All of us at the Law Office of Howard D. Popper, P. C. wishing you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving 2015 !
PLEASE BE CAREFUL DRIVING IN THIS WEATHER
One dead after car crashes into salt truck
Staff and wire reports 4:47 p.m. EST January 19, 2015
A Mount Olive man was driving a salt truck that was involved in a fatal accident on Route 78 during Sunday’s ice storm.
A Toyota Avalon hit the truck from behind as the driver was traveling in the eastbound lanes of the interstate in the Lebanon section of Clinton Township Sunday morning, police said.
A passenger in the front seat of the Toyota died as a result of the crash.
Sgt. Gregory Williams said that the car, driven by James Kim of Douglaston, New York, failed to slow down when he encountered the salt truck in the center lane at 7:20 a.m.. The Toyota hit the truck, sending it counter-clockwise into the center lane facing north.
The front-seat passenger, who has not been identified, was ejected from the car and died at Hunterdon Medical Center in Raritan Township at 8:16 a.m., Williams said.
The driver of the salt truck, Anthony Festa, who lives in the Flanders section of Mount Olive, suffered an injured shoulder and was treated and released from the medical center.
Kim and Won Lee, of Palisades Park, who were in the back seat of the car, were taken to Morristown Medical Center where they were listed in stable condition, Williams said.
The accident was one of hundreds across the state Sunday morning. State Police reported they responded to 428 accidents due to the icy roads and highways on Sunday.
Police departments across Morris County put on warnings about the ice on Sunday and in Hanover alone, police said they responded to 13 motor vehicle accidents.
NCAA’s Mark Emmert Ordered To Testify in Wrongful Death Suit
NCAA president Mark Emmert has been ordered by a Maryland judge to be deposed in a lawsuit over the death of a college football player.
In a one-page order entered last week in Montgomery County (Md.) Circuit Court, Judge David Boynton granted a motion by the family of Derek Sheely to compel Emmert’s deposition. The NCAA had opposed Emmert’s testimony and said he was an “inappropriate witness” at this stage of the case. The Los Angeles Times first reported the judge’s ruling.
“Dr. Emmert is clearly a fact witness,” Paul Anderson, an attorney for Sheely’s family, said in a statement. “He has first-hand knowledge about the NCAA’s failure to protect student-athletes. Contrary to the NCAA’s suggestions, Dr. Emmert is not above the law. The NCAA failed to show that it would be unduly burdensome for him to be deposed. We will be taking his deposition soon.”
Sheely was a Division III football player at Frostburg State who collapsed during an August 2011 practice and later died from a head injury. His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in August 2013 against the NCAA, two coaches and an athletic trainer from Frostburg State, and helmet manufacturer Schutt Sports. The suit alleges Sheely was pressured to return to practice despite needing medical attention four times over three days prior to his death.
In previous court filings, lawyers for the Sheely family said they want Emmert’s testimony in part to discuss whether “the NCAA was capable of acting to protect against repetitive head trauma and second-impact syndrome, whether the NCAA formed an intention about how it would act, and how the NCAA went about carrying out its actions.”
The lawyers have said they also want to question Emmert about a letter Sheely’s mother wrote to Emmert in December 2011 about her son’s death. The plaintiffs claim Emmert discussed the letter with members of the NCAA’s health and safety committee. Another NCAA employee responded to the family on Emmert’s behalf four months later with a four-paragraph response.
In previous court filings, the NCAA argued that deposing Emmert is “misplaced” because he lacks the authority to impose rules on NCAA members. The NCAA had said the plaintiffs can’t show Emmert has unique knowledge relevant to the case and that they “simply assume” he discussed the letter from Sheely’s mother with the health and safety committee.
The order for Emmert to be deposed in the Sheely case is happening as the NCAA tries to finalize a $75 million settlement from several class-action concussion lawsuits in federal court. The NCAA is facing opposition from one former player. The proposed settlement would waive athletes’ rights to collectively sue over concussions while preserving their ability to individually sue universities, conferences or the NCAA for personal-injury damages.
Under terms of the deal, the NCAA executive committee would recommend that the governing bodies of Division I, II and III pass legislation requiring member schools to certify they have a concussion management plan that meets guidelines required by the settlement. Critics claim the guidelines remain unenforceable. In July, the NCAA released new guidelines for hitting at football practices and concussion safety.
At a Senate committee hearing in July, the first question Emmert faced was the NCAA’s position in the Sheely lawsuit that it has no legal duty to protect college athletes.
