Northern Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer - Miscellaneous

Dish Network Virginia Child Molestation Case--Every Parent's Nightmare

Ben Glass — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:57:09 GMT

Every parent's nightmare.

You call the cable or satellite installer and you let them into your house. You don't know it but the installer is a convicted child molester. Easy to check that out these days..you would think.

A case is brewing in Virginia where the allegations are that this Dish Network installer, complete with (as the judge put it) pornography, sex toys and "cheap children's bracelets" arrived at the house to do his work.

The child was in a room different from the room the installer was working in. In a very short time, however, he assaulted her. He is now serving 20 years for that crime.

The family sued for damages the child sustained. When sued, Dish Network tried to have the case removed from state court to federal court, alleging that the family and the offender were citizens of two different states. Judge Henry Hudson, of the Eastern District of Virginia, rejected the removal petition as he found that the evidence was overwhelming that the child molester lived in Virginia. You can see Judge Hudson's full opinion in the Dish Network child molestation case here.

Ultimately this case will revolve around whether Dish Network knew or should have know (by checking more carefully, the family will contend) that this guy was a child molester and that it might not be a good idea to give him a job where he travels alone to houses where children live. Hopefully for the family they wont' be traumatized again by a long litigation process.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Beware of any Group Disability Policy

Ben Glass — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:57:00 GMT

Many professional athletes find themselves doing battle with their sports group disability plan insurance carrier.

In 2006, an appeals court awarded the estate of former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster more than $1.5 million in disability pay from the plan. It was the first successful challenge of the plan's rules and it has given hope to many of the players who feel left out.

While this is a victory for the players, I can tell you that any athlete seeking disability pay from these plans faces an uphill battle.

Most group long term disability polices (those offered by employers) stink. If you can afford to, and you want real disability insurance, you should be talking to a broker about a private/individual policy.

Most group policies aren't worth the paper they are written on because:

1. The protect you if you can't work in your own occupation for only 2 years.

2. If any part of your disability is caused by a mental or nervous disorder, the limit is generally 2 years. (And the disability insurance companies will do their best to lump your disability into the mental and nervous box.

3. Group policies are governed by ERISA. This means, generally, that the insurance company's decision on your claim is entitled to the benefit of the doubt and can only be reversed by a court for an abuse of discretion. This means you have to show that they are really, really wrong.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Hazard from Texting While Driving

Ben Glass — Sun, 24 May 2009 08:12:54 GMT

According to a recent study conducted by researchers at Eastern Virginia Medical School and Children’s Hospital of the Kings’ Daughters in Norfolk, driving while text messaging or fiddling with an MP3 player is an even greater hazard than talking on a cell phone while driving.

In the study, the researchers had 21 teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18 take part in a series of simulated driving experiments.

Donald Lewis, MD, chief of Eastern Virginia Medical School’s department of pediatrics and co-researcher said that each teen was asked to get behind the wheel of a simulated vehicle and drive through simulated scenery, in rural, then urban settings, in 10-minute intervals.

The participants were first asked to drive with no distractions involved. Afterward, the were asked to drive through the same scenes again, but text messaging, talking on a cell phone, and finally operating an MP3 player.

Lewis said the findings did not surprise the researchers, but referred to them as “frightening.”

In the tests involving distractions that required finger movement, the participants steered the virtual vehicles erratically, weaving in and out of lanes and running over virtual people.

Lewis said that the worst driving came when the participants were text messaging, likely due to being required to look down in addition to moving their fingers.

Lewis said the mistakes the participants made included dramatically slowing down and weaving more than a foot outside their lane.

The participants were required to have at least six months of experience. Teens diagnosed with attention disorders or with a history of unsafe driving were excluded. Also excluded were teens who reported the use of alcohol or excessive amounts of caffeine.

According to Lewis, a growing body of research suggests that texting while driving is a rapidly increasing issue. Young drivers in Virginia are banned by law from using their cell phones while driving, but Lewis says that it would be difficult to enforce due to the difficulty of judging a driver’s age.

A recent American Automobile Association study said that people text messaging while driving increases the risk of an accident by 50 percent. Some states have banned texting while driving and Lewis says he believes they all should.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Praise for Robbery Without a Gun-Why Your Employer's Long-Term Disability Policy May be a Sham

Ben Glass — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 20:55:51 GMT

North Carolina social security disability attorney Brent Adams recently said this about Robbery Without a Gun, the book which exposes the games of the long-term disability insurance companies.

Glass discusses how a law which was intended to protect workers has been perverted by Federal Judges into a tool with which to line the pockets of the “fat cat” corporate bosses at the expense of disabled workers and their families.

