Tragically, just 40 minutes can make the difference between a healthy baby and a little girl who will never walk, never talk, never feed herself, never have a boyfriend, never get married…

In this case handled by Elmira medical malpractice attorney Jim Reed, the Labor and Delivery nurses hooked the Mom up to an electronic fetal monitor and then left the Mom unattended for 40+ minutes. Unfortunately, fetal monitors are absolutely no good if no one is there to read the results….

That’s why the standard of care for labor and delivery nurses requires nurses to review the monitor strips for the first 20 minutes that the mother is placed on the monitor. If all is OK after 20 minutes, the Mom can then be left unattended for short periods of time. If the strips are not OK, then the nurse is trained to immediately intervene and summon a doctor if necessary.

In this case, a careful review of the medical records revealed that the mother had been left totally unattended for the first 40+ minutes she was placed on the fetal monitor. As you might have guessed, the monitor strips were bad meaning that the baby was in trouble and needed immediate delivery. The problem is that no one was in the room to hear read the results and respond to the baby’s cries for help. As a result, the necessary C-section to rescue the baby was delayed by more than an hour causing the baby to suffer profound brain damage (Cerebral Palsy). The baby was rushed from the Corning Hospital to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira, but the damage was already done. The baby had a permanent brain injury called Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) which means that the baby’s brain was deprived of oxygen at birth. Read the rest…

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“A stitch in time saves nine.” I never really understood this proverb when I was growing up, though I certainly heard my father use it on more than one occasion as he cautioned me to take my time before embarking on a new endeavor.

As a personal injury attorney in the Elmira/Corning, New York area, I have now come to understand the true wisdom behind those words, especially when it comes to automobile maintenance. Accidents certainly do happen, but general awareness of basic automobile maintenance can go a long way toward preventing personal injuries and saving lives. Although I do not profess to be an expert mechanic in any way, I have decided to post basic auto tips periodically this summer to inform – or more likely, remind – readers of simple steps you can take to protect your families from injuries sustained in automobile accidents.To many people summer is synonymous with road trips and family vacation, and I hope my tips will help readers stay safe when hitting the roads.

Tip #1 – Check your Tires

Today is my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. My father, ever the romantic, decided to take my mother to the Sherwood Inn in Skaneateles, New York for a little getaway. Alas, as my parents pulled out of Horseheads to begin their journey, they got a flat tire. Luckily neither was injured and my dad had the tools to change the tire, though they may have been “spared” (I couldn’t resist) a short delay if only my dad had followed his own advice and checked car before getting on the road.

Tires are crucial to vehicle’s handling, traction, and stability, and can cause an automobile to loose alignment if they are not in proper working order. In general, you should check each of tire periodically, or about once a month.

When checking your tires, first look for obvious defects and damage, and visit a professional if anything looks seriously amiss.

It is very wise to carry a tire gauge in your automobile at all times, and you should check the pressure in each of your tires every time you check them. Tire pressure changes due to a variety of factors, though they are most commonly affected by changes in weather or air temperature. A decrease in air temperature often causes a loss in tire pressure, while an increase in air temperature often causes a gain.

Each vehicle has its own recommended air pressure, and information about it can likely be found in your vehicle’s owners manual. Although a tire’s maximum pressure is listed on its in fine print, you should never use max pressure as a guide when filling your tires because over-inflation allows tires to puncture more easily and can create instability for your automobile.

As an avid bicycle rider, I realize the importance of checking the pressure of my bike’s tires before every ride I take to avoid an accident (and make the ride more enjoyable!) Although checking a vehicle’s tires before every trip may be a bit overly onerous, it is something all of us could do a bit more frequently in order to stay safe.

Thanks for reading,

Christina Bruner Sonsire

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Calling all Constitutional Law Junkies: June 26, 2008 was a monumental day.

