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The San Francisco Chronicle reported on an incident at the Occupy Oakland protests that occurred Wednesday evening. The protests present a unique traffic hazard, but even in normal conditions car crashes involving pedestrians are not nearly as rare as one would hope. The incident serves as a reminder that anyone involved in an automobile-related injury in our area should always seek out a Northern California automobile accident attorney for advice.

According to news reports, a silver Mercedes-Benz struck two individuals involved in a march near the intersection of 11th and Broadway. The pedestrian protesters suffered non-life-threatening leg and ankle injuries and were taken to Highland Hospital. Police did question the driver, who does not appear to have been injured, and he was allowed to leave the scene. Witness accounts make it unclear whether the crash was an accident or a result of “road rage” with the driver acting on frustration and being provoked by other protesters. Early reports suggest that the driver did have a green light but that his car was blocked by the crowds.

Regardless of political positions, this incident can serve as a reminder of the importance of involving a skilled Oakland personal injury attorney when a car accident occurs. As the Chronicle noted, there were conflicting reports from the many witnesses at the scene. This incident had a particularly volatile context, but emotions will always run high where cars and injured pedestrians are involved. Differing reports from eye-witnesses are common. It is important that anyone involved in an Oakland car accident seek the assistance of a lawyer as soon as possible. An attorney can help gather information while it is fresh and make sure that a complete investigation is undertaken. Early involvement is ideal since time can fade memories and make it more difficult to locate all relevant witnesses. While the police are often involved, they have limited time and resources. It is vital that an attorney be engaged who is dedicated to helping uncover the truth and advocate on behalf of those involved.

One of the biggest decisions faced by relatives of an aging individual is nursing home placement. Recent reports by the Sacramento Bee of legal record-keeping and other violations are a harsh reminder of the importance of active involvement in care and, when necessary, consultation with a skilled Sacramento nursing home abuse attorney.

When a vulnerable patient is unable to fully defend his or her own rights, the responsibility to act as an informed advocate often falls upon the shoulders of a child or other relative. California law appreciates this and provides that relatives or legal representatives can assert the rights of nursing home residents who are unable to do so for themselves. Ailing individuals who anticipate needing help in advocacy have the legal right to appoint a specific power of attorney for healthcare. This includes the right to participate in treatment planning and the right to refuse a plan of treatment offered by the medical providers.

On the most basic level, nursing homes are required to treat patients with respect and dignity and to provide quality treatment and care without discrimination. Abuse, corporal punishment, and neglect are illegal. Advocates should also be aware that facilities may only use medical or physical restraints when needed for patient safety and that using restraints for the convenience of the facility is a form of Sacramento nursing home abuse. In order to monitor care and be an active part of the care process, patients or their representatives have the right to review health records within 24 hours of a request. Although you may be charged for copies of these records, the charge must be only a reasonable copying fee and there may not be a charge for merely reviewing patient records.

California law also protects the financial rights of nursing home residents, a key concern for anyone involved in the caregiving decision process. It is illegal to require a cosigner for payment but facilities may require a relative or other individual to ensure payment from the patient’s own resources. Nursing homes must provide detailed information on the cost of services and the facility’s participation in Medicare and Medi-Cal programs. Involved advocates for nursing center residents should know that patients have a right to apply for and receive information on Medi-Cal or Medicare rights. A facility may not ask a patient or involved representative to delay or abandon these rights. Those who are entitled to Medi-Cal or Medicare cannot, under California law, be required to provide a security deposit for care.
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As we reported earlier today, a parolee fled in a pickup truck yesterday after Concord police tried to stop him for talking on a cell phone crashed into a car and killed the driver. More information has just been released on the accident. At around 6 p.m. yesterday an officer saw a man in a white pickup truck talking on his cell phone without the required hands-free device and tried to pull him over, according to reports.

The man, who has been identified as Mauro Gutierrez, age 25, of Concord refused to stop, which caused the officer to pursue him by chasing him. Tragically, the pursuit ended when Gutierrez crashed into a 1985 BMW on Solano Way near Highway 242. The man driving the BMW died as a result of the crash. Gutierrez then exited his car and fled on foot and was apprehended and arrested a short time later. He was booked at Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez on suspicion of manslaughter, being a felon in possession of a firearm (as a gun was found in his truck), evading arrest, causing great bodily injury or death, vehicle theft and obstructing police.A gun was found in the truck, authorities said. The case is under investigation by police and the Contra Costa County district attorney’s office and the driver’s death will also be the subject of a coroner’s inquest.

