Keating, O’Gara attorney Gary Young won the dismissal of a lawsuit that, if successful, would have quelled the right of a citizen to criticize a corporation and its management.
Judge dismisses Lancaster Manor defamation suit
Lincoln Journal Star
by Algis J. Laukaitis
March 18, 2010
A judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by Hunter Management against Kim Kaspar and the union that represented Lancaster Manor employees.
“It’s very good news, and it’s consistent with our theory that this was an attempt to shut down our free speech,” said Lincoln attorney Gary Young, who represented Kaspar and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 2468.
Kaspar is president of the union, which fought unsuccessfully to stop the county board from selling Lancaster Manor, a 293-bed nursing home at 1001 South St. The sale is in the final stage of closing.
During several town hall meetings and appearances before the board, Kaspar and the union voiced concerns about Hunter Management and the care it gave residents. The Evanston, Ill.-based company owns all or part of about 40 nursing homes, including Homestead Rehabilitation Center in Lincoln . . . .
In Nebraska, there are strict time limits within which to file a lawsuit. These time limits are known as “statutes of limitation.” In many personal injury cases, a plaintiff has 4 years within which to file a case. However, for cases against professionals (like lawyers, doctors, and architects) the time is just two years for “professional negligence.”
But what about cases in which an injury is not reasonably discoverable, such as a latent injury like having a surgical sponge left inside a patient and the patient has no way of knowing that he or she has been “damaged” until after symptoms appear, say, 5 or 6 years later? Well, the law allows an injured person to still bring a claim . . . to a point. That endpoint in Nebraska is ten years. This portion of a law is known as a “statute of repose.”
Here is Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-222:
25-222. Actions on professional negligence.
Any action to recover damages based on alleged professional negligence or upon alleged breach of warranty in rendering or failure to render professional services shall be commenced within two years next after the alleged act or omission in rendering or failure to render professional services providing the basis for such action; Provided, if the cause of action is not discovered and could not be reasonably discovered within such two-year period, then the action may be commenced within one year from the date of such discovery or from the date of discovery of facts which would reasonably lead to such discovery, whichever is earlier; and provided further, that in no event may any action be commenced to recover damages for professional negligence or breach of warranty in rendering or failure to render professional services more than ten years after the date of rendering or failure to render such professional service which provides the basis for the cause of action.
Last Friday, the Texas Supreme Court ruled on their 10 year statute of repose in a sponge case strictly upholding the ten year time limit.
If you have questions about medical malpractice time limits in Nebraska, call the Keating, O’Gara Law Firm at 888/234-0621 or fill out the contact form on this website.
From The Houston Chronicle:
Fatal Houston crash leads to lawsuit against Toyota
By Mary Flood
Feb. 1, 2010, 10:40PM
The family of a Houston woman whose car sped through a stop sign and smashed into a cement wall, killing her on impact a week before Christmas, filed what is likely the third acceleration-related wrongful death lawsuit against Toyota in the nation Monday.
Trina Renee Harris, a 34-year-old mother of two, died on impact when her 2009 Toyota Corolla slammed into an East Hardy Toll Road cement divider at Barry, leaving no skid marks, Houston police reported.
Her husband, Michael Harris, filed a lawsuit Monday against Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., gas pedal maker CTS Corp. and Fred Haas Toyota World, which leased her the car. Lawyers involved in the lawsuit said it’s likely the third such case filed in response to acceleration problems that prompted Toyota to recall millions of vehicles and halt some production.
“I want those who were negligent to be held responsible. This problem was there before Dec. 18 when she died,” Michael Harris said. The U.S. Navy petty officer first class had recently completed a stint on an aircraft carrier in the Middle East and was in San Diego when he learned of his wife’s death. He returned to Houston, where the family opened Christmas gifts Trina Harris had bought . . . .
If you or a loved one have been injured in Nebraska due to a defective Toyota accelerator pedal, call the Keating, O’Gara Law Firm at 888/234-0621 for a free consultation.
For helpful advice on what to do if the accelerator sticks, watch the following video:
From Law.com
Already on the hook for the lion’s share of a $17.7 million judgment and waiting for a decision from a jury that was out considering punitive damages, Ford Motor Co. decided to settle with a couple who sued following a Christmas 2005 wreck that left the woman paralyzed.
The agreement came after a Clayton County, Ga., jury ordered Ford on Dec. 18 to pay more than $16 million of the judgment to compensate for what the plaintiffs argued were design defects in the 2002 Explorer sport utility vehicle in which the woman was a passenger.
Lynn Wheeler, then 58, was seated in the back seat between her two grandchildren, who were in booster seats, as her son drove to church that morning along Noah’s Ark Road in Clayton County . . . Wheeler, who was restrained only by a lap belt, slammed forward and down as the rear seat latch failed, and it collapsed on her.
“As a result,” says the pre-trial order, “Lynn Wheeler’s head and neck were driven down and forward into the front seat and/or center console, catastrophically injuring her spinal cord.”
* * *
The complaint asserted that the automaker’s design for both the rear seat latch and decision to install a lap belt rather than a three-point shoulder belt constituted negligence, and it also said Ford should have warned the Wheelers and the general public “of the dangers in a reasonably foreseeable collision presented by the design of the Ford Explorer rear seat, occupant restraint system and surrounding structures.”
If you or a loved one have been injured due to a product defect such as a poorly designed restraint system, please call the Keating, O’Gara Law Firm at 888/234-0621 for a free consultation.
Keating, O’Gara’s Gary Young has published a witty and extremely helpful guide to navigating the dangerous waters of law school.
Encouraged by the many students he has taught legal writing to over the years as an adjunct professor at the UNL College of Law, Gary put his survival tips into a very readable guide he dubbed Law School Ninja.
The book is now available at Amazon.com.
Remboldt Luedtke partner Troy Kirk, a former student of Gary’s, posted this review at Amazon:
Gary Young’s combination of wit and unconventional wisdom makes Law School Ninja a fantastic read, particularly for any first year law student hoping to excel in law school. The book provides a concise compilation of several practical insights and tools necessary for succeeding in the dreaded 1L year and beyond. If you are a prospective law student who intends to compete for the top jobs out of law school, you need to read this book. I only wish I would have had Young’s wisdom and insights prior to my law school experience.
It’s the book we all wish we would have had as a freshman in law school.
