Archive for the ‘Personal Injury’ Category

« Older Entries

Department of Agriculture to Investigate Tainted Egg Feed Mill

August 27th, 2010 | Posted in Legislation, National Issues, Personal Injury by bloom | No Comments »

An Iowa State Department of Agriculture inspector is scheduled to visit the Wright County feed mill which has been linked to the outbreak of salmonella in shell eggs prompting a massive recall in many states.

The feed mill had previously been unregulated by state agencies due to an exemption that exists for farmers who make their own feed for their livestock. It is reported, however, that feed mixed at the Wright County mill was fed to chickens at a New Hampshire farm; an allegation that, if substantiated, would disqualify Wright County from the exemption.

This news surfaces amid widespread discontent over federal and state regulation of food safety. Many Americans were previously unaware that the FDA does not even have the authority to issue mandatory recalls for food products and that many state agencies are comparably hindered in their enforcement abilities. It is for this reason that much attention has recently been brought to the Food Safety Legislation currently trying to make it through the Senate.

If you or a loved one have had experience with defective or recalled food or any other products, contact Bloom Legal today at 504-599-9997 to discuss how we can help build a case for you.

2-Day Free Health Clinic in New Orleans Next Week

August 25th, 2010 | Posted in Local Issues, Personal Injury by bloom | No Comments »

The National Association of Free Clinics will be hosting its second free clinic for New Orleans residents at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center next week.

Dates and hours of operation will be:

11am to 7pm – Tuesday Aug 31
2pm to 7pm – Wednesday Sep 1


View Larger Map

Medical care offered free of charge will include: general medical exams and basic lab tests (including HIV tests). The staff will also be providing information about where patients can receive follow-up care.

In order to receive care, it is important for residents to call 877-236-7617 to avoid waits and guarantee access. (Although walk-ups will be accepted)

Clinic organizers are still looking for volunteers from physicians, nurses, and medical technicians to non-medically trained individuals to help with set up.

For more information and volunteer registration forms visit: http://www.freeclinics.us/

If you or a loved one have been injured at the fault of another or have not been provided with access to medical treatment which you believe you are entitled to, contact Bloom Legal at 504-599-9997 to schedule a free consultation to discuss how we can help your case.

Implications of Social Media on Court Cases and Trials

August 6th, 2010 | Posted in Internet/Technology, Personal Injury by bloom | No Comments »

A recent article about a talk given by Virginia lawyer, Courtney Van Winkle, raised some interesting issues about how social media have come and will continue to influence matters in court and during trials.

Photo Courtesy of kozinets.net

In the realm of personal injury cases in particular, information relating to the event in question can often be traced through a defendant’s Facebook profile. In some instances, references to drinking or attending a party on the date of a traffic accident have been used as evidence to suggest that a party was negligent.

This poses an interesting question into how lawyers will come to advise their clients in the future when accepting cases. It may eventually become standard practice for attorneys to require their clients to delete their social media profiles before accepting their cases or at the very least to enable strict privacy settings.

As a general rule, individuals involved in pending trials and court cases should never disclose information that pertains to those trials and the events in question in any sort of public forum. The personal tone and apparent privacy of social media platforms like Facebook can make it easy to forget just how publicly accessible the content within can be.

For the full article on Courtney Van Winkle’s talk please visit this site.

If you are involved in a matter that could justify a personal injury case, contact Bloom Legal at 504-599-9997 to discuss your options and learn how we can help you today.

Supreme Court Rules that Life Imprisonment Without Parole for Minors is Unconstitutional

May 23rd, 2010 | Posted in Courts, National Issues, Personal Injury by bloom | 1 Comment »

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that it is unconstitutional for a court to sentence a minor to life imprisonment without parole unless he or she commits murder. The Supreme Court ruled that such sentences are disproportionately harsh and can, therefore, be classified as cruel and unusual punishment. This decision builds upon the 2005 Supreme Court ruling that renders the death penalty unconstitutional for minors. The Supreme Court supports its decision by arguing that minors are less culpable than adults because they are still developing. Consequently, it is impossible to determine whether or not a minor has the potential to successfully function in society later in life. By sentencing a minor to life imprisonment, the court would be denying the young person the right to prove his ability to contribute to society once he has “demonstrate[ed] that he is fit to rejoin society.” This decision, however, does not require states to release juveniles who have previously been sentenced to life imprisonment, but rather, mandates that states must allow these individuals the opportunity to obtain release based on maturity, growth, and good behavior.

