Product liability cases can involve many different theories of liability. Typically, the issues in the case are narrowed during the litigation process, with only some claims actually being tried. It is therefore crucially important for a trial court to properly instruct the jury on the issues presented at trial. In…
While it may be hard to believe, there is one death a day in our country from high speed police chases. Many times the vehicles travel at more than 100 miles per hour. According to USA Today, more than 5000 bystanders and passengers have been killed in police car chases…
Negligence and personal injury lawsuits can arise in a variety of circumstances, including an accident in a home. Regardless of the location of the accident, the statute of limitations for injury cases must still be complied with. In the case of McAlhany v. Carter, the plaintiff brought suit in the…
Yet another verdict for the male users of Risperdal as a Philadelphia jury ordered the drug manufacturer, Johnson and Johnson to pay twenty-one (21) year old Nicholas Murray 1.75 Million Dollars. Murray alleged that the use of Risperdal caused him to develop large breasts. Murray had alleged that Janssen Pharmaceuticals,…
It is unsettlingly common these days to hear of a large recall of cars, trucks, or SUVs, often as part of a settlement agreement between the manufacturer of the vehicles and the federal government as a result of findings that certain product defects have resulted in numerous injuries and deaths.…
The right to a jury trial is very important to our civil justice system. That said, jury trials can be complex and lengthy because of all of the procedural safeguards that are in place to make sure that the jury, presumably made up of laymen, considers only admissible evidence and is…
The whistleblower provisions of the federal False Claims Act, codified at U.S.C.A. § 3729-3733, are based on the premise that those on the inside often have the best information about illegal acts and fraud. The Act has been around for a long time, having been enacted during the Civil War to combat fraud…
Class action lawsuits can be very useful in that they allow a large group of people with similar legal disputes to bring their claims in a single lawsuit, thus reducing litigation costs and encouraging judicial economy. In order to proceed as a class, the would-be class representative(s) must obtain the…
The importance of the statute of limitations – the deadline for filing a lawsuit – cannot be overemphasized. If a case is not filed in a timely fashion, there can be no recovery unless the circumstances fit into a very small number of exceptions. In the recent case of Sims v.…
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you had a car accident due to the negligence of someone else but you had no way of identifying the negligent party? South Carolina law requires every motor vehicle owner to carry uninsured motorist (UM) insurance, which may allow you to file a…