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Pennsylvania Injury Lawyers
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Gerard C. Kramer, Esq. represented clients in a dispute with their insurance company following a fire loss. The clients’ barn burned as a result of an electrical fire.
There was no dispute concerning the cause of the fire or the amount of coverage. The insurance company disputed the value of the clients’ property and whether certain property should be excluded from coverage. Suit was filed on behalf of the clients and after several delays by the insurance company, the case was arbitrated.
The judge awarded the entire policy limits of $100,000 to the clients. Also awarded was $100,000 in punitive damages as well as interest, attorney’s fees, and costs, which totaled an additional $75,000. The insurance company’s strategy to lowball and limit the claim resulted in an award 2½ times the policy limit.
Home or Apartment Fires
Every day, roughly 800 residence fires occur in the nation, with most starting overnight, between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. More than 6,500 Americans die in home and apartment fires annually, and over half are children and older persons.
Fire Safety
Taking three precautionary steps can save lives.
1. Install smoke alarms, and teach everyone about the dangers of smoke and flames in a home fire.
2. Plan and practice primary and alternate escape routes.
3. Identify a postescape meeting place.
A Negligent Landlord
A renter was severely injured when he had no alternative to jumping from a window during an apartment fire. The plaintiff’s attorney recovered damages by demonstrating that the landlord’s negligence was responsible for the client’s injuries. The landlord put a dead bolt on the fire exit to keep trespassers out and permitted other tenants to prop open internal fire doors to improve air circulation.
.Medicare Claim Hearings
A July 2005 change in federal policy limits Medicare beneficiaries’ access to claims-denials hearings, making it harder for older Americans to obtain justice. Forty-one million Americans participate in Medicare.
When Medicare denies claims for prescription medications, in-home care, nursing home medical services, or other benefits, claimants are now required to attend hearings conducted via videoconference or by telephone with judges supervised by the Department of Health and Human Services in only four cities—Cleveland, Ohio; Miami, Florida; Irvine, California; and Arlington, Virginia.
The recently enacted Medicare drug benefit is expected to create large numbers of claims. Previously, beneficiaries petitioning personal claims-denials hearings could travel to one of 140 Social Security offices located throughout the nation. Now, Medicare will conduct face-to-face hearings only under very special circumstances, and those demanding personal hearings forfeit the right to a 90-day decision.
Many legislators, patients’ rights groups, and Medicare attorneys claim four offices were insufficient and worried that the change would result in sick or aging beneficiaries not obtaining just or positive decisions.
For Your Safety—Recalled Product Roundup
Here are some recently recalled defective or dangerous products you may have in your home or at work:
- King of Fans, Inc. recalled 75,000 Maxi-Heat™ Dream Tower Heaters. Interior heater wiring can short-circuit and burn consumers.
- Porter-Cable has voluntarily called back 70,000 Porter-Cable 890 Series Routers with motor coil insulation that can be worn away by vibration and shock users.
- Country Home Products, Inc., has asked buyers to return 15,700 2005 Model NEUTON® cordless electric lawn mowers. Even when the handlebar is released, the motor sometimes continues to run, causing the blade to spin, which can harm consumers.
- Fisher-Price has recalled 614,000 Fisher-Price® Laugh & Learn™ Musical Learning Chairs™. Children may become trapped between the chair seatback and side table, which poses a strangulation hazard.
- Simplicity, Inc. requests consumers to return 104,000 Aspen 3-in-1 cribs, sold under the Graco trademark. Support screws can loosen, allowing mattresses to fall and pose a suffocation hazard to young children.
- LTD Commodities and its subsidiary, The Lakeside Collection, have voluntarily recalled 34,600 Pilates balls. Exercisers using the balls can be hurt by plastic clips or grommets that may loosen from rubber tubing on nylon webbing.
Auto Accidents…What Is “Proper Lookout?”
In auto accident cases, drivers may be found negligent for failing to keep “proper lookout.”