Zoë Clements is a student at Tulane University. She can be reached by email at zclement@tulane.edu.

Mardi Gras today: Celebrate Fat Tuesday in and around New Orleans

February 16th, 2010 | Posted in Local Issues, Personal Injury by bloom | No Comments »

By Times-Picayune Staff
February 16, 2010, 1:00AM

Uptown Mardi Gras parades:

Zulu, 8:15 a.m., Central City to Downtown

* mardi_gras_zulu.JPGELLIS LUCIA / THE TIMES-PICAYUNEA Zulu float rider prepares to launch a plush toy on St. Charles Av. Mardi Gras Day, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009. The hand-decorated Zulu coconut or “Golden Nugget” is considered one of the most sought after of all Carnival throws. Continue Reading »

Man Opts for Jail Over Holiday with Relatives

February 8th, 2010 | Posted in Personal Injury by bloom | No Comments »

According to a Reuters report by Deepa Babington, a Sicilian man stole sweets and a packet of chewing gum so he could get arrested and spend New Year’s Eve in a jail cell rather than be with his wife and relatives.

The 35-year old Sicilian first showed up at a police station asking to be arrested because he preferred spending the night in prison rather than with his family, but was rebuffed because he had not committed a crime, the Agi news agency said.

The man immediately went to a tobacco shop next door, where he threatened the owner with a boxcutter as he grabbed a few sweets and a packet of gum. He then waited until police arrived to arrest him for robbery, the news agency said.

If you’re in the market for a vacation from the family, jail might not be the best option. Bloom Legal can help you cut this sort of unwanted holiday short – call for assistance with any criminal matter!

“Home Improvement’s” “Brad”…”Don’t Tase me Bro!”

July 9th, 2008 | Posted in Celebrity Justice, National Issues, Personal Injury by bloom | No Comments »

TMZ reports that former child star Zachary Ty Bryan, who played Brad Taylor on “Home Improvement” is filing suit against Choice Hotels over an incident where Bryan was tased by hotel security in April. Zachary claims he was staying at a hotel in San Diego when he and a few friends went across the street to grab a Gatorade. When he came back just after midnight, Bryan’s attorney claims “the hotel wouldn’t let him upstairs, since the room wasn’t in his name.” 

Bryan’s attorney claims Zachary tried explaining his wife was in the room, but the hotel refused to call her. He claims an off-duty manager, who was not involved in the initial argument, came out of nowhere and tasered Zachary in the neck. Police would later arrive, however, no charges were filed. 

A hotel employee tells TMZ that “Zachary went nuts on the staff, a lot of alcohol was involved, and tasering the dude was the only safe bet”, Zachary is suing for damages in excess of $25,000.

What if you’ve been injured in a similar incident? Battery is a general intent offense. This means that the actor need not intend the specific harm that will result from the unwanted contact, but only to commit an act of unwanted contact. This also means that gross negligence or even recklessness may provide the required intent or (in criminal matters) “mens rea” to find a battery. A plaintiff or complainant in a case for battery does not have to prove an actual physical injury. Rather, the plaintiff must prove an unlawful and unpermitted contact with his or her person or property in a harmful or offensive manner. This, in and of itself, is deemed injurious. Conversely, the victim of a battery may file a civil lawsuit stemming from the same incident, in which the defendant is charged with the tort of battery. In such a case, damages are typically compensatory (a monetary award), along with special relief such as injunctive or punitive. Substantial harm is not required, but nonetheless, there must be palpable harm. Compensatory damages may be for either/both economic and non-economic (emotional) harm.

Cruise Line Death – Mindy Jordan Is Another Cruise Mystery

May 14th, 2008 | Posted in National Issues, Personal Injury by bloom | No Comments »

The news stories are filled with the mystery surrounding nurse Mindy Jordan’s cruise vacation over Mother’s Day weekend:  she’s missing, and it’s being reported that she fell into the ocean while trying to climb from one balcony to another (her cabin was on the 9th deck of a Norwegian Cruise Line ship, sailing to Bermuda).  Jordan’s mother has told reporters that she is certain that foul play was involved — her boyfriend says they were just “clowning around” when she fell over the railing.  Mind you, she was under 5 feet tall, weighed less than 100 lbs. and it was storming at the time this happened. 

 BloomLegal once again warns cruise line vacationers about the risks that this case exposes once again:  there are no policing authorities aboard ship, making evidence collection – and preservation – very difficult, and the laws that apply to cruise vacations are not always going to be American.  Missing passengers on cruise vacations are far from uncommon, just check the stories at HelpFindTheMissing.Org – where lots of passengers leave eyewitness accounts on what they saw, and when.

