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• Court Holds Evidentiary Hearing to Determine the Amount of a Medicaid Lien, Similar Hearings Are Expected in Other Personal Injury Matters

  Geoff Trachtenberg | May 06, 2007 2:15 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  As we have noted in the past, "getting the money and keeping the money" are two different and equally difficult issues in personal injury matters. In many cases, there are liens on recoveries, such as when Medicaid pays all or part of a person's bills.One issue that often arises is the extent to which a third-party can assert a lien. In Arkansas Dept. of Health and Human Servs. v Ahlborn, 547...

• Understanding the Compulsory Arbitration System in Personal Injury Cases From Both Perspectives

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 02, 2007 8:22 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Like many states, Arizona has a compulsory arbitration system in place for "smaller" disputes. Depending upon the County where the action is brought and the amount sought (e.g., less than $50,000 in Maricopa County), these matters are subject to mandatory court-annexed arbitration. Such claims are supposed to be conducted on an accelerated schedule and decided by a court-appointed arbitrator...

• Can a Medical Provider Bill You After Accepting Insurance Payment in a Personal Injury Matter?

  Geoff Trachtenberg | March 28, 2007 10:26 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Sometimes, when a medical provider learns there is a third-party at fault for an injury, they bill an injured party's insurance and then seek to recover the "balance" from the injured person's recovery. In fact, sometimes they even try to collect twice (which is fraud, and well-beyond the scope of this article), but can they even attempt to collect the "balance" of the bill after accepting...

• Arizona Courts Have General Personal Jurisdiction over Foreign Insurers

  Geoff Trachtenberg | August 27, 2007 2:14 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  New decision from Division One, Bohreer v. Erie Ins. Exch.. Bohreer holds that an Arizona court has general personal jurisdiction over a foreign insurer which has appointed the Director of Insurance as an agent for service of process and has not withdrawn such qualification or appointment, but has ceased doing business in the state prior to the acts underlying the complaint. The Court held...

• Geoffrey M. Trachtenberg

  Staff Writer | February 16, 2007 7:35 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Areas of Practice: Construction Defects Employment Discrimination / Sexual Harassment Intellectual Property Legal Malpractice Personal Injury Product Liability Wrongful Death Bar Admissions:California State Bar, 1997Arizona State Bar, 2000U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 1998U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 1998U.S. District Court, District of Arizona,...

• Lessons On What Not To Do When Prosecuting a Claim

  Geoff Trachtenberg | June 20, 2007 10:35 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  It was hard for me not to grin when reading the comedy of errors in Harris dba Angel Team Home Care, LLC v. Cochise Health Systems. In my view, it is a recipe legal malpractice.The suit arises from a dispute between a home health care company (Angel Team) and a division of the Cochise County Health and Social Services (CHS), and a CHS employee, Denise Pederson. Although the Court does not say...

• State Helmet Laws For Each Jurisdiction

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 20, 2007 12:42 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  While helmet usage should be everyone's priority, not every state requires helmets for every type of rider. In fact, most states still only require helmets for certain age riders and the majority of states still leave helmet usage up to the individual rider.An excellent summary of helmet law requirements can be found at the Law Tigers website, or by clicking here.

• Couple Sues Fertility Clinic for Wrong Sperm

  Geoff Trachtenberg | March 23, 2007 8:55 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  A whole new type of medical malpractice is brewing in the fertility field. For example, today a New York court ruled that a couple can proceed with a lawsuit against a fertility clinic for medical malpractice after the wife gave birth to a daughter whose skin they thought was too dark to be their child.This follows a story from two weeks ago, where a couple sued a negligent clinic for lost...

• Mortgage Rate Freeze: A Flim-Flam Scheme to Recharacterize Billions of Fraudulent Mortgages and Trick Investors

  Geoff Trachtenberg | December 09, 2007 11:56 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Imagine a loan of $100,000 based upon (1) a borrower's true income / ability to repay and (2) the true value of the real estate collateral. Now imagine a loan of $100,000 based upon (1) fictional income figures and (2) fictional valuation of real estate collateral. Which type of loan do you think predominated in the United States for the last five to ten years?Now imagine these "liar loans"...

• Wyeth Recalls Cold Medicine Due to Dosing Cup Issue

  Jenny Albano | November 02, 2007 11:07 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Wyeth is recalling several brands of nonprescription cold medicine because they come with a dosing cup that does not mark the half-teaspoon level recommended for children aged 2 through 5 years old. According to the Wyeth spokesperson, there is nothing wrong with the product.The cold medicines being recalled are: Robitussin Cough DM, Robitussin Cough & Cold CF, Robitussin Cough & Congestion,...