Author Archives: Jay Butchko
What Is Negligent Entrustment?
When you are injured in an accident, it is important to hold everybody responsible who may have contributed to your injuries. Part of doing that is looking to see not just who was negligent, but who may have been indirectly negligent. People who are indirectly negligent are usually thought of, in plain terms, as… Read More »
Can You Get An Insurance Company’s Claims File?
When you sue an insurance company for a dispute over a homeowners insurance claim, the adjuster’s claim file can have vital evidence that can help you prove your case. But can you get that file, as a part of the litigation discovery process? The Claims File When an insurance company adjusts a claim, it… Read More »
Man Is Injured When Diving In Pool’s Shallow End
There are many things in personal injury law that are dangerous and which could hurt someone else, but if they do hurt you, you generally can’t sue for them. For example, conditions that are open and obvious can prohibit (or limit) your ability to sue, and certain inherently and obviously dangerous things, like residential… Read More »
Read Your Business Interruption Policies Carefully
Business interruption insurance is intended to, as the name implies, pay you for losses that your business incurs as a result of something out of your control. But like many insurance policies, what is and isn’t covered, is often a matter of the exact language of the insurance policy. Restaurant Claims Business Interruption This… Read More »
Using Bad Faith To Get More Than What The Insurance Policy Insures
Let’s say that someone injures you in a car accident, and they are negligent or at fault. They injure you severely. However, the insured driver has a very small insurance policy—say, $10,000. Now, you have a problem, because you either will have to resolve the entire case for just the $10,000, or you will… Read More »
Why Are Mass Tort Defective Product Cases So Difficult To Win?
When products are defective and they injure people, those injuries can be limited—but they also can injure a great many people. With the number of people who use many commercial products or medications, all it takes is one defective product to potentially impact and injure thousands, tens, or hundreds of thousands of people. But… Read More »
When Evidence In Your Case Is Just Too Good It Could Be Excluded
In your personal injury trial, to win your case, the idea is to put forth as much evidence in your favor that you can. Evidence that helps your case or supports your allegations helps you, but so does evidence that hurts the other side, or which puts their side of the story in doubt…. Read More »
Failed Exactech Implants Lead To Class Action Lawsuits
Often when large companies are sued for defective products, the story of the lawsuit illustrates how products and how they are designed can go very wrong. Design defects are where a product works the way it is supposed to-but something in how the product was initially designed, ends up being faulty or dangerous. Implants… Read More »
Can You Make A Homeowners Insurance Claim For Mold?
In Florida, many people see mold as a fact of life, what with our humidity, heat and rainfall. But mold is hardly innocuous; depending on the kind of mold, and who you ask, mold can either inflame allergies, or cause cancers. So when you do see or find mold, you may want to make… Read More »
Can A Non-Parent Bind A Child To Arbitration, Or To A Hold Harmless Agreement?
You probably already know that in many areas where extreme sports or indoor physical activity happen, like trampoline parks, ice skating, or go-carting the facilities will want you to sign waivers of liability. These waivers make you promise that you won’t sue them if you are injured. They also may make you promise that… Read More »