New Year’s Eve is one of the biggest celebrations of the year, as friends and family gather to welcome the new year. Part of many celebrations is alcohol and unfortunately, that alcohol often leads to dangerous and deadly car accidents. National statistics show that New…
A federal appeals court decision in a case out of Tennessee could invalidate unjust statutory caps on punitive damages in many other states, including Virginia. My Virginia Beach-based personal injury and wrongful death attorneys would welcome that result. LEARN MORE When Can a Virginia…
Negotiating an insurance settlement is almost always complicated. One consideration is whether injured person has sources of income and financial support other than what he or she may receive through the at-fault party’s insurance policy. So, yes, receiving disability insurance benefits while pursin
Once only a prop in sci-fi films, self-driving vehicles are just on the horizon. Auto manufacturers are continuously developing, designing, and searching for new options to offer consumers that will make their products more attractive. Many companies are rushing to develop and market autonomous veh
We have reached the top five civil justice stories of 2018. This is Part II of Legal Examiner’s annual compilation of the 10 most important civil cases of 2018, created by Virginia Beach, VA attorney-author Richard N. (Rick) Shapiro and his research assistants, a year…
According to one recent estimate, 1 in every 69 Americans suffers a dog bite or an attack by a canine each year. The overwhelming majority of these incidents result in no serious injury, but hospitalizations and deaths do occur. One particularly shocking dog attack occurred…
2018 was a big year for civil justice (and injustice). This top-10 lists highlights massive jury verdicts, including multi-million dollar pending lawsuits and verdicts in the field of personal injury, faulty products, dangerous medical devices, toxic substances, and other civil wrongs involving corp
Fentanyl has overtaken heroin and oxycontin as the leading cause of fatal drug overdoses in the United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers revealed this on Dec. 12, 2018, while also noting that the prescription painkiller claimed more lives than cocaine and meth.…
The answer will depend on what an independent investigation into your accident shows. While, technically, police, sheriff’s deputies and state troopers in North Carolina must include fault information in their crash reports, the official conclusion is not always cut-and-dried. In such a case, partne
Imagine you are recovering from surgery. A doctor you don’t recognize tells you, “unfortunately, there were complications.” You and your family begin wondering if your selected surgeon did the surgery or whether a resident or intern may have done the part that went wrong. These…
Attacks by dogs hospitalize hundreds of North Carolinians each year. Family pets inflict the overwhelming majority of those injuries, which often require more than a tetanus shot and a couple of stitches. Under North Carolina law, dog owners have strict liability for the harm (and…
Personal injury victims often survive with permanent disabilities that limit or eliminate their employment prospects. Some people have to end personally rewarding and well-paying careers; others must give up any hope of ever working again. Helping such individuals secure insurance settlements or civ
