Miscellaneous | InjuryBoard Northern Virginia

A concrete worker from Texas is recovering from in the hospital after receiving personal injuries in an accident at his workplace on Wednesday, January 2. The accident resulted in the amputation of the man's arm.According to his son, 52-year-old Robert Kerstetter was greasing a machine at 4:30 a.m. the morning of the accident when his right arm was caught in the machine.He said that he had been...

In the last week, our office received several phone calls and emails from clients of this attorney who has been recently arrested. We investigated and found that according to the Virginia State Bar website, his license to practice law was recently suspended.The Virginia State Bar has a client protection fund and information about making a claim under the fund is here. Let me say that this is all...

There is an article in today's Wall Street Journal about the bit that 'subrogation' can take out of your personal injury case. The WSJ blog has a good discussion going and I have contributed to it. The bottom line with personal injury cases today is that the plaintiff and her lawyer need to figure out, in advance, whether the health benefit plan will be seeking reimbursement. If so, this has to...

In an extraordinary public rebuke of a sitting judge for one of his decisions, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has formally apologized to the parties for the cost and delay that the judge's action caused. The case is Calderon v IBEW Local 47.The plaintiff started a lawsuit and served one party but initially failed to serve a second party. The judge, Manuel L. Real, issued an order to "show...

In a highly unusual proceeding, the Supreme Court of Virginia has dismissed a Juvenile Court judge who (1) decided a custody matter by flipping a coin;(2) had a mentally disabled woman pull her pants down to show an alleged wound;(3) made and ex parte call to a local hospital to attempt to verify/discredit the woman's story about being wounded.What (else) is unusual is that the Supreme Court,...

Here we go again. New laws being floated in Virginia to cap profits a business can earn. Those businesses making "payday" type loans are in the riskiest of lending businesses. They are taking a huge risk, and should be allowed to charge whatever they want as long as1. Loan terms are fully and fairly described2.The rules of the loan terms are followed.After that, no one is forcing these folks to...

I'm so glad to learn that upon searching, there are no dangerous dogs in Fairfax County.Now I can sleep at night.I'm sorry. This is idiotic. Who is going to go here to search. How much did Virginia spend on this?Oh, I get it now.The state is requiring liability insurance for dangerous dogs. Wonder who is insuring that?Here's the code section:Virginia Code § 3.1-796.93:1. Control of dangerous or...

The Virginia State Bar is again considering the issue of forcing lawyers to buy malpractice insurance. Complete waste of time.Their own statistics show that 90% of lawyers who deal with the public have malpractice insurance.I think that lawyers should carry malpractice insurance but its not the business of the bar to force any business owner to carry insurance any more than it could force the...

We often hear from potential clients who are being pressured by major insurance companies to sign documents now and "we'll be able to settle this case real quick."This is usually a really bad move.Don't be rushed, you have time.According to published reports, attorneys Robert Brown and Guy Daugherty of Norfolk, Virginia just completed a case where the neck pain, while noted in some of the...

The Wall Street Journal Blog had a post about SueEasy.com last week. Of course it blasted the site as indicative of today's "sue-happy" culture. But is the site for real? Can't tell yet. It looks to me like something a tort reformer would put up just to shoot at (and get tthe WSJ to blog about!).No legitimate trial lawyer would be involved in such a stupid site. No legitimate plaintiff would use...

North Carolina Social Security Disability attorney Brent Adams makes and excellent point about long delays in social security disability claims. He quotes an excellent commentary from administrative law judge Ronald Bernoski, writing in the Charlotte Observer.I've got an additional theory. Fraud by the major long-term disability insurance companies. Here's how it works:Most long term disability...

A claimant who was caught on video (by Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston) doing things she said she couldn't do, has had her disability claim denied by a federal judge who called the claim "fraudulent." According to a September 23, 2007 opinion, Perri Lemon was shown stooping, bending and kneeling, among other things. This contrasted with the report of her condition her doctor made that...

The death of Leesburg, Virginia resident Kathleen Becker, killed by a drunk teenager, raises once again the issue of holding everyone responsible who played a part in this tragedy. According to the Washington Post, the Westfield High School student has now been charged with involuntary manslaughter and may face trial as an adult. But someone either sold this young lady alcohol or served it to...

"Unarmed" with good information, that is. Alaska personal injury attorney Michael Schneider has a great example today of how an injured victim's trust ended up costing him. According to Mike, the Allstate rep "earned" the victim's trust with their "you don't need a lawyer, you'll do just fine with us" mantra.The problem is that in dealing with an adjuster, the information is usually flowing only...

The Republicans in Virginia are disperately trying to hold onto their seats in the Virginia General Assembly. On September 18, Republican Senator Jeanmarie Devolites-Davis, was in a debate with Chap Peterson when this question was posted:"In light of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, how will can we improve access to student records, particularly involving mental health?"Her answer: "the fear of...