Fatal RV Crash in Kansas a Good Reminder About Safety When Operating Oversized Vehicles
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on April 7th, 2012
A horrific recreational vehicle crash killed five members of a Jordan, Minn., family this week while they were traveling home from a Texas vacation, providing a stark reminder for the need for extra safety procedures when driving these oversized vehicles. As summer vacation time approaches, it's a good time to review safety rules and special things to keep in mind when operating RVs, especially if you also are towing a trailer behind them. In the...
Pennsylvania Drivers: New Law Means You Need To Give Bicyclists More Room on the Road
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on April 4th, 2012
Starting this week, a new Pennsylvania law requires drivers to give bicyclists at least four feet of room when passing bicycle riders on public streets. It seems like such a basic rule of the road – to give a bicyclist a safe, wide berth when passing – but in real life drivers often don't give cyclists much space because of worries about breaking other laws by crossing the center yellow lines on roadways when passing,...
Workplace harassment case lands victim $168 million, the largest harassment award in U.S. history
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on March 28th, 2012
For two years while she worked as a physician's assistant in a California hospital, Ani Chopourian said there had been at least 18 incidents of vile workplace harassment from co-workers, including a doctor who would tell her each morning that he was horny. Recently, the 45-year-old woman's case was heard in a California courtroom, with a jury awarding her $168 million in damages, which is believed to be the largest workplace harassment/discrimination verdict in U.S....
Court Radio: Dual Topics – Birth Injuries, and the Trayvon Martin Case, Self-Defense and “Stand Your Ground Laws.” Tune in at 7 a.m. Sunday
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on March 24th, 2012
On “Court Radio” tomorrow on Sunday morning, join MyPhillyLawyer managing partner Dean Weitzman and his co-host David Rapoport as they tackle two issues in the news – birth injuries and the tragic case of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was gunned down in a Sanford, Fla., neighborhood one night last month as he walked home wearing a hoodie and carrying a bag of Skittles candy and a bottle of iced tea. Court Radio is broadcast live...
‘Wrongful Birth” Cases Have No Easy Answers for Families or the Legal System
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on March 21st, 2012
A Portland, Ore., couple was awarded $2.9 million earlier this month by an Oregon court after their daughter was born four years ago with Down syndrome following prenatal testing that failed to turn up the genetic abnormality. The couple sued after "doctors misdiagnosed their daughter as not having the condition," according to a story on ABCNews.go.com. "Ariel and Deborah Levy of Portland, Ore., filed a 'wrongful birth' lawsuit against Legacy Health System, claiming that they...
Court Radio: A Tax Expert Explains How Debt Reduction Programs Can Affect Your 2011 Tax Returns, Listen In at 7 a.m. Sunday to Court Radio
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on March 16th, 2012
Have you been laid off from a job for an extended time? Have mortgage companies, banks or credit card companies forgiven part of what you owe them? If so, here's what you need to know about how such debt forgiveness programs can affect your tax returns. That forgiven debt could be viewed as income and you might owe taxes on it. You've surely seen all those ads on television and in newspapers about "debt reduction"...
Beloved Philly restaurant, Victor Café, in midst of family turmoil, offers a lesson in the importance of family estate planning
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on March 15th, 2012
The charming and colorful Victor Café in South Philadelphia has been home over the decades to talented waiters and waitresses who have sung opera to their patrons as they took orders and served luscious meals. Today it is in the midst of a family legal battle that probably didn't have to happen. The family matriarch, Lola DiStefano, is 89 years old, frail and in the midst of a difficult family feud over the control of...
What You Need to Know About Pennsylvania’s New Ban on Texting While Driving
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on March 8th, 2012
As of today, it's now illegal everywhere in Pennsylvania to send, write or read a text message or email using any electronic device while you are driving a motor vehicle. You still can, however, use your mobile phone to talk while driving. Several cities in the Commonwealth, including Philadelphia, had previously enacted tougher laws that banned cellphone use if the driver was not using a hands-free device. As of today, those local bans will become...
Tickets Still Available for the March 10 Legal Q&A Session with MyPhillyLawyer’s Dean Weitzman at the “Praise 103.9 Inspiration & Music Conference”
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on March 6th, 2012
We all have times when we wish we could call an experienced, helpful and professional lawyer to get a bit of sage advice to answer some of the vexing legal questions in life. Well wait no more. Instead, come to this Saturday's two-hour legal question and answer workshop with MyPhillyLawyer’s Dean Weitzman, the host of "Court Radio," at the upcoming “Praise 103.9 Inspiration & Music Conference” at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Center City Philadelphia....