Articles Posted in General Legal

In 2005, several people were injured and killed when a documented gang member stole a tow truck from a commercial vehicle repair shop in Los Angeles County, and, while driving it away, lost control and drove up onto a sidewalk. The injured parties brought a lawsuit against the repair shop alleging that it was negligent…

A former lawyer for Toyota Motor Sales, USA, has alleged that the car company intentionally withheld evidence of its vehicles’ structural shortcomings in hundreds of injury and death cases arising from rollovers. Toyota counters that the former employ has an ax to grind, since he was fired for alleged misconduct on the job. The information…

Those who follow California law are familiar with the “Civil Justice Association of California,” an organization that seeks to curb access to the courts or to justice in the name of curtailing those scurrilous lawyers. You may have been exposed to some their handy work. One of the leaders of CJAC is its general counsel,…

A Good Samaritan who accidentally injures a person while trying to provide voluntary aid will not be protected from lawsuits by the injured party. Last week, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 83, which is intended to encourage Good Samaritans to provide aid and rescue in emergency situations. “Now Good Samaritans have no reason to hesitate…

While deaths in the workplace have declined over the last 20 years, the number of Hispanic workers who are killed on the job has increased. According to federal statistics, deaths of Hispanic workers increased from 533 in 1992 to 937 in 2007, an increase of 76%. “I am particularly concerned about our Hispanic workforce, as…

This weekend the New York Times had two good opinion pieces about reform in the medical liability system. Both contributors agree that the real problem is medical errors, not medical malpractice lawsuits, and that arbitrary caps on damages do little or nothing to address the underlying problem of too many preventable medical mistakes. Professor Tom…

You’ve seen the ads, “my personal injury lawyer got me ___ millions of dollars.” Or the lawyer on TV with the slicked back hair, promising to win your case “with little to no money down.” I thought this lawyer ad was pretty funny. Not because of the content, but because of the background. Watch the…

An $86 million judgment against Starbucks was reversed by a San Diego appellate court today. The judgment was based on the finding that Starbucks violated tip-sharing law by allowing shift “supervisors” to share in tip pools. The judgment ended a lengthy class action lawsuit brought by a Starbucks “barista” named Jou Chau. In a 3-0…

The New York Times is out with a story about independent medical exams – or IMEs – in the state’s beleaguered worker’s compensation system. The article more or less confirms what injury attorneys all over the county already know: there is nothing “independent” about IMEs. Generally speaking, an insurance company in a personal injury or…

The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris to overturn a state verdict of $79.9 million awarded to the widow of a longtime smoker by an Oregon jury. Legal analysts believe the ruling may mark a shift in the court, who most consider to be decidedly “pro business” it its rulings.…