San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog

California Case Defines the Limits on Recovering Damages for Injury to Pets

October 9, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

vet%20dog.jpg Many Americans will not hesitate to say their pets are part of their family, even comparing them to children. They might be offended to learn that under California law pets are considered personal property, akin to a family heirloom or an author’s manuscript. California Penal Code Section 491 states, “Dogs are personal property, and their value is to be ascertained in the same manner as the value of other property.” Personal property may have peculiar value, which makes it more difficult or more expensive to replace. In the case of dogs, examples include characteristics such as desirable breed or wins as a show dog. However, owners may not recover for the sentimental attachment to the “property”.

The Fourth District California Appellate Court held in McMahon v. Craig, (2009) that the veterinarian whose negligence caused the death of McMahon’s beloved dog, Tootsie, was not liable for emotional distress, in spite of the fact that the veterinarian lied to cover up her mistakes. According to the court, McMahon failed to show that the veterinarian intentionally inflicted emotional distress on McMahon and that McMahon could not recover for negligently inflicted emotional distress. The court made clear that the emotional distress must be inflicted directly on the plaintiff and that the defendant must have a duty to limit emotional distress. The court held that McMahon was not a direct victim of the veterinarian’s actions nor did the veterinarian’s contract to care for Tootsie impose a duty to limit McMahon’s emotional distress. The Court also reiterated that owners cannot recover for loss of companionship because pets are considered personal property, not companions. The Court disparaged the idea that owners should be able to recover for the loss of companionship when in many circumstances parents cannot recover for the loss of their children’s company, whose death was a result of negligence.

The same Court handed down a decision on August 31, 2012, in the case of Plotnik v. Meihaus (2012). The decision further defined the limits on recovering for emotional distress as a result of injury to a pet. Among other complaints, the Plotniks asked for emotional distress damages after they found their dog, Romeo, seriously injured on their property. Mr. Plotnik then saw their neighbor, Meihaus, wielding a bat and confronted him about it. The trial court jury found that Meihaus inflicted the injury on the dog. While the Court of Appeals reaffirmed its own decision in McMahon v. Craig, it also cited another case, Gonzalez v. Personal Storage, Inc. which states, “…the limits imposed with respect to recovery for emotional distress caused by a defendant’s negligence do not apply when distress is the result of a defendant’s commission of the distinct torts of trespass, nuisance or conversion.”

Because the trial court jury found that Meihaus trespassed onto the Plotniks’ property and injured their dog, the Plotniks were able to recover for mental suffering related to the attack on their pet. In general, California pet owners have little recourse to recover for the suffering they go through after seeing their beloved pets hurt by another dog, a neighbor, or a car. Fortunately, the Plotnik v. Meihaus court has opened up potential recovery in a limited number of cases.
Continue Reading ›

Debate Continues Over Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Fines

October 8, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

Staying informed about national issues helps ensure that The Brod Law Firm team provides top-quality services as your San Francisco law firm. One of our focal areas is protecting Northern Californians harmed by Pacific Coast oil spills or by other oil and gas industry accidents. We represent individuals and also serve as plaintiffs’ class action counsel in a range of industry and toxic tort matters in the Northern California region. As such, we have an interest in the developments of other claims involving other localities.

The RESTORE Act vs. New DOJ Proposals

A recent dispute, highlighted in the Chicago Tribune, has been brewing over the funds intended to provide reparations in the wake of the Gulf Oil Spill. On July 6, 2012, President Obama signed the RESTORE Act into law directing that a minimum of eighty percent of the penalties paid pursuant to BP’s proven violations of the Clean Water Act will be earmarked and used in a trust fund to restore the five coastal states damaged by the Deepwater Horizons . The included states are Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, and Texas. The Clean Water Act funds, as proposed in the initial RESTORE Act, would go to the U.S. Treasury. Per the Act’s provisions, anywhere from $4 billion to $16.8 billion dollars would then pass on to the Gulf Coast States.

Driverless Cars and the Future of Auto insurance

October 5, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

California likes to be at the forefront of things, including those in the technology realm. So it was no surprise last week that California became just the third state in the nation to approve of driverless vehicles, according to news reports. Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 1298 on Tuesday, September 25, at Google headquarters in Mountain View. He said, “Today, we’re looking at science fiction becoming tomorrow’s reality. This self-driving car is another step forward in this long march of California pioneering the future and leading not just the country, but the whole world.” Google has been working on prototypes for this kind of car, but the earliest manufacture date is 2015, if not later. There is still a lot of work to be done before they are commercially viable.

But to a California insurance lawyer this step forward in technology also brings many questions for the future of auto insurance and liability for accidents with these new driverless cars. This will add a layer of complexity to car insurance in the future, if and when these driverless cars become common on our roads. One of the questions that will have to be addressed is if there is a car accident and someone is injured, who will be liable- the owner of the car, who was not driving, or the manufacturer of the car? On the other hand, if these driverless cars prove to be an improvement in safety, as proponents claim, then car insurance premiums could go down for everyone as fewer accidents occur.

