Category: Product Defect Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska
Keating, O’Gara Attorney Gary Young Fights for Safety of Public Employees
Posted by Jeff Downing in Defective Design, Defective Products, Employment Law, Labor Law, Product Defect Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Product Liability, Product Recall Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Safety Friday, 6 May 2011 09:24 No Comments
From the Lincoln Journal Star:
Police: Allegations in city mower death inconclusive
By Peter Salter, Lincoln Journal Star, May 6, 2011
The months-long police investigation into last year’s lawn mower death of a city worker is done, delivered — and largely inconclusive. And it will likely do nothing to quell complaints that the city’s street maintenance department fosters fear, intimidation and unsafe practices.
“When an investigation about whether they protected employees from safety hazards comes back inconclusive, it doesn’t speak well about the management of the organization,” said Gary Young, attorney for the union representing the city’s blue-collar workers.
Young called the street maintenance department “the worst-managed division of any public employer” of the unions he represents. ”The accident that happened, if it’s going to happen, this is where it’s going to take place.”
On Aug. 16, Eric Kohles was found crushed by a 1,200-pound riding mower at the bottom of a grassy ditch. The 37-year-old worked for the city’s storm water division but had been helping mow that day — first near 56th and Sumner streets, and, after lunch, near 56th and Seward in northeast Lincoln.
The husband and father died four days later.
Keating, O'Gara Attorney Doug Peterson Files Tort Claim for Defectively Designed Roundabout in Southwest Lincoln
Posted by Jeff Downing in Auto Accident Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Auto Accidents, Car Crash Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Defective Design, Defective Products, Defective Signage, Nebraska Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer, Nebraska Wrongful Death Attorney, Personal Injury, Product Defect Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Wrongful Death Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska Monday, 28 June 2010 11:56 No Comments
Attorney Doug Peterson of the Keating, O’Gara Law Firm has filed a tort claim on behalf of a seriously injured client regarding an accident that occurred at a poorly designed roundabout in southwest Lincoln.
From the Lincoln Journal Star:
WOMAN SAYS COUNTY IS PARTIALLY LIABLE FOR MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT
By Algis Laukitis
Lincoln Journal Star
Posted: Sunday, June 27, 2010 5:22 pmA woman who was severely injured in a motorcycle accident in May 2009 has filed a $1 million tort claim against Lancaster County.
An attorney for Lycebeth Loy alleges the county is partially liable because of inadequate warning signs and street lights at a roundabout in an undeveloped area of Lincoln.
Lycebeth Loy was a passenger on a motorcycle driven by her husband, Robert, when it struck a median as he approached the roundabout at Southwest Fourth Street on May 6, 2009.
Police say Robert applied his brakes, but lost control of the motorcycle and his wife was thrown to the concrete. Both Loys were wearing helmets.
As a result of her severe head injury, her attorney, Douglas Peterson of Lincoln, says Lycebeth Loy required emergency medical treatment and long-term medical care and therapy, the cost of which currently exceeds $300,000. She also asks to be paid for future medical care and past and future wages.
Tort claims are required by state law and are a prerequisite to filing a lawsuit in district court. A political subdivision can approve or disapprove a claim. Lycebeth Loy is asking for not less than $1 million, the maximum amount under the state’s Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act.
The County Board is scheduled to vote on the tort claim on Tuesday. Such claims are routinely denied.
The Hallam couple filed a tort claim against the City of Lincoln in March because it was involved in the “design, maintenance and control” of the Denton Road detour along Amaranth Lane, which leads to the roundabout.
Peterson alleges Amaranth Lane was created for a proposed development of a Walmart shopping center and other commercial property. He says the lane was designed to be fully illuminated with a roundabout in the middle. The development was never built.
“Once the project went dormant, the road became a dark cornfield with an unlit roundabout in the middle of darkness,” Peterson wrote in the tort claim.
Peterson said the couple were unfamiliar with the road, did not know it had a roundabout, and could not see any reflective markers or any warning signs.
“We contend that it was very foreseeable that drivers would be completely unfamiliar with this area since the road has never been open to the public,” Peterson wrote.
“Drivers would be completely unfamiliar with a roundabout contained in the darkness of this road.”
If you or a loved one have been injured on a Nebraska road or highway due to improper signage or defective highway design, call the experienced lawyers of the Keating, O’Gara Law Firm for a free consultation: 888/234-0621.
Jury Awards Damages of $2.46 Million Against Supplier of Defective Chinese Drywall
Posted by Jeff Downing in Defective Products, Product Defect Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Product Liability Monday, 21 June 2010 13:39 No Comments
The first jury to consider a defective Chinese drywall claim has come down hard on the supplier. A Florida jury awarded 2.46 million to a Miami couple who claimed their house was ruined by gas emitted from the defective product.
Fla. Jury Finds Domestic Distributor of Chinese Drywall Negligent
Jose Pagliery
06-21-2010A Florida jury on Friday awarded $2.46 million to a Miami couple who claimed their house was ruined by gas emitted by imported Chinese drywall in the nation’s first trial against a domestic distributor.
