All Topics

• Fairness in Arbitration and Personal Injury

  Ed Van Dorn | July 25, 2007 4:39 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  The focus of our firm is personal injury law and the protection of citizen's rights over the careless and sometimes reckless conduct of others. We are especially interested in large corporations and the medical industry that think they can use their clout to pass laws that disadvantage the average person from seeking legal recourse against them. The newly proposed federal legislation entitled...

• Wrongful Death and Punitive Damages

  Ed Van Dorn | July 24, 2007 6:50 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Can the family of a child killed in an auto accident caused by the reckless conduct of another driver sue that driver for punitive damages? Punitive damages are damages over and above what is required to compensate the victim for the loss. They are designed to punish the wrongdoer and set an example to deter others from similar conduct. This is the question the Vermont Supreme Court will soon...

• Botulism and Product Liability

  Ed Van Dorn | July 24, 2007 6:22 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Recently there has been a recall of 10 seperate items manufactured by Castleberry Foods that may contain botulism. Botulism is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. There are three main kinds of botulism. Foodborne botulism is caused by eating foods that contain the botulism toxinSince the food products have been...

• Car Accidents on Rural Roads

  Ed Van Dorn | July 20, 2007 6:54 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  I just saw an article on line about car accidents on rural highways. Not suprisingly the article sites studies that show that driving on rural highways can be more dangerous than driving on urban roads. University of Minnesota research by the Center of Excellence on Rural Safety found rural roads deadlier when it comes to car crashes than urban roads in 2005. The study states 72 percent of...

• Malpractice Involving Back Surgery

  Rob Curtiss | July 13, 2007 6:40 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Anyone who has undergone back surgery knows it is a serious operation with major risks even if it is performed properly. When back surgery is performed improperly or negligently it can have devastating consequences including irreversible nerve damage. I have represented clients who have been permanently injured as a result of negligently preformed back surgery and have witnessed firsthand the...

• Motor Vehicle Accidents and Back Injuries

  Rob Curtiss | July 10, 2007 9:17 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Many people who are rear-ended or otherwise hit by negligent drivers end up with chronic back injuries. Chronic back pain affects virtually every aspect of an injury victim's life including work, recreation and family relations. Because I have suffered with chronic back pain in the past I am particularly sensitive to the impact it has on my client's lives. I also bear in mind that many of my...

• Speeding on Route 9 and Car Accident Injury Law

  Ed Van Dorn | July 05, 2007 2:37 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Every one knows that the faster you drive, the better the chances of having a car accident, right? Nevertheless time and time again we see articles like the one in the Brattleboro Reformer on July 4th. Here's a short quote. "The cars zip down the road, pushing the pedal down, going 60, 70, 80, 90 mph. No, it's not the Autobahn, it's Route 9 in Vermont. The twisting road, with its short...

• Neck Injuries and Motor Vehicle Accidents

  Ed Van Dorn | July 03, 2007 8:09 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Anyone who has been unfortunate enough to have been in a motor vehicle accident and suffered a serious neck injury knows that insurance companies will most often assume that the victim is exaggerating the extent of the injury and try to down play the case. This is so even though study after study has demonstrated that serious neck injuries can occur in motor vehicle accidents even at lower...

• Personal Injury Law, Insurance and the movie "Sicko"

  Ed Van Dorn | July 03, 2007 7:23 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  We have written on this topic before. If you have a personal injury claim it is a mistake to think that the insurance company responsible for paying the claim will treat you fairly. The objective of the insurance company is to make a profit. Profit is made by collecting premiums and paying out as little as the company can get away with in claims.Michael Moore's new movie "Sicko" has a very good...

• Personal Injury Accident Victims Often Are Mistreated By Their Own Insurance Companies.

  Rob Curtiss | June 22, 2007 9:17 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Many injury victims are hurt through the negligence of individuals who are either uninsured or have minimal insurance. Under these unfortunate circumstances an injury victim is entitled to bring a claim against their own insurance company. If the driver who caused his/her injuries has no insurance or assets, the injury victim brings what is called an "uninsured motorist claim." If the negligent...