“I will not quibble about the language,” Emmert replied. “I think that was at the very least a terrible choice of words created by legal counsel to make a legal argument. I’m not a lawyer. I’m not going to defend or deny what a lawyer wrote in a lawsuit. I will unequivocally state we have a clear moral obligation to make sure we do everything we can to protect and support student-athletes.”
Proposed class-action lawsuit seeks millions of dollars of Redflex profits
Motorists pass by a Redflex red light camera at the intersection of Diversey, Damen, and Clybourn in Chicago on Friday, March 1, 2013. (Chris Sweda/ Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune / March 1, 2013)
- 6:52 p.m. CDT, July 17, 2014
A Northwest Side man filed a proposed class-action lawsuit today seeking at least $100 million from the scandal-plagued company that ran the city’s red light camera program, claiming that an alleged bribery scheme exposed by the Tribune should nullify the company’s profits.
Matthew Faulkner filed his federal complaint on behalf of anyone who paid a fine for a red light violation issued by the city from 2003 to 2013 when Redflex Traffic Systems administered the program. Attached to the lawsuit were documents showing Faulkner paid a $100 fine in early 2013 after his Nissan Infiniti was recorded going through a red light at the intersection of 76th Street and Stony Island Avenue.
The complaint outlines the Redflex scandal that erupted in October 2012 after the Tribune obtained a two-year-old internal Redflex whistleblower memo by an ousted vice president that detailed the alleged bribery scheme, including lavish company-paid vacations for former city transportation official John Bills.
Bills, a longtime City Hall insider who headed the city’s red light camera program until 2011, was arrested in May and charged by federal prosecutors with plotting to steer the contract to Redflex before the first ticket was ever issued in 2003. Bills coached Redflex officials in a series of clandestine meetings and helped them grow their program into the largest in the country, authorities alleged.
In return, prosecutors alleged, Bills received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash spent on a vacation home, a boat and a Mercedes convertible, along with dozens of trips and a condominium near the company’s Arizona headquarters. “As such, Redflex’s $100 million (+) in revenue since 2003 generated under the corrupt contract represents ill-gotten gains that have unjustly enriched Redflex…and should be disgorged,” Faulkner’s lawsuit said.
Bills has denied any wrongdoing and is awaiting trial. Neither Redflex nor any company officials have been criminally charged, though the city canned Redflex last year in the wake of the scandal.
Faulkner’s local lawyer did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the lawsuit.
Recovering Compensation for Injuries that Take a Long Time to Heal
Injuries with a Long Recovery Period—Getting Full and Fair Compensation
Often, when you have suffered a personal injury, there are multiple consequences. Some of your injuries will be readily apparent, and you will be able to effectively track your return to health. Some, however, may not be as obvious, or may take months or even years to remedy, if possible. You may need multiple surgeries—a common occurrence with burn injuries and other catastrophic injuries. If your accident has caused some damage to nerves, you may require extensive physical therapy for a long period of time.
The key component to getting the compensation you need to cover your expenses throughout recovery is the selection of your personal injury lawyer. You need an attorney who knows and understands the full range of loss that can stem from a specific type of injury. Your attorney must be knowledgeable and capable of working with expert witnesses, including medical professionals, so that the jury has a clear picture of the potential complications you face.
It’s important to understand that your damages in a personal injury lawsuit are not limited to losses you have already incurred. However, to recover for future medical expenses or losses, you must demonstrate to a jury that there is a reasonable likelihood that you will need treatment for a certain amount of time. Typically, this is shown through the testimony of medical experts.
Contact the Law Office of Howard D. Popper, P.C.
For a private meeting with a results-oriented New Jersey attorney, contact our office online or call us at 973-993-8787 to set up an appointment. We have office locations in Morristown and Newton, but will visit you in your home or the hospital, if necessary. There is no charge for your first consultation.
We take all personal injury claims on a contingency basis. You will not incur legal fees unless attorney Popper recovers compensation for your losses.
How Do You Prove that Your Injuries are Serious?
Proving that Your Injuries are Serious
When you have to live with the consequences of a personal injury caused by the carelessness or negligence of another person, you can readily understand the substantial impact that even a seemingly minor injury can have on all aspects of your life. But when you go to court, you may have challenges showing that your injury is serious, that you merit a significant monetary award to cover your losses.
As a general rule, both juries and insurance companies tend to categorize injuries and consider some more “serious” than others, thereby calling for a higher damage award. And the factor that juries and insurance companies give most weight to is pain. How much pain do you suffer because of your injury?
