Blog - CGWC

The pro-business think tank, Pacific Research Institute, recently released a report ranking the legal climates of all 50 states. According to an article in Insurance Journal, the study is intended for use by governors and state legislators in assessing their tort laws and their state's business climate. The study ranks states as saints, sinners, sucker, or salveables based on their supposed tort costs and litigation risks.

In fact, this study proves that tort reform laws are a scam on consumers that don't make for better business climates and only harm consumers. American Association of Justice President, Jon Haber, says the rankings in the report show no correlation between tort reform and litigation costs. For example, the PRI study ranks Colorado as first in tort reform laws, but it is ranked eight in litigation costs. New Mexico is ranked 44th in tort reform laws but is sixth lowest in litigation costs. According to Jon Haber, tort reform laws are simply schemes by lobbyists funded by powerful insurance and big business interests to stack the deck against everyday Americans and avoid accountability in courtrooms, the only place where the playing field of justice is level.

When a legislator in your state touts a new tort reform idea, you can bet that only YOUR legal rights are restricted and that insurance companies and big business profit from it. Legislators who get their contributions from the big business lobby never seek to cap damages that a business can be awarded, for example. They only want to cap the damages a jury of YOUR peers can award YOU. Don't buy into the rhetoric of the big business lobby when they cite trumped up studies like this one. They're just trying to manipulate the public into supporting laws that allow them to escape legal responsibility. American civil justice is about personal, and corporate, responsibility. No one should be above the law. Especially at the expense of their dead or injured victims.

A new study by the American Automobile Association ranks Orlando 15th in the amount of money lost through traffic accidents. Nationally, the cost to society is $164 Billion in property damage, lost earnings, medical expenses, police and rescue costs, etc. According to this study, the cost to the tri-county area of Orange-Osceola-Seminole is $2.8 Billion.

According to this study by Cambridge Systematics, the cost of motor vehicle accidents nationwide is over $ 1,000 per person annually. These costs include expenses associated with medical, emergency, law enforcement services, as well as costs of property damage, lost productivity, and loss of quality of life. According to AAA's President, despite the fact that 43,000 people are killed each year in automobile accidents, it barely registers "a blip" in the minds of most Americans. He says it is time to recognize motor vehicle crashes as a genuine public health threat. "If there were two jumbo jets crashing each week, the government would ground all planes until we fixed the problem. Yet, we've come to accept this sort of death toll with car crashes," said President Darbelnet.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident of any kind, or worse, if a loved one has been killed in a motor vehicle accident, you need to have your legal rights protected and a prompt independent investigation of the accident by your own legal representative. Call CGWC for a free consultation.

So far, 2008 is shaping up to be another deadly year on Central Florida roads. Orlando's 14th traffic fatality resulted from an accident on Interstate 4 Friday night. I-4 becomes more crowded and dangerous as Central Florida's population growth continues to strain the road system, law enforcement resources, and fatigued and stressed drivers in heavy traffic.

If you have been injured or a loved one killed in an automobile accident, CGWC for a free consultation about your legal rights against others involved in the automobile accident or your own insurance company.

On March 6, 2008 the Supreme Court of the State of Florida upheld the amendment to the Florida Constitution giving patients the right to know the details of "adverse medical incidents" involving their physicians and hospitals. Several ballot initiatives were passed to amend the Florida Constitution in the contentious 2004 election season during which the health care industry led an aggressive campaign attacking the trial bar.

The goal of the health care and insurance industries in seeking a constitutional amendment to limit attorneys' fees in medical negligence cases was to discourage trial attorneys from accepting medical malpractice cases. Florida trial attorney groups and consumer groups responded by seeking an amendment giving patients certain rights. One result was Section 25, Article X, giving patients the right to previously privileged and confidential "peer review" and "work product" incident reports concerning "adverse incidents" occuring during the provision of medical services.

The health care industry has fought ferociously for four years to have appeals courts interpret the amendment in a way that would maintain secrecy of these incident reports. The Supreme Court of Florida not only upheld the patients' right to know under Section 25, Article X, but made it clear that it applies retroactively to incident reports prepared prior to its effective date. The Supreme Court opinion also held that the amendment overrides old recognized privileges, such as the so-called "peer review" privilege, that have historically given health care providers the legal right to maintain the secrecy of these "adverse incident reports", often depriving medical malpractice victims of the right to know why they were hurt by the profession whose job was to heal them.

Hopefully, answers will now come easier to medical malpractice victims and their counsel, and the details of tragic events will no longer remain well kept secrets of the medical profession. If you or a loved one has been a victim of medical malpractice, call CGWC for a free consultation.

Bike Week has just begun and already four people have been killed as a result of motorcycle accidents in Central Florida. Here are some safety tips to keep all motorists safe this Bike Week:

Enjoy sunny Florida, and stay safet this Bike Week. If you or a loved one is injured or killed in a motorcycle accident, you will need experienced legal help. Call CGWC for a free consultation.

According to the Florida Progressive Coalition, there are an estimated 770,000 uninsured drivers in Florida. There are many more who have no-fault coverage to pay their driver's own medical bills but no liability coverage to pay for the medical bills, wage loss, and lifetime of pain and suffering caused when they injure others.

The chances are good that you'll be hit by an uninsured driver if you're involved in an accident in Florida because, contrary to popular belief, automobile liability insurance is not mandatory for the millions of family automobiles on the roads of Florida at this very moment. Consequently, a truly gigantic number of automobiles on the road have no liability insurance at all to cover your injuries. Some estimate that 1 in 4 Florida cars have no bodily injury liability coverage. Of the three that do have bodily injury liability coverage, most probably have policy limits of $ 50,000 or less. Given the cost of today's health care and wage losses from serious injuries, it's easy to see how an auto accident can put an entire family in peril quickly.

For this reason, it is important for you to elect to buy uninsured motorist coverage when you renew your automobile policy or buy a new one. Uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage on your own car takes the place of the absent or inadequate liability insurance of the driver who causes an accident. With uninsured motorist coverage, you're covered, even if the other guy isn't. You can buy two kinds of UM coverage: stacking and non-stacking. Choose the "stacking" UM/UIM coverage if there are two or more cars in your household. That allows you to add the UM coverages together to increase your benefits when injured by an uninsured or underinsured driver.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an automobile accident, call CGWC for a free consultation.