Do You Need to Come to the Court Hearing?
Clients often ask me “do I need to come to court with you for our court hearing?” In this short video, I answer this common question and let you know what role you have in the lawsuit process and what your lawyer can do for you. If you need a lawyer to take your case […]
PCBs & Chemical Safety: Chemical Safety Bill Could Help Protect Monsanto Against Legal Claims
Yesterday a jury in St. Louis, MO awarded $17.5 million in damages to three plaintiffs and assessed $29 million more in punitive damages against Monsanto and three other companies in a suit here alleging negligence in the production of PCBs. Despite this verdict on behalf of injured plaintiffs, chemical safety in America is on precarious […]
Avoidable Medical Errors: The Third Leading Cause of Death in America
The Center for Justice & Democracy reports that according to the report, published in the Journal of Patient Safety, ‘between 210,000 and 440,000 patients each year who go to the hospital for care suffer some type of preventable harm that contributes to their death,’ the study says. Only heart disease and cancer cause more deaths in […]
The Guilty Plea Effect in Civil Litigation
What happens when a party to civil litigation has pled guilty to a crime and the civil litigation arises out of the same set of facts as the criminal complaint? An admission against interest arises. A plea agreement will have an effect in the ongoing civil litigation arising from the same action or occurrence. Generally, evidence […]
Serving a Chinese Company or Person in The People’s Republic of China.
In Back to the Future III, Mary McFly tries to explain to the Doc, “Hey Doc all the best stuff is made in Japan.” Twenty years later we can say the same for China. China is one of the world’s largest producers of goods, many of which are consumed here in the United States. With […]
State Legislatures Take Charge of Online Privacy Issues.
With the Federal Government unable to agree on anything, vital privacy issues have fallen into the laps of State Legislatures. State legislatures now must deal with growing public concern about the collection and trade of personal data. In response to their constituents concern, and in the wake of Federal Government inaction, several states proposed a […]
Speak for Yourself: It’s All About Who You Know
In the middle of my 3rd year of law school, I decided that I wanted to live in Chicago. The problem with this idea was I knew a grand total of 2 attorneys in the entire state of Illinois. I knew where I wanted to go, but I had only two contacts and lots of […]
Minor Child Settlement Rights
I recently came upon a case where a mother was insistent that she was going to settle a case on behalf of her son and was entitled to the settlement money. The child had been injured in an accident and the mother had dollar signs in her eyes. While she was hoping for a big […]
Tips for Meeting With Your Attorney
You’ve just received a summons or complaint, you have to appear in court, you called around and were referred to a local lawyer. He tells you to come by his office for a meeting. Now what do you do? Meeting with an attorney can be a nerve wracking experience. You are putting your faith and […]