In assessing the “serious” nature of an injury, courts typically distinguish between so-called “soft tissue” injuries and the more tangible hard injuries. Soft tissue trauma includes damage to muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin and internal organs. Because of the difficulties in determining the full extent of a soft-tissue injury, soft tissue injuries frequently bring smaller damage awards, even though they may have a more debilitating effect on your daily life. You may not be able to sit, stand or lie down without discomfort because of trauma to your lower back, but you may not get a significant damage award because the damage is not visible.
Hard injuries generally manifest more clearly—broken bones, amputation or loss of limb, head or spinal cord injury, paralysis. Unfortunately, because these types of injuries are easy to see, they typically lead to larger damage awards.
The key to maximizing your recovery is the choice of an experienced attorney. Your lawyer will need to introduce clear and convincing evidence of the full consequences of your injury, usually through an expert witness.
Contact Our Office
To schedule a free initial consultation, contact our office online or call us at 973-993-8787 to set up a free initial consultation. We have office locations in Morristown and Newton, but will visit you in your home or the hospital, if necessary.
We take all personal injury claims on a contingency basis. You will not incur legal fees unless attorney Popper recovers compensation for your losses.
Understanding Damages for Suffering and Pain
Protecting Your Rights When Working with Your Insurer after a Car Accident
When you have been hurt in an accident caused by someone else’s wrongful act, you will have two types of damages (financial compensation) available to you through the legal system: special damages and general damages. Special damages are losses that can be measured in specific dollars, such as medical expenses or lost wages. General damages, however, refer to those losses for which a clear dollar value is not available. One type of general damage is for “pain and suffering.”
Because of the difficulty in putting a specific dollar value on pain and suffering, lawyers and juries tend to use a number of factors as barometers to assess damages for pain and suffering, including:
- The extent to which you need medication for pain—As a general rule, the stronger the medication, the greater the dosage, and the longer you need medication for inflammation, discomfort or pain, the more likely a jury will award more damages for pain and suffering.
- The length of time it takes you to recover—Juries also tend to associate the length of recovery with the amount of pain and suffering you have experienced. The longer it takes you to get well, the greater your pain and suffering.
- Your medical record—It’s extremely important that you visit your doctor as often as necessary, and that you make certain your doctor notes all your medical conditions in the record. If you experience pain, make certain you tell your doctor and that your doctor documents it in your file. If your doctor hasn’t taken pictures of your injuries, take some yourself, particularly if you have swelling, discoloration or open wounds. Don’t ever be afraid to ask for another appointment. Don’t let the doctor tell you when you need to be seen. Tell them when you are hurting.
- Your own personal log—Keeping a diary can be extremely helpful in securing damages for pain and suffering. You should note anything related to your injuries—were you unable to go to work? Did you have difficulty sleeping? Were there ordinary tasks that you could not complete?
In the final analysis, damages for pain and suffering are highly subjective and at the discretion of the jury. However, you can greatly enhance the likelihood of a damage award for pain and suffering by following the steps above.
Contact the Law Office of Howard D. Popper, P.C.
Contact us online or call our office at 973-993-8787 to set up a free initial consultation. We have office locations in Morristown and Newton, but will visit you in your home or the hospital, if necessary.
We take all personal injury claims on a contingency basis. You will not incur legal fees unless attorney Popper recovers compensation for your losses.
What Personal Injury Lawyers Actually Do
Why You Need a Personal Injury Attorney
If you have been hurt in an accident caused by someone else’s carelessness or negligence, you may believe that you can resolve everything without the services of a lawyer. Even when it may seem clear who was at fault, you do yourself a great disservice when you don’t retain the services of an experienced personal injury attorney. Here are some of the many things that your personal injury lawyer will do for you:
- Make certain that you pursue recovery for all your injuries—An experienced personal injury attorney will know that some or many of your injuries—often the most serious ones—may not be immediately apparent. Many of the most debilitating back, neck and spinal cord injuries do not fully manifest for days, weeks, months or years. An experienced personal injury attorney will make certain that any recovery includes compensation for all your losses.
- Make certain that you seek damages for all potential losses—Your attorney will help you pursue monetary relief for lost wages, physical pain and suffering, loss of companionship or consortium, and even property damage. In addition, your personal injury lawyer will help you seek compensation for costs of physical therapy or rehabilitation, as well as any retrofitting of your home or vehicle that may be necessary because of your injury.
