Posted on February 17, 2016 in Uncategorized

The wife of former San Antonio Spurs player and coach Monty Williams was killed in a head-on car crash in Oklahoma City that also claimed the life of another driver.

Ingrid Williams was traveling northbound in her SUV on South Western Avenue when a driver on the southbound side drifted over the center line and hit her head-on. The other driver, and her dog, were both killed almost instantly. Ms. Williams was transported to a nearby hospital, where she later died as well. Her three children and the driver of a third vehicle that collided with the wreckage were all rushed to nearby hospitals and are expected to recover.

Monty Williams, who is currently an assistant coach with the Oklahoma City Thunder, played for the Spurs from 1995 through 1998 and subsequently served as a coaching intern. News of the crash rendered Spurs’ head coach Gregg Popvich visibly shaken, according to reports, and, he considered not coaching in the team’s game against the Orlando Magic.

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 Posted on February 12, 2016 in Uncategorized

“I’m tired.”

These were the last words that former Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler uttered before his death last July at age 69. Now, according to a brain autopsy performed at his request, doctors know that a serious brain injury may have caused that fatigue.

Following a seven-month investigation, researchers determined that Mr. Stabler was suffering from Stage 3 Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a diagnosis that helps his family understand why his mind seemed to slip away in his later years. Mr. Stabler was one of the first quarterbacks diagnosed with CTE, suggesting that all players in contact sports are at risk for developing the disease. Scientists believe that repetitive blows to the head cause the degenerative condition, though other factors may play a part as well.

The free-spirited Ken Stabler won the National Football League’s Most Valuable Player award in 1974 and captained the renegade Raiders to their first world title two years later.

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 Posted on February 11, 2016 in Uncategorized

Thanks to a recent agreement in a lawsuit, drivers for the ride-sharing service Lyft will remain non-employees for most purposes, but are they employees for car crash purposes?

Under the terms of the settlement, which must still be approved by a federal judge, the plaintiff drivers will receive $12.25 million in cash, which will be distributed according to the length of time they have driven in California. Moreover, the company agreed to rework the terms of service and allow drivers to contest compensation and deactivation issues through a company-provided arbitration service. In return, the drivers will continue to be classified as “independent contractors” for tax purposes, meaning that they are ineligible for workers’ compensation and not protected by federal and state wage and hour laws.

In a statement, the company said it was “pleased to have resolved this matter on terms that preserve the flexibility of drivers;” the drivers’ attorney called the settlement an “adequate resolution of the claims we brought.”

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 Posted on February 05, 2016 in Uncategorized

Rain slick roads, reckless driving, and excessive speed created a deadly combination in a San Antonio car crash.

The wreck took place at the intersection of Hollyhock Road and Babcock Road. According to police and witnesses, a pickup truck went through the light and t-boned a sedan driven by a 71-year-old woman. She was rushed to a local hospital where she was later declared dead.

Authorities insist that alcohol and drugs were not a factor. The driver is not facing charges at this time.

Duty in a Car Crash

An English case, 1932’s Donoghue v. Stevenson, is at the root of the American idea of legal duty in a car crash. In that case, a Scottish woman sued a local beer bottler after she found a partially-decomposed dead snail in the bottom of a bottle. In ruling that the defendant bottler was negligent, Lord Atkin articulated the neighbour test: “You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour,” a term that includes “persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected.”

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 Posted on February 03, 2016 in Uncategorized

Texas insurance companies paid over $10 million to resolve dog bite claims with an average value of over $16,000 per claim, according to a recent survey.

Across the country, about a third of homeowners’ insurance claims arise from dog bites. Researchers speculate that the high numbers are because about two-thirds of American households have at least one pet. Furthermore, jury verdicts tend to be high in these cases, meaning that the settlement values are high as well. The “dog bite” category also includes non-bite injuries, like those the result from animal-caused falls and serious knockdowns.

California and Ohio have the highest number of claims; insurance companies in New York and Michigan pay the most money per claim.

Dog Bites

Every day, approximately 1,000 Americans visit the emergency room due to a dog bite; on average, the medical bills incurred in these incidents are 50 percent higher than the ones related to car crashes. Unlike some other states, Texas does not have a “dog bite law” as such, so victims have a number of options to obtain compensation for their injuries.

