Legal

The Legal section covers court rulings, statutory changes, liability trends, and key developments in Alabama and federal law that shape personal-injury claims. We explain how case law and regulation affect claims strategy, statutes of limitations, damages, and the rights of injured people pursuing justice.

Helping to Ease Student Loan Debt

New York is tinkering with the idea of allowing the third years of law school to be optional. Proponents argue that the 3L year is superfluous and serves only to pad the pockets of law…

By Clay Rossi

/ 14 Jan 2013

BCM Donates Wii Sports to Wilmer Hall Children’s Home

In the spirit of holiday giving, the attorneys and staff of Burns, Cunningham & Mackey, P.C., recently donated Wii video consoles and games to the local children’s home, Wilmer…

By Zeb Ramey

/ 14 Jan 2013

RV Awnings Can Become Missiles

Recreational vehicles (RVs) are becoming popular again perhaps because of baby boomers retiring. It is a good idea before hitting the highways this spring to give your RV a thorough…

By Billy Cunningham

/ 12 Jan 2013

Lawyers Banned from Groupon by Alabama Bar

The Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct, governing the conduct of lawyers, was recently modified after the Alabama State Bar issued an ethics opinion regarding attorneys using Groupon to market…

By Dottie Perry

/ 11 Jan 2013

Interesting legal oddity

Not many American lawyers are aware that at Common Law there existed a right for an individual to bring a private criminal prosecution against another person. The private prosecution…

By Clay Rossi

/ 10 Jan 2013

Ads Rarely Reflect Reality

I often hear that chosing the right lawyer is difficult because most people don't ordinarily deal with lawyers in their everyday lives. Lawyer ads do little to bring clarity to the…

By Dottie Perry

/ 19 Oct 2012

Contracts Can Limit or Expose You to Legal Liabiltiy

I get a few calls a week from individuals and businesses with contract disputes, so I often lose sight of the fact that the law of contracts is not walking around knowledge. For quick reference…

By Dottie Perry

/ 25 Sep 2012

Burn Season

I recently heard the term burn season which caused me to think about cold weather in an entirely new light. We represent a severely burned young man who is experiencing an aggressive…

By Pete Burns

/ 17 Sep 2012

Are you completely ready for Hurricane Isaac?

As someone who has lived on the Gulf Coast for close to thirty years getting ready for a hurricane can range from buying bottled water to boarding up windows of your house. In my younger days it…

By Troy Schwant

/ 25 Aug 2012

Texas Judge feels that Texas wasn’t involved enough in this country’s first civil war….

An elected county judge in Lubbock, Texas, that's right this judge was actually elected by the people of Lubbock, Texas, is predicting another Civil War if President Obama is re-elected. Now…

By Troy Schwant

/ 23 Aug 2012

Let Patsy Rest in Peace…

I came across this article this morning and wanted to show my support for James Davis, a resident of Stevenson, Alabama who apparently is being forced by city officials to disinter his wife who…

By Troy Schwant

/ 20 Aug 2012

Why do Alabama courts protect drunk drivers from liability?

You would think that in a state as conservative of Alabama would want to do everything they could to punish drivers who operate their vehicles while intoxicated, but for some reason the Alabama…

By Troy Schwant

/ 12 Aug 2012