Jurors concluded that Miami-based Banner Supply knowingly sold defective wallboard that was installed in the Coconut Grove, Fla., home of Chevron attorney Armin Seifart and Lisa Gore, who asked for $4.4 million in damages for repairs and the inconvenience of temporarily losing access to their $1.66 million home.
“It’s a strong victory in favor of consumers,” said family attorney Ervin Gonzalez of Colson Hicks Eidson in Coral Gables, Fla. “The American public won’t tolerate companies that cheat.”
Jurors decided Banner was negligent, knowingly sold defective wallboard and violated Florida’s deceptive and unfair trade law, and that its product will reduce the home’s resale value.
The couple’s lawsuit is similar to thousands nationwide by homeowners with Chinese drywall installed in their homes. Homeowners complain noxious gases released by the wallboard leave homes smelling like rotten eggs and corrode metal pipes and electronics . . .
If you or a loved one have been injured due to a defective product, talk to one of the experienced Nebraska defective product lawyers at the Keating, O’Gara Law Firm at 888/234-0621.
Professor Richard Epstein Argues Against Cap on Liability Damages
Posted by Jeff Downing in Auto Accident Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Car Crash Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Constitutional Rights, Keating O'Gara Law Firm, Medical Malpractice, Medical Malpractice Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Nebraska Medical Malpractice Attorney, Nebraska Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer, Nebraska Wrongful Death Attorney, Product Defect Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Wrongful Death Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska Wednesday, 16 June 2010 13:10 No Comments
Arguments against liability caps don’t just come from plaintiff’s attorneys. Highly respected University of Chicago professor Richard Epstein argues against a statutory cap on damages for BP.
From the Wall Street Journal:
BP Doesn’t Deserve a Liability Cap
By RICHARD A. EPSTEINOur national frustration continues to rise with each new drop of BP oil that leaks into the Gulf of Mexico. Everyone knows we can’t legislate away environmental risks without consigning ourselves to the Stone Age. What’s needed going forward is a comprehensive legal strategy that addresses the risks though a combination of regulation before the fact and tort liability (and criminal sanctions where appropriate) afterwards.
Tort remedies are essential to protect people (and their property) who do not have contractual relations with defendants from harms such as air and water pollution. The legal system should never allow self-interested parties to keep for themselves all the gains from dangerous activities that unilaterally impose losses on others—which is why the most devout defender of laissez-faire must insist, not just concede, that tough medicine is needed in these cases. The fundamental question here is one of technique: What mix of before and after sanctions will do the job at the lowest cost?
The first element in the mix is a no-nonsense liability system that fastens full responsibility on the parties who run dangerous operations, no excuses allowed. Accordingly, we have to be especially wary of statutory caps on tort damages, including the current law, under which, in the case of the oil industry, the “total of liability . . . with respect to each incident shall not exceed for an offshore facility except a deepwater port, the total of all removal costs plus $75,000,000.” That $75 million is chicken feed. Fortunately, the law removes that cap if the incident was caused by “the gross negligence or willful misconduct” of any party, or its failure to comply with any “applicable Federal safety, construction, or operating regulation.”
To truly have a “system of justice”, you can not have liability caps–for BP or any other negligent actor.
Near Fatal Medication Error Results in Lawsuit by Actor Dennis Quaid
Posted by Jeff Downing in Defective Products, Keating O'Gara Law Firm, Medical Malpractice, Medical Malpractice Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Medication Errors, Nebraska Medical Malpractice Attorney, Product Defect Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska Wednesday, 26 May 2010 12:10 No Comments
Actor Dennis Quaid has sued Baxter Healthcare Corp., the manuracturer of Heparin, for negligence in not properly labeling its product. From the Contra Costa Times:
Actor Dennis Quaid sues drug maker
Actor Dennis Quaid and his wife Kimberly have filed a lawsuit against a drug maker alleging similar labels for the blood thinner Heparin and a less potent drug caused a mix-up at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center threatening the lives of his newborn twins in 2007.Quaid filed the lawsuit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of his children against Baxter Healthcare Corp. The suit seeks unspecified damages.
Both Heparin and the lower dose version, Hep-lock, are packaged in similar vials with blue backgrounds and very small print on both labels, according to the complaint.
Quaid’s twins, who were born in November 2007, were both administered multiple near-fatal doses of Heparin to treat staph infections, according to the lawsuit.
The children, Zoe Grace and Thomas Boone, were given 10,000 units of Heparin, rather than the 10 units of Hep-Lock they were prescribed, according to the complaint.
Baxter Healthcare should have recalled the vials of Heparin containing 10,000 units because the company knew infants had died because of similar medication errors, according to the lawsuit.
The company also was obligated to warn healthcare providers of the previous medication mistakes, the suit states.
The children suffered internal injuries and shock, but the extent of what happened to them will probably not be known for years, according to the suit.
Newborns and infants are often given Hep-Lock to flush their prevent clotting because their intravenous lines are so small . . . .
The twins’ overdose is just one of the estimated 100,000 fatalities stemming from medical errors that occur every year in American hospitals and from pharmaceuticals. If you or a loved one have been injured by medical malpractice or through a medication errorand would like to talk with an experienced Nebraska defective drug lawyer, call the Keating, O’Gara Law Firm at 888/234-0621 for a free consultation.