CruiseNews reports that Bermuda’s police as well as the FBI are waiting in Bermuda to become involved in Mindy Jordan’s case — NO official investigation has started yet.  That’s right:  nothing will be done from around 8 o’clock on Sunday night until the ship docks in Bermuda – it’s Wednesday afternoon, and they’re not there yet (the Coast Guard held the ship while a search and rescue effort was begun for Mindy). 

CruiseBruise keeps an online list of those individuals who have mysteriously died while on a cruise.  Their list is kept by cruise line, and Norwegian shows Mindy Jordan as as “missing passenger” and reports an overboard passenger in 2006, Belinda Clarke. The link also provides the stories behind these reports:  in Clarke’s case, fellow passengers report that there were rumors that she had intentionally jumped; her cabin was sealed off and the FBI searched it after the ship returned to US waters. 

CruiseBruise is reporting that in Mindy Jordan’s case, the Coast Guard is still searching the waters for her, and the FBI is waiting to board the ship in Bermuda.  Her boyfriend, who shared the cabin with her, has reportedly told Jordan’s family and the authorities that Jordan was trying to climb from one balcony to another when she slipped and fell into the water.  CruiseBruise points out that she would have been doing this while the ship was pounded with heavy rains and winds – weather conditions that continue today, making the search efforts difficult.   

For more information:

Bloom Legal on the Dangers of Cruise Lines 

Bloom Legal on 5 Things to Know Before Taking a Cruise Vacation

Bloom Legal on Cruise Vacation Risks that Are Not Being Reported

Covington Tragedy – Victim Not Wearing SeatBelt

April 30th, 2008 | Posted in Personal Injury, Traffic by bloom | No Comments »

Janice Gould died on the scene of a car crash yesterday, after her husband had some kind of medical event that precipitated his driving their SUV into an oncoming lane of IH12 where Janice’s side was hit by an oncoming Ford F-150.  The other two crash victims sustained only minor injuries.   

Janice wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.   

It’s true that the section of IH12 where this tragedy occurred is notorious for crossover crashes, and something needs to be done about this.

It’s also true that everyone traveling in a motor vehicle in the state of Louisiana is legally required to wear a seat belt.  

We’ll never know how Janice would be today if she’d been wearing her seatbelt — but from a legal standpoint, by not wearing one she was technically in violation of the law (even if she had just taken it off to help her husband, which we can guess but don’t know) and this single fact could be used in any resulting insurance claims or wrongful death lawsuits to suggest that she was the cause, in all or in part, of her own injuries.   Sad but true. 

And, as cold and callous as it may sound, insurance companies assert defenses like failure to wear a seatbelt all the time to limit or nullify the payment of claims out of insurance policy coverage. 

 �

FDA Approval Doesn’t Mean You’re Safe

April 9th, 2008 | Posted in National Issues, Personal Injury by bloom | No Comments »

The Food & Drug Administration is supposed to approve drugs as being safe for human consumption before they can be sold in the U.S. Marketplace.  This isn’t an ironclad guarantee these days — as demonstrated by the following products — and if you or a loved one have any concerns about a drug, trust that “gut instinct” and get help immediately.

1.  Heparin, a blood-thinner, can result in severe allergic reactions, impact blood pressure, and cause death – the FDA issued a new warning about the drug today.

2.  Exurbra, an insulin inhaler, can cause lung cancer and Pfizer issued its own product warning today on the drug, approved by the FDA in 2006.

3.  Johnson & Johnson is currently asking for a legal bar to any lawsuits asking damages from the company’s Ortho Evra birth control patch, because the FDA approved the patch in 2002 (and started issuing warnings in 2006). 

4.  GlaxoSmithKline has been accused of failing to give the FDA all pertinent studies regarding FDA-approved Avandia, a diabetes pill that can cause fatal heart attacks, in a letter the FDA posted online yesterday and which GlaxoSmithKline has already denied.

And, these are just four examples taken from today’s news.  Remember, your first step in protecting yourself and your loved ones is to get the necessary medical attention.  Your second step should be to learn your legal rights to such things as reimbursement for medical expenses, time off from work, pain and suffering, and other legally recognized damages — and what your deadline is to file these claims.  You do not have much time before your claim is barred by law.�

« Older Entries

Available 24/7. Call 1-877-NOLATIX for immediate help.