Blog Posts in March, 2016

Watercraft & Boat Injury Liability Cases

Boats and watercraft that can lead to serious injury if defective include canoes, kayaks, paddle boats, sailboats, fishing boats, personal watercraft like jet skis, pontoon boats, speedboats, houseboats, yachts, and cruise ships-in other words, they run the gamut from simple, non-motorized crafts to exotic luxury liners. The law of products liability applies equally to all of these boats and ...

Tobacco Product Liability Lawsuits

Tobacco products have been the subject of lawsuits brought by states’ attorneys general and large insurance companies. As a result of these lawsuits, the tobacco companies have agreed to pay billions of dollars to settle state health care reimbursement claims for widespread smoking-related injuries. The persons actually affected by smoking-related diseases are, however, unlikely to receive the ...

About Pharmaceutical Lawsuits

Drugs and medicines are frequently at the center of products liability suits. Manufacturers of these products have a duty to appropriately test the drugs and medicines before releasing them into the market. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has established criteria for the testing of Pharmaceutical Products. These criteria are regarded as industry standards, but the fact that a drug was ...

Winter Driving Safety

Winter is well upon us. While we are in California, wet and snowy weather affects everyone. One of the saddest aspects of our work is the realization that many of the cases we handle could have been avoided had the drivers been more cautious. You cannot control how everyone else drives. But you can increase your odds by exercising caution yourself. The advice we provide below applies to all ...

Construction Worker Dies in 53-Story Fall in Los Angeles

A fatal construction accident occurred on March 17, 2016 in downtown Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, a construction worker fell from the 53 rd story of the Wilshire Grand Tower. He struck a car traveling on Wilshire Boulevard. The construction worker was pronounced dead on the scene. Earlier in the week, the Wilshire Grand was set to become the tallest building in ...

Combating the Low-Speed Impact Defense

Low-speed impacts can cause debilitating injuries. These incidents are a major component of insurance payouts historically. Instead of properly setting reserves and adjusting claims, the insurance companies have been waging a two-front war on low-speed impact claims. The first is over the airwaves in an effort to poison the jury pool. The second is in the courtroom itself with junk science. We ...

Propane Safety - Summer Barbecues

It’s a warm summer weekend and you are basking in the sun on your deck with your family, enjoying a cold drink and the enticing smell of a sizzling steak on the barbeque. The last thought on your mind is safety, right? It shouldn’t be. According to a recent U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission report, warm weather activities such as hosting a barbeque led to product-related injuries of more ...

Commuter Train Derailment Near San Francisco, Nine Injured

Nine rail passengers were hospitalized, four with serious injuries, after a commuter train car derailed in the evening of March 7 th , 2016 near San Francisco. Authorities from the Federal Railroad Administration and the Public Utilities Commission have cited a mudslide as the cause of the derailment, after slides swept a large tree onto the tracks sometime earlier in the day. After colliding with ...

June Bashant Volunteers with the Family Justice Center in Concord

San Francisco personal injury attorney June Bashant of Rouda Feder Tietjen & McGuinn volunteers with the Family Justice Center in Concord, California. The Family Justice Center provides help, hope, and healing to people who have been hurt in cases of domestic violence, elder abuse, child abuse, sexual assault, and even human trafficking. Serving as a central one-stop-shop for services related to ...