All Topics

• North Carolina's Favorable Insurance Rates in Danger of Increasing

  Sheila Chavis | April 18, 2007 1:14 PM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  The North Carolina Legislature is currently considering a bill that was recently introduced by Senator Tony Rand. This bill, SB 901 (and House Bill 1430) has created significant controversey and discussion around the State, as the bills are projected to have a negative impact on drivers who are involved in car accidents and workers who suffer work-related injuries . The state's major...

• Beware of the Hidden Dangers of Reclining Seats

  Brent Adams | April 13, 2007 12:11 PM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  A Jacksonville, Florida jury awarded $16.9 Million to a young college student who was rendered a paraplegic in a motor vehicle collision. The student who was a passenger in a Ford Windstar had reclined her seatback.The Ford Windstar was involved in a low impact collision. However, because the student's seat was reclined, the seatbelt did not hold her in place.A Jacksonville, Florida jury...

• Bus Accident Critically Injuries Minor

  Christina Medlin | April 13, 2007 8:00 AM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  Monday, April 9, Anusha Vasudeva was struck by a minivan Monday morning while running to her bus stop in Morrisville. In NC under the doctrine of contributory negligence, a child between the ages of 7 and 14 is presumed to be incapable of contributory negligence. This presumption may be overcome by evidence that the child did not use the care which a child of its age, capacity, discretion,...

• Supervisor Picks Worker Up By the Throat and Throws Him to the Concrete Floor

  Brent Adams | April 11, 2007 11:05 AM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  The tire changer told this supervisor that his own supervisor had instructed him not to perform such work. When the tire changer refused to comply with the request to work on ambulance tires this supervisor, Mr. King, threatened him. As the tire changer started to walk away, King grabbed him by the throat, picked him up in the air, and threw him down to the concrete floor where he landed flat...

• Court of Appeals Upholds Injured Employee's Award

  Robin Martinek | April 11, 2007 9:20 AM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  In a recent decision, the North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld an injured workers' award of total disability despite protests by his employer that he had a previous disabling injury. Mr. Raymond M. Ard was employed by Owens-Illinois as a stock handler and was consistently required to move forty-pound boxes as part of his job duties. On May 11, 2001, Mr. Ard sought treatment for back pain...

• The Different Types of Social Security Disability Benefits

  Staff Writer | April 05, 2007 4:27 PM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  Most people do not realize this but there are at least five types of Social Security disability benefits. The first and perhaps most important is Disability Insurance Benefits. This goes to individuals who have worked and paid into the system (generally five of the last 10 years) and are now disabled. The second type is Disabled Widow's and Widower's Benefits. Qualifications require the...

• Man Kiilled In Motorcycle-Car Accident

  Brent Adams | April 05, 2007 11:39 AM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  A Raleigh man died early Tuesday in a motorcycle accident when his bike collided with a car on Millbrook Road. Authorities say the victim was speeding - going almost 60 in a 45 mph zone.Jared Phillip Weaver, 25, of 6837 Coventry Ridge Road, was headed east on Millbrook Road about 2 a.m. when he hit a car making a left turn onto Millbrook, according to an accident report from Raleigh police.The...

• Household Pests and Workplace Injuries

  Robin Martinek | April 04, 2007 4:25 PM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  Lately I have seen a number of clients come to our offices with serious injuries that most likely occurred at their workplace. But because of the state of the law in North Carolina, we were forced to turn them away. I imagine hundreds of employees in North Carolina are exposed to the dangers of poisonous insects, spiders and other creatures at their workplace, and these are very real dangers...

• Minors and Contributory Negligence

  Staff Writer | April 03, 2007 4:22 PM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  Hypothetical: A car is speeding through a neighborhood, and the car strikes and injuries a child who ran across the road to check the mail.This hypothetical raises at least three legal issues: 1) was the driver negligent? 2) was the child negligent? 3) and, did the driver have the last clear chance to avoid the collision? This article focuses on the second issue: was the child contributorily...

• Baycol Settlement Reached with 30 States

  Brent Adams | March 23, 2007 3:41 PM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  Bayer Corp, the manufacturer of Baycol, has agreed to pay North Carolina and twenty-nine other states 8 million dollars in settlement of a claim alleging that Bayer failed to adequately warn consumers about the risk of taking Baycol, a cholesterol-reducing drug.Bayer voluntarily withdrew Baycol from the market in August 2001. Baycol, which was first introduced in the United States in February...