Miscellaneous

• Intoxicated Drivers Can Be Subject to Punitive Damages

  Geoff Trachtenberg | March 30, 2007 11:33 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  An intoxicated defendant who injures someone is often exposed to punitive damages. Arizona Appellate Courts have unanimously affirmed punitive damage awards against drunk drivers in cases where it is proven that intoxicated driving was a proximate cause of the collision.An intoxicated defendant who injures someone is often exposed to punitive damages. Arizona Appellate Courts have unanimously...

• New Data Confirms That Doctors Were Price-Gouged

  Jacob Diesselhorst | March 30, 2007 10:28 AM | 0 CommentsOklahoma City, OK

  Americans for Insurance Reform (AIR) announced today the release of Stable Losses/Unstable Rates2007, a new study that examines fresh insurance industry data to determinewhat caused the most recent medical malpractice insurance crisis fordoctors. The full study can be found at: http://insurance-reform.org. The study by AIR, a coalition of over 100 consumer and public interestgroups...

• Should Recovery for Intangible Losses from a Personal Injury be Taxed?

  Scott Smith | March 30, 2007 8:54 AM | 0 CommentsColumbus, OH

  If you were injured due to someone or some company's careless or negligent acts should you be taxed if you recover for your losses? The business elite think so.McQuillan & Abramyan's "The Tort Tax" (WSJ, March 27, 2007) concludes that each American family is expending an annual "tort tax" of $9,827. This "tax" is comprised of what the authors claim are "static" and "dynamic" costs. The majority...

• Rat Poison to Blame for Pet Food Recall

  Shannon Weidemann | March 29, 2007 11:26 PM | 0 CommentsFort Lauderdale, FL

  The wheat gluten used to manufacturer the Menu Foods pet food involved in the recall was from a supplier in China. The wheat gluten was contaminated somehow with rat poison. No one is sure how it got there. The recall was for canned and foil pouch food and involved over 90 brands.Dr. Clint Chew Jr., the proprietor of Ferry Pass Animal Hospital, said two people have brought animals into his...

• Legal Malpractice Can Be a Function of Minutes

  Geoff Trachtenberg | March 29, 2007 8:39 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Attorneys know that deadlines matter, but in this age of electronic filing and 24-hour drop boxes it was just a matter of time before a court would have to address a filing that was, say, a mere six minutes late. That is what the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit had to deal with and this is what they had to say about it:Six minutes seems trivial and unlikely to cause...

• Criminal Assault at a Business Resulting from Inadequate Security

  Scott Smith | March 29, 2007 2:15 PM | 0 CommentsColumbus, OH

  Generally in Ohio an owner or occupier of property owes a duty to exercise ordinary care in maintaining the premises in a safe condition so that invited persons are not unnecessarily and unreasonably exposed to danger. Ohio Courts have held the possessor of the premises owes a duty to an individual who is invited on the property to exercise ordinary care for the person's safety and protection...

• State Farm Looks Again At Katrina Cases

  Mike Simon | March 29, 2007 12:31 PM | 0 CommentsWest Virginia, WV

  As part of a deal with the Mississippi Insurance Commissioner, State Farm has agreed to reexamine 35,000 claims arising out of Hurricane Katrina. The agreement includes claims that are in mediation, those that already in lawsuits, and those that already have been settled.Under the terms of the deal, State Farm will make a minimum of $50 million available to settle the claims.Not all viewed the...

• TJX Companies SEC Filing Details 47.5 Million Possible Identity Theft Victims

  Staff Writer | March 29, 2007 9:20 AM | 1 CommentPhoenix, AZ

  TXJ Companies has finally come clean with some more details about the number of possible identity theft victims as a result of its failure to abide by credit card processing standards. Discussing this data security breach, in a regulatory filing with the Securities Exchange Commission, the TXJ Companies indicated, Discovery of Computer Intrusion. On December 18, 2006, we learned of suspicious...

• More Personal Injury Insurance Propaganda Hits the Web

  Evan Rosen | March 29, 2007 5:25 AM | 0 CommentsFort Lauderdale, FL

  Recently I read another article from an apparent lobbyist for the insurance industry making a strong stand against "lawsuit abuses." Well I again don't want to post a link to his article because I don't want to generate activity to that misinformation but I will once again paste my comment to his post:You think you could be a little more dramatic. I mean, "lawyers fighting to keep courts havens...

• FDA Toughens Advisory Committee Guidelines

  IB Contributor | March 29, 2007 12:35 AM | 0 CommentsOrange County, CA

  After mounting complaints that its advisory committees were dominated by members with drug industry ties, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has tightened it rules on just who will be allowed to offer advice, according to a report on the Consumeraffairs.com Web site this week.Under its draft guidance, advisors who receive money from a drug or device maker would not be allowed to vote on...