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Personal Injury News Update

Fracking Opponents Push for New Legal Remedies, Thomson Reuters News & Insight (See prior entry Fracking Contaminating New Yorkers’ Water? 08.12.2011) Thrown for a Loss: Retired Players Sue, Claim NFL Hid Brain Damage Info, ABA Journal (See prior entries National Football League and Sports in New York, Part 1 02.07.2011 and National Football League and … Read more

Going Where There is no Liability

Where is there no liability (on the part of the premise owner or operator)? Some facilities require patrons to sign waiver clauses or exculpatory clauses before partaking in the activities they offer. Whether these clauses will apply is fact dependent. The General Obligations Law section 5-326 explicitly voids certain exculpatory clauses. It specifically names “pools, … Read more

Fracking Contaminating New Yorkers’ Water?

The drilling industry maintains that fracking is harmless to water supply, but scientific studies, including an old one by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), show otherwise. Fracking is the procedure whereby water, sand, and/or toxic chemicals are imbued to the ground to break up rocks and release natural gas. For years, settlements between landowners and energy … Read more

Surgeons Who Tested Medtronic’s Infuse Bone Graft Swayed by Millions?

Spinal fusion surgery is a procedure to correct problems with vertebrae by basically welding them together and allowing them to heal into one solid bone. This procedure may relieve symptoms of back problems such as fracture, scoliosis, spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and degenerative disk disease. The idea is to prevent pain by preventing movement. Some form … Read more

Hot Coffee Documentary: McDonald’s Coffee Case Exposed, Screening Worldwide Now

Susan Saladoff’s documentary Hot Coffee debuted this year in the Sundance Film Festival and premiered on HBO last night. It is about the tort reform movement in the United States and the public’s perception of various aspects of personal injury lawsuits. I urge everyone to watch this documentary. You can view it on another broadcast … Read more

New York State Budget Cuts Affect the Judicial System

The court system already was, by many accounts, backlogged, slow, and overburdened. In March, the governor and legislature cut the judiciary’s budget by $170 million. All aspects of the judicial process will likely be affected by the cuts. Now most courtrooms shut down a half hour earlier every day. Effective April 18, 2011, some small … Read more

New York Settlement Conferences by Judges Supported by Obama Administration

New York State received a $3 million federal grant to implement a test program designed to encourage early (or earlier) settlement of medical malpractice cases. The program requires that a judge with training in medical issues be assigned at the beginning of a case and frequent settlement conferences be held. A nurse with legal training … Read more