Although the book deals with complex legal issues, Glass distills the essence of the issues into an easy to understand explanation.

You can read what else Brent Adams said this disability insurance book here.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

$54 Million Lawsuit over dry cleaned pants won't get new trial

Ben Glass — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:40:56 GMT

Remember the knucklehead who sued the dry cleaners for $54 million and wasted everyone's time? Couldn't find a lawyer so he represented himself?

Remember that guy.

The D.C. Court of Appeal turned down his bid for a new trial.

I'm betting he takes it to the full court of appeals.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Fairfax, VA fraud: "you owe the police $7,500 for false alarms from your burglar alarm.

Ben Glass — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:07:47 GMT

A woman at reported getting a call with this message by a "bill collector."

The "bill collector" told her that they were collecting an overdue debt owed the "Fairfax police" because of false alarms from your burglar alarm.

Just another scam.

My friend lives in a one bedroom apartment in in Sterling, Virginia (not Fairfax County). She's never owned a burglar alarm. The "bill collector" just hung up when she told them, "just call my lawyer, he'll take care of you."

Consumer message: whenever anyone you don't know CALLS you asking for money, from "charities" to "bill collectors," just tell them to put it in writing and mail it to you.

If they have to ask for your address, or hesitate at all, they are likely frauds.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

Virginia Federal Court Rules in Favor of Disability Claimant

Ben Glass — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:47:00 GMT

In the first ERISA disability case to discuss the newest case from the United States Supreme Court, the disability claimant was awarded a huge win against Liberty Life Insurance Company.

I was quoted in the Virginia Lawyers Weekly article about this interesting case.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

More on WhoCanISue.com

Ben Glass — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:59:34 GMT

Interesting that the Whois Database lists the address for this website as the same building as an alleged spammer and an company that allegedly did not fulfill promises.

Also the URL has been owned since April 2006 (and this site is all they got to show for it?)

Here is the Whois info

Registrant:
WCIS Media, LLC

14000 Military Trail
Delray Beach, Florida 33484
United States

Bottom line goes back to my earlier comment. What legitimate personal injury lawyer would participate in a website that professes that lawsuits can "be made easy" or that portrays a guy slipping on a banana peel.

Someone is being snookered

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

WhoCanISue.com Won't Attract Real Trial Lawyers

Ben Glass — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 06:36:27 GMT

Time Magazine has an article about a new attorney referral marketing website and Time is using it to take another shot at lawyers....and rightfully so this time...except that I don't believe the website was built for real trial lawyers. I don't think that any legitimate personal injury lawyer would sign up for WhoCanISue.com.

The WhoCanISue site looks like it was invented by tort reformers to have something else to shoot at (oh, I almost forgot, its election season...time to go lawyer hunting by some). I mean, what legitimate lawyer would pay $1,000 a month or more to be listed on a site that actually makes fun of lawsuits?

The tagline "The Legal Process Made Easy" is not one that any responsible personal injury lawyer would use because those legitimate injury attorneys who actually take case to trial (as opposed to spending millions on advertising to settle everything for 2 cents on the dollar) KNOW that litigation is not easy. They know that insurance companies have a huge advantage (more money, more time to wait for the results) in lawsuits and that litigation is plain tough.

Moreover, the graphic on the WhoCanISue webpage, a guy falling on a banana peel, is a ridiculous caricature of jokes made about lawsuits. No legitimate trial lawyer would head down that path.

What I find most interesting about the whole Time article is that Time is not allowing comments at its site about the article. Therefore Time is not allowing you to participate in the conversation. Wonder why that is? Could it be that Time has a vested interest in helping to promote a straw man and then taking shots at it?

Stay tuned.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass

How long do I have to decide what to do (file a suit, hire a lawyer, etc)?

Ben Glass — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:11:14 GMT

Contrary to what you see in most lawyer advertising, there generally is no rush to go out and hire an attorney the day after you were injured. Yes, there are statutes of limitation (limits on time to sue) and sometimes those limits are relatively short (like if you are going to sue a governmental entity) but that doesn't mean you need to HIRE a lawyer today.

As you can see from looking around the Internet, there are lots of lawyers out there. You need to do your research and you may have questions that you would like to get answered now but that doesn't mean you need to HIRE an attorney now.

Most injury attorneys will offer free consultations. Use them.

Also, I've written a book "The Truth About Lawyer Advertising." Its available at Amazon.com. Just go to Amazon and search for the title.

The book is a good guide for staring you on the path to finding the right lawyer for your case.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ben Glass