Personal Injury

Published on: May 13, 2015

TRAGIC AMTRAK ACCIDENT IN PHILADELPHIA

Last night, Amtrak Northeast Regional train 188 derailed in Philadelphia, killing 6 and injuring hundreds. The train, operating from Washington to New York, overturned and crashed at approximately 9:45 p.m. It was carrying 238 passengers and a crew of 5 at the time of the accident.

Emergency crews worked thru the night to rescue passengers from the wreck. Firefighters needed hydraulic tools to cut the twisted steel and free trapped passengers and crew members. 6 cars in the train derailed, one of which struck a steel utility pole.

The accident occurred near Frankford Ave in northeast Philadelphia while rounding a sharp curve. This area was also the scene of a 1943 train accident in which 79 people were killed. The 1943 accident was caused by equipment failure. Continue reading

Published on: February 3, 2015

Travelers Insurance Finally Agrees to Pay Asbestos Victims

by Naumes Law

Travelers Insurance Finally Agrees to Pay Asbestos Victims

Ten years after reneging on a settlement agreement with asbestos victims, Travelers Insurance has finally agreed to fund the settlement. On January 5, 2015 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied their latest motion for a rehearing and further review by the Circuit Court, ending a “fiendishly complex case”.

The litigation began in 2001, when a group of asbestos victim’s law firms filed lawsuits in Hawaii, West Virginia and Massachusetts state courts over Travelers unfair settlement practices. After the cases were removed to U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Travelers settled following a mediation with Governor Mario Cuomo. The company agreed to pay the Statutory Settlement Claimants $ 360 million, in addition to payments for Common Law and Hawaii victims.

When other insurance companies attempted to intervene in the litigation, Travelers used that as an excuse to renege. The Plaintiff’s firms refused to give up and the case went from Bankruptcy Court to the District Court, U.S. Court of Appeals (twice), and the United States Supreme Court (twice). Thankfully thousands of asbestos victims will now get the compensation they deserve with millions of dollars of interest added to the settlements. Continue reading

Published on: January 13, 2015

Personal Injury – A Simple Overview.

by Naumes Law

At some point or other we all get injured. Some injuries will be more serious than others, and, some injuries will be our fault. Personal injury (PI) involves incidents were an individual is injured because of another persons fault. Popular examples include automobile accidents, medical malpractice, and slip and fall. But personal injuries come in a variety of forms.

Although the cases often vary factually, they fall under an area of law known as tort law. Theories of recovery for personal injury will be negligence, strict liability, or intentional wrongdoing (Intentional Tort). (Here, we focus on negligence.) In a negligence case a plaintiff can win an award if he can proves he was injured, and can show the defendant

had a duty;
breached that duty;
the breach in fact caused an injury; and
the breach was the proximate cause of the injury.

What happens soon after an injury is important to ensure you secure recovery.

Published on: January 13, 2015

MESOTHELIOMA – A Medical Overview and Legal Options

by Naumes Law

Medical Overview

Mesothelioma is a caner caused by asbestos. It is an aggressive type of cancer. One way Mesothelioma is classified is by the location it takes hold in an individual’s body. Three areas the cancer targets include the abdomen (Peritoneal Mesothelioma), the chest (Pleural Mesothelioma), and the heart (Pericardial Mesothelioma). The most common sites of mesothelioma are the chest and abdomen; the least common occurs in the heart.

Although there is not one survival rate for all patients, survival rate among mesothelioma patients is not high. Patients diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma (abdomen) typically have ten months to survive from the onset of the caner, while patients diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma (chest) generally have only 17 months.