Personal Injury Orange County

In a word: yes. While there have been several cases over the last couple years involving accidents that occurred while operating the Yamaha Rhino, all the juries have agreed that the Rhino is safe if used correctly.

All new toys, regardless of size, come with instructions and safety information. Usually those warnings are thrown out or ignored because they are mostly common sense. But sometimes the safety regulations are vital to the toy’s operation.

That is the case with the Rhino. The Rhino is designed to be an off-road vehicle only and has many safety stipulations, like only allowing drivers over 16-years-old to operate them and wearing a safety helmet at all times. When these recommendations are ignored, accidents happen.

But just because an accident occurs doesn’t mean the manufacturer is at fault. In fact, according to several different court outcomes in the last two years, Yamaha isn’t responsible in the tiniest way for the accidents that occurred on the Rhinos purchased.

So, don’t worry about purchasing this product, but please follow the safety instructions to the letter.

When it comes to a contest between a 40-ton tractor-trailer hauling a full load of potatoes and three small commuter vehicles, the outcome is simple: the truck will always win. And that was the case when DeAn Henry failed to stop on the I-95 in Illinois, causing a multi-car accident and killing two men.

While Henry pled guilty to the charges against her for the accident, she was only given 2 ½ years of probation and a suspended trucking license for two years. Not much of a price when you consider the loss of life and the injuries suffered by other drivers. However, in a personal injury suit that will be remembered, Henry and the trucking company were sued for almost $24 million, and the plaintiffs won.

Of course, the trucking company wanted nothing to do with that much of a loss and tried to appeal to a higher court. Their appeals failed. Now, the families of the innocent victims can finally receive the compensation they deserve. It’s about time.

Being a lawyer can be dangerous, especially if you have the wrong client. And while we hear reports about the unscrupulous tactics of lawyers all the time, I think it’s time to focus on the good lawyers who get punched in the face.

When Gaylord Tootsie Daney felt he wasn’t being represented well enough by his court appointed public defender, he did the only crazy thing that came to mind. He hit her so hard in the face that it sent her head crunching into the wall and broke her glasses. She sustained some pretty bad injuries and the public defenders office refused Mr. Daney further counsel.

So what had him so riled? Well, apparently it was a $100 fine for a marijuana charge. Now, personally, I think he proved the prosecutions’ case for them. After all, what kind of normal, not-on-drugs man is willing to punch out a government employee and spend two years in prison because he didn’t want to pay $100? Your honor, the prosecution rests.

It’s understandable that many personal injury cases in California are not that interesting to outside observers. After all, they aren’t a victim or a family member, they have no vested stakes in seeing justice done or avoiding a lawsuit, and trials aren’t the best place to get your kicks.

However, I do think its sad when a perfectly legitimate case gets turned into a new spectacle because one of the jurors is famous.

Perhaps you know what I’m talking about. When Larry Ellison fulfilled his civic duty and served on a jury panel for a slip and fall case, everyone was suddenly interested. However, no one seemed to care about the victim or the circumstances of the case. Instead, it was reported that the famous CEO was wearing “dark slacks and a black sweater.” Yes, because his personal wardrobe choice was more important than the victim of the case.

Honestly, I realize that the case was private and that court proceedings were not open to the media. Thank God! After all, if they were, I’m sure we’d have gotten less about the case and even more about Mr. Ellison’s facial expressions, whether or not he yawned, and speculation about how the company was running without him.

Okay, perhaps that title is a bit misleading, considering the fact that most attorneys have a bad name already simply because of their profession. However, when cases like that of Juan Dominguez pop up in the news, scandal is spread over a much wider range than ever before.

I’m sure you heard in the news about this lawyer who was charged with inventing plaintiffs for a lawsuit in order to make money. According to then Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Victoria G. Chaney, Mr. Dominguez found people who would pretend to be plaintiffs, coach them on what to say and how to act, and then fabricate evidence to support their claims.

In short, he committed fraud. In length, he created one more reason why every other hard-working American treats personal injury lawyers like pond scum.

So what are we to take from this case? Well, I’m not sure. In my opinion, this is an excellent example of why accident victims should take care when choosing an attorney to represent them in court. Nothing is worse than getting to court and discovering that the person you hired to represent you is held in zero esteem by the court or the state. If this happens, you might as well throw in the towel right away, for nothing said in that courtroom will be taken seriously.