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• No Runaway Jury System In Arizona: 2006 Verdicts Are, If Anything, Low.

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 29, 2007 6:51 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Two days ago I posted the 2006 civil jury awards in Arizona. The thing that I found interesting is the Maricopa County median is a paltry $70,879. By the way, the reported figures are all artifically high because they do not include defense verdicts of zero!Among other things, this makes me recall the pending unconstitutional legislation to allow courts to raise the compulsory arbitration...

• Trial Scheduled In Vehicle Collision Case Involving a Commercial Truck

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 26, 2007 1:41 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Over three years ago, our client was a passenger in a vehicle driving on U.S. 60 in La Paz County. Unfortunately, a truck driver that had stopped at an intersection on the highway, proceeded to cross the intersection and did not see our client's vehicle approaching.The vehicles collided, resulting in serious injuries to our client and another passenger.As is sometimes the case, even though the...

• Settlement Reached Where Improper Road Repair Leads to Motorcycle Mishap

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 05, 2007 6:40 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  This month the City of Phoenix approved a $250,000 settlement in a motorcycle injury case with one of our clients. The incident occurred when the City workers improperly repaired a section of the roadway that, within days after the repair, resulted in a large pothole in a through lane of travel. Unfortunately, this pothole was also all but invisible at night and caused our client's motorcycle...

• Certificate of Merit Legislation: Arizona's Unconstitutional Barriers to Justice

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 01, 2007 6:09 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Like a number of other states, the Arizona Legislature recently caved to special-interests and adopted a so-called "certificate of merit" procedure for medical malpractice cases, ARS 12-2303. This procedure sets forth a somewhat complicated series of requirements for people filing medical malpractice claims. As a practical matter, however, the statute discriminates against those injured by a...

• Like a Good Neighbor?

  Geoff Trachtenberg | March 22, 2007 10:17 PM | 1 CommentScottsdale, AZ

  Randy Udelman reports on the record profits from State Farm Insurance, noting:In the midst of its record-setting year, according to a recent story on CNN, State Farm apparently adopted a policy to minimize settlement offers for low-impact motor vehicle collisions forcing accident victims to take substantially low settlement offers or spent significant costs in litigation. Moreover, Katrina...

• Settlement Reached in Lawsuit Over Teen's Death

  Christina Cole | March 15, 2007 7:55 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  A wrongful death lawsuit involving a 16-year-old girl who was killed by a motorist on her way to school, has settled for $225,000 with the city paying up.The suit was filed by the Mother of a junior at Alhambra High School that was killed on November 20, 2004 while she was attempting to catch a Valley Metro bus to get to class.The lawsuit accused the city of negligence in its operation of...

• Man Paralyzed with Botulism Poisoning

  Jenny Albano | August 03, 2007 4:20 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  A man in New Mexico was found to have botulism poisoning. State health officials are trying to figure out if the man ate any food that was included in the Castelberry's Food Co. recall.Castleberry's Food Company has recalled over 90 different brands of canned food and pet food because cans of hot dog chili sauce were found to contain the bacterium that causes botulism.The 52 year-old man, whose...

• Directors Not Liable for the Misrepresentations of Their Agents Absent a Showing They Had "Knowledge" of the Misrepresentations

  Geoff Trachtenberg | June 05, 2007 10:17 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Judge Kessler of Division One just handed down another one of his massive opinions (this is not a criticism, just an observation). He seems to be a prolific writer and, my guess, a prolific reader as well.The case, Dawson v. Withycombe, marks another important milestone in the development of Arizona's corporate law. It follows in the footsteps of Wells Fargo Bank v. Arizona Laborers, Teamsters...

• Arizona Public Records Law May Require the Court to Determine the Nature of the Particular Government Document

  Geoff Trachtenberg | May 05, 2007 1:41 PM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  These days, most people know that both state and federal "Freedom of Information Acts" require the dicslosure of public records. After all, such documents technically "belong to the people" and are created in connection with public service. Indeed, ARS 39-121 provides that "public records and other matters in the custody of any officer shall be open to inspection by any person at all times...

• Is a Medical Malpractice Claim "Mature" If There Is No Present Injury?

  Geoff Trachtenberg | April 19, 2007 8:57 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  As a rule, every medical malpractice claim must have four elements -- duty, breach, causation and damages -- and, at least as a general rule, you need all of them to have a cognizable claim. Sometimes, however, there can be an issue as to when a claim is "mature," i.e., complete or ripe.Take, for example, a person who has an increased risk of disease because he has been exposed to a defective...