An attorney who obtains a settlement or verdict for his / her client can assert a "charging lien" against the fund obtained. This usually happens when a lawyer working under a contingent fee agreement does some work that contributes to obtaining the settlement, then the client does not pay him or her for that work. The law protects the lawyer and gives him / her a charging lien to recover for the work done.
Caps on Damages (Personal Injury Cases)
In 2005, the Ohio General Assembly passed several "tort reform" measures, the most controversial being the limits on the amount a jury can award in personal injury and product liability cases. (See RC 2315.18). Under the 2005 rules, a plaintiff cannot recover more than the greater of (1) $250,000 or (2) three times the economic damages up to a maximum of $350,000, or $500,000 per single occurrence.
What are the safest cars for teens to drive?
Congratulations, your teen is enrolled in driver's education and soon will be able to drive. Your days of driving the "mom taxi" or "dad taxi" soon will be over!
But wait...you're probably going to need a car for your son or daughter to drive. If you're like most parents, this "new" vehicle must meet three criteria:
How to spot bad drivers and avoid crashes
It has never been more important to look out for bad drivers and potentially dangerous driving situations. Distractions are omnipresent in nearly every vehicle - phones, dashboards with interactive features, eating and more. You don't want to be a crash victim.
To avoid a crash with a distracted, aggressive or downright bad driver, it's crucial to be alert when traveling in the 614, throughout Ohio and beyond.
IIHS: in newer vehicles, back seats are less safe than the front
Rear car seats are traditionally safer than front seats, but in the face of recent car safety improvements, rear-seat safety is now lagging. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been making efforts to raise awareness of this fact, developing a series of crash tests to illustrate its safety concerns. Ohio residents should know that improving rear-seat safety comes with several challenges.
Rear seats can seat children and adults and even be the area where pets and cargo are placed. This presents difficulties from the point of view of automotive interior design, as compared to the front seats, which can be designed with the knowledge that they will carry at least one person: the driver.
There is Something in the Water - Legionnaires' Disease
Mount Carmel Grove City, located just outside Columbus, is presently the epicenter of a Legionnaires' disease outbreak. The Franklin County Public Health reports ten confirmed cases, one of which has resulted in death. The hospital is working in conjunction with Franklin County Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify the source of the outbreak.
Safety report on Tesla's Navigate on Autopilot feature
Ohio motorists may be interested in a recent safety report regarding self-driving automobiles manufactured by Tesla. Researchers with Consumer Reports stated that Tesla's recent update of the Navigate on Autopilot feature is potentially dangerous to drivers. During a Consumer Reports test of the Model 3, the Autopilot feature made a serious error by cutting off other approaching vehicles. The feature also passed other vehicles illegally. Consumer Reports claimed that the Navigate on Autopilot feature did not perform as well as human drivers. In addition, the feature created other potential risks.
The automated navigator did not leave ample space between vehicles, cut off approaching automobiles and passed other vehicles illegally. Drivers would need to intervene when using this feature in order to drive safely. In fact, Tesla's Autopilot caused three car accidents during the past few years resulting in death. The so-called convenience of allowing the vehicle to change lanes without the driver's interference is, according to Consumer Reports magazine, a significant inconvenience.
Spinal cord injuries and depression
A catastrophic spinal cord injury can change the course of your life. In a split second, you may go from being one of the healthiest people you know to someone who will never walk or run again. You lose hobbies, like sports you enjoyed, and you can even lose romantic relationships. It's daunting, to say the least.
When faced with these changes, many people encounter a second obstacle, which is mental depression. It's often very hard to adjust to this "new life" after the injury. Depression can also grow with time, as you move farther past the injury date and you begin to really realize that you're never going to fully heal and things are never going to go back to the way that they used to be.
Speeding to be the emphasis for Operation Safe Driver Week
July 14 to 20 is when the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance will hold its annual Operation Safe Driver Week. This is to be a period of increased enforcement of traffic laws, so both truck and passenger vehicle drivers in Ohio will want to make sure they are being safe on the road. As a deterrent, police will be ready to issue citations.
Some of the dangerous driving behaviors that police will be looking for are distracted driving (especially calling and texting), impaired driving, aggressive driving, seat belt neglect, improper lane changing and the ignoring of traffic control devices. Speeding will be the number one focus of this year's event.
Driving in the rain can be deadly
When it rains in Ohio, many motorists continue to drive at or above the speed limit, but it is important not to. Even a little rain can greatly increase the risk of a fatal accident involvement.
According to a researcher at the North Carolina Institute of Climate Studies, a light rain, which is a drizzle that is steady enough to use an umbrella, increases the risk of fatal accidents by 27%. Moderate rain increases the risk of fatal crashes by 75%, and heavy rain increases the risk by two-and-one-half times. The study was reported in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
