Bensalem Man Receives $19 Million Jury Award After Car Crash That Resulted in Leg Amputation
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on June 7th, 2013
A suburban Philadelphia man who lost a leg following a 2009 car crash has received a $19.1 million award from a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court jury. Patrick Hennessey of Bensalem, Bucks County, who was 24 at the time of the incident on July 26, 2009, was severely injured as he helped to push a disabled car to the side of the northbound Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia, according to a May 28 story in The Pennsylvania...
Beware When Buying Small SUVs: Many Are Performing Poorly in Certain U.S. Frontal Crash Tests
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on May 17th, 2013
When you buy a new or used vehicle for your family, you likely shop for good fuel mileage, roominess and perhaps most importantly – safety and crashworthiness. The problem, though, is that your expectations may not meet the real-world safety and crash-worthiness of some of the vehicles out there, especially if you are shopping for a small SUV. In new tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), only two widely-available small SUV models...
Maryland Repeals Its Death Penalty: Pennsylvania and Other States Must Follow Maryland’s Lead
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on May 3rd, 2013
Maryland became the 18th state to repeal its death penalty on May 2, after Gov. Martin O'Malley signed a long-awaited bill to rid its criminal code of capital punishment, according to a story in The Baltimore Sun. O'Malley had supported the repeal since 2007 and failed in a previous attempt to overturn the law in 2009. This time, though, state legislators backed the measure and passed it in both the state Senate and House before...
Building Fire Deaths Must Spur Us All To Remember Fire Safety
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on April 12th, 2013
Every hour, every day across the United States, a house or business fire breaks out, causing injuries, deaths and property loss. On April 24, a man died when his rowhouse in the 1200 block of South 46th Street went up in flames, according to a story in The Philadelphia Inquirer. The house had no smoke alarms, according to firefighters. On April 6, a veteran Philadelphia firefighter was killed in the line of duty as he...
The War on Drugs: My Take
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on April 5th, 2013
Hello Friends, Rarely do I personally engage in promotion of myself or my enterprises. Those of you who know me personally know that I am somewhat private and am uncomfortable in the spotlight I often find myself in. Despite all of that I must urge each of you to rise early this Sunday morning and perhaps for your first time listen in to the Court Radio broadcast that I host every Sunday with my suave...
$5 Million Settlement for Family of Construction Worker Crushed to Death in Excavation Collapse
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on April 4th, 2013
A 42-year-old Reading construction worker was doing his job, working in an excavated trench where a house foundation was being built, when it collapsed suddenly and trapped him against a concrete wall, causing fatal injuries in June 2009 in Berks County. Almost four years later, the man's family has reached a $5 million settlement with the West Lawn, Pa.-based construction company that was performing the excavation, according to a recent story in The Legal Intelligencer....
What Women Need to Know About Vaginal Mesh Surgery Complications
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on March 27th, 2013
Every year, thousands of women undergo surgery to correct a medical condition known as pelvic organ prolapse (POP) – when the cervix, uterus, bladder or other reproductive organs slip down into the vagina due to the weakening of pelvic muscles. To treat such patients, surgeons often have turned to surgical mesh products that allow the reconstruction of the pelvic walls. The surgical mesh is designed to keep the organs in place and resolve the painful...
Minivan Mechanical Failure Leads to Vehicle Rollover, Results in $15.7 Million Verdict for Six Injured Victims
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on March 22nd, 2013
A family drive to New York turned tragic in March 2008 for a Philadelphia doctor when the rented minivan she was driving suffered a major mechanical failure in its front suspension and steering, causing the van to go out of control and plunge down a ravine. The crash, which left the doctor with little use of her left arm due to severe injuries, has resulted in a $11.4 million damage verdict for the doctor, and...
11 Teens Dead in Two Horrific Car Crashes in Ohio & Texas: Lessons Learned
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on March 15th, 2013
The news in Ohio was bad enough on March 10, when six teenagers were killed in an overcrowded, speeding, stolen SUV that left a roadway and overturned into a pond. It got worse hours later on that same fateful Sunday, when across the country five other teens were killed in Texas when the SUV they were riding in ran through a stop sign and collided with a gas tanker truck, leading to an inferno that...