It is not often (yet more frequent these days than is perhaps appropriate) that the U.S. Supreme Court authors a decision in which it offers — in nearly 150 pages of disparate, arguably subjective detail — overtly telepathic insight into the minds and hearts of the framers cast under a thin, unimpressive veil of stare decisis. A day to celebrate? Perhaps, as it was for the N.R.A. supporters and the libertarian crowd who view the District of Columbia, et. al. v. Heller through a narrow pragmatic lense as a promotion of individual liberties (and security that they can keep their guns.) A day for outrage? Apparently for a “frightened” Mayor Daley, as he trumpeted the call to fight for the right to ban guns in his hometown and plans were made to challenge similar laws in megapolises across the country.

I felt something in between. I feel scholastic excitement, to be sure. Heller , like Bush v. Gore, will certainly endure as a landmark case in Constitutional Law 101 for centuries to come. The majority opinion, authored by Justice Antonin Scalia and joined by Justices Roberts, Thomas, Alito and Kennedy, is bursting with interesting (if somewhat trivial given Scalia’s general predisposition against extra-four corners constitutional analysis) historical references — James Madison’s inclusion of a conscientious-objector clause in his original draft of the Second Amendment; E. de Vattel’s 1792 “The Law of Nations, or, Principals of the Law of Nature”; England’s 1671 “Game Act”; and, of course, the mighty and ever-persuasive Federalist Papers. (As a reverent admirer of the Papers, Read the rest…

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As my family and friends know, I am a fanatical bicyclist.  I have always enjoyed riding my bike since I started racing as a teenager.  I was away from the bike during college and law school but I later returned to the sport in my mid-30’s as a pressure-relief from my hectic work day and as the father of three young kids.  Thankfully, my wife shares my bicycling addiction and we enjoy lots of riding time together.

As much as I love riding, it is a sport that carries high risks.  The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety documents approximately 1,000 bicycle accident deaths per year in the US.   The Institute’s statistics also highlight one very important point:  “The most serious injuries among a majority of those killed are to the head, highlighting the importance of wearing a bicycle helmet. Helmet use has been estimated to reduce head injury risk by 85 percent.”

A recent case I am handling illustrates the point even more dramatically.  Two weeks ago, a local rider from Big Flats, NY was out riding his bicycle on Rt. 352, a local two lane highway, with wide shoulders.  Despite the fact that this rider was wearing a high-visibility yellow jersey and was riding on the shoulder of the road (3.1 feet to the right of the white line per the NY State Troopers!), he was mowed down by a driver who recklessly drifted on to the shoulder at 50mph.  He was thrown 36 feet and skidded to a stop on his head and right side.  Despite his helmet, the flesh was ground from his right ear and skull requiring internal stitches and 12 staples to close the gaping wound.  He broke his back.  He suffered deep lacerations over his arms, legs, shoulder and back.  But he survived….

Although I have handled lots of bicycle/car crash cases over the years, I have never seen a bike exploded apart like this rider’s bike. To say that it is a miracle that he survived this collision is an understatement….

This rider owes his life to his bicycling helmet. The helmet did its job by fracturing in many places thereby preventing his skull from doing the same. I am absolutely convinced that this rider would not be alive today if not for his helmet.

A safety lesson for all of us: Please wear your helmet at all times.  Even though NY only requires riders 14 and younger to wear a helmet, EVERYONE should ALWAYS wear a helmet.

If you already have a helmet:  Please carefully check your helmet for proper fit and any cracks. Over time helmets can get banged around, subjected to high temperatures in cars, etc. so do not assume that the good helmet you bought 3 years ago is still in perfect shape. If you find cracks or other damage, please buy a new helmet. Helmets are cheap, heads are priceless!

Good luck and safe riding!

