Car accidents fall under an area of tort law known as "negligence." To make out a successful case, a plaintiff must prove four things: 1) the defendant owed him or her a duty of care, 2) the defendant breached that duty, 3) the plaintiff sustained actual damages, and 4) the plaintiff's damages were caused by the defendant's breach of duty. It seems simple enough, right?
Unfortunately, many cases are not as simple as they initially seem. Issues such as comparative fault - an allegation by the defendant that the plaintiff is responsible for some part of the accident - can quickly complicate matters. The resolution of such issues often depends upon the law of the state in which the wreck occurred. This Tennessee car crash case is an example.
Kentucky is one of about a dozen states that follow the "pure comparative fault" doctrine, under which a plaintiff's damages are reduced in proportion to his or her fault, but he or she is still allowed to recover against the defendant for the defendant's percentage of fault. In Tennessee, however, the rule is one of "modified comparative fault," with the plaintiff only being allowed to recover if his or her fault is less than 50%. If the plaintiff is found to be 49% at fault, he or she can recover 51% of his or her total damages, but there is no recovery at all if the parties are determined to bear equal fault. Read More
By Nathan Vinson, Attorney
English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley
Ah, Florida. It calls to retirees like the mythical siren calls to sailors. Warm weather, year-round golf, palm trees on every corner, not a flake of snow and the promise of lower taxes bring the 60-plus set to our Southern-most state at record rates. In fact, Florida is now the nation’s third most populous state.
The Journal of Accountancy notes that 19 states impose an inheritance tax on top of other federal taxes. Both Kentucky and Tennessee have an inheritance tax, although Tennessee will eliminate its inheritance tax in 2016. This means if you inherit property from an estate of someone who moved to Kentucky or Tennessee and passed away in either state, you might be giving a portion of those proceeds from the estate to the respective state government – if the proceeds are above certain thresholds and, at least in Kentucky, depending on your relationship to the deceased.
What complicates matters is that governments in some states seem highly suspicious of those who move away. Some put families who have inherited an estate through rigorous paperwork to try to get out of paying estate taxes in that state. Read More
By Nathan Vinson, Attorney
English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley, LLP
Facebook has a neat little box that you can check to indicate your relationship status. There are some options that are clear cut – or at least seem to be: married, divorced, single. There’s another option that’s becoming more popular as of late called “it’s complicated.” It’s a handy box to check when life is messy.
Unfortunately, though, there’s no “it’s complicated” box to check in legal documents. In the eyes of the law, you’re either single, legally separated or married. There’s no in-between for marital status.
The lives of Luther and Shirley Mills definitely fell under the “it’s complicated” category, and the Kentucky Court of Appeals recently ruled on whether or not the couple was legally married at the time of Luther’s death. At stake was Luther’s estate.
' Read More
By Kyle Roby
English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley, LLP
Amusement park rides are designed to entertain and delight adults and children. But the very nature of what makes them fun – the thrill of a fast ride that careens you up and down hills and through loops – can be the very thing that makes amusement park rides dangerous. There are well-maintained parks and those that are not, and chances are, you may not know the difference by looking at them.
In Kentucky, one of the most recent amusement park accidents that comes to mind is an incident at Six Flags in Louisville, Kentucky, which is now closed. In 2007, a 16-year-old girl was riding the Superman Tower of Power ride, which takes riders straight up 20 stories and drops them towards the ground at speeds up to 54 miles per hour. A cable on the ride became loose and wrapped around the girls’ feet, severing her feet. The ride was immediately closed, and the girls’ family successfully sued the park.
Also in Louisville, the Louisville Zoo faced lawsuits from patrons who were riding on a small train meant to carry children and their parents when it went careening out of control. The Zoo train was closed for four years. Although the Zoo itself could not be sued, a judge ruled, the individual employees operating the train could, and were. Injuries from that accident were severe for some of the riders. One man had his leg pinned under the train and had a series of eight surgeries to repair the damage. He had missed 18 months of work at the time of the lawsuit. A small child had disfiguring face injuries, and many others were injured in other ways.
As with those cases, different legal claims are available to people who have been injured on an amusement park ride. Although the specific claim depends on the nature of the incident or accident, two of the most common are negligence and product liability. Injuries do not have to be that severe to recover. Read More
By Kyle Roby, Attorney
English, Lucas, Priest & Owsley, LLP
Tractor trailer drivers are required to keep log books. Log books record the time a truck driver has been driving or on-duty. It's one of the first things we examine when we're called on to help someone who has been injured in an accident that involves a truck. Few drivers, however, are as dutiful with keeping those truck log books as they should be. Log books are hand-written, and simple to read, and easy to keep up with if a driver wants to do so.
The truck log books require the following of a driver and the company he or she works for:
Log books must be kept as the driver goes. Every time a driver begins the day, he or she is required to note the city, state, and time.
The driver is to keep track of the amount of time driving - time left, time arrived, and time spent on breaks throughout the day.
The name of the company that owns the truck and its headquarter's location are required at the top of each log book page.
The driver must sign the log book to indicate that the information in it is accurate and truthful.
If the driver is following the law, the truck log books should show that he or she abided by the time limits specified by law. Police officers, state troopers and officials from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration are allowed to examine the log books at any time to check to see if the driver is following the law. Many times, though, drivers do not keep up with log books, or falsify the books to indicate he or she has abided by the law. Read More
By Nathan Vinson, Attorney
English, Lucas, Priest and Owsley, LLP
As early as 2000, states began grappling with the issue of same sex marriage. Some states allowed unions. Some allowed marriage. Some didn’t allow either. Now, with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, all states must allow and recognize same sex marriages. So moving forward, what happens at tax time if you’re married in one state but live in a state that previously didn’t recognize same sex marriages?
The American Bar Association offered an online Continuing Legal Education seminar by attorneys Patricia Cain and George Karibjanian recently to help tax attorneys sort through some of the more difficult legal issues surrounding same sex marriage.
It’s been a mess, frankly, for same sex couples. Read More
