- Steve Lombardi | January 29, 2008 12:00 PM |
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MiscellaneousI read an article written by Ruben Navarrette titled, Americans' sense of entitlement is main threat to economy, as reprinted in the Des Moines Register and find the subject along the lines of what I've been complaining about for too long and parents don't seem to get. For over ten years I coached soccer and refused the "make all kids feel good about themselves" by handing out participation...
- Steve Lombardi | January 29, 2008 12:00 AM |
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MiscellaneousHe was 88 and died a legend. On January 10, 2008 Sir Edmund Hillary's death was announced by the Prime Minister of New Zealand. I never got to meet him. People who have never climbed a mountain will always ask why anyone would want to mountain climb. Sir Edmund Hillary answered, 'Because it was there.' And everyone may think that too simplistic, but I don't think so. It's all about one's life...
- Steve Lombardi | January 29, 2008 12:00 AM |
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Head & Brain InjuriesSeveral people who commented argued there is no difference in the cost of medical car associated with motorcycle accidents with or without a helmet. Unfortunately that is not true. The studies show completely the opposite to be true. In November 2002, NHTSA reported that 25 studies of the costs of injuries from motorcycle crashes "consistently found that helmet use reduced the fatality rate,...
- Steve Lombardi | January 29, 2008 12:00 AM |
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Defective & Dangerous ProductsThe FDA and Cordis Corporation today announced a recall of balloon catheters due to defects in their ability to do what they are designed to do. This product was manufactured in Mexico. Fire Star and Dura Star Balloon Catheters are designed to be inserted into arteries and vessels that are partially blocked. This allows the blood to more freely flow and is associated with prolonging life or the...
- Steve Lombardi | January 28, 2008 12:37 PM |
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Head & Brain InjuriesI've received several comments critical of my posts about motorcycle helmets and increased insurance coverage. Different in many respects they all have one argument in common. They argue there are many more collisions in cars that lead to brain injury and therefore the argument is made that if those riding motorcycles should be required to don a helmet then so should automobile drivers and...
- Steve Lombardi | January 24, 2008 11:00 AM |
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Motorcycle AccidentsMy advice to those riders, who don't wish to wear a helmet, is to be very good to your spouse, because one day soon you're going to need them for a very long time. I rest my case.This post is about marriage advice. On January 22, 2008 the blog I posted was: Motorcycles, Helmets, Wrecks, Brain Damage and the Freedom to be Stupid. That entry discussed one potential solution to the enormous costs...
- Steve Lombardi | January 24, 2008 12:00 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsQuestion: If the driver of a car stops at a stop sign, looks both ways, then pulls out is a truck driver at fault if fog is thick and he's prohibited from seeing the car t-bones the car resulting in serious injury and death?Question: If the driver of a car stops at a stop sign, looks both ways, then pulls out is a truck driver at fault if fog is thick and he's prohibited from seeing the car...
- Steve Lombardi | January 23, 2008 12:00 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsAnother reported death in December caused by dense fog. Scott Nelson, 42, was transported to Mercy Medical Center-Dubuque, where he was pronounced dead, according to the Iowa State Patrol. According to state troopers, a semi-tractor trailer driven by Kendall Tews, 45, of Palmer, Iowa, was eastbound on U.S. 20 at around 2:45 p.m. when it struck the rear of a car, causing both vehicles to go into...
- Steve Lombardi | January 22, 2008 10:00 AM |
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Motorcycle AccidentsRequiring motorcycle owners to buy medical and disability insurance that will pay for their freedom - currently at the general public's expense - is an excellent idea. And, if they get caught riding without a helmet and the necessary insurance coverage, then take away their right to ride and hit them with a very high fine. Make it painful. Very painful.We need to remember that there is no free...
- Steve Lombardi | January 22, 2008 12:00 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsTwo people were sent to the hospital after a collision on Old Lincoln Highway. The driver following says to the Iowa State Trooper that he didn't notice brake lights when the pick-up truck in front of him slowed to turn into a driveway. So you ask yourself, is that excuse good enough to avoid liability? Well ask yourself first if you were the person whose pick-up truck was hit from behind, would...
