It must be noted the massive safety recall by Toyota mentioned above doesn’t address a potentially dangerous mechanical defect causing the sudden, unexplained acceleration accidents. While the mats may well be a contributing factor in some cases, there is much more to this story. A defective engine throttle control system – not floor mats interfering with gas pedals – is causing many accidents due to Unintended Acceleration. It’s the opinion of many safety advocates that removing floor ... Read Full Story

The Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled that federal vehicle safety regulations don’t preempt a failure-to-warn claim involving an airbag that deployed and severely injured a child. This reversed a trial court ruling. An eight-year-old girl suffered serious brain injuries when the airbag in her parents’ 1997 Ford pickup truck deployed and struck her in the head. The parents alleged that their daughter’s injuries were caused in part by Ford’s defective instructions and warnings with respect to ... Read Full Story

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. engaged in a “staggering” pattern of misconduct aimed at covering up its role in the deaths of four young people whose car collided with a train largely because a crossing gate wasn’t working properly. To punish the railroad, which began destroying evidence within minutes of the 2003 accident, a judge awarded an additional $4 million to the victims’ families. That award comes on top of $21.6 million from a jury that placed 90% of the ... Read Full Story

The U.S Supreme Court will take up a number of high-profile cases in its term that began on October 5th. From all accounts, it appears this will be a very busy term. A few of the cases to be heard are mentioned below: Another Federal Preemption Case: The Court will hear a case concerning whether a state court lawsuit over a federal employee’s health care benefits is preempted by federal law. The lawsuit was initially filed by Juli Pollitt, a government employee, against ... Read Full Story

Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform has started another round of statewide meetings to discuss holding a constitution convention. As all Alabama citizens know, our state has the nation’s longest, most-amended constitution. I sincerely believe that the document is in need of reform. For more than a decade, a growing grassroots campaign has been waged to draft a new constitution. But thus far all efforts to get any reform through the Legislature have failed. There have been lots of... Read Full Story

There has been much speculation around the State Capital that Governor Riley will call one or more special sessions later this year. The one subject most mentioned concerns the need to reform Alabama’s outdated ethics law. While that reform is badly needed, due to the severe money woes facing state government, a good vote count by the Governor is a must before he calls legislators back to Montgomery. SOURCE: Jere Beasley Report › A possible special session Read Full Story

It certainly appears that the financial crisis facing state government in Alabama looms much larger for next year’s regular session than was originally projected by state financial officers. All state services and public education funding at every level will almost certainly have to be cut drastically due to a lack of funds. There will be no new taxes imposed by the legislature in 2010 and that’s a virtual certainly. But, Governor Bob Riley may decide that his legacy should include putting th... Read Full Story

Our firm has filed a lawsuit against Blair Corporation and three independent testing companies in the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. We represent Harold Ledbetter who lost his mother, Annie Thrash. On the morning of October 30, 2008, Mrs. Thrash was in her apartment in Opelika, Alabama. She was making coffee at a gas stove when the chenille robe she was wearing caught fire. Mrs. Thrash was severely burned and died as a result of these burns. Mrs. Thrash purchased her... Read Full Story

We recently filed a lawsuit against Coe Manufacturing Company and two individuals in a state court in Jackson County, Florida. We represent Karen Dudley and Karina Ja-Vaughan Dudley who lost their husband and father respectively when he was killed while working for Spanish Trail Lumber Company in Marianna, Florida. On March 26, 2009, Rufus Dudley was standing near an industrial planer at the in-feed section of the large wood working machine as 2X4’s were being fed into it. One of the 2X4’s b... Read Full Story

Giles Perkins, a Birmingham lawyer, is running for Alabama Attorney General as a Democrat. Giles, who served as executive director of the Alabama Democratic Party in 1997-1998, made his announcement last month. He has been active in many Democratic campaigns, including the Presidential runs of John Edwards and Barack Obama. Former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones of Birmingham will serve as his campaign chairman. Giles is experienced in party politics and has good friends around the state. There may ... Read Full Story