By Kyle Roby, Attorney
English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP
One of the most commonly ignored truck rules is the requirement to keep records of how long truckers have been behind the wheel on a given day. Federal law requires truckers to rest for a certain amount of time, for safety reasons, and to keep a log of where they traveled and how long they were gone. Those truck rules have been in effect since 1938 – nearly 80 years.
Those rules are pretty easy for truckers and the companies they work for to bend, though. They can easily write down whatever they want, if they’re not honest, or keep two sets of log books, one that’s accurate and one that’s only to show if asked by authorities. We've written about this issue before on our blog. See our July 23, 2015 post on this same topic. Read More
By Kurt Maier, Attorney
English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP
The basic components of a negligence case are duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages. In slip and fall injury cases, called premises liability cases in legal terms, an injured person must also show that the owner or operator of the premises either caused the hazardous condition that led to his or her injuries or had constructive notice of.
The constructive notice element of proof can be shown in several ways, including proof that the dangerous or defective condition had been in place for a length of time sufficient for the defendant to have become aware of the condition in the exercise of reasonable care. Constructive notice can also be shown through the defendant's recurring conduct or a continuing condition.
Of course, each case is unique, and disagreements can certainly arise as to whether a defendant was constructively notified of a particular situation. In some such cases, video surveillance footage can be an important piece of evidence, even if the slip and fall injury in question was not captured on camera. Read More
By Elizabeth J. McKinney, Attorney
English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP
When someone dies, there’s lots to do. It’s not quite as hurried as most think it is, but usually, within a week of the funeral, the heirs are starting the process of handling all of the paperwork that needs to be handled.
You can make this all much easier by getting together a packet of information for the executor of your estate and the attorney and professional advisor who has worked with you in making your estate plans. It’s best to start this process long before you think you need to do so, and to let your friends and family know where the documents are. Read More
When a consumer is injured because of a dangerous product, the consumer has a right to pursue financial compensation for his or her injuries via a product liability lawsuit. There are several types of theories that may be used in product liability cases, depending upon the circumstances.
These types of theories include strict product liability, design defect, manufacturing defect, failure to warn, and breach of warranty. Design defects typically affect an entire line of products that were manufactured according to an inherently dangerous design. Manufacturing defects, on the other hand, may involve only a few products that were the subjects of a flaw in the construction or production process.
Damages available in a product liability case may include past and future medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lost wages. In some cases, there is also the possibility of punitive damages in cases of particularly egregious conduct by the manufacturer. Read More
By Nathan Vinson, Attorney
English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP
Over the past decade, Congress has passed a law – usually at the last minute – that allows for gifts directly from Individual Retirement Accounts to charitable organizations with favorable tax treatment. The gifts can be up to $100,000 to qualifying organizations, but it has to be made directly to the charity. The IRA gift provision has been a popular way for some to give to their favorite organizations, for two key reasons:
The gift counts towards your required minimum distribution from your IRA for the year. As you may know, seniors ages 70.5 and up are required to take a minimum distribution from their IRA each year.
The gift is excluded from taxable income. The money won’t be included in your taxable income (as it would otherwise) if the money is paid directly to the qualifying charity.
Only those who are 70.5 or older can take advantage of it. Read More
By Kyle Roby, Attorney and Partner
English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP
It often comes as a surprise to those injured in car accidents that dealing with one's own insurance company can be just as vexing and contentious as dealing with the insurance company of the driver whose negligence or recklessness caused the accident.
Fortunately, the law does provide some protection for insureds who have to fight with their own insurance company to get that to which they are contractually entitled. However, the threshold for success in such cases is high, and not every case results in a judgment in the insured's favor. Read More
By Kurt Maier, Attorney
English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP
Many people drive a company car as part of their work. If you drive often, chances are, at some point, you’ll be involved in some kind of vehicle accident.
After you’ve made sure you’re not injured and that everyone else involved is OK, too, one of the first things that might come to mind is whether or not you’ll be liable for the damage caused by the accident. If you’re driving your employer’s vehicle with your employer’s permission, you are not liable in most circumstances for a work-related vehicle accident.
I address this very topic in a recent video I created. You can watch it here: Read More
By Kyle Roby, Attorney
English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP
Many people assume that making a claim on an uninsured motorist insurance policy is fairly straightforward. After all, the other driver either had insurance or didn't have insurance, right?
Unfortunately, uninsured motorist cases can be just as contentious and adversarial as lawsuits that are litigated between injured parties and defendants who have insurance. Not only is the amount to which the injured party is entitled a common source of dispute, but also it is not unusual for there to be a disagreement about whether the uninsured motorist policy covered the accident in question. Read More
