Injury & Accident Law

Ex-Lawyer Awarded $6M for Husband’s Attack

A former associate has been awarded more than $6 million in damages against her ex-husband who tried to kill her. Donna Hughes, who used to work at D’Amato & Lynch in New York, will receive $2.1 million for lost earnings and $4 million for pain and suffering, the New York…

Jan 16, 2008 12:33 PM CST

Duke Rape Prosecutor’s Bankruptcy May Not End His Money Problems

The punishment continues for a disbarred North Carolina prosecutor who lost his job and his law license after pursuing a meritless rape case against three members of the Duke University men’s lacrosse team. Mike Nifong filed today for bankruptcy against creditors, including the three athletes found by the state attorney…

Jan 15, 2008 9:24 PM CST

Experts Say Design Defect Caused Minn. Bridge Collapse

Updated: Federal investigators are expected to announce today that a design defect caused the collapse of a Minneapolis bridge last summer, killing 13 and injuring more than 100 in a horrific accident that focused attention on bridge safety nationwide. As an ABAJournal.com post soon after the accident details, steel gusset…

Jan 15, 2008 8:12 PM CST

Investments Stop Calif. High Court From Hearing Lockheed Case

Because four of seven justices on the California Supreme Court own stock in Lockheed Martin or companies that provided related materials, they can’t hear an appeal involving several dozen workers who say they were injured by chemical exposure. The case is the talk of the state appellate bar, but Chief…

Jan 15, 2008 12:51 AM CST

Fleeing Prisoner Blames Injuries on Lax Jail Security

A prisoner who hurt himself while trying to escape from jail has filed a lawsuit claiming a Colorado sheriff caused his injuries by making it too easy to flee. Scott Anthony Gomez Jr. fell 40 feet as he used bedsheets to try to rappel down the side of the Pueblo…

Jan 14, 2008 2:07 PM CST

Thousands of Fla. Tobacco Suits Filed as Deadline Looms

When the Florida Supreme Court in 2006 invalidated a $145 million punitive damages award in a class action case against the tobacco industry, it gave the plaintiffs a year to file individual claims, starting on Jan. 11, 2007. At the same time, the court also made it easier for the…

Jan 10, 2008 6:35 PM CST

Boy Injured in China Gets $3.35M Verdict in Mass.

The escalator accident that left a 4-year-old’s hand severely injured, happened in China. But American jurors decided the case, this week awarding $3.35 million after a trial in Massachusetts. In addition to holding the escalator’s Chinese manufacturer liable, a jury in Worcester Superior Court held the U.S.-based Otis Elevator Co.…

Jan 4, 2008 9:37 PM CST

Plaintiff Faces Avalanche of Calls in Ski Suit Backlash

A Pennsylvania man and his wife left their home over the holidays after becoming the target of angry calls following their suit against an 8-year-old boy. The couple claims the child, then 7, collided with David J. Pfahler while they were skiing at the Beaver Creek ski resort. They are…

Jan 2, 2008 6:08 PM CST

8-Year-Old Sued for Ski Collision

A skier on vacation in Colorado is suing an 8-year-old boy who he blames for a collision in January at Beaver Creek in Vail. David Pfahler, 60 of Allentown, Pa., claims Scott Swimm, then 7, was skiing recklessly and too fast, causing a collision that left Pfahler’s shoulder tendon to…

Dec 21, 2007 6:57 PM CST

Cyber Crime Does, Increasingly, Pay

Cyber crime has become more sophisticated, more stealthy, and more successful than ever before, as ill-intentioned Internet “malware” experts refine their methods to take advantage of the popularity of new technology and applications. In addition to sneaking their malicious software onto trusted high-traffic sites such as MySpace.com and YouTube.com, cyber…

Dec 21, 2007 2:39 AM CST

New Practice Area for Nev. Firm: Suing State Over Child Abuse

To report a case of child abuse, you call a state agency. But what do you do when the state agency itself is mistreating a child? Two brothers who practice law together in Las Vegas have an answer to that question for people concerned about abused foster children in Nevada:…

Dec 21, 2007 2:18 AM CST

Driver With Amnesia Not Competent for Car Homicide Trial?

A Washington state woman found guilty of vehicular homicide concerning an auto accident she can’t remember has filed an appeal seeking to overturn the felony conviction, arguing that she was unable to assist in her own defense. Cleora Swirtz, now 25, also suffered life-threatening injuries in the 2004 accident that…

Dec 19, 2007 7:50 PM CST

Manslaughter Case Against Company Over ‘Big Dig’ Accident Continues

In an unusual and much-watched manslaughter case against one of the companies working on the controversial “Big Dig” tunnel project in Boston, a Massachusetts judge refused yesterday to dismiss the criminal charge. Defendant Powers Fasteners Inc., which is the only contractor charged in the manslaughter case, had contended that the…

Dec 19, 2007 6:31 PM CST

$1.2M Paid in R.I. Lead Paint Suit

More than two years after DuPont agreed to pay $12 million and clean up 600 homes in order to settle a lead paint lawsuit brought by the state of Rhode Island, the first of the money is being distributed. Several children’s health and educational projects will split $1.2 million of…

Dec 18, 2007 11:26 PM CST

Supreme Court Asked to Decide Whether Emotional-Distress Damages Are Taxable

The U.S. Supreme Court is being urged to accept a case that asks whether the federal government has the power to tax an award for emotional distress. Lawyers for Marrita Murphy, an environmental whistle-blower who was awarded $70,000 for emotional distress, claim the government may not tax awards that are…

Dec 17, 2007 3:30 PM CST