I’m a trial lawyer for injured people and businesses at The Beasley Firm. Founded in 1958, we have recovered over $2 billion for our clients through hundreds of verdicts and settlements in excess of $1 million. We’re listed in Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News’s Top Lawyers, [...]
Another Falsified Logbook, Another Preventable Truck Accident Death
Like with the patient safety violations at Gosnell's clinic, I hate seeing articles describing tragedies that mirror my cases, tragedies would have been avoided if we simply had better laws or law enforcement. Like the article in today's Inquirer: A truck driver who plowed his 77,000-pound rig into an Infiniti on the Schuylkill Expressway in 2009, killing a Fort Washington man, was charged by federal prosecutors yesterday with lying about breaks he was supposed to take on the road. Authorities said that Valerijs Nikolaevich Belovs, 57, of Northeast Philadelphia, falsified his driver daily logbooks between Dec. 20, 2008, and Jan. ... Continue Reading
AAA’s Car Insurance Business Has Gone To Its Head
I am a member of AAA, a member disappointed to see this recent e-mail in my inbox: To: AAA PENNSYLVANIA MEMBERS Re: Stop Increased Insurance Rates! Tell senate to VOTE NO! The Pennsylvania Senate is considering legislation (HB 2246) to allow trial lawyers in court cases involving auto accidents to suggest to juries arbitrary dollar amounts for “non-economic” damages. If passed, this bill will increase the cost of auto insurance for all Pennsylvanians because it will result in higher jury awards in auto cases. AAA Mid-Atlantic works hard to advocate for the best interests of the driving public. While we ... Continue Reading
What’s It Take To Be Lead Counsel On Multidistrict Class Action Litigation?
The Wall Street Journal (and their Law Blog) had an amusing piece recently about the jockeying underway for the position of lead counsel in the Toyota Motor Corporation Unintended Acceleration Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Multidistrict Litigation, which has been consolidated in the Central District of California: Lawyer Daniel Becnel Jr. of Reserve, La., donated a kidney to his sick brother. Alexandria, La., attorney Richard Arsenault organized a symposium featuring a lawyer played by John Travolta in the movie "A Civil Action." New York lawyer Anita Jaskot's father is a doctor. She is also single and speaks Polish. These are ... Continue Reading
Can I Set Up An LLC To Avoid Personal Liability In A Lawsuit?
Among the many creative “legal” ideas floating around on the internet is: If you set up an LLC for yourself and conduct all your business through it, the LLC will be liable in a lawsuit but you won't. Last week, I was asked if this "asset protection strategy" worked. No, it doesn't. Conducting your personal business through an LLC provides no protection against a tort verdict, the type of liability that most people are worried about. The use of corporate forms -- like LLCs, S-Corporations, or Incorporation -- has many important purposes, but avoiding personal tort liability for your own conduct ... Continue Reading
“Life Without Lawyers” — i.e. Dangerous Without Warning or Responsibility
Via Overlawyered, George Will at the Washington Post favorably reviews Philip K. Howard's "Life Without Lawyers:" Long Beach, N.J., removed signs warning swimmers about riptides, although the oblivious tides continued. The warning label on a five-inch fishing lure with a three-pronged hook says "Harmful if swallowed"; the label on a letter opener says "Safety goggle recommended." ... Defensive, and ludicrous, warning labels multiply because aggressiveness proliferates. Lawsuits express the theory that anyone should be able to sue to assert that someone is culpable for even an idiotic action by the plaintiff, such as swallowing a fishing lure. Oh no! Not warning ... Continue Reading
“Spurious” Spoliation Allegations: A Necessary Evil
EDD Update points us to this article from Wes Billingsley in the Texas Lawyer: ... all too often, lawyers raise spoliation claims not for legitimate reasons but instead to turn cases lacking substantive merit into opportunities to procure a quick settlement. ... Openly challenge spoliation allegations through candid discussions with opposing counsel. Often these discussions may become technical in nature and require greater client involvement, but they should reveal quickly whether there is merit to the other side's claims, sometimes even before an opponent files a sanctions motion. When legitimate concerns about a client's ESI [electronically stored information] do exist, explore other sources ... Continue Reading
Four Proposals That Won’t “Shyster-Proof The Courts”
Over at PhilaLawyer, an anonymous (and largely humor-focused) part of the Rudius blog network, there are four ideas for "Shyster-Proofing the Courts:" 1. Immediate Mandatory Mediation 2. Allow Expert Witnesses to be Deposed 3. Give Frivolous Litigation Claims Teeth and Allow Expert Witnesses to Be Sued in Such Claims 4. Eliminate Referral Fees First, let's keep something important in mind: the bulk of civil cases involve automobile accidents. So in some sense we're really missing the boat unless we're talking about that specifically. That said, I doubt any of these would make a difference. 1. Immediate Mandatory Mediation Because I ... Continue Reading
“Trucking Insurance Premiums Fall Dramatically – Time to Raise the Minimum Limits?”
The "Truck Injury Lawyer Blog" points us to a new development in the world of trucking accidents: In his recent article, Premiums Fall 10% to 50% As New Firms Enter Market, Frederick Kiel describes the effect that the drop in premiums has on the trucking companies, as these new insurance companies are offering across the board rates to trucking companies in an effort to compete for their business. ... These new insurance companies are offering low premiums in an effort to gain new business, a trend that has been seen intermittently since the 1980s. Perhaps now is the time to ... Continue Reading
