Personal Injury Claims – The Basics
February 11, 2019 —
Jessica L. Mulvaney - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLPPersonal injury claims can manifest in multiple ways, and while procedurally many may be similar, no two cases are ever exactly alike. The basis of all personal injury claims is a person suffering some injury or harm. The laws related to personal injury claims are in place to allow for the party at fault to be held responsible, and the injured party to seek a remedy and be “made whole” after suffering injury.
Typical causes of action for personal injury claims can include intentional actions (torts) against an individual, negligence, or strict liability. At the heart of all injury claims are the issues of liability and damages. Liability is the determination of whether the defendant being accused of the harm is responsible, i.e. caused the injury and resulting harm. Damages is a concept that encompasses the harm a person suffered as a result of the injury. For personal injury, typical damages can include medical bills, loss of earnings, future medical care, and pain and suffering.
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Jessica L. Mulvaney, Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
White and Williams Lawyers Recognized by Best Lawyers
August 26, 2015 —
White and Williams LLPTwelve White and Williams lawyers have been listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2016. Inclusion in Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer-review. The methodology is designed to capture the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services.
2016 Best Lawyers
Attorney / Practice Area
Frank Bruno / Patent Law
James Coffey / Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Timothy Davis / Real Estate Law
Joseph Foster / Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
William Hussey / Tax Law; Trusts and Estates
Michael Kraemer / Employment Law - Management; Labor Law; Management; Litigation - Labor and Employment
Randy Maniloff / Insurance Law
John Orlando / Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
Thomas Rogers / Real Estate Law
Joan Rosoff / Real Estate Law
Craig Stewart / Insurance Law; Product Liability - Defendants
William Taylor / Construction Law
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You may contact White and Williams LLP attorneys at www.whiteandwilliams.com
Haight’s Sacramento Office Has Moved
April 17, 2019 —
Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLPHaight Brown & Bonesteel LLP has moved its Sacramento office to a new location.
Effective March 18, 2019, Haight’s new Sacramento office address is:
500 Capitol Mall
Suite 2150
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.702.3200 F: 916.570.1947
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Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
Business Insurance Names Rachel Hudgins Among 2024 Break Out Award Winners
April 22, 2024 —
Hunton Insurance Recovery BlogWe are pleased to announce that counsel
Rachel E. Hudgins has been recognized as one of Business Insurance’s 2024 Break Out Award winners. The magazine’s Break Out Awards honor 40 top professionals each year from a competitive field of nominees who have under 15 years’ experience in the insurance and risk management sector and are “on track to be the next leaders in the risk management and property/casualty insurance field.”
Clients describe Rachel as their “chief contact for high-exposure coverage work.” She meets clients where they are with a curiosity and interest in their business strategies, as well as an ability to distill complex insurance concepts into digestible terms. Rachel also has depth of experience in coverage litigation. She has litigated hundreds of insurance coverage and bad faith claims in state and federal courts across the country and US territories.
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Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
Hunton Insurance Partner Syed Ahmad Serves as Chair of the ABA Minority Trial Lawyer Committee’s Programming Subcommittee
January 13, 2020 —
Michelle M. Spatz - Hunton Insurance Recovery BlogSyed Ahmad, a partner in Hunton Andrews Kurth’s Insurance Coverage practice, has volunteered to serve as Chair of the
ABA Minority Trial Lawyer Committee’s Programming Subcommittee. The Minority Trial Lawyer Committee (MTL) serves as a resource for minority litigators, in-house counsel and law students, aiming to foster professional development, legal scholarship, advocacy and community involvement. As Chair of the Programming Subcommittee, Syed, who was named to Benchmark Litigation’s 40 & Under Hot List earlier this year, will help advance MTL’s mission of facilitating discussions about diversity and the law and providing career network opportunities for minority trial lawyers.
