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Tragic accidents occur every day in South Florida, and most often police and investigators work together to determine the cause of the accident. However, sometimes pieces to the puzzle are missing, due to the fact that the parties involved are deceased or otherwise incapacitated. Other times, the true cause of an accident is covered up by the person who caused it in an attempt to shield themselves from liability that may arise in the wake of the accident.

When an accident occurs for unexplained reasons, investigators should look deeper into the at-fault party’s back-story to determine what, if anything, they are hiding. Of course, it will be difficult for a driver to hide their intoxication, since there are normally visible signs that indicate a driver was intoxicated. However, if a driver is texting while driving or talking on their cell phone at the time of the accident, it may be more difficult for police to uncover the true cause of the accident without the at-fault driver’s help.

Contrary to many people’s belief, police do not routinely obtain a driver’s phone records after an accident. Primarily, this is because the laws protecting the privacy of the driver prevent police from going on a “fishing expedition” in the hope of finding something they can use to prosecute the driver. However, the privacy concerns that are in play in a criminal case may not be as strictly enforced in a civil case filed by a victim of the driver’s alleged negligence.

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When an accident victim files a case against another motorist, the law requires that certain information be passed through what is called “pre-trial discovery.” This allows both sides to have an idea of the evidence the other party will use to prove or defend their claim. While not every piece of harmful or beneficial information must be passed in pre-trial discovery, generally all relevant evidence should be passed. If a court determines that a party is hiding evidence, or is otherwise not complying with the discovery process, the court can implement sanctions against that party.

Defense Verdict Reversed on Appeal, Based on Failure to Comply with Discovery Requirements

Earlier last month, an appellate court in West Virginia issued an opinion in a case that reversed a jury’s verdict in favor of the defendant after it came out that the defense failed to comply with pre-trial discovery rules. In the case, Phillips v. Stear, the court determined that the plaintiff was denied a fair opportunity to present his case when the defendant failed to disclose previously issued traffic citations and then denied knowledge of the citations at trial.

The accident giving rise to the case occurred when the plaintiff, a truck driver, was cut off by the defendant. According to the court documents, the defendant swerved in front of the plaintiff, made an obscene hand gesture, and then quickly applied the brakes. In response, the plaintiff tried to slow down as well, but he ended up losing control of the truck and crashing it off the side of the road.

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Professional sports associations have come under fire in recent months for the undisclosed and minimized risks of traumatic brain injury and related conditions that can arise from participation in professional sports. These days, it seems that athletes should know the risks associated with participation in a professional sport, but that was not always the case. Even 10 years ago, the culture of professional sports and the “tough guy” mentality encouraged by the leagues was pervasive and prevented an intelligible discourse on the safety techniques and preventative measures that are just now coming into use.

Professional sports associations, like other employers, have a duty to their “employees” – or players – to fully inform them of the risks they face while participating in the league. If a league hides known information about a certain risk, or if it encourages continued participation in the face of known risks, the league may be held responsible for the player’s injuries. Indeed, this is exactly the case in a recent lawsuit brought by over 5,000 former NFL players against the NFL.

New Research Indicates Traumatic Brain Injury May Be Present in 40% of Former Players

According to a recent news report coming out of the Florida Center for Headache and Sports Neurology and the Florida State University College of Medicine in Tallahassee, some 40% of former professional athletes may have suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). The study looked at 40 former players who played for an average of seven years and had been out of the league for five years.

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Determining fault in Miami vehicle accidents is not always as straightforward as it may seem. In some cases, the nature of the injuries sustained prevents those involved from accurately remembering what happened in the moments leading up to the accident. In other cases, so many vehicles are involved in an accident that it is difficult for authorities to determine who was at fault and who was merely an innocent victim of another’s negligent or reckless driving.

In most accidents involving serious injury or death, an accident reconstructionist is called in to help recreate the accident so that authorities have a better idea of what caused the accident. This can be very important for insurance issues as well as to help determine if any of the parties involved should face criminal charges for their role in the accident. While this is not a primary function of an accident reconstruction, it may also be used to help those injured in the accident obtain compensation for their injuries through a personal injury lawsuit.

After a serious accident, people injured as a result are left with more than just their physical injuries. They must also deal with the emotional aftermath. Add to the mix mounting medical expenses and time away from work, and it can be overwhelming. Thankfully, Florida law allows for those who suffer a serious injury in the wake of an accident to seek compensation though a personal injury lawsuit against the at-fault driver.

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Over the past several years, numerous studies have been conducted on the link between playing high-impact sports such as football and hockey and the presence of a degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Up until recently, professional sports leagues have denied that there is a link between CTE and participation in sports. However, earlier this month that changed.

