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.

Negligently Describing Your Emergency?

Here’s one to watch. Harris County, Texas Deputy Brady Pullen has filed suit against a woman named Camina Figueroa on that basis that Figueroa failed to adequately warn of the danger he faced in responding to a 911 call at her home. According to Rawstory,…

By Clay Rossi

/ 21 Aug 2013

Lemons but No Lemonade

As alluded to by the old Chinese proverb, we live in interesting times. The ACLU has an article on its website which is blunt but not inaccurate: “The NSA is turning the internet into a total surveillance system.” Once it came to light that the…

By Clay Rossi

/ 13 Aug 2013

Putting Your Password on Steroids

Whether it be private snoops or government spooks, your privacy is not safe as you virtually stroll through the Internet. If you have concerns about keeping your e-mail intruder free, here is an article which gives some advice that can be used by you or…

By Clay Rossi

/ 6 Aug 2013

How do you work Parental Controls???

While talking with a former colleague and local Assistant United States Attorney recently, the conversation turned to the proliferation of the depravity of content related to and directed at children on the internet. Among other things, this AUSA prosecutes peddlers of kiddie-porn, and said that,…

By Dottie Perry

/ 5 Aug 2013

Wanted: Legal Heroes

Sometimes we can forget that we are not just engaged in the legal “industry” but in the legal profession. As lawyers, we belong not only a profession but one of the three traditional “learned” professions (the other two comprising the ranks of doctors and priests).…

By Clay Rossi

/ 30 Jul 2013

BP’s Bully Propoganda

I’ve spoken with a couple of individuals and businesspeople recently who said that filing a BP claim might be wrong, and that they have seen on the news that one of the claims adjuster’s lawyers committed fraud. It’s a “one bad apple” scenario, but enough to support BP’s media campaign to…

By Dottie Perry

/ 29 Jul 2013

Do e-Discovery like the Big Boys?

If you are like most litigators today, you have tried to subpoena e-mail records from Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. Usually the results are mixed skewing toward the “waste of time” end of the scale. Perhaps you have the wrong client. Perhaps you should be representing…

By Clay Rossi

/ 23 Jul 2013

Are some Gulf Coast Business owners having a moral dilemma over filing a BP Claim?

Over the last few weeks I have spoken with many businesses owners who are struggling with whether or not to file a BP claim under the Deep-Water Horizon Settlement. It seems several business owners are struggling with whether it…

By Troy Schwant

/ 16 Jul 2013

Shot Blocking Justice

You likely didn’t know that the Japanese government has concerns that two popular HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccines, Merck’s Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline ‘s Cervarix, can cause very severe side-effects including long-term pain and numbness, infertility, and paralysis. If the Japanese can ultimatel

By Clay Rossi

/ 16 Jul 2013

More Honored in the Breach than the Observance

If you had the opportunity to be in Lakewood, Ohio, more specifically Lakewood Park, you witnessed a very unique 4th of July celebration. The city of Lakewood set out rules to be obeyed by all citizens who wished to celebrate Independence Day and from a…

By Clay Rossi

/ 9 Jul 2013

How the NSA Spying Scandal Undermines the Justice System

We don’t know the full scope of the National Security Agency (NSA) spying scandal touched off first by the news that Verizon records had been collected in bulk and then later by whistleblower Edward Snowden’s disclosures of NSA mega-snooping to the London Guardian. We may…

By Clay Rossi

/ 2 Jul 2013

Fireworks Spark Unintended Fires on Independence Day

We cant seem to escape the news of out-of-control fires lately. In recent months, droughts and lightening storms have rapidly increased reports of wildfires, property damage and loss of life. During the week of the 4th of July, the risk of more of the same grows exponentially due to…

By Dottie Perry

/ 1 Jul 2013