Washington DC Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

IKEA Recalls More Than 3 Million Window Blinds After a Child’s Death

July 27th, 2010

The Swedish furniture retailer, IKEA, recalled over 3 million window blinds after a child died and two others were almost strangled according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada said. The retailer is recalling Roller, Roman, and Roll-Up blinds after a 1 ½ year old boy in Lowell, Massachusetts was almost strangled in February.

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Whistleblower lawsuit filed against Oracle in Alexandria, Virginia

July 23rd, 2010

Oracle Corporation, the world’s second largest software maker, has been sued by a whistleblower and the United States Justice Department. The lawsuit involves claims that Oracle overcharged the government tens of millions of dollars. The lawsuit claims that Oracle failed to disclose discounts that it gave favorite commercial customers. A former Oracle employee filed a lawsuit under the Federal False Claims Act. The lawyers at Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. have also successfully filed a Federal False Claims Act case and encourage everyone to stop government waste by reporting fraud or waste by contacting the attorneys at Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C.

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Target Recalls Children’s Belts

July 22nd, 2010

The Target corporation recalled over 100,000 children’s belts because of the excessive levels of lead in the belt buckles. The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission reported that the recall applied to Cherokee brand boys and CRICO brand girls belts which were sold exclusively in Target stores and its website from December 2008 to December 2009. Lead poisoning in children can cause severe brain injury and affect their ability to succeed in life. If you know of anyone who has suffered a brain injury as a result of lead poisoning, please contact the law offices of Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C.

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Summer Driving Tips for the Safety of Your Family.

July 15th, 2010

Tire Pressure: Always check your tire pressure. Driving on underinflated or overinflated tires, particularly in hot weather, causes internal tire damage and increases the chance of a tire failure by tread separation or blowout. Tire pressure should be checked every few weeks, and certainly before a road trip. If possible have them checked at a tire service center, but always check the pressure before driving on the tires or after they’ve cooled; otherwise your tires will be hot and your pressure reading won’t be accurate. Lastly don’t confuse the maximum tire pressure listed on the sidewall of your tire as the recommended inflation levels. The manufacturer’s recommendations for inflation levels can be found on the lower-inside driver’s door frame.

Tread depth and appearance: In addition to tire pressure, be conscious of your tread depth and appearance. A tire should be replaced when it reaches 2/32 of an inch. That’s about the equivalent of the distance from the edge of a penny to the top of Lincoln’s head. Fortunately, most tire manufacturers have included a tread bar in the grooves between the tread, so that you can feel with your own hands if you’re nearing the 2/32nds mark. Also look for any uneven wear pattern on the tire, meaning that one edge might be more worn than the other. Keep in mind that as your tread becomes uneven or wears away, you’re at increased risk of hydroplaning during summer thunderstorms.

Age: Lastly, be aware that tires deteriorate as they age and are more prone to sudden failure that can result in a crash. This applies to spare tires and tires that are stored or have had little or no use. Heat caused by hot climates (such as Florida) or frequent high-loading conditions can accelerate the aging process. In addition, most vehicle manufacturers recommend that tires be replaced after 6 years, regardless of the remaining tread depth. Check your vehicle owner’s book to clarify. To determine the age of your tires, look for the code which begins with “DOT” on the side of your tire. The last four digits indicate the week/year the tire was manufactured. When purchasing a tire, request tires that are less than 12 months from the manufacture date.

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“So you don’t think you’re a whistleblower?” or “Who, me? A whistleblower?”

July 13th, 2010

Many of you who read our blogs or watch our YouTube videos know that the law firm of Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. has recently successfully completed a case under the Federal False Claims Act or also known as the “whistleblower act”. What you may not realize is that many of you have the potential to save all of us taxpayers money by notifying the lawyers of Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. of government waste or fraud. The notification of government waste or fraud is rewarded by providing the citizen who called the government waste or fraud to the attention of the government between 15-20% of the money saved by the government. Needless to say, this amount of saving is almost always in the tens of millions of dollars and frequently in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The government’s reward is high because the government desire to stop fraud and waste is high. Therefore, think about your job and the jobs of your family members and friends and ask yourself if you are aware of government waste, fraud or cheating. If so, contact the lawyers of Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C.

