Yesterday, I was a speaker at a continuing legal education seminar at the Birmingham Bar Association entitled, “Recent Developments in Employment Law” to give the plaintiff’s lawyer’s perspective on recent developments. ( I handle a number of employment related situations in trying to help people put their lives back together when they have been treated unfairly.)  There was also a defense lawyer who gave the defense perspective. We discussed recent Supreme Court cases and legislation.

Some of the people at the seminar were surprised when I stated that plaintiff’s really don’t want to be in a lawsuit.  They are not sitting around looking  for someone to sue.  Most people prefer never having to resort to going to court.  It’s their last option when they have not been treated fairly.  It does not matter whether the plaintiff suing is in court because they lost their job or because they were severely injured.  They would prefer it if they didn’t have to sue.  Who wouldn’t rather do something else than have a lawyer representing the defendant trying to do everything they can to make you lose, including accusing you of being a liar, that what happened was your fault, and minimizing your injuries?  Their job is to make sure you lose.

Some people ask me why I represent plaintiffs most of the time.  I try to help people put their lives back together.   A client told me today while wishing me a Merry Christmas that she wanted to meet my mother and father, they were welcome to come by her home and eat some turnip greens.  She reminded me of my grandmother, Grandma Ross.  She adopted us as grandchildren, after both of my grandmothers had passed away when we were very young.  She had a heart of gold and was always trying to help someone!  So does the woman who called me today.  Her dignity is at stake as well as her lost wages.  It’s embarrassing to be seen by people in her community and when they ask why she’s not still working where she used to be, she has to tell them they fired her.  So, I’m glad I can use my expertise to help her.  No one should treat another person unfairly.

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The Birmingham News Saturday on page 8B had a sad story, a person on a bicycle was hit and killed by a driver reaching for her cell phone. I recently wrote about this problem in my post accidents and cell phones. Kimberly Kelsey Drawbaugh in Scottsboro did not see Carlos Serrano Sr., an exercise enthusiast, who was killed by the impact. The police report said that she didn’t see him as she was reaching for her cell phone. Serrano was thrown 200 feet from the point of impact.

The newspaper article goes on in some detail about Mr. Serrano and his competitions in marathons and triathlons. (It’s ironic that the company he was the president of made the nylon fibers for air bags.)  He had a son and daughter who were both successful athletes. What a sad day for that family. Their lives have been changed forever. They have begun the journey of grief. The holidays will never be the same. Mr. Serrano won’t be at the weddings of his children nor will he be there to teach important life lessons to his future grandchildren.

Drivers talking on a phone are four times as likely to crash as other drivers, and are as likely to cause an accident as someone with a .08 blood alcohol content (legally drunk). National Highway Traffic Safety Administration researchers estimated that cell phone use by drivers caused around 955 fatalities and 240,000 accidents in 2002.

Each of us as human beings have a tendency to believe that “it” (something bad) won’t happen to me.  For the driver of the car reaching for their cell phone, they don’t think that they are taking someone’s life into their hands.  Think again and reconsider what you do when driving.

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Many times people want to wait too long before hiring an attorney. Evidence can quickly disappear! Many times one of the first things an attorney does when they are representing someone is to preserve the evidence. When there is an accident or wreck, the accident scene can quickly change or be altered. Changes in the weather, clean up or repair crews can destroy evidence. One case within the past year or so was one where a person was killed in the crash. It was the spouse of a former client. I hated to get the call that he had been killed. I personally had known him for a number of years. However, I had to do everything I could for her and for him (to take care of her and the children) so that the evidence was preserved. Pictures were taken before any grass, or tress grew that might change how the accident scene looked. We had the vehicle preserved. There was going to be a question of if there was a defect in it as a possible defense to his death. If the crash had been caused by a defect, we would have preserved the vehicle in the condition that it was so that a defect could be proven. In short order our accident reconstruction expert was there. Why, I didn’t want anyone saying something had changed so that he really didn’t know the actual conditions and his opinon was not valid. He confirmed the accident was not the spouse’s fault. We also quickly found witnesses who were not listed on the police report. There were people in that neighborhood who had seen what had occurred right before the accident. They did not know anyone who was in the wreck. They were not taking anyone’s side, just telling exactly what they saw. You don’t want someone who has not handled a serious injury case getting experience on your case. They need to know what they are doing and have the financial resources to get the investigation done quickly and professionally. Otherwise, important evidence can quickly disappear. Many times people don’t need a lawyer to resolve their claim. That’s normally when there is not a serious injury or death. Don’t make the mistake of not acting quickly when there has been a serious accident. Important evidence could be disappearing while you do not act!
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Questions? See my Frequently Asked Questions page. You can also Order FREE my book,

