Law

  Staff Writer | April 07, 2007 3:13 PM | 0 CommentsWilmington, NC

  Gary grew up in Wake County, North Carolina, and attended the Wake County public schools. There, he began honing his advocacy skills as the member of his high school debate team, and continued as a debater while attending college at UNC-Wilmington. Because of its commitment to training trial lawyers, Gary attended law school at Campbell University School of Law, where he was named its top...

• Shipman & Wright, L.L.P.

  Staff Writer | April 07, 2007 3:05 PM | 0 CommentsWilmington, NC

  Our North Carolina law firm, Shipman & Wright, L.L.P., represents plaintiffs in matters of personal injury, medical malpractice, products liability, consumer fraud and class actions. People injured in serious accidents, hurt by defective products, or injured on the job have looked to us for dedicated advocacy since 1980. For more information about our practice and law firm, contact our...

• Do You Know Your Contract Terms?

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 07, 2007 1:32 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  A recent national poll revealed that as many as 34% of homeowners do not even know what type of mortgage they had on their home. So, perhaps not surprisingly, many employees and business owners are unaware of the terms governing their contracts.If you have a business dispute the first thing you need is get to know your written contract -- what's that, you don't have one? Well, then you...

• Personal Injury Damages

  Scott Smith | April 07, 2007 12:28 PM | 0 CommentsColumbus, OH

  The most significant issue to most people involved in a personal injury claim is the issue of damages. Obtaining fair and just compensation for injuries you have sustained should be a primary concern of your lawyer.When a judge or jury finds the defendant (at fault party) liable for wrongful conduct in a personal injury case, the issue then becomes what types of damages are due to the plaintiff...

• AFTER LAWSUIT LABOR DEPARTMENT FINALLY ACTS TO REQUIRE EMPLOYERS TO PURCHASE SAFETY EQUIPMENT FOR EMPLOYEES

  Bruce Roberts | April 07, 2007 10:04 AM | 0 CommentsTyler, TX

  The United States Department of Labor has finally issued a set of rules detailing an employer's responsibility for the purchase of workers' safety equipment. Although the Occupational Health and Safety Administration issued proposals a little over seven years ago the Labor Department had never adopted it in final form until two months after a lawsuit was filed by the AFL CIO and the United...

• Arizona Considering Unconstitutional Changes to Compulsory Arbitration Procedure To Benefit Insurers

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 06, 2007 2:26 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  In the past I have written about the compulsory arbitration procedure in Arizona.Currently, there is a bill, SB1054, in the Arizona Legislature amending ARS 12-133, i.e., changing the mandatory arbitration procedure.While I could care less about the bulk of main charge of the amendment (i.e., to raise the permissible arbitration limits to $65,000 and modestly raise arbitrator pay), it also...

• Falling Debris Injures Chicago Pedestrian

  Jamie G. Goldstein | April 06, 2007 12:09 PM | 0 CommentsChicago, IL

  The cold weather in Chicago has brought high wind gusts which caused injuries to a pedestrian in downtown Chicago on Wednesday. The injured man was walking near Dearborn Street and Hubbard Street when winds caused a two-by-four to tumble from a construction site and strike the man. The man was reported in stable condition.There are no additional details at this time about who owned the...

• Allstate Ordered to Reduce Rates

  Mike Simon | April 06, 2007 10:48 AM | 0 CommentsWest Virginia, WV

  The Texas Department of Insurance has ordered Allstate to reduce its homeowners insurance rates to Texas homeowners by 5 percent. The order has been affirmed by the Travis County District Court.The litigation began after an analysis by the Department of Insurance revealed that the rates were excessive. Under the order, Allstate will be required to refund its customers an estimated $56...

• Tort Law

  Staff Writer | April 05, 2007 5:26 PM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  What is a tort? Many years ago, a law school professor told me that a tort is just about every wrongdoing that does not involve a breach of contract. That broad definition did not give me a clear picture of tort law, but I did understand that 1) tort law was pretty broad and 2) that breaches of contract were not torts. One definition of "tort" listed in Black's Law Dictionary is "a legal...

• Malpractice Defendants Sue Their Lawyers

  Brent Adams | April 05, 2007 4:41 PM | 0 CommentsFayetteville, NC

  In a case which reports a good example of abuse of our civil justice system by insurance companies, medical doctors who suffered a $217,000,000.00 verdict against them in a malpractice case have sued their own lawyers.Among the claims against their former lawyers was the fact their lawyers turned down settlement offers of $1,000,000.00 for one doctor and $3,000,000.00 for the other doctor. The...