A Texas jury delivered a $32 million verdict against the makers of Vioxx. Now attorneys firm Merck want to obtain bank and cell phone records because one of the juror's had just paid off a $10,000 loan from one of the plaintiffs that was a party to the case. According to an article in Lawyers Weekly USA, a school janitor jury member was earning $22,000 a year and has testified in a post-trial...
We are often asked by our clients if the proceeds or damages from a personal injury case settlement are taxable. The general answer is that personal injury settlement proceeds are not taxable on their receipt by the taxpayer/client. There are some important exceptions.It is fair to say that a general settlement (where the proceeds are not specifically categorized) is not taxed on the...
Car manufacturers will be required to tell new car buyers when their car is equipped with a black box or "event data recorder" under new regulations issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The formal description for the black box is "event data recorder" -which is any electronic devices that capture crash or collision data, in the seconds before, during and after...
Honda Motor Company recently announced that it is going to offer an airbag on one of its expensive Honda Gold Wing motorcycles for the next model year. Likewise, Yamaha Motor Corporation is developing an airbag system and is using a scooter with the airbags to research and develop the potential product, according to Yamaha's website. Can motoycycle airbags really prevent significant crash...
I don't know how many product liability injury lawyers also are inventors in the United States, but I suspect it's a tiny number, or maybe just me alone. Beginning in 1999, I filed my first patent application for a new type of folding wheel axle for typical wagons and carts which allows them to fold flat. Since that time I have filed for and been granted 12 United States patents, and have...
Many states, including Virginia, allow insurance agents to offer optional "medical expense benefits" along with a standard auto insurance policy. This coverage ("med pay" for short) provides for payment of 100% of any medical bills (up to the coverage amount, usually 1,000 to 10,000 dollars per covered vehicle) arising from a car crash/collision involving personal injury to the insured, or...
There was a recent article in the local newspaper concerning Norfolk Southern Railway Company conducting a special train ride carrying one hundred people in two passenger cars behind a locomotive, to help these people understand rail safety and the dangers of railroad crossings. However, Norfolk Southern Railway Company and "Operation Lifesaver", a non-profit group, have been accused of trying...
People have a strange attitude about a dog bite injury case, but there happen to be lots of dogs in our society and unfortunately people do get attacked or bit by dogs and some of the injuries can be fairly serious-many cause permanent scars. Virginia happens to follow the common law rule known as the "one bite" rule which offers some protection to dog owners who have had no prior warning that...
A jury recently awarded a 3.5 million dollar verdict in Fredericksburg Circuit Court to a plaintiff who underwent gastric bypass surgery (stomach staple surgery) and suffered brain damage. One doctor, President of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, testified that a leak from the plaintiff's gastric bypass surgery caused peritonitis and a septic reaction that lead to the brain getting...