Miscellaneous

• Lawsuits Decline

  Robert Blanchard | January 03, 2008 3:52 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  There have been some news reports that not as many product liability lawsuits were filed last year (2007) as were filed in 2006. Of course, 2006 was an unusual year for the number of filings, given all the lawsuits filed over Vioxx and heart devices. The number of lawsuits filed in 2007 was still greater than were filed in 2005. I can foresee tort reform advocates pointing to ...

• Why Alberto Gonzales?

  Robert Blanchard | December 15, 2007 8:53 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  By the time I called the ABA about their boneheaded selection of Alberto Gonzales as "Lawyer of the Year," I already knew they were backpedalling and trying to explain that it was not an honor, just a selection of which lawyer was most in the news. This rationale may work for a news magazine like TIME (Khadaffi Man of the Year, etc.), but it does not wash with the ABA Journal. This is the...

• California Fire Losses

  Robert Blanchard | October 26, 2007 3:03 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  Everyone's immediate concern over the horrible widfires of 2007 is the safety of those affected. The first thought is to avoid the loss of life of the firefighters, emergency personal and civilians in harms way. Soon though, homeowners will begin to look to their insurance conmpanies to pay claims for fire damage and loss of their homes. As we saw here on the Gulf Coast, some carriers will step...

• Cop Sues Family in Slip & Fall Case

  Courtney Mills | October 10, 2007 2:10 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  Sgt. Andrea Eichhorn of the Orlando Police Department is bringing a negligence suit against the family of a drowning baby she helped rescue earlier this year. Eichhorn alleges that while rendering aid in January of this year at the residence of Richard and Maggie Cosmillo, she slipped on some water and broke her knee, keeping her out of work for over two months. Sgt. Eichhorn further maintains...

• Baroody Withdraws

  Robert Blanchard | May 24, 2007 3:52 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  Safety advocates scored a minor victory in the recent announcement that Michael Baroody withdrew his nomination to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Protests from consumer groups about his ties to industry obviously helped. Can't this administration appoint anyone that is not an industry insider or political hack?

• Beware Infant Car Seat Carriers

  Robert Blanchard | May 11, 2007 10:29 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  You want to do the right thing. Even before your child was born, you ran out and purchased what appeared to be a quality infant car seat. You read the instructions and installed it properly. You never took your new child for a ride without buckling her in. Then the unimagible happens, when using the seat as a child carrier, as designed by the manufacturer, the handle collapses and spills your...

• $65,000,000 Attack on the Jury System

  Robert Blanchard | May 05, 2007 11:09 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  Well Fox News and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are at it again, misstating the facts of some crazy lawsuit. The silly complaint filed against a dry cleaner over a pair of pants for $65,000,000 is being touted by big business as an indictment of our entire civil justice system. Nevermind that the suit will soon be thrown out of court and the idiot who filed in on behalf of himself will be fined...

• Nail Salon Infections - Hidden Dangers

  Robert Blanchard | May 03, 2007 10:46 AM | 1 CommentPensacola, FL

  Inside sources at GoLeft TV report that incidences of uncontrollable infection being spread at nail salons is a growing concern. Soon they will separate the myths from the facts, but in the mean time, some consumers are taking their own instruments to the nail salons so that they are not exposed to shared items. Infection in the fingers and toes are reportedly harder to treat in some cases...

• Food Contamination - Growing Concern

  Robert Blanchard | May 02, 2007 11:12 AM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  With all the food imports now coming from China we can only expect more instances of food contamination in our food supply. Malamine is an industrial by-product that Chinese suppliers added to exported wheat gluten to make it appear more valuable. In fact it just made the product dangerous and led to the death of many dogs and cats that lived on pet food made with this gluten. Look at any of...

• Handling the Analytical Juror

  Robert Blanchard | February 14, 2007 4:01 PM | 0 CommentsPensacola, FL

  Different jurors have differing ways of analyzing the information that you present to them. I often urge lawyers to present evidence in ways that covers the concerns of the whole jury. To do this, some experts recommend that the personality type of the jurors be considered.Learning to identify and categorize jurors according to personality type is an incredibly valuable skill in jury...