As thousands of Post-Engle cases wind their way through the Florida court system, Philip Morris, R. J. Reynolds, Lorillard and Liggett & Myers are facing daily challenges.  After years of priding themselves on winning most of  the lawsuits filed against them through historic “scorched earth” tactics, it appears that those days are over (and perhaps it is time for Big Tobacco to rewrite that old playbook).

Here are just a few of the highlights for the past week:

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Jurors returned a verdict in the amount of $1,094,034.30 on Friday, February 12, 2010 for a young man tragically injured in a crash with a Palm Beach County School Bus.

The 14 year old boy, Altavious Carter, was being driven home by his basketball coach after practice. The coach made a routine stop at a red traffic light. A Palm Beach County School District bus was traveling at 45 or 50 miles per hour, approaching the unsuspecting 14 year old basketball star. For reasons still unclear, the bus failed to slow; failed to stop; and rear ended the vehicle where the 14 year old was appropriately seat belted. The 14 year old boy, who loved basketball, suffered a broken neck and other serious injuries.

Not surprisingly, the Palm Beach County School District admitted their fault in the accident and the case went to trial in Palm Beach County last week. The School District argued they should not owe the young man more than $250,000 for his very significant injuries; because they argued he had failed to suffer a permanent injury.

Searcy Denney attorneys, Brian Denney and Jack Hill, tried the case to a jury of six Palm Beach County jurors.

This young man has fought a valiant battle in coming back from his injuries. Doctors feared he would be paralyzed, but this young man has demonstrated a heroic courage. He has had very limited resources with which to rehabilitate himself and has largely been successful through sheer strength of will.

Because the School District of Palm Beach County is a “sovereign immune”, governmental entity, it is not likely they will voluntarily make payment of the verdict. It will be necessary to win a claims bill submitted to the Florida legislature before any payment will be made to Mr. Carter. Although the battle is not over Attorneys Denney and Hill are ecstatic that their client will have the funds to go forward in his life on a more positive basis than he has been able to do so far.

Our firm is proud to announce eight of our attorneys have been awarded Best Lawyers in America designations for 2010. Of the eight attorneys, two were named Lawyers of the Year for 2010.

Christian (Chris) D Searcy was honored by being recognized as Lawyer of the Year in the area of medical malpractice litigation and F. Gregory (Greg) Barnhart was recognized as Lawyer of the Year in the area of personal injury.

Both seasoned and successful litigators, Chris and Greg, are honored to have been recognized amongst their peers in this way.

Six attorneys from Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, PA were recognized by their peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America for 2010:

• John (Jack) Scarola
• John A Shipley III
• David J Sales
• Christopher K Speed
• Darryl L Lewis
• Karen E Terry

These six experienced and successful trial attorneys are also proud to have been honored in this way.

Our firm is extremely pleased and proud that The Best Lawyers in America designation has again been assigned to some of our many successful attorneys. It is our firm’s continued objective to provide our clients with only the very finest legal representation possible.

On September 24, 2009, a hearing was held in Richmond, Virginia before the National Panel on Multi-District Litigation with regard the lawsuits that have been filed against the manufacturers of YAZ, Yasmin and Ocella.  This Panel of federal judges who oversee the establishment and coordination of mass torts litigation within the federal court system will decide shortly whether to assign all of the lawsuits pending in the federal courts to a single judge for the purposes of managing the litigation and overseeing discovery and early trials of these claims.   A decision from the Panel on the need for national coordination is anticipated within the next several weeks.   Individual lawsuits are also being coordinated in state court in Philadelphia before Judge Sandra Moss.

It is anticipated that thousands of individual lawsuits will shortly be filed by girls and women who suffered serious personal injuries or died as a result of their ingestion of these popular birth control pills.  These lawsuits include claims that the drugs are defective, the warnings given with the drugs were inaccurate or insufficient, and that the manufacturer’s marketing of the drugs was improper. Yaz, Yasmin, and Ocella (and its European counterpart Yasminelle) are considered fourth generation oral contraceptives and all contain a unique progestin component – drospirenone in addition to varying doses of ethinyl estradiol.  These birth control pills have been linked to a number of serious injuries including deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary emboli (PE), heart attacks, strokes, and gallbladder disease.  Further information about these drugs and our firm’s involvement in the YAZ/Yasmin/Ocella litigation is available at our firm’s website.

When you suffer an injury your first thought is not who can I sue; or, it certainly should not be that thought. What most people think about are their injuries, how to obtain treatment and how to put their lives back together. As a result of attending to these essential things, valuable time is often lost in the event compensation is due from a negligent party for your injuries.