“Seven Deadly Sins That Can Wreck Your Alabama Injury Claim” for more in depth information.
 

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Many cannot work due to their injuries and the bills are piling up which is why the need money.  Some need the money for care they have had and care that they will need in the future.  Some don’t have insurance to pay the bills or for future care.   That is particularly true when there has been a catastrophic injury.  Sometimes, they contact me because of a death. (See my recent post about how the death of a loved one feels.)  When someone is killed, the question many families face is how can they pay their bills, keep their home, car, and provide food when the main breadwinner has died.  Many times the injury or death is from a truck or trailer.  Unfortunately, many people when injured have chronic pain – many times back pain – from their accident. They want just compensation for their injury.

I have resources that can help.  There is my free book that you can order.  Remember that your have a limited amount of time to file a lawsuit. I provide information about the deadline to file suit (it’s called the Statute of Limitations”) in my free book, “The Seven Deadly Sins That Can Wreck Your Alabama Injury Claim.” It will help you by providing important information and will help you toward getting just compensation (money) and how to pick a lawyer to represent you.  I also have written Frequently Asked Questions which can help start answering questions that you may have.  

When people are looking for a lawyer, help and need money, it’s not because they want something for nothing.   Their world has been turned upside down and they want to try to put their lives back together.

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I had the chance this past weekend to spend some time with Dave and hear him speak about communication – worth every minute.  If someone is in Pennsylvania and needs estate planning or asset protection planning they would make a huge misstake not to have Dave helping them.

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The essential ingredients of a cause of action for negligent entrustment are: (1) an entrustment; (2) to an incompetent; (3) with knowledge that he is incompetent; (4) proximate cause; and (5) damages. Halford v. Alamo Rent-A-Car, LLC, 921 So.2d 409, 412 (Ala. 2005). Entrustment can include either (1) actual entrustment, (2) continuing consent to use the vehicle, or (3) leaving the vehicle available for use. Note, Negligent Entrustment in Alabama, 23 Ala. L.Rev. 733, 738 (Summer 1971). Proof of incompetence may “be established by evidence of previous acts of negligent or reckless driving, . . . previous accidents, or previous acts of driving while intoxicated.” Id. at 746. Any doubt in your mind that Nick was an incompetent driver with his speeding tickets in that short a period of time and bragging about his speeding in Rides magazine?

Based upon the media accounts, it also probably won’t be much of a job to prove that Hulk Hogan knew of Nick’s prior speeding tickets. That fulfills the knowledge requirement.

Proximate cause is a legal concept which simply means that his bad driving was the cause of the injury. If for instance, another driver had hit the car while they were stopped, Nick’s driving would not have had anything to do with the cause for the injury. Here, it was Nick’s driving that was the cause of the wreck. Proximate cause will be able to be established.

Damages are the injuries to the passenger. Here, the damages were caused by the wreck.

Hopefully, you now understand what a negligent entrustment claim is. In Alabama, this would be a claim that ought to be pursued in this type of fact situation. This type of claim in many cases can be quite difficult to prove. The facts can be not as straight forward as they appear to be here from the media reports. If there appears to be this type of potential claim in a case, a good knowledgeable lawyer is needed to handle the claim.

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clipped from www.dothaneagle.com

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Andy gives you the background about various aspects of Buffett’s life (early businesses as a child included selling Cokes and making a nickel a six pack, horse racing tip sheets, and in high school a pinball machine company), his friends when he was growing up, and of course various investments he’s made including buying the Washington Post (he delivered it as a child). Andy also has lots of fun information about various people who are friends, partners or investors (admirers). Andy also explains the details of various Buffett purchases. If you are interested in the life story of Warren Buffett this is an excellent book to learn in detail about him.