Robert Passmore, senior director of personal lines policy Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, went so far as to say that there are those who believe the driverless car could mean the end of auto accidents, translating into the end of auto insurance. It is difficult to imagine that these new cars will have a perfect performance record 100 percent of the time, however. Additionally, there will still be risks with manually driven cars. Legislation in the two other states, Nevada and Florida, where these cars have been approved require the cars to have a licensed operator and the ability to override the computer driving program, as well, meaning that truly driverless cars are even further in the future. Plus these cars are likely to be expensive, especially at first, and owners will still need insurance to protect from theft or property damage. Therefore, it really does not appear as though auto insurance will become obsolete in the near future.

Oakland Injury Lawyer on Dangerous Roads and Hazardous Intersections

October 5, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

After serving as a law firm for Oakland accident victims for many years, The Brod Law Firm understands that car accidents are often far more complicated than people initially assume. While negligent driving is a key factor in many collisions, dangerous intersections and other hazardous roadways can significantly increase the odds of a crash. These risky areas can lead to both single and multiple vehicle accidents and knowing the history of an area is often key to winning an Oakland injury lawsuit.

Neighbors Report Repeated Car Accidents on Grimmer Boulevard

A report in The Oakland Tribune focuses on a stretch of road that has seen more than its share of accidents and has left residents scared and angry. Leon and Marilyn Goheen told reporters that they had high hopes that they’d found a quiet suburban home when they moved to Robin Street almost fifty years ago. However, not long after the family settled in, the city built Grimmer Boulevard. Residents call the busy, curving roadway a “Dead Man’s Curve.”

Two Sacramento Train Accidents, Just a Few Miles and a Few Hours Apart

October 3, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

As your Oakland accident law firm, we know that automobile collisions are not the only form of transportation accidents. While they are less common, train accidents can impact a large number of people at once and can create huge snarls in the transportation system. In an odd coincidence, two train accidents occurred within hours of each other on Monday, with the second accident taking place only a few miles from the first. Adding to the unusual coincidence, both involved a collision with a truck.

Central Valley Train Crash Caused by Tractor-Trailer’s Failure to Yield

Per a report in The Oakland Tribune, the first of the two crashes involved Amtrak Train 712, originating in Oakland and headed to Bakersfield. At 12:25 P.M., a tractor-trailer driver failed to yield to the oncoming train at a gate-controlled crossing in Central Valley, a farming town located just south of Hanford. The train continued to travel approximately 600 feet after the crash before derailing after hitting a switchback. Two of the train’s four passenger cars and the locomotive, the portion of the train that powers the vehicle, veered off the tracks. Witnesses report that pieces of metal from the trunk ended up inside part of the train.

Class Action Settlement Protects Sacramento Tenants

October 1, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

At The Brod Law Firm, our Sacramento tenant’s rights lawyer is committed to ensuring that landlords and rental companies maintain their properties in livable conditions. There is often strength in numbers and sometimes a class action is a useful tool for protecting tenants. While every renter is entitled to a habitable unit, operating as a class can give added force to individual claims and ensure the landlord is forced to make real, effective change.

Settlement for Tenants of Uninhabitable Property in Rancho Cordova

A group of tenants in Rancho Cordova banded together to form a class and the Sacramento Bee recently reported on their success. Residents of Cordova Estates, a forty unit apartment property on Croetta Way, faced unacceptable living conditions. Cockroaches and bedbugs infested the complex, roofs leaked, balcony floor failed, heat was inadequate and mold was a recurrent problem. These and other conditions made life miserable and caused numerous health ailments, even leading to a child developing a staph infection.

Insurance Judgment for California City

September 28, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

The fight against unfair insurance practices saw another success in California recently. Half Moon Bay, California, has found itself in the enviable position of being flush with cash after the city won a $10 million interim award in an ongoing case against the Insurance Company of the West. Retired California Supreme Court Justice Edward Panelli was the arbiter and he ruled that the insurance company was on the hook for part of the expense due to a bungled municipal drainage project. That project resulted in an $18 million settlement over the Beachwood development project.

The original Beachwood saga started when the city was developing a 24-acre property owned by developer Charles “Chop” Keenan, and it allowed water to pool on the site, inadvertently creating wetlands unsuitable for development. In November 2007, a US District Judge issued an inverse-condemnation judgment against Half Moon Bay for $37 million. Then, in April 2008, Half Moon Bay agreed to pay an $18 million legal settlement with Keenan and took over control of the damaged Beachwood property, issuing bonds to pay for it. This settlement crippled the city’s finances, hit with the nation-wide recession at the same time, and three years later it voted to outsource the police and recreation services to the San Mateo County Sherriff’s Office and the city of San Carlos. Since 2008, Half Moon Bay has been cutting services and laying off employees. However, this month, the $10 million dollar award came as Justice Panelli decided that the city’s liability insurance policy covered Beachwood and ordered the insurance company to pay.

