Court Radio: Talking About PA’s Controversial New Voter ID Law – Should You Have To Show ID to Vote? Listen In 7 a.m. Sunday
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on April 14th, 2012
When voting in elections in Pennsylvania in the past, all you needed to do was to show up at the polls, give a poll worker your name and address, and sign your signature on a voter registration list before getting your credentials to cast your ballot. Not anymore. As of last month, the Republican-led state Legislature passed a law that now requires voters to present a photo ID to prove their identity before being allowed...
Medical Device Worries: More Government Oversight Coming to Ensure Heart Defibrillator Wires Are Safe
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on April 10th, 2012
The alleged failure of some tiny heart defibrillator wires that help to keep ill heart patients alive have led to the deaths of 20 patients and are raising the ire of doctors who are calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to have tighter oversight over such medical devices, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Some doctors are asking the FDA to strengthen safety reporting requirements for such medical...
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...
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....
‘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....