- Identify all potential defendants—Even when an accident seems very straightforward, there can be a number of causes. A motorist may run a red light and hit you, but it may be the result of both operator error and defctive brakes. Your attorney will be able to identify and hold accountable all potentially responsible parties.
- Help you get the insurance benefits to which you are entitled—Your insurance company has a vested interest in paying you as little as possible. Your personal injury attorney will be your advocate with an insurer, so that you get the benefits you need and deserve.
- Help you get the medical care you need—Your lawyer will work closely with you to ensure that you get proper and adequate medical treatment for any injuries you have suffered.
Contact Attorney Howard D. Popper
To schedule an appointment to discuss a personal injury claim, contact us online or call attorney Popper at 973-993-8787. We maintain office locations in Morristown and Newton, but come to your home or the hospital, if necessary. There is no charge for your first consultation.
We take all personal injury claims on a contingency basis. We won’t charge legal fees unless attorney Popper recovers compensation for your losses.
Rear-End Collisions and Soft Tissue Injuries
Sprains, Strains and Muscle Damage Suffered in Rear-End Collisions
When you are struck from behind while operating a motor vehicle, the trauma caused by the sudden impact can lead
to serious injury. Typically known as “whiplash,” the sudden snapping of your head or upper torso can often result in torn muscles, ligaments and/or tendons. Even when connective tissue is not torn, the sudden and intense rocking back and forth can severely stretch tendons, muscles or ligaments, resulting in extreme pain, and limiting use of extremities. The challenge, when the connective tissue that have been injured are in your neck or upper back, is that it is nearly impossible to avoid using those tendons, muscles and ligaments on a daily basis. As a result, the healing process for whiplash or whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) can be months or even years.
Studies show that, even when you are rear-ended by a vehicle traveling at a seemingly inconsequential rate of speed, there is risk of soft tissue (muscle, tendon or ligament) injury. Furthermore, the most debilitating aspects of a soft tissue injury typically won’t be apparent for days, weeks or even months. In the immediate aftermath, you may feel some stiffness, but your condition will customarily worsen over time. When you have been hurt in a rear-end collision, your best option is to seek medical care immediately, and to continue to get treatment for a period of time. You will want your doctor to document all observations in writing, so that you have an accurate record of the impact of the crash.
Contact the Law Office of Howard D. Popper, P.C.
For a private meeting with a results-oriented New Jersey attorney, contact our office online or call us at 973-993-8787 to set up an appointment. We have office locations in Morristown and Newton, but will visit you in your home or the hospital, if necessary. There is no charge for your first consultation.
We take all motor vehicle accident injury claims on a contingency basis. You will not incur legal fees unless attorney Popper recovers compensation for your losses.
The New Jersey Statutes of Limitations – Personal Injury Claims
Understanding the New Jersey Statutes of Limitations
When you have been injured and need to take legal action to protect your rights, you want to move quickly,
so that evidence that will support your claim is not lost, or the memories of crucial witnesses don’t fade. But it’s not just to your benefit to file your action in a timely manner…the law requires it. The state of New Jersey, like all other states, has what are known as “statutes of limitations,” enacted laws that set a time limit on filing a legal claim for losses or damages. With certain exceptions, if you fail to file your complaint within the time period specified in the statute, you lose your right to seek relief through the courts.
The New Jersey Statutes of Limitations Governing Personal Injury Actions
In New Jersey, a claim for damages in a personal injury action must typically be filed within two years. The only exception is a claim for monetary losses due to libel, slander or defamation, which carries a one year statute of limitation.
As a general rule, the time period for the statute of limitations begins to run at the time you suffer your injury. However, in certain situations, you may lack knowledge that you have sustained an injury. For example, you may seek medical care and incur loss because of medical negligence or medical malpractice—a doctor may fail to properly diagnose your condition, or may engage in some other type of negligence that does not immediately manifest itself. In New Jersey, the statutory period may not begin to run until you knew or should have reasonably discovered your injury.
Furthermore, the running of the time period may be stopped or “tolled” by certain events. Specific reasons to toll the statute of limitations in New Jersey include lack of mental capacity or age (if the injured person is a minority)
Contact Attorney Howard D. Popper
To schedule an appointment to discuss a personal injury claim, contact us online or call attorney Popper at 973-993-8787. We maintain office locations in Morristown and Newton, but come to your home or the hospital, if necessary. There is no charge for your first consultation.
We take all personal injury claims on a contingency basis. We won’t charge legal fees unless attorney Popper recovers compensation for your losses.
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