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Extending the Thong, err, Wrong Message
Posted by: Steve Wagner
June 19, 2008
Topic: Personal Injury

By now you've probably heard of the lawsuit filed recently in Los Angeles Superior Court concerning an injury allegedly caused by underwear. The plaintiff and her clueless attorney allege that a clasp sewed to a Victoria's Secret thong broke loose, injuring the the plaintiff's eye. (Full story and documents can be found here: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0617081secrets1.html?link=eaf). 

When I woke up this morning and saw this story, I groaned out loud.  It is frivolous cases like this which make it harder for those with legitimate cases to obtain justice before a jury.  Of course, the media seized upon this case, and Matt Lauer was more than happy to grill the client and her attorney about this ridiculous case.  Like the McDonald's "coffee case" years ago, this case gives the public the impression that millions of dollars are awarded for meritless product liability cases.  In reality, product liability cases are extremely difficult to win, especially in Indiana.  Lawyers need to spend thousands of dollars to hire expert witnesses to win a good products case, and the legal standard is tough to meet.  Unless there are catastrophic damages (i.e., death or serious injury) and an obvioulsy defective and dangerous product, no attorney I know takes product liability cases in Indiana.  The defendants (product manufacturers) and their attorneys know this, and thus there are no "quick settlements" in product liabilty cases.  I hate it when the truth gets in the way of a good myth!

Perhaps the real reason the "thong lawsuit" was filed was the inexperience of the plaintiff's attorney.  The attorney for the plaintiff, Jason Buccat, was admitted to practice in California only four weeks ago.  Great start to your legal career, you knucklehead.  Your negative publicity just made it that much harder for people with legitimate product liability claims to obtain justice.

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SECONDARY INJURIES DURING A WORKER?S COMPENSATION CLAIM
Posted by: Judy Pippin
May 06, 2008
Topic: Worker's Compensation

If you are currently receiving medical treatment for a work-related injury and you experience a subsequent injury, you need to report the second injury to your employer as soon as possible. If the second injury happened at work, then your employer may open a totally new worker's compensation case. However, if the second injury did not happen at work, but you think it may have happened because of the work injury--you may still be covered under worker's compensation.  If you would like more information on subsequent injuries, please contact the attorneys at Wagner Reese and Crossen.

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IMPD Officer Shelnutt at it Again?
Posted by: Steve Wagner
May 03, 2008
Topic: Personal Injury

Yesterday two people were killed in Indianapolis when a van being followed by an IMPD officer ran a red light, struck an SUV, and then slammed into an Indygo bus.  Initial reports from the police stressed that the van was not being pursued by police.  Our sources tell us that was not what happened, and, in fact, the IMPD officer was chasing the van at high speeds in the middle of the day in downtown Indianapolis.  The officer involved was none other than Ronald Shelnutt, an officer whose name should be well known to Indianapolis citizens.

While it is too early to know for sure what happened yesterday, Shelnutt's involvement certainly raises concerns.  He was the same officer who shot and killed stockbroker John Leaf on May 5, 2001 in John Leaf's own bedroom.  I personally handled that case for the Leaf family, and it was vigorously litigated for over 4 years.  In January of 2006 the taxpayers of Marion County paid what was believed to be the largest voluntary settlement by the city or county in an civil rights claim with payments totalling $1,175,000.  During the course of that case we discovered a litany of citizen complaints against Shelnutt, both before and after the Leaf shooting.  In fact, in 2005 Shelnutt was involved in another high speed chase on Michigan Road which ended in two deaths.  A wrongful death lawsuit arising out of that incident remains pending in federal court.  Moreover, Shelnutt was sued for excessive force in two other cases where he allegedly turned his police dog loose on subjects after they surrendered.  Those cases were settled for confidential amounts.

The Marion County Sheriff Department should have fired Ronald Shelnutt a long time ago.  They didn't have the guts to do it, and neither has the IMPD since the merger.  I understand that Shelnutt was reassigned to spotter duty in a police helicopter at one time (where he presumably could do little harm), but unfortunately for the citizens of Indianapolis, he was allowed to return to road patrol.  More civil rights lawsuits are certainly likely to follow.  Let's hope this most recent tragedy was nothing more than a coincidence.  Stay tuned.

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Metal Baseball Bats Banned Due to Injuries
Posted by: Jason Reese
March 19, 2008
Topic: Personal Injury

Recently, numerous states have banned the use of aluminum or metal baseball bats due to injuries. If you are any of your loved ones have been injured by an aluminum or metal baseball bat, call or email the attorneys at Wagner Reese & Crossen for additional information. Below please find several articles regarding the safety of metal and aluminum bats.

Study Looks at Metal Baseball Bat Safety

http://www.physorg.com/news111998954.html

Banning Metal Baseball Bats to Prevent Injuries in Youths and High Schoolers

http://blog.totalinjury.com/archives/cat-personal-injury-legislation-watch.html

Will Chicago Be First in Banning Dangerous Metal Baseball Bats in Little League Baseball

http://www.chicagoinjuryblog.com/2007/07/will_chicago_be_first_in_banni.html

New York City Bans Aluminum Bats

http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2007/03/15/new-york-city-bans-aluminum-baseball-bats/

Aluminum Baseball Bats Replaced by Manufacturers and Distributors

http://injury.findlaw.com/injury/recall.feeds/cpsc/1976/04/76024.html

Aluminum Softball and Baseball Bat Warning

http://injury.findlaw.com/injury/recall.feeds/cpsc/1975/07/75053.html

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CAN AN INJURED PARTY SUE THEIR EMPLOYER FOR A WORK RELATED INJURY?
Posted by: Judy Pippin
March 18, 2008
Topic: Worker's Compensation