It turns out the news of innocent motorists being killed in accidents caused by suspects being chased by the police is nothing out of the ordinary. Recently, throughout the Bay Area, places like Berkeley, El Sobrante, Hayward and San Francisco have become familiar with this kind of tragedy. Most law-enforcement agencies allow officers to chase suspects in stolen cars or those wanted for serious crimes. According to Concord police, it was unclear why Gutierrez allegedly fled when they tried to stop him. They investigated details of the chase, including how long it lasted and how fast the suspect was going, and it appears the officer acted within policy. Lt. Darrell Graham stated to the media, “When people choose to flee from the police, it sets into motion a very unpredictable and potentially set of circumstances. Our sympathies go out to the victim and his family.”

This would be a good time to point out the public safety issue of police pursuits, as they are a major threat to anyone on the road-including pedestrians and bicyclists. According to statistics nearly one in four chases statewide ends in a crash-something to be hyper aware of because they occur hourly. So a crash as result of a police chase could happen potentially every day. After an unrelated incident earlier this month, Police Chief Al Franz of the San Diego Police Department told the media that police chases are the most dangerous things they do. Remember that next time you head out the door to you next destination, especially if you hear a police siren.
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If you have been the victim of a personal injury, you have the right to receive compensation for your damages. But if you go after compensation, you must be careful to avoid the pitfalls of the process. When you know your rights and understand how the system works, you will have much better chance of getting adequate compensation for your injuries. Unless your injuries were minor, you should consult with an attorney after your accident. A good personal injury attorney can help you sort through and gather important evidence, and provide valuable advice on how to document your injuries and damages. An important point to take note of is you should never talk to an attorney representing the other person in the accident or the other person’s insurance company representative, or sign any documents, before consulting with your own attorney first. After you hire an attorney, your attorney will send a demand letter, either to the other person or to their attorney or to the other person’s insurance company. The letter will provide the relevant facts about the accident, such as time, place and cause of the injury, a description of the injury and ask for a specified amount in settlement of the case. A demand letter usually gives the other parties a specific time to respond.

If your case does not settle pre-trial, then the next step is for the person who has been injured,referred to as the plaintiff, with the help of their attorney, to file a lawsuit, what is referred to as a complaint. The party being sued is called the defendant and has a specific time to reply, such as 20 or 30 days. The reply is referred to as an answer. Both the complaint and the answer, are filed with the local court, usually in the jurisdiction where the plaintiff lives or where the accident occurred, yet in some circumstances the defendant may seek to have the lawsuit moved to a different court. After the lawsuit is filed, the parties have an opportunity to get information from each other about the case, also known as the discovery phase of a case. This can be in the form of written questions, sworn testimony in front of a court reporter, and requests for documents. Before the case goes to trial, the attorneys may make various legal arguments about the case in the form of motions to the court, which usually concern the relevancy of the complaint or answer, and disputes about discovery. Sometimes the arguments of one the party are so strong that they lead to a judgment in their favor without the need for to go to trial.

If all efforts at settlement fail, the case will be set for trial or arbitration. Arbitration is an alternative to the trial process. It is similar to a trial, but is conducted before an arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators. In binding arbitration the decision of the arbitrator or panel is as final as the trial court’s verdict. The trial process is different. At trial, the parties present witnesses, cross-examine the other parties’ witnesses, present evidence, and make arguments. At the end, the jury will enter a verdict for the plaintiff or defendant.

Stacking is a term that means treating multiple policies that apply to a single loss as cumulative—as a “stack” of coverage—rather than each as mutually exclusive. Therefore, stacking issues can arise almost any time multiple policies cover a single loss. Stacking refers, literally, to the stacking of policy limits. In other words, stacking is the ability of the insured, when covered by more than one insurance policy, to obtain benefits from a second policy on the same claim when recovery from the first policy would alone be inadequate to compensated for the actual damages suffered. Also, stacking refers to the stacking of policy limits across different policy periods. For example, a continuous loss can occur across multiple policy periods and may be covered under every policy applicable to every such period, and each such policy may provide coverage up to the entire amount of the loss. In fact, in January 2009, the California Court of Appeal, 4th district, made a landmark decision when it ruled that a policyholder facing long term property damage or personal injury claims may stack liability policy limits across policy periods to maximize recovery. The decision was especially important for policyholders in manufacturing, pharmaceutical, construction, and chemical industries that face claims for continuous injury which occured in past years.

