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When a company shuts down operations, pays off creditors and steps away, those involved may believe that’s the end of it and begin moving onto other endeavors. However, if the company has products that may have caused injury to others, the firm could be subject to litigation well after the doors are closed.

In Florida, F.S. 607.1407 is known as the “corporate survival statute,” and it allows plaintiffs in tort actions to bring claims against the company for up to four years after it formally dissolves.

That assumes the company has properly dissolved – and not simply stopped operations – and that there was proper notification of that dissolution, either via public notice or personally to known creditors or claimants.

In the case of Williams v. Clark Sand Company, Inc., the  Mississippi Supreme Court was asked to weigh several issues pertaining to Florida’s corporate survival statute, and whether claims regarding latent injuries could be brought more than four years after the corporation dissolved. Continue reading →

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When there is a multi-vehicle, chain reaction accident, conclusions regarding liability can be difficult to reach. Because multi-vehicle accidents usually involve high insurance payouts, insurance companies typically assign trained accident investigators to examine the facts of each claim.

Often, it comes down to who was in the rear (as drivers are expected to maintain a safe driving distance), whether speed, distraction or alcohol was involved and the time and distance between one accident and another. Insurance companies may view pileups as several individual accidents, depending on the circumstances.

In the case of Baumann v. Zhukov, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit was asked to weigh liability in a fatal truck accident that killed a father, pregnant mother and two young children in two separate vehicles that were struck by a fatigued truck driver that failed to stop with the rest of traffic that was backed up on the highway from an earlier crash. Continue reading →

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There are tens of thousands of hotels in Florida, and most make a handsome profit on the state’s booming tourism industry here in the Sunshine State. But with that comes an inherent responsibility to keep the property safe from unreasonable hazards. Failure to do so can result in a premises liability lawsuit.

However, hotel guests as invitees have a responsibility as well. They need to protect themselves from dangers that are open and obvious. Failure to do this can result in a reduction of damages or potentially even a dismissal of their case.

The question of whether a hazard is open-and-obvious has been sharply debated in courts across the country. Further, the defense isn’t absolute. It may be used as a way for the defense to argue reduced compensation to the plaintiff for the role he or she played, but it’s not necessarily a total bar to recovery (depending on the state where it occurs). Continue reading →

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It was Friday morning when a Fort Lauderdale man got the call of a crash in Davie on South State Road 7. Nothing especially unusual about that. As a tow truck driver, he was used to being called to crash scenes to haul off damaged vehicles so regular traffic patterns could resume.

But while he was on his way there, his supervisor called him. Don’t go to this one. Turn around and head home.

As it turned out, the crash involved his younger brother, also a tow truck driver and father of a 12-year-old boy. He had been riding on his stepfather’s Suzuki on his way into work when he collided with a dump truck. Continue reading →

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Florida law requires drivers to use reasonable care in the operation of their motor vehicle. Failure to do this is met with punishment from the criminal justice system, and sometimes accountability through the civil system when people are hurt or property is damaged.

Generally, “reasonable care” means abiding by all traffic laws and taking every precaution to operate the vehicle safely and avoid accidents.

However, there are some scenarios in which drivers get a pass. It’s not often, and it’s usually not a given. But if a defendant can show he or she was grappling with a “sudden emergency” at the time of accident and that sudden emergency is what caused the accident, it’s likely he or she will evade both criminal charges and civil liability. Continue reading →

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An injury lawsuit filed in a federal court in Los Angeles seeks class action status on behalf of all keyless car drivers.

The litigation alleges auto manufacturers should have initiated a recall of millions of keyeless entry and ignition models because the vehicles apparently did not shut off automatically when the driver failed to press the start and stop buttons. This, plaintiffs allege, put drivers at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Already, plaintiffs assert there have been more than dozen deaths associated with this issue. There have also been numerous “close calls,” wherein people were able to evade danger before it turned deadly. Continue reading →

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The family of a 17-year-old laid him to rest last month after police say a 22-year-old driver, distracted by an electronic cigarette, struck the teen, who was riding his bicycle in Orlando.

The driver told investigators he had fumbled with and then dropped his e-cigarette while driving on Trevarthon Road when he struck the bicyclist, knocking him off his bike. The teen was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver then said he panicked and fled the scene. At first when questioned by troopers about the damage to his car, he told them he’d run into a tree. However, authorities said he soon confessed. Witnesses would later say he was traveling at a high rate of speed.

He had valid insurance, a valid driver’s license and was apparently on his way to work at the Orlando International Airport when the incident happened. He expressed remorse to troopers, but, as one sergeant told a reporter, “It’s too late.” Continue reading →

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Highway work zones are dangerous both for the motorists who navigate them and the workers employed there.

The U.S. Department of Transportation reports an estimated 88,000 crashes happened in work zones in 2010. Most of these don’t lead to fatalities, but when they do, it can leave families reeling. When a worker is killed, he or she is often a major contributor to the family household income, and it’s important for families to explore all viable options for compensation to ensure future financial security.

Luckily, most if not all of these workers are entitled to some form of workers’ compensation. This is money paid out to an injured worker or, in the event of the worker’s death, his or her surviving, dependent family members. It is not necessarily in a workers’ compensation action to prove negligence, only that the accident occurred in the course and scope of employment. However, workers/family members who collect these benefits cannot pursue legal action against the employer for negligence. There may be an opportunity to file a third-party liability action, but that will depend on the circumstances of the case. Continue reading →

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A man who suffered a leg amputation after falling 30 feet on cement while working at a construction site in New Jersey has been awarded $2.8 million from the building owner and general contractor.

The plaintiff worker in Chin v. Koryo Corp. et al alleged as a native of Korea who spoke limited English, defendants failed to provide him with proper training and a safe workplace environment in which to perform his duties.

One aspect that harmed his case, however, was the finding of comparative fault stemming from the fact he helped construct the bosun chair, comprised of wood and rope, from which he fell. That fact resulted in jurors in his injury case finding him 30 percent at fault for his own injury. Another issue that damaged his case was the defense assertion that he could find other suitable work, as evidenced by his helping a friend find and purchase a new car, thereby receiving a finder’s fee. Continue reading →

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Five teens were injured – three of them critically – and one was killed in a boating accident in waters running through a quiet residential neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale.

Authorities with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission indicated the small boat in which they were riding struck a bridge on the Middle River, shortly after midnight. At the time, the group was navigating waters that run along the North Dixie Highway in Fort Lauderdale, a residential neighborhood that is, by all accounts, pretty quiet.

The group had only been out for about an hour-and-a-half before the accident. Continue reading →

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