The Indiana Worker's Compensation Act was created back in the 1800s. The purpose behind the Act is to get medical treatment and some wage benefits to injured workers and to shield employers from liability. This means that an injured worker should get the basic benefits of health care and wages while recovering from the work injury. It also means that most of the time, you cannot sue your employer for the accident. There are some exceptions, for example, if you were driving somewhere while in the course of your employment and were in an automobile accident caused by another party, you may have a claim against your employer for worker's compensation and against the driver of the other vehicle for the automobile accident. However, if you are at work and trip over a bucket left by someone else, then you do not have a case against your co-worker or employer. If you were a customer who tripped over the same bucket and sustained injuries, then you may have a case against the property owner or renter of the building. At Wagner Reese & Crossen, we are happy to talk with you about these and other issues you may have with your worker's compensation case.

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Legal Malpractice
Posted by: Jason Reese
March 14, 2008
Topic: Legal Malpractice

 Indiana Legal Malpractice Case Addresses The Issue of Equitable Subrogation

Yesterday, the New York Legal Malpractice Blog had an interesting post about a decision from the Court of Appeals of Indiana called Querrey & Harrow Ltd., et al. v. Transcontinental Insurance Co.which addresses the question, "can an excess insurer bring a legal malpractice action against an insureds attorneys?" The decision addresses issues of equitable subrogation and attorney-client privilege (to name a few), looking at the law in Indiana and other jurisdictions (including Illinois). It is definitely a case legal malpractice lawyers should take the few minutes to read.

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Worker's Compensation
Posted by: Judy Pippin
March 10, 2008
Topic: Worker's Compensation

After a work related injury, we understand that your whole world is turned upside-down. Not only are you dealing with the physical pain of the injury and potential depression from being injured, but there can also be additional financial difficulties. What your worker's compensation insurance company may not tell you is that you may be eligible to receive mileage reimbursement for travelling to doctor appointments outside of the county of your employer. While paying your mileage expenses is not going to fix all of your financial problems, it can certainly help get a little extra cash into the household. We realize that a lot of times the injured worker does not even know that they can recover mileage expenses. In Indiana, the rule is that you can recover mileage at $0.40 cents per mile if the medical treatment is outside of the county of your employment. At Wagner Reese & Crossen, we are always trying to maximize the benefits that you are entitled to in order to assist you in every way possible and every little bit helps. So, remember if you are travelling outside of the county of your employment for your medical treatment, keep a mileage log for reimbursement purposes.

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Legal Malpractice
Posted by: Jason Reese
March 10, 2008
Topic: Legal Malpractice

Illinois Appellate Court Holds Client's Settlement of Underlying Case Does Not Preclude Malpractice Claim

An Illinois appellate court recently held that under the doctrine of judicial estoppel, a client's statement in court that she understood and agreed to the terms of her divorce settlement did not bar the client from bringing a legal malpractice claim alleging her attorney failed to conduct adequate discovery and gave her negligent advice.

The doctrine of judicial estoppel is designed to protect the integrity of the judicial process by precluding a party from asserting a position in a judicial proceeding that is totally inconsistent with a position the party asserted in a prior judicial proceeding. In the instant case, the defendant attorney argued that the client's testimony at the divorce settlement prove up hearing that she understood and agreed to the terms of the divorce settlement precluded the malpractice action. The Court rejected this argument finding that because the client's testimony in the dissolution proceeding was predicated on her attorney's negligent failure to conduct adequate discovery and the attorney's negligent advice, the testimony in the prove up was not inconsistent with the allegations of malpractice.

The case probably would have been decided differently if the plaintiff client had alleged in her malpractice action that she did not understand the terms of the divorce settlement; instead it was alleged that the attorney's malpractice prevented the client from making an informed decision as to whether to accept the divorce settlement. See, Wolfe v. Wolfe, 2007 WL 2350187 (Ill.App., Aug. 2007).

*Source: Professional Liability Reporter, Volume 32, Number 10, October 2007.

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Please Report All Work Related Injuries
Posted by: Judy Pippin
January 25, 2008
Topic: Worker's Compensation

If you have been injured at work, then you must report the injury. This is such a simple message, but one that we need to be reminded of on occasion. This week alone I have received two phone calls from injured workers who failed to timely report their injuries. Sometimes, an injured employee may believe the injury is too insignificant to report, or that they will be fired if their injury is reported. Whatever reason you may have for not reporting an injury, please re-think it. While I think we can still help these individuals, I want to get the message out--Report your injury to your employer when it happens.

There is a possibility that when you report your injury to your employer, you may be told not to worry about worker's compensation and that your employer will take care of all of your treatment. The majority of the time, when an employer states that they will personally take care of you, and not to worry about filing a worker's compensation claim, it is untrue. Unfortunately, most employers who state this end up ignoring their employee's health care complaints and/or any medical bills that have been accrued. This will result in a delay in the reporting the injury to the worker's compensation insurance company, a delay in benefits received, and ultimately the worker is the one who will end up suffering. In the long run it helps all involved if the injury is timely reported to an employer and immediately turned into your employers worker's compensation carrier.

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Dog Bites
Posted by: Jason Reese
January 10, 2008
Topic: Dog Bites

Man Fined in Pit Bull Attack

Indianapolis - Amaya Hess, the toddler attacked by a pit bull earlier this year, had surgery Monday to fix a feeding tube. It was the latest step in her long road to recovery following the near fatal attack.

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