- Steve Lombardi | January 21, 2008 12:00 AM |
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Wrongful DeathRural Iowa - Loss of Control of Vehicle Is the Driver's Age a DefenseQuestion: If one driver loses control of their vehicle, over corrects, then crosses the center line hitting the other vehicle and causing serious injury or death, are they excused from liability due to age or infirmity?Answer: The most likely answer is no. Old age and infirmity do not create a defense to driving with your...
- Steve Lombardi | January 20, 2008 12:00 AM |
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Wrongful DeathOne has to ask if age was a factor in causing the driver to not yeild at the intersection of Echo Avenue and U.S. Highway 18 near Nora Springs. So it was reported by the Iowa State Patrol. Mary E. Ott, 81, died in the accident that sent two others to the hospital. She was a passenger in a Cadillac driven by Richard E. Ott, 83, also of Greene. The vehicle was northbound on County Road T24 (Echo...
- Steve Lombardi | January 19, 2008 12:00 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsThe frosty excuse goes cold in a court of law...It's early, cold, you'd rather stay under the warm covers but duty calls. You do all that needs to be done to get ready for work, head out the door and notice upon entering the car that it's damn cold. For whatever reason you didn't turn the car on to warm up, you're sitting there shivering and figure I'm going to start driving so the engine will...
- Steve Lombardi | January 18, 2008 2:00 PM |
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MiscellaneousOn January 16, 2008 the Wall Street Journal interviewed Kirsten Wolf, a 32-year-old Boston University School of Law graduate with substantial student loans. She hasn't been able to find a job in the legal field that fits her personality. I grew up outside of Boston. I started college at NYU for a year but had to leave for money reasons. Because it was the early 1990s and there was a recession I...
- Steve Lombardi | January 18, 2008 12:00 AM |
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Automobile AccidentsQuestion: If when driving on wet pavement when rounding a curve the driver loses control, the car rolls and a back seat passenger is ejected, is the driver responsible for his death?Answer: The operative word is "driver". The driver is responsible for driving; meaning how fast to drive, when to steer, how to steer, when to slow down, when to stop among all others facets of driving. If the driver...
- Steve Lombardi | January 17, 2008 12:00 AM |
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MiscellaneousIn the "found property" type of case you need to correctly analyze the situation in order to be prepared for trial. My guess is that clients will be inclined to short circuit a thorough investigation to find the owner. It's only natural to expect human emotion to take over. As professionals we have to resist that temptation and rise above human emotions in favor of the rule of law. Here are some...
- Steve Lombardi | January 16, 2008 12:00 AM |
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MiscellaneousThe evidence in Benjamin v Lindner Aviation, Inc., 534 N.W.2d 400 (Iowa 1995) gave both Benjamin and Lindner Aviation the look of unclean hands. There was more they could have done to locate the plane's previous owners. Their efforts fell short of making them look like people actually trying to find the true owner. A phone call, a registered letter or testimony about driving to the previous...
- Steve Lombardi | January 15, 2008 12:00 AM |
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MiscellaneousWhy would anyone abandon $18,000.00?Property is abandoned when the owner no longer wants to possess it. In this instance can we ever really know if the true owner no longer wished to possess the $18,000.00 in $20 bills? Abandonment is shown by proof that the owner intends to abandon the property and has voluntarily relinquished all right, title and interest in the property. Abandoned property...
- Steve Lombardi | January 14, 2008 12:00 AM |
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MiscellaneousIs the $18,000 mislaid or abandoned property?Let's first examine the definition of mislaid property. Mislaid property is voluntarily put in a certain place by the owner who then overlooks or forgets where the property is. It differs from lost property in that the owner voluntarily and intentionally places mislaid property in the location where it is eventually found by another. In contrast,...