What you might be asking right now is what does this have to do with accidents, injuries and the law in Alabama? On one level, of course, nothing. However, on another level studying successful people will help you in anything that you do. Munger, a former lawyer, advocates a mental framework and checklists to avoid errors. In driving using a checklist that means regularly checking the oil of your car and looking before you change lanes, then turning on your turn signal, looking again, and then if clear making a lane change. Buffett has in mind his criteria for buying a business or a stock (which he says you analyze as a business). Good litigators use checklists when they are working on accident and injury cases. They have in mind what they are looking for to win your case.

If you want to get a video flavor of Buffett, here he is when interviewed recently in Germany. Warren Buffett Interviewed in Germany.
If you want to learn more about Warren Buffett Andy’s book is an good choice. Along the way if you pay attention you will learn how to avoid accidents and making mistakes, all the while enjoying Andy’s comprehensive coverage of Buffett.

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“I was just living up to Scout motto” says boy who saved president’s life

Originally uploaded by menik 04

Duncan Campbell The Guardian, Friday January 11 2008

A Scout who saved the president of the Maldives from an assassination attempt said that he had merely been putting into practice the organization’s motto to “be prepared”. Mohamed Jaisham, 15, said yesterday that his Scout training had helped him prevent a man from stabbing President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom with a kitchen knife at a political rally on Tuesday. Jaisham, who is recovering in hospital after his hand was injured during the attack, told news agencies that he had spotted a man clutching a knife as the president met supporters on the island of Hoarafushi, in the far north of the chain of islands in the Indian Ocean.

“I saw the knife because he was yelling Allahu Akbar [God is Greatest],” said Mohamed, who was wearing his Scout uniform at the time of the attack. “I wanted to catch the knife, but he moved very quickly. I stopped it with my left hand and was cut.”

He added: “The Scout motto is ‘be prepared’, and at that time I was prepared. It helped me so much. It’s my training. I wear a Scout’s uniform and I wanted to save my president.”

Comment: It’s wonderful that a Boy Scout saved a life. The Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared” is also true for a lawsuit. Most people have the mistaken impression that most cases are resolved by a trial. They also have the mistaken impression that most cases are won at trial. That’s not exactly true. Most cases are “won” by being prepared.

Most cases end up being settled. If all cases went to trial, it would be impossible for the judicial system to handle all of those trials. As a result, today’s judicial system is designed to encourage settlement of cases. That reality comes into play at a number of places throughout a case. The second reality is some cases do go to trial. If your case is not ready to go to trial, why should the defendant(s) pay you what your case really is worth? They know that if you aren’t ready for trial: you may lose; you will likely get a smaller verdict because your case is not prepared as well as it could be for the best result; and you may be forced to settle for a smaller amount. If your case is prepared, then you are ready for trial. It also means that if your case is prepared, you have a better chance that your case will settle for its fair value.

What can you do to help get the case prepared? Tell your lawyer all the facts. If you don’t tell your attorney all the facts including information that might be thought of in a negative light, because you think the neither your lawyer or the defendant’s attorney will find out about them, you are shooting yourself in the foot. If you did that, you would be setting yourself up to lose. If you try to determine what information is relevant instead of telling your lawyer everything, how can he fully prepare your case? Some facts that clients think are not particularly flattering if they have told them to their attorney end up not having a bearing on their case. It’s when they don’t tell their lawyer everything that trouble starts to brew. Example, a person tells their lawyer and in the course of the case about the unflattering facts. As a consequence those facts are disclosed during the case when questions are answered either in writing or in deposition. If you are truthful, then your credibility is intact. However, if someone lies in the deposition, they are in for big trouble. They are about to lose their case. Being prepared includes always telling the truth.

Take the time to remember all of the facts. Sometimes people forget because the wreck happened so fast. Other times, time has passed and you don’t remember everything as clearly as you once did. Slow it down in your mind and recall all of the details about what occurred. It’s your attorney’s job to uncover the facts as early as possible. If you provide the information, you and your attorney will “be prepared.”

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