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Michelle M. Spatz, Hunton Andrews KurthMs. Spatz may be contacted at
mspatz@HuntonAK.com
California Supreme Court Protects California Policyholders for Intentional Acts of Employees
July 02, 2018 —
William S. Bennett – Saxe Doernberger & Vita P.C.Recently, the California Supreme Court ruled that liability insurers are obligated to cover negligent supervision, hiring, and retention claims against employers resulting from the intentional acts of their employees.
The case, Liberty Surplus Insurance v. Ledesma & Meyer Construction, case no. S236765 (2018), involved an insurance coverage dispute between a construction company, Ledesma & Meyer Construction (“L&M”), and its insurers, Liberty Insurance Underwriters, Inc. (“Liberty”) and Liberty Surplus Insurance Corp (“Liberty Surplus”). Liberty was L&M’s primary insurer, while Liberty Surplus had the excess policy. L&M had contracted with the San Bernardino Unified School District to renovate a school building while the school was still in session. In a separate action, another court found that an L&M employee sexually assaulted a 13-year-old student while working at the project.
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William S. Bennett, Saxe Doernberger & Vita P.C.Mr. Bennett may be contacted at
wsb@sdvlaw.com
Supply Chain Delay Recommendations
August 07, 2022 —
Denise Motta - Gordon & Rees Construction Law BlogThis Bulletin provides guidance to contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and others to ensure compliance with contractual change order requirements in the event work on a construction project is impacted by supply chain delays.
Contract Protection Tips:
The construction industry is being impacted substantially by inability to obtain necessary construction products due to supply chain issues. Most construction contracts do not accommodate time extensions due to supply chain impacts. To address this gap in contract terms, we recommend including language such as: “lack of or failure of or other inability to obtain necessary transportation, fuel, power, materials, machinery, equipment or facilities, delays caused by other contractors, subcontractors or their subcontractors of any tier, or any materialmen or suppliers” as part of the defined force majeure event under the contract.
This provision can be included in the Change Order section of the contract as well by including a provision such as: “If the Work is delayed by the failure of or other inability to obtain necessary transportation, fuel, power, materials, machinery, equipment or facilities, delays caused by other contractors, subcontractors or their subcontractors of any tier, or any materialmen or suppliers, contractor shall be entitled to a change order for its costs and time associated with the delay.”
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Denise Motta, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLPMs. Motta may be contacted at
dmotta@grsm.com
Judge Halts Sale of Brazilian Plywood
June 06, 2022 —
Beverley BevenFlorez – CDJ StaffA permanent injunction was issued by Judge Roy Altman in a Ft. Lauderdale federal court on May 24th that requires the revocation of all PS 1 certificates that were issued by PFS-TECO to more than a dozen Brazilian mills that produced structural plywood for the U.S. market,
reported Business Wire.
“This case highlights how a few bad actors profited by essentially looking the other way while substandard, and potentially dangerous plywood was imported into the U.S. and used to build homes and businesses,”
Michael Haglund, counsel representing the U.S. Structural Plywood Integrity Coalition, of Haglund Kelley, LLP, told Business Wire.
Building codes throughout the U.S. require the use of PS 1 structural plywood in construction. "If product standards are not being met, there can be serious implications for all homes constructed using those substandard wood panel products," Tyler Freres, VP of Sales for
Freres Engineered Wood, told CDJ. "Contractors and homeowners should be able to trust that U.S. certification agencies are doing their due diligence to accurately inspect panels, ensuring consumers' health and safety."
The U.S. Structural Plywood Integrity Coalition, including nine family-owned U.S. plywood manufacturers, alleged that PFS-TECO falsely certified that plywood from Brazil met U.S. structural integrity requirements. This substandard plywood has been used throughout the U.S. In particular, it was used during the hurricane reconstruction efforts in Florida and Puerto Rico due to its cheaper price. In 2021, Brazilian plywood made up 11% of the U.S. supply with
nearly 1.2 billion square feet sold.
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