Posts tagged General Personal Injury

• Caesaren Section Issues

  Ken Margolin | May 21, 2007 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Medical Malpractice
  

  Caesaren sections, commonly termed "C-sections," have been around for centuries. There are reports of C-sections being performed as early as the 13th century. Early C-sections were performed to remove babies from the wombs of mothers who had died during childbirth. Modern Caesaren sections, of course, are a great life-saver for mothers as well as babies. As with all advances in medicine,...

• Expert Testimony in Personal Injury Cases

  Ken Margolin | May 16, 2007 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Most every serious personal injury case, will have at least one expert witness testifying for the plaintiff - if only a physician, explaining the extent of the plaintiff's injuries. Medical malpractice plaintiffs must have an expert to testify to the defendant's deviation from acceptable standards of medical care. Expert testimony gets really interesting, when the cause of an event is in...

• Shame

  Ken Margolin | May 03, 2007 4:30 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Miscellaneous
  

  The much publicized lawsuit by a sitting D.C. administrative judge, seeking $67 million for a lost pair of pants, is a cruel perversion of the justice system. The plaintiff has done immeasurable damage to the hard-working defendants, immigrants from South Korea, to legitimate plaintiffs, the justice system, and, one would think, to his self-respect. The anti-justice forces, aka "tort reformers,"...

• Magnetic Building Set Recall

  Ken Margolin | April 24, 2007 1:25 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Defective & Dangerous Products
  

  Toys with small, removable parts, continue to pose hazards to children. Last month, Mega Brands, Inc., the maker of "Magnetix" building sets, recalled nearly 4 million of the toys. The recall was an expansion of an original recall of some of the sets, in March 2006. The building sets include magnets that are easily removed, and easily swallowed. To date, at least one death and more than 25...

• Important Massachusetts Slip and Fall Decision

  Ken Margolin | April 23, 2007 3:45 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Miscellaneous
  

  As I wrote in a recent blog, lawsuits arising from slipping on a foreign substance in a Massachusetts premises were made difficult by the rule that the plaintiff had to show the substance was on the ground long enough for the proprietor to become aware of, and remove it. Many a significant slip and fall case never made it past summary judgment, because of the rule, which the courts considered a...

• Slip, Trip, and Fall Traps

  Ken Margolin | April 19, 2007 1:15 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Head & Brain Injuries
  

  Very serious injuries can result from incidents of slipping, tripping, or falling down. A fall can end careers, from such injuries as broken bones, traumatic brain injury, spine injuries, and others. But winning a fall down case in Massachusetts, is quite difficult. A number of legal theories stand in the way of success for even a severely injured plaintiff. If the incident occurred on a...

• Staff Abuse of Clients with Developmental Disabilities

  Ken Margolin | April 06, 2007 10:55 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Nursing Home & Elder Abuse
  

  It's not often discussed outside of professional settings, but the issue of sexuality and developmental disability, poses ethical dilemmas. In fact, a book on the subject, bears that exact title: Ethical Dilemmas: Sexuality and Developmental Disability, Dorothy M. Griffiths, Ph.D., et al., ed., NAAD Press, Kingston, NY 2002. Professionals who work with individuals with developmental...

• Massachusetts Personal Injury Update

  Ken Margolin | April 04, 2007 7:00 AM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Medical Malpractice
  

  Verdicts and settlements reported in this week's Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly newspaper, show the continued appreciation by jurors, of the terrible impact that severe injuries can have on the victim's enjoyment of life. Obstetrical negligence resulted in permanent neurological injuries to an infant, when the obstetrician failed to go to the hospital in a timely manner to deliver his patient's...

• The Power of Demonstrations

  Ken Margolin | April 03, 2007 1:45 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Trials are interesting events. Plaintiffs' lawyers must recreate events that took place a few years ago. The key to engaging a jury is to make them forget that the events were in the past, and make them come alive for the jury. If the jury experiences the events that injured the plaintiff as if it were happening in the present, the likelihood of a successful result is greatly improved. In a...

• Dangerous Toys Update

  Ken Margolin | April 02, 2007 1:45 PM | 0 CommentsBoston, MA Category: Miscellaneous
  

  Reports on dangerous toys will be a recurring topic on this blog. Intended for harmless fun, recklessly manufactured toys continue to maim and kill children. U.S. PIRG reports that 292 children have died in the US between 1990 and 2005: a rate of between 11 and 25 per year. The majority of these deaths (57%) are due to choking or asphyxia. In late 2006 the CPSC ordered a recall of a Mattel...