If you have questions about how to recover damages for long-term property damage or personal injury claims under your insurance policies, please contact our firm for a free consultation. Our expert insurance attorney will be able to explain the complex, complicated world of insurance policies in an uncomplicated, easy to understand language. We have over 10 years of substanstial experience helpingpersonal injury clients navigate complex insurance matters and manage negotiations with insurance companies, ensuring that they receive the compensation they deserve. For more information on how we may possibly help you, call our firm today.

This morning a man had stopped his pickup on the shoulder of Highway 101 in Brisbane because he was having mechanical trouble and was struck and killed by another vehicle, according sfexaminer.com. As he was standing in front of the pickup, a man driving a Camry veered onto the shoulder and slammed in to the back of the pickup. The pickup pushed forward into the man, throwing him about 75 feet, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. It is not known if the driver veered off the road intentionally or accidentally.

Such a story is a good example of how accidents can happen even when you think you have followed every safety precaution. Perhaps now would be a good time to discuss a safety issue that could save your life the next time you get on the freeway: knowing how to react when your car has mechanical trouble on the highway, or any other type of emergency, and what to do to get help safely. First, it is vitally important that you get out the traffic lanes onto a shoulder or breakdown lane. Here are some other safety tips:

• Stop your car as far away from traffic as you can.

A man from Virginia was awarded $212 million this week in a case against Botox maker Allergan Inc, according to newsinferno.com. The man, Douglas Ray, age 67, claimed that the drug left him brain damaged and disabled, and that Allergan neglected to warn his physician about Botox’s Risks. Botox is used to treat different issues, such as wrinkles; severe neck muscle and limb spasms, called dystonia; and severe primary axillary hyperhydrosis, also known as excess sweating. In April of 2009, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration mandated a black box label for Botox, and similar products, that warns of the risk of adverse events when the effects of a botulinum toxin injection spreads beyond the injection area.

Lawsuits involving Botox are nothing new. In a separate case, in 2007, a man received a Botox injection for a hand tremor and writer’s cramp, and then developed severe medical complications. He is asking for $683,800 in medical expenses. In a different case, Allegran settled a case involving the family of a Botox recipient who died. And in another case, Allegran settled a Botox case with the Justice Department for $600 million. The case alleged, backed by the claims made by two whistle blowers, that Allergan illegally marketed the drug for off-label uses. The case accused Allegran of paying doctors to attend meetings promoting unlawful marketing and to lobby healthcare payers to cover off-label use of the drug. Also, the Justice Department claims that Allegran spent $8 million on an independent, online neurotoxin education organization to stimulate increased use of Botox. And as a final example, last year Allegran reached an out of court settlement with the family of a woman who died after receiving Botox for shoulder pain. Her family claimed that she was never informed of the risks involved with using Botox.

If you or a loved one suffered an injury due to the use of an unsafe drug, please contact our firm for a free consultation. We have the expertise to settle any type of personal injury claim, and will fight on the behalf of our clients in court, when we are not able to settle, and win.

Earlier this month, a Muni passenger on the 24-Divisadero line videotaped the driver texting while driving. When the passenger confronted the driver, the driver threw the passenger off the bus. After the incident, the Muni driver was suspended, but last Thursday, the same passenger saw the same driver behind the wheel of the same bus. The spokesman for the Municipal Transportation Agency, the agency that operates Muni, said they are conducting an investigation to find out how the operator ended up behind the wheel last Thursday, and also said that, as of Friday, the driver is no longer employed by SFMTA. What happened to this particular Muni driver should be a stark reminder for anyone who has forgotten the California law banning the use of a handheld device while driving, especially for those who drive commercial vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported in 2008 that driver distraction was the cause of 16 percent of all total fatal crashes, in which 5,800 people were killed, and 21 percent of crashes resulting in injuries, in which 515,000 were wounded.