Thanks, Jim
_________________________________________
James B. Reed, Esq.
Personal Injury & Malpractice Attorney
Ziff, Weiermiller, Hayden & Mustico, LLP
303 William St., Elmira, NY 14902
Tel. (607) 733-8866  Fax. (607) 732-6062
Toll Free 1-800-943-3529
mailto:jreed@zifflaw.com     http://www.zifflaw.com

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While getting the kids ready for school in the morning, I often have the TV on some news program to check the weather, school closings and local happenings before work.  What I have been seeing lately is disturbing.  Nearly every day, I see a commercial touting the need for tort reform to prevent law suit abuse and “frivolous lawsuits“.  It seems unlikely that in the 10 minutes I have the TV on that I am seeing the same commercial the only time it airs, meaning this commercial is on the air quite frequently.  This concerns me because the commercial is so misleading.

I have a confession to make.  Even though I have been an attorney for more than 10 years and have handled probably more than a thousand lawsuits over that time, I have never personally seen nor brought a frivolous lawsuit.  I don’t personally know any attorneys who have done so either.  That’s not to say they don’t exist, though.  Everyone has heard of the judge who sued his dry cleaner over the lost pants, and I have occasionally heard of an individual who is not represented by an attorney bringing harassing lawsuits against the same person or people over and over again.  What you never hear of, though, is an attorney who makes his or her living as a trial attorney bringing frivolous claims.  There is a pretty good reason for this, too.  As a trial attorney, I have grown accustomed to getting paid at some point in the litigation.  Whether it is a personal injury case taken on contingency (meaning I get a portion of the proceeds of the case) or a case taken on retainer (meaning I am paid on an hourly basis) I don’t handle cases where there is no chance of earning my fee.  By definition, a frivolous claim is one in which there is no viable cause of action which could earn a fee.

Yet another reason I don’t bring frivolous claims is that the ethics rules governing attorneys prohibit bringing frivolous claims.  I am not about to put my license to practice law at risk for a case in which there is no chance of earning a fee.  Every other attorney I know feels the same way, which is probably why the frivolous cases we hear about are brought by people representing themselves.

The commercial that prompted this blog makes it seem as if frivolous lawsuits are rampant.  My guess is that the people funding this commercial are the same ones who claim that all the medical malpractice lawsuits are frivolous.  They claim that the poor doctors are sued so often they settle cases just to get rid of them.  Yeah, right.  As someone who regularly sues insurance companies, I can personally assure you that they are not settling frivolous claims just to get rid of them.  Its difficult enough to get them to put realistic money on legitimate claims.

Here’s something else you haven’t heard about these so called frivolous lawsuits against doctors: unlike nearly every other type of insurance out there, the doctor’s medical malpractice insurer has to have the doctor’s permission to settle the case.  Your auto insurance carrier doesn’t need your permission to settle a claim against you, and neither does your home owner’s insurance company, but the doctor has to agree to any payment on a claim made against him, including the so-called frivolous claims.  Makes you think a little, doesn’t it?

The next time you see a commercial like this on TV, take a minute to think about the claims they are making and who has enough money at stake to pay the millions of dollars required for an advertising campaign of this magnitude.  Think about who has enough at stake to spend that much money attempting to brainwash the public into thinking that the judicial system is bursting at the seams with frivolous lawsuits.  Think who would want to have that commercial running through the minds of potential jurors as they climb into that jury box.  Do you think that the insurance companies have anything to do with it?

If you want to know why this type of false advertising gets us angry, imagine that you are the Plaintiff and its your future being decided by those jurors with that commercial running through their heads.

Are you angry now?

Thanks for reading,

Adam M. Gee, Esq.
New York and Pennsylvania Personal Injury and Malpractice Attorney
Ziff, Weiermiller, Hayden & Mustico, LLP
303 William Street
Elmira, NY  14901
Phone: (607)733-8866
Fax: (607)732-6062
Email: agee@zifflaw.com
www.zifflaw.com

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Expert Witnesses are a necessary part of the legal profession. In certain cases, such as medical malpractice, experts are an absolute necessity. In other cases they are sometimes a luxury. The use of experts by defense attorneys seems to be on the rise, and so Plaintiff’s attorneys feel pressured to respond in kind. What some attorneys fail to consider, however, is that the expert they hire will play a HUGE part in whether they are successful.

