Professional Malpractice Claims

Non-medical professionals like architects, lawyers, insurance brokers, and other licensed individuals can be subjected to professional malpractice claims when their lack of due care (negligence) or breach of contract causes personal or financial injury to a person. Licensed professionals are generally held to a higher standard of care than average people are. They must perform their duties in a competent matter given the specialized training and experience expected of members of their profession.

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What is Juror Misconduct?

In Colorado, as in most states, the law governs the conduct of jurors while serving and deliberating in a case. This law is much more complicated than the instructions read to the jury at the beginning, during and end of a case. Generally speaking, the law seeks to protect the ‘integrity’ of the trial process. The jury is ideally composed of non-biased individuals who will judge the merits of a case solely on the evidence in light of the law of the case, as explained and set forth in detail in the ‘jury instructions’ which are read to and handed to the jury before deliberations begin. Jurors should not attempt to ‘lawyer’ or ‘investigate’ a case. This is to control the process, to ensure the integrity of the trial and fairness to the parties.

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The Insurance Crisis

The term “insurance crisis” is a concept put forth by insurance companies who seek to increase profits by encouraging legislation to limit damage awards in personal injury cases. Insurance was devised and is a way to distribute the risk of injury/damages among a large pool of policyholders, whether they be individuals such as doctors or lawyers, or businesses such as hospitals or insurance companies themselves. Insurance companies employ individuals and models to judge the risk of loss for an individual or business and set ‘premiums’ (the cost of the insurance) to sell a product known as an insurance policy.

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Texting and Driving Don’t Mix

As personal injury lawyers, many of the injury cases we handle involve distracted drivers. Cell phone use and texting while driving have grown into an enormous threat on our roadways. In addition to texting, there are many other distractions include eating, drinking, talking with passengers, as well as using in-car electronics and other devices. Although less obvious distractions such as sleeping behind the wheel, daydreaming or emotional imbalances also can be very dangerous situ­ations for drivers.

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Americans scored an important victory today in the ongoing fight against regulatory preemption of state tort law. This afternoon, Congress passed and sent to the President legislation implementing the recommendations of the 9-11 Commission.

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Crowe v. Tull 125P.3d 196 (Col. 2006)

Summary

Plaintiff Richard Crowe filed an action under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) against his former attorneys, Marc Tull and the firm of Azar & Associates, who settled his car accident personal injury claim. He alleged that the attorneys had fraudulently claimed through a statewide program of television advertisements that the firm was highly skilled at negotiating with insurance companies and that the firm would obtain full value for its clients’ injuries.

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