Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

In a case handed down by the Massachusetts Appeals Court recently, the Court held that AIG did violate the unfair settlement act of Massachusetts. In every case in which an insurance company is involved, the law in Massachusetts says that the insurance company must effectuate a prompt, fair and equitable settlement once liability becomes clear. In motor vehicle accidents, insurance companies have fairly simple protocols to determine liability. In this case, where an 18 wheeler truck collided with the rear end the plaintiff's vehicle, even the insurance company admitted their insured was at fault.

In this case, there was a horrific collision in which the plaintiff, Marcia Rhodes, was instantly and permanently paralyzed as a result of the trauma. Her attorneys prepared a settlement package for the insurance companies. Unfortunately, what happened was that the insurance companies hired a company to investigate, then went through staffing changes, and then used their bureaucracy to o delay responding to Rhodes' settlement demand. They also hired and rehired counsel to delay things further.

According to Mass Public Interest Research Group, or MassPirg, there are toys to avoid this year when shopping. Keeping children safe in Massachusetts has been a goal of our blog, our office and our litigation for over 25 years.

Baby Doll, manufactured by Baby Toys, has phthalate, which is toxic and should be avoided for all children who may put the doll near their mouths. Bright Stars Travel Book, manufactured by Kids II Inc, contains a high quantity of antimony, which is a carcinogen. Dora the Explorer Backpack had a too high quantity of phthalate, which is toxic. Let's Get Building! Construction Playset, made Fisher Price, contains cones that are too small and may caused choking. Lokmork/Baby's First Train, distributed by HABA, has parts that are too small for the "Age 1+" on the label that they market to. Plastic Handcuffs, made by Ja-Ru, contain antimony, which is a carcinogen that is 20 times the allowed amount. There are many other toys, and we urge parents and folks shopping for young children to be mindful of all products they buy for youngsters. See the full list at MassPirg's website.

Massachusetts chiropractors continue to see favorable changes. A recent case decided in Boston directly affects how medical bills associated with a car accident or pedestrian accident, for example, get processed and paid. The Boston personal injury attorneys at the Law Office of Neil Burns bring this update in an effort to share current and helpful information regarding billing practices and policies associated with car accidents injuries in and around the Boston area.

Recently, a few cases have come down that change the way a licensed Massachusetts automobile insurer is able to process PIP billing and payments. You can check our blog for chiropractic news articles we have written regarding PIP payments and the recent decisions affecting those payments.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Chiropractors See Favorable Changes to PIP" »

Massachusetts is home to plenty of big box stores. Boston and its surrounding suburbs have Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Target and Lowe's, just to name a few. So what happens if you suffer personal injury at one of these stores? What if you slip and fall, have medical bills or suffer lost wages as a result of your personal injuries? You're not alone. The Boston personal injury attorneys at the Law Office of Neil Burns have helped many clients recover after being injured at a big box store, and we can help you, too.

The first thing to realize is that once a Boston personal injury attorney settles your claim with one of these large stores, the stores will generally always require that settlement to remain confidential. You see, these stores do not want to report how many cases they settle, or how many people are injured in their stores. As a result, once they agree to settle your case, they make claimants and their attorney first agree to keep the terms of the settlement confidential.

Continue reading "Establishing Negligence for Massachusetts Slip and Fall Cases" »

Massachusetts residents should take note that the Consumer Product Safety Commission recently issued a recall of children's toy rocking horses because of the hazard presented for potential injury to children. The Boston personal injury lawyers at the Law Office of Neil Burns have represented children injured in accidents and bring you messages related to child safety.

Apparently, the CPSC warns that there is a voluntary recall of Rocking Horse Depo (RockingHorseDepot.com) products. The toys have bridles, manufactured in Poland, which have been found to be a hazard, causing a near strangulation of a young girl. The reigns appear to be too long. It is not clear if a simple modification, such as cutting off the reigns, would help.

