We’re noticing a lot of lawyer billboards along the highways and byways lately–but what do you think about them?
Take our short (very short–4 questions!) survey and let us know. The survey’s right below.
Thanks…we’ll let you know the results.
-The LAS team
The journalists at LawyersandSettlements.com conduct hundreds of lawyer interviews each year on the latest legal issues—lawsuits, mass torts, class actions, settlements—that our readers are most interested in. The attorneys our journalists interview provide a birds-eye view into the cases we report on. Here are the top 10 attorney interviews that readers clicked during the first half of this year (in reverse order):
10. Attorney Stacy Hauer, co-lead counsel in the Minnesota State Court American Medical Systems litigation, discusses the transvaginal mesh lawsuits being consolidated into an MDL (multi-district litigation).
9. Attorney Tim McCarthy shares insight on the Starbucks class action lawsuit regarding the company’s switch from Tassimo to Keurig single-serve coffee. The lawsuit alleges consumer fraud.
8. Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik discusses the outcome of the FDA advisory panel meeting held at the end of 2011 regarding the safety and efficacy of oral contraceptives, including drospirenone-based birth control drugs Yasmin and Yaz.
7. Attorney Brenda Fulmer, who specializes in medical device litigation, talks about allegations surrounding CardioGen 82 over-radiation.
6. Attorney Eric B. Brown shares some information on making a Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claim and what needs to be included to prove a 100 percent inability to work.
5. Attorney Shaun Setareh—a California labor law attorney—answers five commonly asked questions on filing a wage and hour lawsuit.
4. Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik, who is both an attorney and a cardiologist, discusses Yasmin and Yaz settlements and how Bayer had indicated it would handle settling Yaz claims.
3. Attorney Barry Kramer informs readers about excessive emergency room charges and how it is typically uninsured patients who are victims of hospital overcharging—and compounding the issue, emergency room costs are increasing.
2. Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik on the Yaz litigation concerning oral contraceptives that contain drospirenone and their alleged side effects which range from gallbladder problems to DVTS to stroke—and even death.
1. Attorney Stacy Hauer discusses the legal claim “loss of consortium” and how it plays into the allegations regarding the transvaginal mesh litigation. She explains that, “The woman and their partners who have been injured have significant loss of intimacy in their relationships due to their injuries.”
Bet you didn’t even realize your car might have a ‘black box’—one of those event data recorders (EDR) that you usually hear in reference to rescue workers mining through some airplane wreckage after a flight’s gone down. Well, while it’s not required by law, if your car has airbags, there’s a very good chance it also has an EDR in it (you can check your owner’s manual to find out, though the NHTSA states 91.6 percent of light vehicles already had them as of 2011).
And, depending on what state you live in, the information that could be recorded on your EDR in the event of a car accident could virtually be fair game for police or insurance companies.
The name ‘EDR’ comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) where a car EDR is defined as:
“A function or device installed in a motor vehicle to record technical vehicle and occupant information for a brief period of time (seconds, not minutes) before, during and after a crash for the purpose of monitoring and assessing vehicle safety system performance. For instance, EDRs may record (1) pre-crash vehicle dynamics and system status, (2) driver inputs, (3) vehicle crash signature, (4) restraint usage/deployment status, and (5) post-crash data such as the activation of an automatic collision notification (ACN) system.”
While a lot of folks refer to the EDR as the more commonly heard ‘black box’ from airplanes, trains and ships—there is a difference. A black box data recorder records information continuously during the entire time the airplane or train is in operation. By contrast, a car’s EDR only records the brief period of time just before an accident would occur.
So speaking of a possible car crash, who exactly has access to that EDR data if you should have a car accident? Currently, 13 states have privacy laws in place that protect EDR data. However, according to the NHTSA, “Courts can subpoena EDR data through court orders, and some States collect data under their existing State laws governing crash investigations. Some insurance policies may have contract terms related to data collection from EDRs.”
And EDR data has been used in some court cases as evidence.
But car accident lawyer Rex Parris, of R. Rex Parris Law Firm in Lancaster, CA doesn’t think EDR’s are a bad thing. Parris, who’s also the mayor of Lancaster, CA, was recently interviewed by KTVU Channel 2 News on the subject. According to the KTVU interview, Parris says, “It gives us a lot of information that would shorten trials, and—in many, many cases—remove the necessity of a trial.”
“It has the effect of keeping people honest,” said Parris. ” You know, you’re not gonna lie about your speed. You’re not gonna lie about what happened, because there’s evidence saying what happened.”
