Blog - CGWC

As reported recently in the Orlando Sentinel, CGWC attorney Nathan P. Carter obtained a settlement of $ 500,000 for the children of a woman killed in jail during the use of a "restraint chair" by Lake County Sheriff's Department officers. Restraint chairs are devices used by some law enforcement officials in jails to gain control over unruly combative inmates. Typically, such devices utilize crisscrossing "safety" belts to restrain inmates to a reclining chair. In the case of the 100 pound and 5 foot 2 inch woman, who had a history of both medical and psychiatric disorders complicated by cocaine and methamphetamine abuse, the chair had been modified, using a leather belt as a restraint, a modification not approved by the manufacturer. The woman was later found dead, having been asphyxiated while apparently trying to wriggle free from the modified restraint chair.

The use of restraint chairs is controversial among law enforcement and prison officials due to the danger of asphyxiation. State prisons do not use restraint chairs for this reason, but other jail officials persist in using these dangerous devices to restrain allegedly disobedient or unruly inmates. Lake County now has a policy prohibiting the use of modified restraint chairs after CGWC prosecuted the lawsuit on behalf of the deceased woman's family.

Extracting a settlement or recovering a verdict for more than the $ 100,000 limit set by Florida's "sovereign immunity" law, which governs negligence lawsuits against state, county or city entities, is extraordinarily difficult and requires skilled and aggressive legal maneuvering by a firm with the experience, knowledge and resources to convince state, county or city officials that their liability could exceed the statutory limits.

Big insurance companies are fighting homeowners insurance reform in legislative sessions in Tallahassee claiming they can't afford to write policies for Florida properties. But Florida homeowners, as well as legislators, have good reason to feel duped.

According to ISO, a New Jersey risk information service, the net income of insurers rose from 44.2 Billion Dollars in 2005 to 63.7 Billion Dollars in 2006. Insurance companies respond that this increase is due both to growth in premiums and a decrease in losses. They claim total premiums increased 18.3 Billion Dollars in 2006 to a total of 443.8 Billion Dollars.

And where do the increased premiums come from? Likely, high growth states like Florida, where homeowners insurance rates have skyrocketed in receent years. Legislators and homeowners have ample basis for believing insurance companies are "profiteering" when they are raking in these kinds of profits.

If a homeowner has a dispute with their homeowners' insurance company, they should hire an attorney with the resources, experience, and knowledge to fight and win in court. Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter handles all kinds of insurance disputes all over Florida. If you have questions about any kind of insurance dispute, call or email for a free consultation.

According to a report by the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of the United States Congress, nursing homes across the country are repeatedly cited for mistreatment of patients with minimal penalties. As a result, these nursing homes abuse and neglect patients in violation of federal standards and pose a continuing and ongoing threat to the safety of nursing home patients.

While some of the nursing homes have harmed residents over periods as long as six years, they nonetheless remain in the Medicaid and Medicare programs, making profits largely from Medicaid and Medicare tax dollars. The Department of Health and Human Services continually fails in holding nursing homes with long histories of harming residents accountable for poor care, according to the GAO report.

The United States Congress enacted strict standards for nursing home care in 1987, and in 1998, the GAO reported that nursing homes were still routinely and regularly harming patients without facing sanctions from regulatory authorities. Despite promises by the Clinton and Bush administrations and the nursing home industry's repetitive announcements of initiatives to improve the quality of care, nothing has changed at the worst nursing homes according to the recent GAO report. In addition, the Bush administration rarely uses its authority to deny payment to nursing homes having a history of violating federal standards of care and typically fines them far less than the allowed maximum of $ 10,000 per day.

About 1.5 million U.S. residents live in the 16,400 nursing homes in America. Over 3 million receive care at nursing homes at some point each year. Government Medicare and Medicaid dollars pay for more than two thirds of the patients seen at nursing homes each year. Medicare and Medicaid, supported by your tax dollars, paid nursing homes 60% of the $ 122 Billion Dollars spent on nursing home care in the U.S. in 2005.

Yet, these nursing homes neglect and abuse the greatest generations of Americans each and every day while raking in billions in profits from tax dollars, private long term care insurance, and patients' personal retirement savings. It is wrong. The attorneys at Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter have extensive experience in litigating nursing home cases, having led a team of nursing home litigators handling cases in Florida, Tennessee, and West Virginia at our predecessor firm, Morgan, Colling & Gilbert. To prevail against this powerful industry in a case of abuse or neglect, an attorney must have the resources and experience to do battle successfully against the corporations that have callously and routinely violated federal standards for the last twenty years. Before hiring an attorney, a victim of nursing home abuse, neglect, or negligence should be sure the attorney and his firm have the resources and experience to get the job done.

The Webby Awards, the leading international honor society for internet websites, has recognized CGWC's website, TheFloridaFirm, as an Official Honoree in the "Law" category. This distinction recognizes websites that attain remarkable achievement in their category.

Of ten law related websites honored with the Webby Award, only three were law firms handling personal injury and wrongful death cases. The award was received by The Florida Firm from among 8,000 websites nominated worldwide for the 11th Annual Webby Awards. Hailed by The New York Times as the "Oscars of the internet" the Webby Awards is the leading international awards society honoring excellence on the internet, including websites, mobile websites, online film and video, and interactive advertising. The awards are judged by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, a global organization dedicated to the creative, technical and professional progress of the internet and interactive media.

CGWC's website, The Florida Firm, is produced, designed, maintained and optimized by Page 1 Solutions in Golden, Colorado.

Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter has now relocated to a spacious new office condominium in the Uptown District of Downtown Orlando. The law firm completed purchase of the office on the top floor of a newly constructed office building in Orlando earlier this year. CGWC will be officially open for business in the new building on Monday April 9, 2007. All telephone numbers, internet addresses, and email addresses remain the same. The new address is 801 N. Orange Avenue, Suite 830, Orlando, Florida 32801.

801 North Orange is across the street from the Orange County Bar Association and only a few blocks from the Orange County Courthouse. 801 North Orange is a new award winning mixed use development receiving the Outstanding Office Development Award from the Central Florida Chapter Of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, as well as the 2007 Golden Brick Award for best mixed use development by the Downtown Orlando Partnership.

801 North Orange is an eight story building that contains office condominiums, retail spaces on the first floor and a highrise covered parking garage. An upscale restaurant, Citrus, and other retail establishments are under construction and expect to open for business soon.

CGWC's new location on the top floor of 801 North Orange will allow the law firm to be more centrally and conveniently located in Downtown Orlando, providing the space for additional expansion as CGWC grows in service to the Central Florida Community.

The Florida Judicial Nominating Commission is charged with the responsibility of providing the Governor of Florida with lists of aspiring jurists for appointments as judges to the Florida Supreme Court and the five district courts of appeal. There are similar commissions serving each judicial circuit for circuit and county courts. Article V of the Florida Constitution requires the commission to fulfill this role. Each JNC is composed of nine persons appointed by the Governor. Four are lawyers appointed from lists of nominees who are submitted by The Florida Bar. Two of the remaining five must be lawyers, as well. Each JNC member must be a resident of the jurisdiction in which the the commission serves. Members of the JNC serve four year terms and may not be members of the judiciary.

Melvin B. Wright of Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter was nominated recently as one of three attorneys up for selection and appointment by the Governor to the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Ninth Judicial Circuit which consists of the courts in Orange and Osceola Counties. The Governor will make his choice to fill the one vacancy on the JNC from three nominees, one of which was Mr. Wright who has been practicing law in Central Florida since 1986.