According to a recent news report, the NFL’s senior vice president for health and safety admitted in a congressional committee’s roundtable discussion that there seems to be a link between CTE and football. The NFL spokesperson credited the research of a Boston University professor and researcher that dissected the brains of 90 former professional football players, finding the presence of CTE in many of the subjects.

The NFL’s new position on CTE still remains somewhat of a mystery, but the spokesperson did qualify his statements, saying that there are also a number of other questions that need to be looked into.

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Whenever drivers are involved in an accident – regardless of whether anyone is seriously injured – the law requires that everyone involved stop and exchange information with the other motorists involved. Of course, motorists also have a duty to try and get help for anyone who is injured in an accident. This duty extends even to those motorists who were not at fault for the initial collision. When a driver fails to stop and render assistance to an injured motorist, it is called a hit-and-run accident.

Anyone injured in a hit-and-run accident can file a lawsuit against the hit-and-run driver, seeking compensation for the injuries they sustained from the other driver’s failure to help them. This compensation can help accident victims recover the costs associated with being in a serious accident, such as past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and any pain and suffering the accident caused.

Generally speaking, hit-and-run accidents refer to accidents that are caused by the driver who ends up fleeing the scene, but that is not always the case. When the fleeing driver is not responsible for the initial accident, that driver may not be liable for all the accident victim’s injuries, but they may be liable for any additional injuries sustained from the victim not getting treatment as quickly as they should have.

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Over the past few years, it has come out that the birth control medication, Essure, can cause a host of very serious negative side effects, including severe pain and bleeding, unplanned pregnancies, miscarriages, and still births. In response to the increasing number of women who say they have been negatively affected by Essure, as well as the research indicating the same, the Food and Drug Administration recently announced that it will not be issuing a recall. Instead, it plans to implement a “black box” warning.

The Black Box warning, according to the FDA, is the most serious warning that they can issue for a prescription medication. In fact, the warning requires that doctors get a patient’s written consent to take the drug after they have been made aware of all the potential side effects the drug can have. However, for the thousands of women who have already suffered from the side effects they claim came about from their use of Essure, the recent action by the FDA is too little, too late.

According to another news source, plus an advocate group comprised of women who have used Essure and experienced negative results, the warnings being given to patients will not be sufficient to illustrate the likelihood or the severity of any potential negative side effects they may experience. The group claims that the waivers will just be seen as another deluge of paperwork that patients are constantly requested to sign, and the importance of the danger will ultimately be overlooked.

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In a case decided earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Florida upheld a jury’s $1 million verdict against an insurance company after it was determined that the insurance company acted in bad faith in not paying out on the plaintiff’s meritorious claim.

Fridman v. Safeco Insurance Company of Illinois:  The Facts of the Case

The case arose after a 2007 accident involving the plaintiff and an uninsured motorist. In the wake of the accident, the plaintiff discovered that the other driver did not have insurance and sought to collect reimbursement for medical expenses and property damage from his own insurance company, Safeco. However, Safeco initially denied the claim and then failed to respond to any of the plaintiff’s attempts to follow up with the claim.

Eventually, the plaintiff filed a case against Safeco, citing the company’s bad faith in failing to settle the claim. Once that claim was filed, Safeco issued the plaintiff a payment of $50,000, which was the upper policy limit of the plaintiff’s uninsured motorist coverage. The plaintiff refused the settlement and opted to let the jury decide what the claim was worth. After a jury trial, the plaintiff was awarded an amount of $1 million.

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Health care products giant Johnson & Johnson was recently found liable in a product liability lawsuit based on the continued use of its “Shower to Shower” talcum powder. As a result of the lawsuit, the company will be forced to pay out nearly $72 million in damages to the family of a woman who just last year died of ovarian cancer stemming from her use of the company’s product.

The woman’s family alleged that Johnson & Johnson knew about the dangers of their talc-based product but continued to sell it to customers without any warning. To help prove their case, the plaintiffs discovered internal Johnson & Johnson documents indicating that the company was aware of the adverse health consequences from using its product.

In response to the case against it, the company argued that there was no way to prove that the woman’s ovarian cancer was caused by the use of their product. However, the jury rejected that argument and awarded the family of the woman roughly $72 million. This amount was more than the $22 million the family initially requested at the inception of the lawsuit. In all, the jury determined that Johnson & Johnson was liable for $10 million in compensatory damages, as well as an additional $62 million in punitive damages, based on the company’s continued marketing and sale of the product. This was the first time Johnson & Johnson had been held liable for injuries sustained through the use of this particular product.

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After years of requests from our current clients, Cecere Santana has added Immigration Law to its roster of services.  

Attorney Carlos E. Sandoval will handle cases relating to family based immigration, removal and deportation defense, business visas and other immigration related matters.

Mr. Sandoval, who is licensed to practice law by the Florida Supreme Court and the Federal Court for the Southern District of Florida, has over eight years of experience handling immigration cases.

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