A driver is obliged by law to constantly monitor all the circumstances of driving in order to prevent a car accident. Requirements include paying attention to the roadway, traffic signals and controls, and other drivers.
To keep a proper lookout, drivers also should avoid common distractions. Studies show that the most common driver distractions are accidents, slowdowns, or other events outside the driver’s vehicle; changing radio stations or CDs; talking with passengers; adjusting heating or cooling controls; eating or drinking; talking on a car or cell phone; and smoking.
Younger drivers are more prone to music-related distractions. Adults have their attention diverted by passengers. Seniors attend to objects or events happening outside the vehicle.
Drive safely. Keep a proper outlook.
Police Officers and Qualified Immunity
The long-term legal doctrine of qualified immunity protects police officers and public officials from unreasonable allegations or false accusations that might hamper their ability to enforce the law or perform governmental business.
Most citizens understand that police put their lives at risk during dangerous situations and believe officers deserve some leeway in their behavior—as long as the police obey the law and uphold citizens’ civil rights.
When Police Overstep Bounds
When police violate the law while performing their duties, our civil justice system provides citizens a way to protect their rights. An appellate court ruled that a defendant law-enforcement officer who conducted clearly unconstitutional strip searches on two suspects arrested for drunk driving, and also made racist and threatening comments, did not have qualified immunity from prosecution. The court permitted the plaintiffs to sue to recover damages.
Collusion Lawsuit Challenges Mandatory Arbitration
Credit- and charge-card marketers take away consumers’ rights to dispute unauthorized use, erroneous merchant billing, and extra fees by requiring cardholders to accept mandatory arbitration clauses in disagreements.
A 2005 lawsuit filed against these marketers alleges that they met in secret numerous times between 1998 and 2003 to establish strategies for industry-wide imposition of mandatory arbitration clauses for settling customer disagreements. The plaintiffs claim that the clauses “deprive cardholders of effective recourse for illegal anticonsumer and anticompetitive activity, secure an unfair advantage for defendants in the dispute-resolution process, and immunize defendants from collective action by consumers.”
Defendants
- American Express
- Bank of America
- Capital One
- Chase, Bank One
- Citibank/Diners Club
- Discover, Household
- First USA
- J.P. Morgan Chase
- MBNA
- Wells Fargo
Plaintiffs want the clauses, which also ban class actions and let companies skirt consumer protection and antitrust laws meant to prevent corporate misconduct, declared void.
Mandatory Arbitration
Credit-card mandatory arbitration puts consumers at serious disadvantages because it:
- forces unknowing waivers of constitutional rights
- does not give cardholders an opportunity to opt out of arbitration
- screens cases from public scrutiny
- compels cardholders to agree to biased, company-selected arbitrators
- fast-tracks cases and card issuers can win quickly
- prevents legal discovery of important information about a company’s disputed actions
- limits remedies available to wronged purchasers
- may require consumers to pay arbitration costs
Scott B. Cooper recently achieved a $205,000 settlement due to an automobile accident. This amount represented the entire policy limits for the other driver and for the SK Law client’s underinsured motorist benefits. The client was initially denied underinsured motorist benefits by the insurance company due to an exclusion in the policy.
Using his experience and expertise, Scott was able to explain to the insurance company how its policy actually did not allow for this exclusion. The insurance company reconsidered the denial without ever needing to go to court.
Free Consultation
Have you been injured? Contact a Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer at SchmidtKramer today. Our office is located in Harrisburg and we have successfully advocated for clients throughout Pennsylvania, including Camp Hill, Carlisle, Chambersburg, Harrisburg, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lewisburg, Lewistown, Mechanicsburg, Palmyra, Perry County, Pottsville, Shippensburg, State College, and York. Complete a FREE Online Consultation Form or call us today.
Pennsylvania Office209 State Street
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: (717) 232-6300
Fax: (717) 232-6467
1 (800)232-6301
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