Arizona Personal Injury Updates

"Attention Safeway shoppers, business owners now owe nondelegable duties to their invitees to keep their premises reasonably safe."Steven H. Simon sued Safeway after he was injured during a store altercation with a security guard who "physically and sexually" assaulted him. The guard was employed by a third-party company who had contracted with Safeway. He mistakenly concluded that Mr. Simon...

Imagine a loan of $100,000 based upon (1) a borrower's true income / ability to repay and (2) the true value of the real estate collateral. Now imagine a loan of $100,000 based upon (1) fictional income figures and (2) fictional valuation of real estate collateral. Which type of loan do you think predominated in the United States for the last five to ten years?Now imagine these "liar loans"...

A large number of people, attorneys included, don't know the difference between "assignments" and "liens."Why does it matter, you ask? For a number of reasons that will be more obvious when the difference is understood.An assignment is the easier of the two to understand since, as the name implies, it is an transfer of all or some rights or property to a third-party. Although an assignor...

Worried about lead in your toys this Christmas? You now have something else to worry about - if those toys harm or kill your children, your rights and remedies in the state of Arizona are under serious attack.This week, in State Farm Ins. Co. v. Premier Mfg. Sys. Inc., the Arizona Supreme Court held that, despite centuries-old common law "strict liability" in product liability cases, Arizona's...

Collins International Co., in conjunction with the CPSC, is recalling about 20,000 oscillating ceramic heaters because the heaters can overheat, smoke, or may ignite which poses a fire hazard to consumers.This recall involves 1500 watt oscillating ceramic heaters model EB38005. The heater has a white plastic housing with the name "Heat-Wave" in black on its top. A label on the bottom of the...

Wyeth is recalling several brands of nonprescription cold medicine because they come with a dosing cup that does not mark the half-teaspoon level recommended for children aged 2 through 5 years old. According to the Wyeth spokesperson, there is nothing wrong with the product.The cold medicines being recalled are: Robitussin Cough DM, Robitussin Cough & Cold CF, Robitussin Cough & Congestion,...

A mother of a 17 year-old month boy went in to work at Hooters Tuesday morning and when she returned to her car when her shift was over she realized she had forgotten her son was still in the vehicle. Unfortunately the toddler died because of the temperatures in the car.Ashly Duchene was booked with a felony count of negligent homicide. She normally dropped her son off at daycare before work,...

There's a new case out this week from Division Two, Cullen v. Koty-Leavitt Insurance, which deals with the reasonable expectations doctrine in the UIM setting. The case is not particularly fascinating from a substantive perspective, but it raises questions about potential legal malpractice exposure.In sum, Cullen filed a UIM claim based upon the fact that his family was given the right to...

Interesting legal malpractice case from Division Two, Keonjian v. Olcott, dealing with the issue of when the statute of limitations begins to run and whether the tort or contract limitation period applies.The essence of the alleged malpractice was that the plaintiff got bad advice from her attorney concerning the deeding of some land that she co-owned with another party. The trial court had...

A Coconino County jury awarded one of the largest wrongful death verdicts to the family of a high school coach who died after taking a lethal combination of medications which should never have been dispensed together. The jury found that Walgreens pharmacy should have warned the patient and his physician about the lethal and toxic effects that the pain medications Tramadol and Methadone have...