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 Posted on January 29, 2016 in Uncategorized

A large ridesharing service is focusing on the San Antonio military community in its push to recruit 10,000 drivers by the end of 2016; the company’s general manager predicts that more ridesharing will mean fewer drunk driving crashes.

The ridesharing service Uber temporarily ceased operations in the Alamo City but returned last October with 2,000 drivers, after reaching a marketing agreement with the city. Now, the service hopes to equal the number of drivers that are in nearby Austin. The company’s general manager said that military personnel and their families made excellent ridesharing drivers, because of the consistently high ratings they earn from passengers and the ability to “find work in the somewhat transient lifestyle that they have.” He predicted that the service would be successful, because of the difficulty in traveling through the area and the high number of drunk driving incidents.

There are currently three ridesharing services operating in San Antonio, in addition to a number of “standard” taxi cab companies.

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 Posted on January 27, 2016 in Uncategorized

The “King of Torts” recently passed away quietly at age 90.

Mr. Joe Jamail, who was born in Houston in 1925, obtained his law degree from the University of Texas in 1953, and built a career that included over 100 verdicts which exceeded $1 million. One of the most noted verdicts, a $10.5 billion breach of contract action that involved two giant oil companies, came in 1985. A number of years later, the consummate Texan admitted that he had a difficulties during closing arguments in that case, following a night of drinking with a country music singing star and a legendary local college football coach.

In an ironic twist, Mr. Jamail flunked a torts class while a student at the University of Texas Law School.

Success in a Personal Injury Case

Joe Jamail was one of the most successful personal injury attorneys of his generation not because of the depths of his legal knowledge, but rather due to his ability to connect with juries and deliver arguments in a persuasive and easy-to-understand manner.

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 Posted on January 22, 2016 in Uncategorized

Over 95 percent of civil cases are settled out of court. In a personal injury settlment, the victim receives money in exchange for a waiver of all claims related to the incident. While the outcome is fairly certain, the process is anything but. In fact, a successful settlement in a personal injury case, which is defined as the most possible compensation, is a delicate combination of science and art.

The Science: Preliminary Steps

Before a demand can even be made, the amount of damages must be determined. In most cases that involve a serious injury, all immediate medical needs must be taken care of: broken bones should be mostly healed and other immediate injuries must be addressed. Additionally, most doctors need to evaluate their patients over the course of several visits, to determine an appropriate course of long-term treatment.

Once the amount of current economic damages is established, the amount of future economic damages can be fairly ascertained. Because of the permanent waiver, future expenses must be accounted for, to the greatest extent possible.

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 Posted on January 22, 2016 in Uncategorized

One person is dead after two trucks collided near the intersection of Borgfeld Road and U.S. 281 in northern Bexar County.

Sherriff’s deputies reported that one vehicle was pulling out of a subdivision and onto the highway, directly into the path of a speeding truck. The force of the impact propelled both vehicles down the highway, leaving a trail of debris on the roadway before they eventually came to rest not far from each other. One victim was airlifted to a local hospital, but he was pronounced dead en route.

Authorities have yet to determine fault in the crash.

Comparative Fault

In the above incident, it seems that both drivers may have been partially at fault: one apparently failed to yield the right-of-way to oncoming traffic and the other one may have been exceeding the speed limit. If taken independently, either act constitutes negligence per se as a violation of a traffic law.

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 Posted on January 15, 2016 in Uncategorized

A Maryland school official intends to order $25,000 worth of chocolate milk to help student athletes recover from concussions.

The Washington County superintendent acknowledged that scientists may believe he is “[expletive deleted] nuts” to think that chocolate milk can limit brain damage, but he says the move is supported by an unpublished study from the University of Maryland. That study concluded that athletes who drank a specific brand of chocolate milk after games and practices had higher scores on post-concussion cognitive tests that athletes who did not drink it. The product manufacturer stated that the milk has enhanced levels of protein, electrolytes, and other brain-friendly ingredients.

When asked to comment, a neuropsychologist at the Sports Concussion Center of New Jersey speculated that the correlation is simply due to the fact that “regular hydration and nutrition for athletes is important for brain health and neuroprotection.”

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