The $10 million is more than 90 percent of the city’s yearly budget, according to local officials. Mayor Allan Alifano called it “obviously a huge deal”. The city’s attorney said it would still take several months for the city to be paid and that there is a second phase of arbitration that must be heard. The city will ask for legal fees from the arbiter as well, to cover the estimated $100,000 spent on attorneys. The city’s attorney maintained it was still a “great victory”. Half Moon Bay already secured $5 million from an Association of Bay Area Government’s insurance plan, which was used to pay down the debt from the bonds. Mayor Alifano said much of the $10 million from the Insurance Company of the West will also likely go to further, paying off the bonds, but the City Council has the final say in how the money is used. Regardless of the new windfall, the city still plans to keep an initiative for a proposed half-cent sales tax on the November 6 ballot, but it may be a harder sell with the new rosy outlook from this legal victory.

Our Promise to Remember the Victims

September 28, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

A story in the Oakland Tribune reiterates a fact our Northern California personal injury law firm knows all too well – reckless driving kills. We talk a lot about statistics and laws in this blog, but this article focuses on a very important point, that every accident impacts real individuals and tragedies often are felt throughout the community.

On April 7, forty-one year old Solaiman Nuri and his daughters, Hadees (age nine) and Hannah (age twelve), went on a Saturday morning bike ride. At the same time, David Rosen, then seventeen, was speeding along Treat Boulevard in Concord in a 2002 Cadillac Escalade. According to investigators, the teen was travelling 72mph in a 45mph zone. Rosen swerved to avoid a collision with another car and jumped the curb, killing both Solomon and Hadees. Hannah suffered minor injuries.

This Wednesday, Rosen pled guilty to two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and unlawful acts as well as one count of misdemeanor reckless driving causing injury. Under the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed unrelated alcohol and knife possession charges. Despite a request from Stoorai Nuri, the wife and mother of the victims, the court tried Rosen as a juvenile and officials took him to juvenile hall after the hearing. Sentencing will be on October 22. Judge Lois Haight suggested she could sentence Rosen to seven years, eight months but a prosecutor noted that the state will be legally bound to release him at age twenty-one. Ms. Nuri said the teen failed to apologize on the day he was arrested and denied Rosen’s request to make an apology in the courtroom, with her attorney asking the defendant to wait until sentencing to speak further.

Technology Update: Driverless Vehicles, Safety, & the Law

September 26, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

At The Brod Firm, our San Francisco injury lawyer dedicates time to staying up-to-date on the latest court rulings and legislative changes in order to fully represent each and every client. The interplay between law and technology is fascinating and ever-involving. Topics such as intellectual property theft and privacy evolve constantly as our world becomes more and more connected. While people might imagine that personal injury litigation is a more static field, it also evolves to accommodate a changing society.

Driverless Vehicles & Safety Concerns

On Tuesday, Governor Brown signed a law making California the third state in the nation to explicitly legalize driverless vehicles. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on the legislation which the Governor signed at Google’s Mountain View headquarters where company innovators have been working on a computer-navigated car for a number of years. SB 1298 formally okays the testing of vehicles on California’s public roads, although it does require that a driver still be seated and ready to take over if necessary. Additionally, the law sets out a framework for manufacturers seeking permits to build and sell the computer driven cars to the public and requires the DMV to adopt regulations governing the vehicles by January 2015.

San Francisco Injury Attorney on Food Safety Law

September 24, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

Few things are as important to our daily lives as food safety. We should not have to worry about falling ill because food companies or other organizations failed to adequately protect the safety of our food supply. Our San Francisco food safety law firm is committed to helping people made seriously ill by tainted food to recover compensation from manufacturers, sellers, or anyone else in the supply chain who bore responsibility for the unsafe products.

Consumer advocates and victim’s rights lawyers have long warned that the nation’s laws failed to fully protect Americans from foodborne illnesses. While many companies and industry groups do take steps to ensure product safety, the law lagged behind. One step to improve this system came with the signing of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010 (“FSMA”) on January 2, 2011. The federal government stated that the intent of the law is to ensure food safety by taking a more proactive role, preventing contamination instead of merely responding to outbreaks of foodborne illness. Through the FSMA, the FDA gained enhanced authority and some new powers. The FDA is also required do engage in rulemaking to produce a number of guidance documents and to prepare strategies, standards, plans, and other important reports.

FDA duties and powers under the FDMA can be broken down into several categories, with a number of components to each: