San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog

Business Alert: California Approves Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Clauses

December 12, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

The Court of Appeals of California recently released a key decision in Phillips v. Sprint that will significantly impact the field of California class actions. A copy of the decision can be found at the California court system’s website (specifically http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A134371.DOC). This decision will be of particular interest to our business clients but may trickle over into insurance disputes and other arenas.

Phillips Ruling Results in Change to California Law

In 2005, after a period of procedural matters, named plaintiff Timothy Phillips filed a putative class action lawsuit (“putative” means that the court has not yet agreed a class exists or that a class claim is viable) against Sprint. The case alleged that Sprint made misrepresentations to its customers about cellular telephone rates. In 2006, Sprint filed a motion asking the court to force the parties to go to arbitration, citing a provision in its customer agreement that requires individual arbitration of all disputes related to the agreement. The arbitration provision, which specifies that it is to be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), is broad and applies to all claims while precluding the resolution of claims on a class level.

San Francisco Fraud Attorney on Financial Scams Targeting the Elderly and Research Into Aging Brains

December 10, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

As a San Francisco elder abuse attorney, Greg Brod knows that mistreatment of older Americans comes in many forms. In addition to representing victims of physical elder abuse, his team also represents clients in an even-less discussed arena – financial abuse of seniors. Financial fraud against seniors is a growing problem and Attorney Brod is dedicated to helping Northern California victims and their families recover in civil court.

Study Finds Older Brains Less Able to Detect Facial Signs of Trustworthiness

Perpetrators of fraud, not surprisingly, seek out the most vulnerable targets. An interesting study recently revealed one of the factors that may make seniors more likely to fall victim to fraud. As discussed in a U.S. News & World Report article, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles found that older people are less capable of spotting untrustworthy faces. They determined that older adults have lower rates of activity in a portion of the brain called the anterior insula, an area tied to disgust and that helps people identify untrustworthy faces. Shelley Taylor, a researcher and psychology professor, explained this change as a reduced warning signal where the brain fails to send a “Be wary” message like it would in a younger person.

Fraud Allegations Against California Insurance Company

December 9, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

When insurance companies commit fraud, their customers suffer. Though the customers have done nothing wrong, but they are hurt by the company’s bad acts and often are cheated out of getting the insurance protection and coverage they diligently paid for over the years.

The news was about an insurance company, Hamilton Brewart Insurance Agency, which was part of the Upsala business community for decades. The founder, Hamilton Brewart, donated money to numerous charities and for public service projects at the local fire department. Until recently, it had seemed like a healthy company. In 2009, agents at Hamilton Brewart sold policies worth $90 million, which influenced Insurance Journal’s 2010 ranking of the insurer as the 95th best privately held property and casualty insurance company in the United States.

In a massive reversal of fortune, the company has now been sued by Universal Bank, based in West Covina, accusing the insurance company of asking for at least $6 million in phony loans. Universal Bank alleges that the son of the man who founded Hamilton Brewart, Derek Brewart, confessed to fraud personally during meetings. The founder, the elder Mr. Brewart, died earlier this year, leaving Derek in charge of the company, and his legal team claims the company was already in shambles by the time he inherited it. It seemed that the company had a darker side and there were problems below the surface, regardless.

Fire Safety Following Fatal Home Fire in Ingleside Heights

December 7, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

Our San Francisco fire injury law firm knows that home fires are a very real danger that can cause death or serious injury. A harsh reminder of this threat came to the Ingleside Heights neighborhood this week when a fire claimed the life of sixty-one year old Deane Wernet on Wednesday night. According to a report in The San Francisco Chronicle , the blaze burned much of the top floor of the residence at 65 Saint Charles Avenue. Wernet moved to San Francisco from Ohio, where she grew up as one of thirteen siblings. She worked as a waitress and also made jewelry and other pieces of art. Authorities are still investigating the fire, but they do not believe foul play was involved.

Home Fires: Statistics & Causes

Home fires are the single most common disaster nationwide, a fact that headlines the American Red Cross’s Fire Safety Fact Sheet. During the year prior to the info sheet’s compilation, a whopping 93% of the disasters that the Red Cross responded to nationwide were fire related. Even more disturbing, fire safety appears to be on a negative trend with the number of home fires rising eight percent since the year 2000. Fires cause more American deaths annually than all types of natural disasters combined, with a home fire being reported every eighty seconds in 2006 and someone dying every 204 minutes due to a home fire. Despite these statistics, only 26% of families have planned and practiced a fire escape plan.

San Francisco Accident Attorney on Danger of Rollover Accidents

December 5, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

All car accidents are frightening, but rollover accidents are particularly terrifying to contemplate. Our San Francisco accident law firm hears victims describe the fear inherent in any car crash. Rollovers epitomize the lack of control inherent in any accident and can leave victims seriously injured or lead to a loss of life.

Officers Injured When CHP Vehicle Flips During High-Speed Chase

The San Francisco Chronicle reported this week on a frightening high-speed chase that took place on Monday in Livermore. At around 3:25 A.M., a California Highway Patrol (“CHP”) vehicle attempted to pull over a car travelling in excess of 100 mph on Highway 580 eastbound, near Altamont Pass Road. When the driver refused to pull over, two patrol cars gave chase. One CHP car followed the suspect vehicle through a line of traffic cones diverting traffic into the left lanes. The second patrol car swerved to avoid colliding with a large truck, hit roadway debris, and flipped over. The two officers inside the flipped vehicle suffered cuts and bruises and were treated and released from Valley Care Medical Center. The first patrol car did continue the chase and ultimately the suspect pulled over and the officers arrested twenty-two year old Donte Neel on suspicion of speeding and evading police.

Warning on New Life Insurance Rules

December 4, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

Things are happening involving insurance regulations nationwide, and our San Francisco insurance attorneys are watching the latest developments. This week the Wall Street Journal reported that California Insurance Commissioner,Dave Jones, has told other state regulators that he will not vote for proposed changes to life insurance regulations. The changes involve the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which is an organization of state officials that set standards for adoption by the states.

The proposed changes, pushed for by insurance companies, would get rid of the current system, which uses life insurance industry-wide formulas to decide how much money needs to be set aside for the payouts they guarantee to their customers. The insurance companies wish to use their own internal formulas instead of industry standards to decide how much money is needed, using their own particular data on the types of customers and policies they have.

Commissioner Jones points out, in his statement against this proposed change, that there is no identification or quantification of the additional resources state agencies would need, even though the new models are highly complex. He made the valid argument that, “if we should have learned anything from the last financial crisis, trusting a financial industry to monitor itself can only be effective [if] that trust can be verified.”

Unexpected Sources of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in the Winter

December 3, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

Now that the winter season is here and the holiday season is in full swing, many find themselves staying home to stay warm from the cold outside or perhaps visiting the homes of family and friends. More often than not, activities in this time of year are mainly focused indoors. With this winter trend, many homes turn to trusty appliances – from gas space heaters, fireplaces, and furnaces – to keep their homes toasty and cozy for their family, friends and themselves. However, the increased use of these appliances unfortunately brings about a potentially lethal danger in carbon monoxide poisoning.

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Facts

Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs when individuals have inhaled carbon monoxide, an odorless, toxic gas, preventing oxygen from being transported to different cells in the body. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, different levels of CO levels and the duration of exposure will greatly affect the symptoms and health effects of poisoning. Low concentration exposure can lead to fatigue, shortness of breath and chest pain. At moderate levels symptoms include angina, impaired vision, and reduced brain function. At high levels, impaired vision and coordination, headaches, dizziness, and nausea. It does not take prolonged exposure to result serious chronic health effects such as concentration problems, psychosis, Parkinson’s disease, memory impairment and even personality alterations. High exposure can even lead to death within minutes.

Product Alert: Popular Cholesterol Drug Contaminated With Glass Particles

December 3, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

We take medications to protect our health and cure diseases. In doing so, we trust in our government regulation and in the manufacturers themselves to ensure that the benefits of the drugs outweigh potential adverse effects. At The Brod Law Firm, we know that medication errors and dangerous drugs are a very real problem. These cases are complex and often require significant expert analysis to determine whether a medication was unduly dangerous and the cause of a negative outcome. However, while even the victims of dangerous drugs may be uncertain of what caused their injuries, some cases of contaminated medication can be shockingly blatant. These cases leave our San Francisco product liability law firm, and the general public as a whole, stunned at how such glaring errors can occur in what should be a carefully controlled environment.

According to CNN, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) recently advised consumers to stop taking a popular medication because the pills may be contaminated with small specks of glass. The medication at issue is a generic form of the cholesterol drug Lipitor that is manufactured by Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals, the world’s 12th largest maker of generic drugs and India’s largest pharmaceutical company. Although Ranbaxy initiated a recall of forty-one lots of the pills nearly three weeks ago, the FDA’s announcement on Thursday November 29 is the first time the agency told consumers to stop using the medication. Additionally, the FDA announced that Ranbaxy will stop manufacturing atorvastatin while the company and the administration investigate how the glass got into the pills.

Despite the FDA pronouncement, some pharmacies have told customers that it is safe to continue taking the medication. Brian Henry, the vice president of corporate communications for Express Scripts, explained the matter is a “pharmacy-level recall,” meaning the pharmacies themselves will stop dispensing contaminated lots of the pills but users could take already purchased medication, despite confirmation from the FDA that some pills from the lots at issue may have already reached consumers. Henry added that Express Scripts will not issue refunds on the medication. CNN also spoke with several CVS-based pharmacists who advised customers it was okay to take the medication but said they would replace the pills at a patient’s request.

Wet Weather Targets the Sacramento Region

November 30, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

With a series of major rainstorms targeting our region, our Sacramento accident law firm wants to remind our clients and others in our region that rainy weather poses significant and very real dangers for motorists. Reporting in the midst of the storms, The Sacramento Bee cited numerous problems on Wednesday, the first day of the multi-day storm system. Despite the fact that rain was not extremely heavy, the day saw many spin-outs and fender-benders as well as flooding due to clogged storm drains. One major accident occurred on Interstate 5 where a big-rig truck jack-knifed and collided with the center divider, causing thirty gallons of diesel fuel to spill onto the roadway and closing portions of the road for hours.

While Wednesday saw numerous crashes, thankfully no serious injuries were reported. However, it was only the start of the storm system that is expected to bring larger amounts of rain in the coming days with predicted rainfall totaling up to fifteen inches in some areas. This forecast makes it important for even experienced motorists to keep wet weather driving safety in mind before heading out in the storms.

Avoiding Skidding & Hydroplaning in Rainy Weather

San Mateo Pedestrian Accident – A Reminder of an All-too-Common Safety Threat

November 28, 2012 | Gregory J. Brod

Pedestrian accidents are all too common, a reality brought to the attention of our community and our San Francisco personal injury law firm by a recent tragedy in San Mateo. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a hit-and-run claimed the life of sixty-seven year old Reynaldo Aguinga over the weekend. Police believe that Josue Lopez, a twenty-six year old from San Mateo, lost control of his 1994 Camaro while exiting a parking lot in the 1700 block of South Delaware Street. The car hit a concrete garbage can, knocking it into Aguinga and slamming the pedestrian against a tree. Witnesses report the driver got out of the car to check on the victim before speeding off, leaving him pinned between the tree and the concrete can. Police later apprehended Lopez due to a partial license plate and other details observed by those at the scene. Officials do not believe alcohol or drugs were a factor. Aguinga died at a nearby hospital. Reports suggest a five year-old child was in the back seat of the car at the time of the incident. Lopez is charged with vehicular manslaughter, felony hit and run, and child endangerment.

Benefits & Risks: Pedestrian Safety Statistics

Our Northern California pedestrian accident law firm believes in keeping the roads safe for all those who walk, whether it is a mode of transportation or a form of exercise. Walkinginfo.org, a resource funded through the Department of Transportation, notes that there are numerous benefits to travelling by foot. Walking protects the health of individuals and the well-being of our environment, reduces traffic congestion, and has economic benefits for both the walker and the community as a whole.