Continue reading "Rocking Horse Recall Affects Massachusetts Consumers" »

The feds, the local media, and Boston car accident lawyer Neil Burns are criticizing the leniency in Massachusetts laws regarding drunk driving. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, Massachusetts, and 9 other states, lag behind other states in enacting measures to prevent alcohol related motor vehicle collisions. The NTSB Most Wanted List includes elimination of "hard core" drinking while driving as one of its main targets for improvement for states.

The list from the NTSB for actions urged for state governments to pass with respect to drinking and driving are: enacting laws to reduce repeat offenders, undertaking frequent statewide highway checkpoints for sobriety, set higher penalties for first time offenders, set the limit for second time offenders at zero, cancel driving licenses for those who refuse a blood alcohol or breathalyzer test, stop plea bargaining agreements, keeping records for 10 years, special programs for repeat offenders. While we can't comment on the effectiveness of this list, we would urge the legislature to adopt as many measures as possible to deter drinking and driving and to keep repeat offenders off the road.

The Boston Globe recently focused on the Massachusetts Legislature drunk driving news, including a review of Melanie's Law, enacted in 2005. We won't get into local politics here, except to say that victims of motor vehicle accidents need as much protection as possible.

The Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission plans to file for an emergency regulation to stop the sales of alcohol energy drinks that contain stimulants. The popular drink Four Loko is marketed as "premium 24 ounce caffeinated alcohol beverage." The problem seems to be that it has a lot of alcohol (12%), a lot of caffeine (135 milligrams), and a fruity taste not associated with either alcohol or caffeine. The packaging makes it look like a fruit drink. Emergency Room doctors who have seen patients who overdose on Four Loko say that the caffeine hides the effect of the alcohol, leading young folks to drink too much and resulting in bodily failures. Massachusetts motor vehicle accident attorneys urge everyone to use extreme caution around this drink, to avoid it before driving or undertaking any other action of responsibility, and, frankly, to simply avoid it.

Four Loko has been responsible for motor vehicle accidents, including an Arizona personal injury case involving a single vehicle collision of a teenager in Arizona who had a blood alcohol level of .15%. A fatality in the north Texas town of Denton is attributed to a teenager drinking Four Loko.

Continue reading "Four Loko Ban in Massachusetts" »

We know, we know, Tom Brady is invincible. The best quarterback in football, Superbowl rings on more fingers than anyone, and an amazing win against Pittsburg on Sunday night. But caught by the paparazzi while riding bicycles with his wife and two sons, we see that neither Tom nor Gisele wear helmets when they bike around Boston. Bicycle injury lawyer Neil Burns reports that while the law in Massachusetts does not require adults to wear helmets, it is highly recommended. Last year 630 bicyclists died in the US, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Brain and spinal injury lawyer Neil Burns notes that 91% of bicyclists killed in 2008 were not wearing helmets. "A helmet is the single most effective way to prevent head injury resulting from a bicycle crash," according to NHTSA Bicycle Safety tips.

Of the 2009 highway fatalities, 2% were bicyclists. However, 12% of the bicycle fatalities were children 14 and under. Ten of those children were in Massachusetts bicycle accidents. Further, the NHTSA estimates that "51,000 pedalcyclists were injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes" in 2009, 17% children under the age of 14. Massachusetts requires all children under 17 to wear helmets. The news about the NFL and brain injuries constantly reports that what they do at that level trickles down to the college and high school level. So while Tom was not breaking any laws, he may have been setting a bad example for his kids and all of those who saw the photos.

A case having authority in Massachusetts was recently decided by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting in Boston. All Massachusetts attorney fee agreements must be reasonable, the Court said. Further, Court held that this includes contingent fee agreements. Massachusetts attorneys cannot charge too much for their services in light of the actual work performed. The Boston attorneys at the Law Office of Neil Burns are always up front regarding costs and fees, and they respect the fact that it is your money that fuels and drives your case.

