For the Public

vaccination

Non-Vaccination: A Litigation Outbreak

This past year, the United States experienced a multistate measles outbreak raising the question: can parents be held liable for electing not to vaccinate their children? Vaccination is a widely debated issue in the United States with more and more parents choosing not to vaccinate their children. Most vaccination series cannot be completed until a child is nearly 2 years

Read More »
tort

An Answer to the Intentional Tortfeasor Question

After years of defending product liability and other tort cases in Nevada, I find Utah’s allocation of fault system refreshing. In Nevada, product liability defendants and some other tort defendants are subject to joint and several liability. Utah product liability defendants, in contrast, are responsible only for their percentage of fault as determined by Utah Code section 78B-5-819. Nevada courts

Read More »
life

Life Care Plans and the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act

Future medical expenses often represent a significant portion of damage awards in medical malpractice and personal injury actions. Often, following trial, the injured party will require medical care and treatment into the foreseeable future. Consequently, medical experts and life care planners attempt to quantify the medical needs and associated costs in a line item fashion as an element of economic

Read More »
liability

Utah’s Causes of Action in Products Liability Cases

In 1979, the Utah Supreme Court in Ernest W. Hahn, Inc. v. Armco Steel Co., 601 P.2d 152 (1979) adopted the doctrine of strict liability as set out in the Restatement of Torts 2d, Section 402A. This section imposes liability in tort without proof of negligence upon “one who sells any product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the

Read More »
TI

Current Alternatives to Reunification Therapy

Divorces are traumatic to children. During or after a divorce, a child may reject one of their parents by resisting or refusing to engage with that parent. Upon request, Arizona family law judges may appoint a mental health professional to act as a therapeutic interventionist (TI) to reconstruct the relationship or may direct an alternative process such as an intensive

Read More »
medical claims

The Erosion Of Medical Claims Protection

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

Read More »
PTSD

PTSD And The Injured Worker – Victimized Twice

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

Read More »
subrogation

Subrogation: The Newest Challenge For Personal Injury Plaintiff’s Cases

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

Read More »
vaccination

Non-Vaccination: A Litigation Outbreak

This past year, the United States experienced a multistate measles outbreak raising the question: can parents be held liable for electing not to vaccinate their children? Vaccination is a widely debated issue in the United States with more and more parents choosing not to vaccinate their children. Most vaccination series cannot be completed until a child is nearly 2 years

Read More »
tort

An Answer to the Intentional Tortfeasor Question

After years of defending product liability and other tort cases in Nevada, I find Utah’s allocation of fault system refreshing. In Nevada, product liability defendants and some other tort defendants are subject to joint and several liability. Utah product liability defendants, in contrast, are responsible only for their percentage of fault as determined by Utah Code section 78B-5-819. Nevada courts

Read More »
life

Life Care Plans and the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act

Future medical expenses often represent a significant portion of damage awards in medical malpractice and personal injury actions. Often, following trial, the injured party will require medical care and treatment into the foreseeable future. Consequently, medical experts and life care planners attempt to quantify the medical needs and associated costs in a line item fashion as an element of economic

Read More »
liability

Utah’s Causes of Action in Products Liability Cases

In 1979, the Utah Supreme Court in Ernest W. Hahn, Inc. v. Armco Steel Co., 601 P.2d 152 (1979) adopted the doctrine of strict liability as set out in the Restatement of Torts 2d, Section 402A. This section imposes liability in tort without proof of negligence upon “one who sells any product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the

Read More »
TI

Current Alternatives to Reunification Therapy

Divorces are traumatic to children. During or after a divorce, a child may reject one of their parents by resisting or refusing to engage with that parent. Upon request, Arizona family law judges may appoint a mental health professional to act as a therapeutic interventionist (TI) to reconstruct the relationship or may direct an alternative process such as an intensive

Read More »
medical claims

The Erosion Of Medical Claims Protection

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

Read More »
PTSD

PTSD And The Injured Worker – Victimized Twice

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

Read More »
subrogation

Subrogation: The Newest Challenge For Personal Injury Plaintiff’s Cases

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

Read More »

Ask a Lawyer