By now it should not be a surprise to anyone that texting while driving can lead to disastrous results. Specifically speaking, texting while driving forces drivers to take a hand off the wheel and their eyes off the road in order to type messages and occasionally glance at incoming messages. Statics show that you are 8 times more likely to get into an accident if you are texting. One way for you to stay safe while driving is to put you phone on silent, especially if you are not someone who is expected by their employers or family members to be on call. And if you are expected to be available every second of the day, you should pull over to answer incoming calls-and don’t forget to make sure that your car is in a safe place, not obstructing traffic–or have a blue tooth device so that you don’t have to take your hands off the wheel to answer. However, having a conversation, even if it is on a hands free device, can be just distracting because it can take away your focus from the road in front of you. Other driver distractions to be aware of are listening to loud music, as loud music can drown out important sounds from the outside, such as ambulances, horns or aggressive drivers. Reading maps is another task that takes a drivers attention away from the road and cause an accident. If you or a loved one suffered an injury due an accident involving a distracted driver, please contact our firm. We have successfully helped victims of car accidents and can help you get the compensation you deserve.

According the sfexaminer.com, a homeless man, Michael Stafford, allegedly shot by a store employee in the Haight, following a dispute that began over a Chihuahua, is suing the owners of the property where the shooting occurred, claiming the incident left him permanently disabled. The news report stated that he frequented Fred’s New Lite Market before he was shot on February 9th. Fred Kazzouh, Sam’s older brother, said that Sam had been taking medication for schizophrenia and that Stafford himself has an emotional condition. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and alleges that Sam Kazzouh, the store owner’s younger brother, shot Stafford in the head and back, leaving him paraplegic. It also claims that Kazzouh’s family, which runs the store, knew Sam suffered from mental illness that made him prone to violence, but, nevertheless, allowed him access to a gun.

These types of civil suits fall under the category of Premise Liability, a term used to describe the legal responsibility that a landowner and occupier of a property has for injuries and accidents that occur on their property. Premises liability claims can be filed for a variety of reasons. For example, slip and fall injuries are common types of premise liability claims. In addition, claims may be filed for injuries that are the result of equipment that is used on the property. Also, injuries that may be a result of another person’s actions on the property may be the responsibility of a property owner, especially if the owner fails to provide adequate security on the property.

Anyone who has been injured due to the negligence of others and considering filing a premises liability claim, should contact an attorney in a timely manner. This is important because injured parties will want to protect and preserve vital evidence. Also, potential claimants will need to find out if there is a statute of limitations, the time in which a person has to file a claim from the moment the injury occurred, bearing down on the matter. If you or someone you love has suffered an injury due to negligence on the part of a property owner, please contact our firm. We have over 10 years experience helping injured parties receive the compensation they deserve.

According to the American Bar, employers must comply with federal and state wage and hour law, period. What is more, they should know that they will not be able to avoid being held liable by pretending not to know-and they could incur more liability for “willful” violations if they do. So, if an employer violates wage and hour law through its work place rules, it can generally be proven by facts, regardless of any change to company policy. Employees and former employees may seek wage and hour relief through various vehicles which provide group relief. The most common is through a class action relief or equivalent class relief under local jurisdiction laws and rules.

Another type of relief, collective action relief, may be sought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Generally speaking, the courts follow two phases when they consider collective actions under the FLSA. In the first phase they examine the pleadings and submission of the proposed collective action and decide whether the proposed class members are similarly situated. If that is the case, then they may conditionally certify the class. Then, putative class member are given notice and the opportunity to “opt in.” Through the discovery process the action proceeds as a representative action. The second phase of an FLSA collective action inquiry takes place after discovery is mostly complete, and this next phase is usually based on a motion for “decertification” by the defendant. At that time an extensive analysis is conducted to determine whether the employees are sufficiently similarly situated to continue to proceed as a class. If the claimants are not similarly situated, then the class is decertified. Then the opt-in plaintiffs are dismissed without prejudice, and the class representatives proceed to trial on their individual claims.

Lastly, governmental agencies, such as The Department of Labor (DOL) or similar state agencies, have statutory authority to pursue damages and/or injunctive relief directly against an employer. The DOL can also pursue group remedies. For more information about class action law, or if you would like a free consultation regarding a potential class action case, please contact our firm. We have over 10 years experience fighting for injured parties in personal injury cases, and we can help you evaluate whether you have a claim as individual or as part of a class. Contact us for a free consultation today.