Because of the increased use of experts referenced above, more and more individuals are looking to get into the expert witness game. A fancy website, a polished resume, and paying to be put on an expert witness list on a few websites is all that is required for someone to appear to be a reputable expert. But that doesn’t mean they will serve your needs in court.

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In a world seemingly dominated by all-encompassing HIPAA protections (i.e. the dozens of forms you are asked to sign when treated in the hospital) and daunting HIPAA fears (i.e. your boss’s warning that you cannot repeat, recite nor should you even remember information you learn from HIPAA sensitive documents while on the job,) the question inevitably arises: What can I do if I feel my so-called “HIPAA rights” are violated?

Proper analysis of that inquiry requires a basic understanding of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.  (A complete copy of the HIPAA statute can be found at http://aspe.hhs.gov/admnsimp/pl104191.htm.)   Read the rest…

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Source: WikipediaThis recent CNN story (also pasted below), illustrates two problems I deal with on a daily basis in representing my injured clients:  1)  Giant corporations are heartless.  2) ALL the cards are stacked against the little guy.

In this case, a Wal-Mart employee, Debbie Shank, paid part of her hard-earned salary for health insurance coverage.  Debbie was then involved in a horrible car crash suffering permanent brain damage.  Her injury lawyers successfully recovered a $1million settlement on her behalf.  $417,000 of the settlement was put in a trust fund to pay for Debbie’s future medical care.

This is where things get nasty.  Wal-Mart ’s health insurance carrier said that they paid $470,000 in medical bills for Debbie’s care so they wanted EVERY PENNY of Debbie’s trust fund.  That’s right, every penny.  Leaving Debbie with nothing.

Now remember– Debbie PAID for her health coverage– it wasn’t something that Wal-Mart was kind enough to give to her.

So let’s see if we get this right:  Debbie paid for health coverage but now the health carrier wants to be paid back for everything they paid.  So, if the carrier gets paid back for everything they paid, what was Debbie paying for?  Doesn’t this mean that the insurance company gets a windfall– they collect premiums to pay for coverage and when they actually provide the coverage that they were paid for, they still have the right to be reimbursed?  Short answer:  Yes. Read the rest…

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Alternative dispute resolution (or ADR for short) is being increasingly pushed by the judiciary and insurance companies involved in civil litigation.  The Federal courts even have pilot programs where ADR is mandated before a case can proceed to trial.  The question for the personal injury attorney and client is whether ADR is a good thing.

There are three different methods of ADR presently in use in New York.  They are mediation, arbitration and summary jury trials.  Mediation and arbitration are by far the two most common, but summary jury trials are also increasing in frequency.  Mediation is a process by which all parties agree to meet with a mediator.  The mediator does not have authority to determine any issues, but merely tries to foster agreement among the parties and broker a settlement.  The mediator has no interest in the outcome of the case, and acts as a neutral third party who looks at the potential evidence with the clear eye of someone not personally involved in the litigation.  A skilled mediator can help each side to see their potential problem areas, and arrive at a reasonable settlement figure in light of the strengths and weaknesses of their case.  If at the end of the mediation no agreement is reached, the case proceeds to trial.

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It’s that time of year again.  The days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer and the runners and cyclists are getting restless-er.  However, a word to all wise dog owners – make sure your pet does not follow suit and, following a lazy winter of prolonged naps and indoor play, become caught up in the spring fever and use all of his pent up energy to harass – or worse, injure – an innocent passer-by.

New York law imposes a high standard on dog owners, particularly owners of dogs that have ever shown “vicious propensities,” (legalese for prior displays of mean, unruly and aggressive behavior.)  As a dedicated marathoner, I must say I am glad the law seeks to hold pet owners responsible for misdeeds, yet as a former and likely future dog owner, I recognize the necessity for understanding the basics of New York’s dog owner liability doctrine to avoid legal entanglements.

In brief, under New York law a dog owner is potentially liable for injuries his dog causes to another person if Read the rest…