Refusal to Answer Accident Queries is Within Legal Rights

Recently, I learned of a police officer who exceeded his authority. He threatened to arrest a young woman for not answering his questions about a car accident he was investigating. The woman had been driving one of the cars involved in the accident.  She did not...

Parents Should Treat Halloween’s Tricks With Genuine Concern

Most Halloween pranks are harmless enough. The worst thing I have seen in my neighborhood is tissue paper draped over trees.  Some children, however, carry the trick-or-treat tradition too far. Occasionally, a child will damage someone’s property. Parents...

Death, Injury Cases Not Won by Plaintiffs Seldom Get Reported

This is another story of a jury reaching an apparently irrational verdict in a death and injury case. Stories suggesting aberrant jury behavior are reported regularly in the national press. Although those who sit on juries are ordinary people, often our collective...

Law Limits Liability for Pranks by Youth

With Halloween approaching, this may be a good time to advise parents about their legal responsibility for their children’s intentional acts that harm others. Most Halloween pranks are relatively harmless. Some children, however, carry the trick-or-treat...

Juries Work Well in Personal Injury Cases

Publicity about occasional large and seemingly irrational jury verdicts results in an unrealistic view of jurors. The prevailing view seems to be that jurors share the blame with lawyers for rapidly rising insurance rates and increases in product and service costs....