December 2006 Archives

This week the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released the results of a study testing the safety of small cars. With increased gas prices, the fuel savings offered by smaller models have increased their popularity recently. Of the eight models tested, all received passing scores in head-on crash tests, but only one, the Nissan Versa, received high marks in both side- and rear-crash tests. The high marks for Versa is the result of its greater heft, weighing several hundred pounds heavier than competing models.

Since 2003, at least one U.S. child has died and 19 others have needed surgery after accidentally swallowing magnets used in toys, the government reported last week. Most of those cases were believed to involve tiny but strong "rare earth" magnets that can link together in children's digestive tracts, blocking and even perforating the intestines, the researchers said.

Just when you thought it was safe to venture back down the produce aisle...Green onions that are suspected of containing a virulent form of E. Coli has sickened Taco Bell customers in six states. It has been determined that the contaminated onions were grown in California by one of Ventura County's largest vegetable growers.

In 2003, after intense lobbying by the politically powerful trucking industry, regulators rejected proposals to tighten drivers’ hours and instead did the opposite, relaxing the rules on how long truckers could be on the road. Government officials had also turned down repeated requests from insurers and safety groups for more rigorous training for new drivers.

Florida recently amended its state constitution to limit attorney fees in medical malpractice cases. The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that attorney fee limits in medical malpractice cases can be waived—as long as lawyers fully inform their clients about the rights they are giving up and plaintiffs show they have done so voluntarily. The Florida Bar Association argued that fee limits interfere with plaintiffs’ right to find counsel of their own choice, and the Court agreed.

Lawyer jokes and uninformed statements bashing the civil justice system have dogged plaintiff attorneys through many a golf game, PTA meeting, or dinner party.