Articles Posted in Product Liability

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Kristen Chenoweth, the Emmy and Tony winning actress, has a new book out, and this week she has been giving interviews to promote it. In the interviews, she has talked at length about the serious injuries she sustained in an accident on the set of the television show “The Good Wife.” Lighting equipment on the set fell and hit her causing a fractured skull, a fractured rib and nose, broken teeth and other long-lasting injuries. Chenoweth’s Dad counseled her to get legal representation. She did not. She now regrets it. Here are some things you should think about if you are hurt in an accident and are reluctant to seek legal representation. Continue reading

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Self-driving cars are not really “self-driving.”  Instead, manufacturers warn drivers of autonomous vehicles that they must remain in control of the vehicle.  For instance, Tesla states: “keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times” and to always “maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle.”  ProPILOT (Nissan/Infiniti) and SuperCruise (GM) focus on the fact that those programs are an assistance feature and not a substitute for a human driver.   And yet, a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that 53% of SuperCruise, 42% of Autopilot (Tesla) and 12% of ProPILOT said they were “comfortable treating their vehicles as fully self-driving”.  Perhaps not surprisingly, in the event of an accident, drivers using a self-driving vehicle could face legal trouble – both criminal and civil.  If you have a self-driving vehicle or you have been injured in an accident with one, read on for the latest.

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It is fascinating to see what some people search for on the internet.  “I want a lawyer and a sandwich” is commonly searched because of a popular line in the 2011 movie titled Blitz.  A sassy criminal suspect delivers the line in response to being placed in police custody.   Of course, most internet searches focus on more routine and basic legal issues such as “When do I need a lawyer for a car accident?” and “How do I hire a lawyer with no money?” and “Can anyone be your lawyer?”  We have rounded up some of the most common questions and answered them.  Read on. Continue reading

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We all give advice. Whether you are a lawyer, teacher, parent, doctor, plumber, etc..,  at some point, someone is going to ask for your advice. But here is the thing about the advice you seek:  you do not know how good it is until you do the exact opposite.[1]

Why do people not follow advice?  Well, some folks do not really want advice.  They want permission.  They are only asking as a way of confirming what they wanted to do in the first place.  The other main reason people do not follow advice is because it is not easy.  Having the discipline to do what you know you should do can be hard i.e., exercising, saving for retirement, studying for exams, etc.   So, we thought we would give you some important legal advice that is easy to follow and, trust us, you won’t know how good it is unless you don’t follow it. Continue reading

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If you have Googled “How to Win an Accident Case” or “How Much Can I Sue for in an Accident Case” or “How to File an Accident Lawsuit” or anything similar to these types of searches, please proceed with extreme caution.  If you were in an accident with very minor, fully resolved injuries (like your neck was a little sore for a couple of days and without any medical intervention it completely improved), you do not need a lawyer.  But anything beyond that, you really should, at a minimum, consult an injury lawyer.  Now let us tell you why. Continue reading

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March 7th through the 13th is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) National Vehicle Safety Recall Week.  Since 1966, when NHTSA was given the authority, the agency has recalled almost 400 million cars, trucks, buses, RVs, motorcycles and mopeds.  In addition, the NHTSA has recalled more than 46 million tires, 66 million pieces of motor vehicle equipment, and 42 million car seats due to safety defects. Do you know how this federal agency decides a recall is warranted?  Do you know how the safety recalls work?  Do you know how to make sure you receive notice of a safety recall?

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In 2017, Michel Roccati was involved in a motorcycle accident.  His spinal cord was completely severed and he was rendered paraplegic.  Recently, doctors implanted an electrode in his spine and he is now able to walk again, and not just a few steps with lots of assistance, but a mile with a simple rolling walker.  This could be a game-changer for people who suffer paraplegic and quadriplegic injuries in car, motorcycle, truck and other types of accidents.  In the meantime, how could this change the lawsuits and recoveries arising from those accidents? Continue reading

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In California, a man has been charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter after his car left the freeway at a high rate of speed, ran a red-light and struck another vehicle killing two people. After the accident, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirmed that Autopilot was in use in the Tesla at the time of the crash.   The NHTSA has categorized these types of crashes as “automation complacency”.  This raises the questions of: why are drivers being complacent and who is to blame? Continue reading

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Last week, author Seth Godin wrote a blog post about good and bad accidents and, to be honest, we keep thinking about it.  Perhaps Seth’s article has stuck with us because at the Law Offices of John Day, our award-winning lawyers see bad accidents and their lasting aftermath every single day.   Quite frankly, it can get you down.  Needless injuries and deaths caused by carelessness can be hard to stomach day in and day out.  So what keeps us going?  Good fortune.  Or as Seth put it, good accidents.  In follow-up to Thanksgiving, we thought we would share some with you. Continue reading

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November 4, 2021 is National Use Your Common Sense Day.  Yes, we are serious.  Our only problem with this particular national observance is that it is limited to only a day.  Quite frankly, and I think most of you will agree, it should be Use Your Common Sense Day every single day.  At the Law Offices of John Day, we see the results of failing to use common sense so we have some suggestions on where people might want to concentrate their efforts. We encourage you to join us in our little rant and add your lack-of-common-sense pet peeve in the comments. So here we go, this is our list: Continue reading

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