Patient falls in nursing homes and hospitals may no longer be afforded the legal protections of medical claims after a recent appellate court decision. In December, the Tenth District Court of Appeals issued an opinion which further eroded the medical claim protection by holding that a fall in a nursing home unrelated to medical care or treatment is an ordinary
One of the most challenging areas in workers’ compensation is psychological injuries and their relation to physical injury. Imagine the effect of an injury – whether minor or catastrophic – on a person struggling with anxiety or depression or on someone who had never been injured previously and suddenly finds their life turned upside down without resources to cope. In
One of the hottest (and least favorite) issues that plaintiff’s lawyers all across the country are grappling with right now can be stated in one word, subrogation. Subrogation issues in the personal injury context arise when a third-party payer of medical bills (usually Medicare, Medicaid or a private health insurance company) makes a claim for reimbursement out of the subsequent
In Utah, medical malpractice tort reform began in earnest in 1976. Over the intervening years, the reforms have multiplied. New layers of limitations and procedural complexity have developed, seemingly by accretion. Almost nothing has been discarded. The result is a web of time-consuming requirements that a prospective claimant must successfully negotiate before ever filing a lawsuit. In 1976, a petitioner
There is an abundance of misinformation circulating regarding the criminal justice system, and this often materializes through discussions between citizens accused and their friends, family members, acquaintances and anyone they may have encountered in jail after their arrest. Misdemeanor assault family violence cases can be the nexus for bad advice and severe permanent consequences, so it is important to educate
The determination whether a statement should be excluded as hearsay was described by famed legal writer and scholar, Irving Younger, as a “thicket” and an “incredible mishmash of rules.” One area of hearsay analysis that is particularly thorny is referred to confusingly as verbal acts, verbal parts of an act, or the verbal act doctrine. Verbal Act According to Black’s
Simply stated, sexual exploitation of a minor – commonly referred to as child pornography – is one of the most substantial felonies one can commit in Arizona. As set forth in ARS 13-3553, mere possession of any visual depiction of a minor engaged in any exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct is a class two felony. And, if the image
Arizona citizens and drivers have the right to expect that their fellow drivers are not impaired. When most people think of impairment and driving, they usually assume that alcohol is the culprit. There is a growing trend, however, of people taking powerful prescription medications that impair them. Law enforcement’s answer has been to emphasize enforcement, but determining if someone is
Currently, the franchise industry is facing the question of whether the franchisor, the franchisee or both is the employer of those working at a franchise outlet. Of possibly greater significance is the question of whether a franchisee is actually an employee of the franchisor under the legal definitions of employee and independent contractor. The determination of these two questions will
In several medical malpractice cases, defense attorneys have argued that the defendant doctor’s misdiagnosis did not really cause the injury if a subsequent treating physician has testified that the eventual treatment would have been the same even if the original diagnosis had been accurate. That was the argument relied on by a neurologist in Broward County when an injured patient
Patient falls in nursing homes and hospitals may no longer be afforded the legal protections of medical claims after a recent appellate court decision. In December, the Tenth District Court of Appeals issued an opinion which further eroded the medical claim protection by holding that a fall in a nursing home unrelated to medical care or treatment is an ordinary
One of the most challenging areas in workers’ compensation is psychological injuries and their relation to physical injury. Imagine the effect of an injury – whether minor or catastrophic – on a person struggling with anxiety or depression or on someone who had never been injured previously and suddenly finds their life turned upside down without resources to cope. In
One of the hottest (and least favorite) issues that plaintiff’s lawyers all across the country are grappling with right now can be stated in one word, subrogation. Subrogation issues in the personal injury context arise when a third-party payer of medical bills (usually Medicare, Medicaid or a private health insurance company) makes a claim for reimbursement out of the subsequent
In Utah, medical malpractice tort reform began in earnest in 1976. Over the intervening years, the reforms have multiplied. New layers of limitations and procedural complexity have developed, seemingly by accretion. Almost nothing has been discarded. The result is a web of time-consuming requirements that a prospective claimant must successfully negotiate before ever filing a lawsuit. In 1976, a petitioner
There is an abundance of misinformation circulating regarding the criminal justice system, and this often materializes through discussions between citizens accused and their friends, family members, acquaintances and anyone they may have encountered in jail after their arrest. Misdemeanor assault family violence cases can be the nexus for bad advice and severe permanent consequences, so it is important to educate
The determination whether a statement should be excluded as hearsay was described by famed legal writer and scholar, Irving Younger, as a “thicket” and an “incredible mishmash of rules.” One area of hearsay analysis that is particularly thorny is referred to confusingly as verbal acts, verbal parts of an act, or the verbal act doctrine. Verbal Act According to Black’s
Simply stated, sexual exploitation of a minor – commonly referred to as child pornography – is one of the most substantial felonies one can commit in Arizona. As set forth in ARS 13-3553, mere possession of any visual depiction of a minor engaged in any exploitive exhibition or other sexual conduct is a class two felony. And, if the image
Arizona citizens and drivers have the right to expect that their fellow drivers are not impaired. When most people think of impairment and driving, they usually assume that alcohol is the culprit. There is a growing trend, however, of people taking powerful prescription medications that impair them. Law enforcement’s answer has been to emphasize enforcement, but determining if someone is
Currently, the franchise industry is facing the question of whether the franchisor, the franchisee or both is the employer of those working at a franchise outlet. Of possibly greater significance is the question of whether a franchisee is actually an employee of the franchisor under the legal definitions of employee and independent contractor. The determination of these two questions will
In several medical malpractice cases, defense attorneys have argued that the defendant doctor’s misdiagnosis did not really cause the injury if a subsequent treating physician has testified that the eventual treatment would have been the same even if the original diagnosis had been accurate. That was the argument relied on by a neurologist in Broward County when an injured patient