In the case United States v. Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc., 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. November 1, 2010, the Court held that attorney fees cannot exceed the "outer limit of reasonable" which occurred because an attorney, doing the minimal amount of work, claimed a contingent fee of 1/3, resulting in a claim for $390,00. This was a federal whistleblower case, which has federal rules about attorney fees. That statute allows for up to one half of the ultimate collection to be available for attorney fees. In a complicated fact pattern, involving a federal criminal investigation and an actual hearing regarding the fairness of fees.

Notwithstanding the above case, attorney fees in Massachusetts personal injury cases are rarely reviewed by the courts.

Insurance companies spent over $31 million, split almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans, in the recent mid term elections. This is about the same as they spend in the last mid term election cycle, in 2006. (In that election, however, they were 2 to 1 in favor of the republicans.) These numbers do not include money spent on lobbying, which is estimated at over $120 million so far this year. As a Boston personal injury lawyer, I see everyday how this money trickles down to have an adverse effect on clients who are the victims of an injury.

Independent insurance agents contributed more than ever before to federal Congressional races, declaring a 93% success rate. We don't have the breakdown for Massachusetts Congressional races, but it doesn't matter. Money given to federal legislators influences federal law, which, of couse, affects us here in Massachusetts. The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big "I") is a political action committee, called InsurPac, which encourages members to contribute to the PAC so that the PAC can distribute the money strategically.

In a case decided by the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Court dismissed all counts against Attorney Stephen Hrones except the Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 93A claim.
This was because 93A has a four (4) year statute of limitations. We have prosecuted many cases of legal malpractice in Massachusetts and there is usually a Chapter 93A claim.

In the Chapter 93A claim in this case, there was a "misunderstanding" at the Superior Court level, according to the Appeals Court. The trial court stated that the critical 93A letter was not 30 days before filing suit, therefore violating the notice provisions of the law, Chapter 93A, Section 9(3). However, the Appeals Court determined that there was the misunderstanding and sent the case back to the trial court so that the plaintiff could proceed with a Chapter 93A claim.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Legal Malpractice: Chapter 93A Has Four Year Statute of Limitations" »

Once again, I thank my colleagues who have honored me with the nomination as a 2010 Massachusetts Superlawyer. Frankly, it is the lawyers that nominated me that are the super ones! The only path to this honor is first, and foremost, utmost attention to aggressively and zealously representing our clients interests. Second, I could not undertake all of the work necessary without a fantastic staff, Attorney Thiadora A. Pina and Legal Assistant Caroline L. Lorenz. Furthermore, working effectively for victims of personal injury, and legal malpractice, requires a commitment and training that I am fortunate to have.

I also want to congratulate Attorney Keith P. Slattery, who worked diligently in this office for our clients for over 8 years. He was nominated as one of the Superlawyer Rising Stars. Only 2.5% of lawyers in Massachusetts can qualify for this distinction. Keith Slattery certainly was a star performer while working diligently for our clients here in Boston and we will him well in his own practice in Melrose, Massachusetts.

Super Lawyers is a Thompson Reuters business that, throughout the country, looks for attorneys in each state using a "rigorous, multiphase rating process" including peer nominations, evaluations and research. The selection process can be viewed by going to the Super Lawyers website.

You're driving back from a Boston Bruins game, you're a Massachusetts resident, and you are seriously injured in a car accident. You're taken to the hospital and you're naturally worried about your health and being okay. And then you start thinking about work, bills, the mortgage, your family--you were seriously injured in that car accident. You're not going to work on Monday. You don't know when you'll get back to work--one week, two weeks, maybe more? Of course, the personal injury attorneys at the Law Office of Neil Burns can help you, but all personal injury attorneys must work with the amount of insurance that's available for each particular case.

That's why the Boston personal injury attorneys at the Law Office of Neil Burns bring you this important message regarding insurance coverage and the Medical Payments option available to Massachusetts drivers. Medical Payment, also known as Med-Pay, is an optional coverage available to under Massachusetts automobile insurance policies. Your insurance company will show you the insurance coverage you have selected in a document called a Coverage Selections Page. On this document, Medical Payments is option number six.

Continue reading "Paying for Massachusetts Automobile Injuries" »