- Steve Lombardi | January 13, 2008 12:00 AM |
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MiscellaneousDoes the evidence demonstrate that the true owner unintentionally and involuntarily parted with possession and simply doesn't know where it is? What would it take to convince you that $18,000.00 was lost by the owner?Remember the definition of lost property? Property is lost when the owner unintentionally and involuntarily parts with its possession and does not know where it is. Stolen...
- Steve Lombardi | January 12, 2008 12:00 AM |
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MiscellaneousTo be classified as treasure trove, the property must have been hidden or concealed for such a length of time that the owner is probably dead or undiscoverable. Can the $18,000.00 discovered by Benjamin be classified as treasure trove?How to classify the property is a fact question. That means what the trial court decides it is to be classified as will probably not be disturbed on appeal...
- Steve Lombardi | January 11, 2008 12:00 AM |
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MiscellaneousLost property statutes provide protection to the finder, a reasonable method of uniting goods with their true owner, and a plan which benefits the people of the state through their local governments. That sounds good! Who wouldn't want that? No one I know. But that's where clarity ends and confusion begins.Most every state has a lost property statute. Iowa is no different. Lost property...
- Steve Lombardi | January 10, 2008 12:00 AM |
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MiscellaneousInside the foil was paper currency, all neatly tied with string and wrapped in handkerchiefs. The bills are mostly $20's with mint dates before the 1960's primarily in the 1950s. The money smells musty. To be exact there's $18,000.00 worth of mustiness.We discussed on the 9th of January the stolen purse that was discovered some many years later, having been stolen, hidden by the thief and found...
- Steve Lombardi | January 09, 2008 12:00 AM |
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MiscellaneousWas it lost? Was it stolen? Or was it just mislaid? If it's stolen and then hid is that the same thing as being lost? When $18,000.00 is at stake call it what you want just say it's mine!Was it lost? Was it stolen? Or was it just mislaid? If it's stolen and then hid is that the same thing as being lost? If it is mislaid in a place where it is not likely to ever be found by the owner at what...
- Steve Lombardi | January 08, 2008 12:00 AM |
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MiscellaneousA body comes floating down Boneyard Creek near the City of Champaign, Illinois. Physics indicate the explained "accident" is not likely. You might think this right out of a novel, but it's a real case. Read more at injuryboard.com and the blog from Attorney Steve Lombardi.Heather Muntean fell to her death off of a bridge, into, of all places Boneyard Creek. Yes, Boneyard Creek. The boyfriend is...
- Steve Lombardi | January 07, 2008 12:00 AM |
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Workplace InjuriesThe Associated Press reports that two eastern Iowa companies were cited for failing to divert power from a substation and not properly grounding the work site. Two workers at the Alcoa plant in Davenport received severe injuries on May 7, 2007 when while cleaning insulators and equipment at a substation they were burned by a "burst of electricity". One worker returned to work a month later the...
- Steve Lombardi | January 06, 2008 12:00 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeKnow your rights, protect yourself and guard against those preaching tort deform. Because with tort deform there is usually someone asking to avoid legal responsibility. Tort deforminst wrap up their deform package in a nicely wrapped arguement that they are only trying to save you money. In reality you are all only one mishap away from being the people calling my office getting good advice that...
- Steve Lombardi | January 05, 2008 12:00 AM |
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Medical MalpracticeI realize that a doctor getting sued for malpractice is disturbing to say the least but in it's most recent cases the Court's decision have gone too far in favor of making doctors a privileged litigation class. The Iowa Supreme Court's most recent decisions have not been kind to patient rights but instead have severely restricted the rights of surgical patients to bring suit following surgery....
- Megan Roth | January 01, 2008 12:34 PM |
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FDA & Prescription DrugsJanuary is (drum roll, please: du-dud-dud-dud-duhhhh...): Diet Safety Month on InjuryBoard.com.
Woo-hoo - I couldn't be happier! I'm not one of those organic-only-no-preservative-obsessed health...