California, the state in which Parris practices law, is one of the 13 states with laws protecting EDR data privacy. California law prohibits any download of that data without the owner’s permission or a court order. Aside from California, the other states with such privacy laws are: Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
But state laws vary and there is currently no standard for car manufacturers regarding which event data the EDRs should record. As such, there is a bill winding its way through Congress right now—Senate Bill 1813 (Section 31406)—aka MAP-21—that seeks to not only mandate installation of EDRs in all new cars starting in 2015, but also standardize which events the EDRs can capture. The bill already passed the Senate in March.
In terms of data privacy, should the bill go through, it specifies that the vehicle’s owner would have access to the data on collected on it—here are the Limitations on Information Retrieval from the bill:
(1) OWNERSHIP OF DATA- Any data in an event data recorder required under part 563 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, regardless of when the passenger motor vehicle in which it is installed was manufactured, is the property of the owner, or in the case of a leased vehicle, the lessee of the passenger motor vehicle in which the data recorder is installed.
(2) PRIVACY- Data recorded or transmitted by such a data recorder may not be retrieved by a person other than the owner or lessee of the motor vehicle in which the recorder is installed unless–
(A) a court authorizes retrieval of the information in furtherance of a legal proceeding;
(B) the owner or lessee consents to the retrieval of the information for any purpose, including the purpose of diagnosing, servicing, or repairing the motor vehicle;
(C) the information is retrieved pursuant to an investigation or inspection authorized under section 1131(a) or 30166 of title 49, United States Code, and the personally identifiable information of the owner, lessee, or driver of the vehicle and the vehicle identification number is not disclosed in connection with the retrieved information; or
(D) the information is retrieved for the purpose of determining the need for, or facilitating, emergency medical response in response to a motor vehicle crash.
The bill, however, still needs to get through the House. So stay tuned.
LawyersandSettlements.com publishes hundreds of lawyer interviews each year on the latest legal issues—lawsuits, mass torts, class actions, settlements—that our readers are most interested in. The attorneys—and expert witnesses—our journalists’ interviews provide a birds-eye view into the cases we report on.
Here are the top 10 attorney interviews that readers clicked during the month of May, 2012 (in reverse order):
10. Attorney Tim McCarthy, from McCarthy Law Group, on the consumer fraud class action lawsuit over Starbuck’s quitting its Tassimo coffee maker deal with Kraft Foods for one with Keurig.
9. Attorney Barry Kramer, on patients who have either paid, or have been billed, excessive emergency room charges.
8. Attorney Andy Hollis of Hollis, Wright, and Couch, P.C., on the case against ADHD drug Adderall.
7. Attorney Mark Thierman, on filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of Las Vegas limousine drivers against Bell Trans, Nevada’s largest limousine company, alleging failure to pay minimum wage and overtime.
6. Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik, on Bayer being in the process of settling certain Yasmin, Yaz and Ocella blood clot lawsuits.
5. Medical consultant and analyst Lana Keeton, on the dangers of synthetic transvaginal mesh and transvaginal sling for Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) and/or Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI).
4. Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik, on the Yaz and Yasmin bellwether trials. (See more info on bellwether trials)
3. Attorney Leonard Emma of The Law Office of Randall Crane, on California labor—what “independent contractor” means and employee misclassifications.
2. California Labor Attorney Randall Crane answers the question: “Can I be Fired if I’m Disabled?“
1. California Employee Attorney Donna M. Ballman, P.A., on bullying and harassment on the job.
Lots going on in legal news that you might’ve missed this past week–starting with our latest Lawyers Giving Back profile of Attorney Ed Susolik who took on a big insurance company on behalf of an 80-year old man—all because Susolik read about the situation in the newspaper! And he took on the man’s case pro bono. Nice to know there are some guardian angels out there willing to help folks when they least expect it.
We also covered Purina Waggin’ Train Yam Good dog treats, Hurricane Katrina FEMA trailers and an Allstate car insurance settlement in our Week Adjourned update on the latest class action lawsuits and settlements—followed by Asbestos News Roundup (with the focus on asbestos drilling mud and oil rig workers).
Finally, last week some of our team made a pilgrimage to Philadelphia–birthplace of our nation’s Constitution and, of course, the Declaration of Independence, for the 225th anniversary of the US Constitution. Lots to see—you can check out some pics on our Facebook page, too—and in the midst of it all, the spring return of Occupy Philly.