Soccer Injury Lawsuit Could Have Huge Implications: Maryland Residents Could Finally Gain Rights to Sue for Damages
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on September 19th, 2012
After a 20-year-old man suffered serious facial injuries while warming up for a league soccer game in Maryland in 2008, he was not able to recover damages for his injuries. That's because he lived in Maryland, one of only four states and the District of Columbia, where a plaintiff cannot recover any monetary damages at all if a judge or jury finds that they have contributed to their accident by as little as 1 percent....
What the Delaware Valley Can Learn from Hurricane Isaac: Disaster Preparedness
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on August 30th, 2012
As Hurricane Isaac continues its swath through New Orleans, Louisiana, Alabama and other hard-hit areas, the massive storm is dumping rain by the foot and bringing powerful and destructive flooding as well as high winds. Here in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, we often see the remnants of such storms as they travel here from the Gulf of Mexico, just like we did in late August of 2011 as Hurricane Irene slammed the east coast...
Tragedy 8 Times Over: 8 Children Die in One Week in U.S. After Being Left in Hot Vehicles
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on August 25th, 2012
In what might be one of the most senseless and tragic horrors to befall families, eight young children across the United States died in the first week of August when they became severely overheated after being left unattended in hot vehicles. Eight children died. In one single seven-day span. In the U.S., one of the most powerful nations on the Earth, these children died because someone accidentally left them in a vehicle to bake to...
Severely Hurt in a Youth Baseball Game, Teen Victim Gets $14.5 Million Settlement
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on August 23rd, 2012
It was just a baseball hit toward him during a youth baseball game in 2008, but the moment the pitch came off the batter's metal bat, it changed the life of a teenaged pitcher, striking him hard in the chest, and almost instantly stopping his heart. The victim, now 18, suffered severe brain damage because his brain was without oxygen for 15 to 20 minutes after the ball struck him, according to a recent Associated...
Battle Continues Over Pennsylvania’s Voter ID Law: What It Means for Voters
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on August 15th, 2012
The controversial five-month-old Pennsylvania law that requires voters to show valid photo ID in order to cast their ballots at the polls was upheld this week by a state Commonwealth Court judge, but the battle is likely far from being over. In a 70-page opinion, Judge Robert Simpson Jr. upheld the law, saying that it would not be an unfair or unconstitutional burden on voters in the Commonwealth, according to a story in The Pittsburgh...
Tragic Fatal Ohio Car Crash Involving 16-year-old Driver a Somber Reminder to Our Teens
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on August 10th, 2012
All the five friends and band mates wanted to do was to take a break from their high school marching band practice and grab a bite to eat together before getting back to their musical work. Instead, tragedy struck when their car, being driven by a 16-year-old by in the group, went off the road about 18 miles west of Columbus, Ohio, struck a fence and rolled at least once, according to a story in...
Hurt on the Job: $3.75 Million Settlement to Woman Injured By Tractor-Trailer at Work
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on August 7th, 2012
In her job as a security guard at the Penn Terminals port in Eddystone in Delaware County, Susan Sawyer’s job was to make sure that tractor-trailers traveling through the facility matched the records for incoming and outgoing freight. But one day in August 2008, a tractor-trailer driver operating his vehicle in the terminal was distracted as he used a cell phone and drove with his dog on his lap while he was exiting the port’s...
Post-Tonsillectomy Complications Led to Child’s Brain Injury, Jury Awards $1.2 Million Award
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on July 28th, 2012
With their 11-month-old son regularly having breathing problems while he slept, his parents took him to a doctor for help. After a detailed sleep study to learn what was ailing the baby, the doctor then recommended and performed surgery to remove the baby’s tonsils and adenoids. Following the surgery, however, the infant stopped breathing while recovering in the pediatric unit at Harrisburg Hospital. The lack of oxygen that followed caused an anoxic brain injury, and...
Injured During Job Interview, Fall Victim Receives $8.25 Million Settlement
By Dean I Weitzman, Esq. on July 27th, 2012
Across the U.S., falls are the leading cause of worker fatalities in the construction industry, according to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) in the U.S. Department of Labor. About 150 to 200 workers are killed each year and another 100,000 are injured in falls at construction sites, the agency says. Not all such injuries actually occur when a worker is on a job, however. Recently, an $8.75 million settlement was reached in the...