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The sudden emergency defense- what is it and what is wrong with it?

July 9th, 2010

There is a concept in the law which is called the “Sudden Emergency Defense”. The sudden emergency defense recognizes that when an individual is confronted with an emergency that is not of his or her making that is sudden and requires an immediate response, that the reaction of the person would not be as careful as that of an individual that had more time to react and because there was not the presence of an emergency. Many people mistake the concept of a true, sudden emergency – a situation that arises suddenly and without any behavior on behalf of the driver, with a stipulation that they “suddenly realize exists”. In other words, examples of a sudden emergency are a vehicle in front of you suddenly loses control and it goes into a spin, a vehicle in front of you suddenly crossing the center line into your lane, an animal running across the road without any notice. However, if there is a vehicle stopped in the road or stopping in the road with brake lights on and then the driver driving behind “suddenly” realizes the existence of that driver, that is not a sudden emergency. Suddenly realizing the existence of something that was there to be seen but was negligently not seen is not the same as the sudden development of an emergency through no fault of your own.

When confronted with a situation that resulted in a sudden emergency, whether it be the discovery of debris on the road that resulted from cargo falling off a passing vehicle or other factors that could cause continuing dangers for others, it would be prudent to contact the police to advise them of the danger so that they could be eliminated to ensure the safe passage of others.

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Debris On The Road- A Danger For All

July 6th, 2010

We have all had the experience of driving down the road only to suddenly discover a large piece of truck tire, road kill, or cargo that has fallen from a motor vehicle. Because we all know of the potential to suddenly observe obstacles directly in our path on the roadway, even on highways which permit traffic to move 55-65mph, we must always be aware and on the lookout for these obstacles.

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Defensive Driving Class and Other Ways to Reduce Your Automobile Insurance

July 2nd, 2010

GEICO and perhaps other insurance carriers will reduce your automobile insurance rate by approximately 10% if you sign up for an online defensive driving class and successfully complete it. Everyone should contact their automobile insurance carrier and find out whether they will give you a reduced rate if you successfully complete this course. While you are at it, make sure that you are receiving all of the discounts that you are entitled to, such as safe driving discounts. A rather little known way to substantially reduce your automobile insurance is if your child goes away to college. We all know that our children, when they turn 16, are eligible to drive an automobile. At that time, through age 25, insurance rates skyrocket for them. However, and your child is not home all or part of the year, if you notify your insurance company of the reduced amount of time that your child is actually home and has his own vehicle to drive, the automobile insurance rate for that child will drop dramatically. Check it out, you have nothing to lose!

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Why is a Defendant Allowed to Have Somebody Examined?

June 30th, 2010

Generally speaking, the rules of procedure permit a defendant to obtain a medical examination of someone claiming the present effects of a personal injury because they have put their physical condition “in issue” under those circumstances. The defendant invariably hires a doctor to testify that the injury is either less severe than claimed, related to something other than the incident at issue, or totally nonexistent. We at Chaikin, Sherman, Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. are experienced in defeating defense lawyers efforts at minimizing or eliminating our client’s claims of continued pain and suffering or other disability.

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State of Georgia Rules that Caps on Pain and Suffering Damages in Malpractice Cases are Unconstitutional

June 18th, 2010

The highest court in the state of Georgia recently ruled that caps on noneconomic losses in medical malpractice cases are unconstitutional. Maryland has a cap on noneconomic damages. Noneconomic damages refers to pain and suffering. So, people who have the greatest pain and the greatest suffering are the individuals who are most denied fair and complete justice because they are entitled to the highest award for the pain and suffering they will frequently have for the rest of their lives. The highest court in Georgia found recently that this is fundamentally unfair. Every person, they declared, in all cases, is entitled to a jury determination of their damages. Let’s send a message to our legislators in Maryland to remove the cap on damages.

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