New Legal News

A family is Oregon is suing the Oregon Department of Fish and Game to regain custody of a deer. The deer is deformed and was founds by the family on the side of the road 5 years ago. They affectionately named it Snowball.

Snowball and her offspring Bucky, were taken from the family last month because deer can not be owned by people in the state. Bucky was let go into the wild, where later this year he can be shot by a half drunk man hiding in a tree with a high powered rifle. Congrats Bucky!

Snowball will be taken to an Elk preserve where she  will be protected and and receive the care she needs with her disability.  The ranch is delighted to receive Snowball.

The family seeks to sue for custody because they feel they can better care for the deer. Their attorney says its an odd deal because while the state owns the deer, its held in a commercial interest where people will benefit from the deer by generating an income.

I cant help but ponder the amount, the actual number, of words said in a hour during a jury trial. the proper words can issue the most powerful images and consequently emotions. Of course words used wrong can be boring. A personal injury attorney then , has quite a big challenge. He needs to often educate the jury on a scientific subject, like accident reconstruction.

In a complex situation words alone are not adequate. On the other end of the spectrum, too many exhibits makes the trial chaotic, detracting from the gravity of the situation. The attorney must balance words with exhibits. Enlarged photographs are useful, as are properly enlarged medical transcripts. A visually colorful time line can be essential, moreso in a medical malpractice suit.

In an accident based on a construction accident the lawyer may want a model built, to simulate the scene where his client was injured. Sometimes the thinsg that are tangible work better than photos.

5.7 million was awarded to a  very sick man who wasnt diagnosed as having skin cancer  by his doctor. The trial was 4 weeks long and the victim required hospitilzation even during the trial. Poor guy .

The doctor failed to remove the cysts on the plaintiffs right shoulder, which over time metasized into cancer. the cancer is life  threatening for the plaintiff.

The plaintiff’s counsel felt pleased by the juries award, as it was sizable enough that she felt it may offset the distress caused by the misdiagnosis.

The plaintiff, Mr, Reilly, went through numerous surgeries to removes the tissue causing the cancer. His wife was by his side through the strenuous ordeal, and solely cares for him when hes at home.

“When you see pictures of the cysts, they are football-sized and deep in the tissue,” Asher said. Reilly went through a series of surgeries to remove the cancerous tissue. His wife, Karen Reilly, served as his nurse during the multiple surgeries and radiation treatments.

Reilly is bound to his home with 24 hour medical care.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has chosen to settle for 660 million dollars paying out to 508 victims for the molestation they enduring over decades.

this settlement is the most extreme one since the sex scandal Boston had in 2002. But hey, the LA Catholic church is by no means broke. In real estate alone they posses approximately 4 billion. This is simply some “please be quiet and go away” money.

Whats important out of this settlement is the records kept by the church of the priests will be made public, assuming that the church complies, i think this will end alot of nonsense, or, i hope it will.

All establishments including the Catholic Church are not above the law. They must be accountable, and they are.

The makers of OxyContin and the compnay that markets it had their day in court recently. Seems they messed up. They plead guilty to criminal charges against them, admitting they misled people, including the doctors, the government officials, and of course the patients themselves. They lied about how addictive the drug was/is. OxyContin is a potent, painkilling narcotic.

OxyContin was touted as being safer than other painkiller such as Vicodin or Percocet because OxyContin is “time released”. This ploy was to get medical doctors with little knowledge of pain management practices to subscribe the drug to even lesser informed patients.

The plan was effective and bt 1996 the sales hit one billion. Of course, the success meant that may were showing signs of addiction…

18.9 million was awarded to the wife of a late worker in texas. Gordon Rutherford was killed in an explosion at the Texas Industries  Inc. plant. The widow is accusing TXI  of reckless conduct in her husbands death. The Dallas jury  agreed with her after a 4 week trial.

Three other workers died in the resulting fire as well.

The counsel of the deceased  claimed that TXI of ignores basic safety rules by sending the welders into a very dangerous situation sans proper warning or properly maintained equipment.

Another recall for Hasbro Easy-Bake Oven’s. Little kids can get their hands stuck in the front opening of the oven and it is a burn risk. This recall decision is based on hundreds of reports, including a child getting her finger amputated, and still many have suffered second and third degree burns.

Hasbro issued a callback of the devices earlier this year, but sent out a kit to fix the problem as opposed to a real solution. I will assume this was their choice due to an effort of financial expediency. I question why hasbro didnt do thourough testing initially to determine the safety of a toy that is naturally marketed towards wee ones.

With hundreds of children injured by a product that was irresponsibly tested, i think someone should be held accountable.

A jury in Roanoke has awarded the parents of Justin Simmons 2,000,000. The settlement was against a lawnmower manufacturer, MTD.

The 4 year old was killed in 2004 by a riding lawnmower. The man who ran the boy over was named Orville Reedy. He accidentally reversed over the small boy. Reedy was dropped from the case when the Simmons found out that he had only 100,000 in insurance coverage. So they set their sights on the big money, the maker of a tool. MTD.

The simmons claimed its not money but accountability, stating that the manufacturer should have enabled a saftey device that is common on our riding mowers, one that turns off the blades upon reversing… fine, but if they did their homework, the lawn mower in question was 16 years old, and that wasnt an option in that time. Thus!! shouldnt the liable party be the person controling the mower?

Naturally MTD plans to appeal and I wish them luck

A wrongful death claim in the District of Columbia has netted the parents of 2 deceased children 1.2 million dollars. A man killed them via vehicle while fleeing police in 2004.

Police attempted to use undercover deceit to catch a suspected drug dealer, when they botched the sting, the dealer panicked and fled.

DC officials deny responsibility, claiming that they broke off pursuit prior to the incident.

The parents maintain that there was no reason to pursue the suspect, and even state one officer refused to give up the chase when ordered.

The real tragedy is this, those children were struck in a CROSSWALK, in arms reach of their father, the children were thrown 140 feet through the air, and died in their fathers sight! This disturbs me because as a father, my greatest fear is something liek this or, that i will lose my family to a drunken driver. The words to describe this feeling escapes me, but its a terrible and horrrendous thing to ponder.

When the police screwed up the bust and realized they werent getting him they shoudl have left it alone. Period. Be professional or go back to bed. Drugs? Hey drug dealers wouldnt exist if people didnt WANT the drugs. Go stop terrorism or soemthing!