Whether you know you have a claim or whether you want to pursue a claim in the event you have one is not the only basis for seeking legal representation. The initial reason to timely seek legal representation is to preserve evidence, witness knowledge, and examine your legal rights. Attorneys can only advise clients what their legal rights are and make recommendations on whether and how to pursue those cases having merit. Ultimately, the decision to pursue a legal claim is solely yours.

If, however, too much time passes between the occurrence of an injury and the beginning of an investigation, evidence may be lost and the recollection of witnesses (including you) may grow dim. So, gathering facts can be crucial to preserving your legal rights.
If you are involved in any accident, there are some basic things you or someone on your behalf can do:
Obtain the names, addresses, e-mail addresses and telephone numbers of any witnesses;

• Obtain the name(s), addresses. E-mail addresses, and telephone numbers of anyone who may be responsible for your injuries. In an automobile accident, that may be the person who rear ended you, but if, for example, the other driver pulled out in front of you because “the bushes were blocking my view”, an additional potentially responsible party may be the property owner of the bushes.
• Record the type of vehicles; including the make, model, license tag number, and the type of damage to each vehicle.
• If your vehicle is inoperable, try to determine the location to which it is being towed.
• Take photographs. Nearly every cell telephone has the capacity to take basic photographs of the scene of any accident. In an automobile accident, photograph all the vehicles; photograph the damages to each vehicle; photograph the scene by standing out of traffic and shooting a series of pictures moving from the left to the right of the entire scene. Photograph skid marks.
• If you can, sketch the scene and include the relative location of vehicles when they ultimately came to rest.
• Obtain investigating officers names and telephone numbers.

Any time you are injured, the very first priority needs to be your injuries and getting them attended. Never place yourself in a position of peril in attempting to obtain evidence. If people are unwilling to volunteer information, do not try to force them. When an accident occurs, emotions are often high. Your goal, or someone acting on your behalf, is not to take the place of skilled police officers or investigators.

If you are unable to do any of this at the scene because you are injured, ask a friend, spouse, or other person to do it for you to the extent that is possible.

Call an attorney to determine your rights.

Once upon a time there was an insurance crisis…a lawsuit crisis…a medical malpractice crisis…a series of crisis manufactured by industries who have a need for consumers to have someone other than them to blame. The insurance industry, the healthcare industry, Associated Industries — the business of business organizations; they all have very distinct business reasons for keeping consumers mad at trial lawyers. These businesses know that government does not have the time or resources to hold them accountable for negligence; sometimes intentional; and so, they keep throwing gasoline on the fire of the propaganda created disdain for trial lawyers.

When I have the opportunity to give speeches or hear them given in connection with tort reform and tort law in general, the conversation usually finds itself leading to a discussion of medical negligence, medical malpractice. From there, depending on the group, we talk about doctors “fleeing” states; excessive malpractice premiums; and, inevitably, the “McDonald’s coffee case”.

What does it take to file a medical negligence lawsuit in “good faith”? To truly understand that, you must understand the elements the plaintiff is required to prove in any lawsuit:

• Negligence – someone acted improperly—a deviation from the acceptable standard of care.
• Causation—the someone’s improper action caused damages (in whole or in part)
• Damages – the injury flowing from the act of negligence

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For attorneys who represent injured victims of personal injury giving back to the community is not new. Interestingly, the work done and promoted by these lawyers is often done quietly. For decades, trial lawyers have felt compelled to try and help those less blessed by life. We are proud to recognize one of our own, Partner Jack Scarola.

Jack Scarola has been involved with many helping organizations over the years, but he has been connected to The Lord’s Place, here in West Palm Beach, since its inception in 1979. Recently, Jack was named as Chairman of this organization and continues his deep involvement with them.

In a country as great as ours, no one should have to go hungry and no one should be without a home. Sadly, this is not the case:

• 40% of homeless people went without anything to eat for at least one day in the last 30 days because they could not afford food.
• 64% of homeless people report they have a problem with alcohol or drug use.  39% report they have mental health problems.
• While homeless 79% have money or possessions stolen from them.
• 44% have jobs that do not pay enough to keep a roof over their heads.
• 60% of homeless women have children who live with them.
• In Palm Beach County, approximately 4,000 individuals are homeless on any given day.  35% of those are children.
• 83% of the homeless in Palm Beach County report they need multiple services to escape homelessness.
• 89% of respondents are homeless for one year or less.

Think about some of these statistics. Every day in Palm Beach County, 1200 children are homeless. Nationwide, it is estimated that between 700,000 and 2,000,000 people are homeless everyday in this country.

We applaud the very difficult work done by groups such as the Lord’s Place and we are proud that Jack Scarola has taken the time since 1979 to care for those less fortunate. We could all learn from some of Jack’s words in explaining his vision for the Lord’s Place:

“…promoting an increased awareness of how much the quality of life for each of us depends on the quantity of our compassion for the less fortunate members of our community.”

At the time of an auto accident, you are confused, disoriented and making good decisions may not come to you as quickly as during normal times. But, after an auto accident, in the minutes after an accident, a day or two after, there are steps you must take to ensure your safety, the safety of others, and your financial safety.

Nearly any accident is preventable by someone; but maybe not by you. Certainly, defensive driving; anticipating what other drivers may do at any given time and what your corresponding reaction would be, is important. Defensive driving, by itself, may not be enough to avoid the driver who runs into the back of you or the driver who runs the red light and T-bones you. So, wear your seat belt, and maintain good, comprehensive insurance coverage in order to guard against those times when defensive driving is not enough.

The first step to take after you are involved in an auto accident is to stop. Leaving the scene of an accident is not only illegal, but could also be dangerous. You, your passengers, your car, or others at the scene could be injured or damaged, and leaving could increase these damages; but, more importantly, leaving may place someone’s life in danger. Tell your passengers to stay in the car; check for oncoming traffic to your rear, sides and front; make sure that you, your passengers, and the other party involved in the accident are safe.

If allowing your vehicle to remain where it came to rest is dangerous to other motorists and your vehicle can be safely moved off the roadway, do so in the safest possible way. If your vehicle can not be moved or if moving your vehicle may cause more dangerous problems, leave your vehicle where it is and call the appropriate law enforcement or 911. Without endangering yourself, try to verify the condition of other drivers and their passengers so you can fully inform the law enforcement agency. Never agree to leave the scene of an accident without contacting law enforcement; even if you think the accident was your fault. The problems involved with not having law enforcement evaluation of an accident can be significant.

Exchange information with the other party. The necessary information includes:

• the name of the other driver;
• the address and telephone numbers (including business numbers) of the other driver;
• the name(s), and if possible addresses, of passengers in the other drivers’ cars;
• the name, address, telephone number, and policy number for the insurance company providing coverage to the the other party;
• the date and time of the accident;

Take pictures of your car, the other cars, and the overall roadway. Most cell phones have cameras that will be sufficient for this task. Do not go into the roadway or endanger yourself to obtain pictures.

Do not volunteer any information  or opinions concerning fault in the accident. The police will write a full report based on their own visual inspection. Answer the questions of the police officer fully. Ask the police officer for an incident or report number. As soon as possible, call your insurance company and provide them with a complete accounting of the accident. Once you arrive at your ultimate destination or as soon as your injuries permit, call your insurance company in order to open a claim in connection with the accident.

Do not provide statements to insurance companies representing anyone else. If you are contacted by someone claiming to be from your insurance company, obtain their name and telephone number; call them back to verify they are actually from your insurance company. Ask your insurance company for a written copy of any statement you may give to them.

If you are injured in the accident or if you have any questions concerning your rights, contact an attorney skilled in personal injury law to determine your rights and what action, if any, you should take. Under no circumstances can it be recommended you sign any releases or provide recorded statements to the opposing insurance company adjusters without contacting an attorney to learn about your rights.

Remember that limitation periods apply to causes of action arising from auto negligence and failure to make a claim or file a lawsuit within the prescribed time may cause you to lose important legal rights. Contact an attorney you trust to determine what the limitation period may be in your case.

A September of 2008 study published in the journal Radiology, sought to further identify those patients most at risk for the development of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) as a result of exposure to gadolinium-based contrast agents.  Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis is an incurable, devastating disease that manifests itself as significant skin thickening, widespread fibrosis, and joint contractures.  This particular disease has only one cause – contrast agents commonly used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs) and angiograms.

In this study, the researchers reviewed medical records for nearly 75,000 patients treated at two hospitals over a ten-year period. The study noted that standard lab measurements of renal function were helpful in identifying patients most at risk for development of NSF.  Patients with a glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of less than 15 were at highest risk, although NSF cases were also noted in patients with eGFR scores as high as 30.  This study is consistent with others that have confirmed that a wide range of patients are at risk for development of NSF, not just those patients with advanced renal failure.  The study noted that a shocking 8.8% of patients with an eGFR of less than 15 (and not undergoing dialysis) developed NSF. The study also concluded that patients receiving the highest doses of gadolinium faced the highest risks of developing NSF .