South Carolina Personal Injury Law Blog

Supreme Court Delivers Another Strike to Shareholders

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court set a higher legal standard for investors to overcome when claiming fraud against companies.  In an 8-1 decision, the Court embraced strict interpretation of a provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that requires plaintiffs to show that the defendant intended to deceive, manipulate, or defraud.  The Court’s ruling will give judges more latitude to dismiss cases that cannot meet the burden set by the court.  You can read the Court's decision in Tellabs v. Makor Issues and Rights, Ltd. by clicking HERE.

Source:  "Justices Tighten Rules on Shareholder Suits" by Stephen Labaton, published in The New York Times.

Toxic Torts

A toxic tort the legal term for the harm that results from wrongful exposure of a harmful chemical or biological substance through ingestion, inhalation, skin contact, or skin absorption. Examples of toxic tort litigation include but are not limited to cases concerning, lead paint (causes brain damage, especially in children), asbestos (causes lung cancer, restrictive lung disease), pesticides   (causes birth injuries), toxic molds (causes various symptoms), and electro-magnetic fields from utility wires or major appliances (suspected to cause cancer), and toxic landfill/spill waste (causes leukemia, and other syndromes).

Toxic substances are regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The TSCA was enacted in 1976 to give Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the ability to track the 75,000 industrial chemicals currently produced or imported into the United States. The EPA repeatedly screens these chemicals and can require reporting or testing of those that may pose an environmental or human-health hazard. EPA can ban the manufacture and import of those chemicals that pose an unreasonable risk. Despite government efforts to protect your health, millions of people at home, at work, and during their leisure time are being exposed to and injured by toxic substances every day.

Due to the nature of toxic substance accidents and long latency periods, many cases are often not brought until many years after victims discover they were exposed to the toxins. Exposure to toxic substances is particularly harmful for industrial workers who may have been exposed to high levels of toxins over a long period of time. Exposure to toxic substances is also particularly harmful to children who are generally more sensitive to toxic agents and who have a greater likelihood of exposure as a result of play habits and behavior patterns.

It is rare for toxic exposure to affect just one person, especially in cases of environmental contamination. It is very common for groups of people who have all been exposed to the same toxin because of the same event (for instance, an accidental release of radiation from a nuclear power plant) or because of the same occupation (for instance, repeated exposure to dry cleaning fluid by people in the cleaning industry) to bring legal claims as a group in order to seek redress for wrongful toxic exposure. As a result, toxic tort cases are often brought as class actions.

There are many different legal theories, including negligence, premises liability, breach of warranty, misrepresentation, and strict products liability that are used to establish liability. Proving that a toxic substance has injured a person, however, requires hard work and experience.

At Stevens - MacPhail, P.A., we strive to obtain fair and just compensation for our clients' injuries.  Using our experience and the extensive resources available to us, we focus on achieving the best possible recovery for our clients.  In all matters involving personal injury it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence, investigate the accident in question, and to file a lawsuit prior to the deadline imposed by the statute of limitations.

If you or a loved one has been injured, you can call Stevens - MacPhail, P.A. at (800) 897-8856 or (864) 598-9172 or e-mail us to schedule a meeting.  The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to accept your case, we work on a contingent fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary award or recovery of funds.  Don’t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.

Doctors Face 50 Years in Prison for Surgery Scam

Three California doctors were arrested for recruiting patients to undergo needless surgeries in order to defraud insurance companies. Prosecutors claim the doctors performed over 1,000 procedures on 940 patients in exchange for cash or cosmetic surgery while billing insurance companies an estimated $30 million. The doctors face 47 felony counts for conspiracy, insurance fraud and other charges and could face 50 year in prison if convicted. 

Source:  "3 Doctors Held in Health Insurance Scam" by Christine Hanley, published in the LA Times.

Family Agrees to County's Settlement in Death of Teen at State Boot Camp

The family of a teenager who died after being roughed up by guards at a state-supervised boot camp have agreed to a $2.4 million settlement from Bay County, Florida.  The family had originally sued for $40 million, but will be receiving a total of $7.4 million, of which $5 million is being fast-tracked through the legislature.

A report said seven guards at the sheriff's boot camp in Panama City, engaged in "abusive and inhumane" behavior when they struck the teen with fists and knees, knocked him to the ground, and held ammonia capsules under his nose.  The guards and a nurse who watched have been charged with manslaughter. All pleaded not guilty last month. They face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Source:  "$2.4M Settlement in Fla. Boot Camp Death" by Brent Kallestad, publishd at Forbes.com.

Conversion

Conversion is an intentional interference with another’s possession or ownership of property that is significant enough such that the interfering party is required to pay for the property’s full value.  For example, assume that a friend borrows your lawnmower but never returns it despite your requests. The friend will be liable to pay damages to you under the theory of conversion. Note that this is a civil remedy which differs from any penalty imposed upon the friend under the criminal law of theft.

At Stevens - MacPhail, P.A., we strive to obtain fair and just compensation for our clients' injuries.  Using our experience and the extensive resources available to us, we focus on achieving the best possible recovery for our clients.  In all matters involving personal injury it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence, investigate the accident in question, and to file a lawsuit prior to the deadline imposed by the statute of limitations.

If you or a loved one has been injured, you can call Stevens - MacPhail, P.A. at (800) 897-8856 or (864) 598-9172 or e-mail us to schedule a meeting.  The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to accept your case, we work on a contingent fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary award or recovery of funds.  Don’t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.

Trespass to Chattel

"Chattel" refers to items of personal property such as a car, pet or jewelry. A wrongdoer commits trespass to chattel if he or she intentionally possesses someone else's property without their consent--even if only for a brief period of time. Courts require that some sort of actual harm results from the trespass to chattel.  For example, if you take your friend's new car for a joy ride without his authorization and during the course of your ride you dent the back fender, you have committed a trespass to chattel.

At Stevens - MacPhail, P.A., we strive to obtain fair and just compensation for our clients' injuries.  Using our experience and the extensive resources available to us, we focus on achieving the best possible recovery for our clients.  In all matters involving personal injury it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence, investigate the accident in question, and to file a lawsuit prior to the deadline imposed by the statute of limitations.

If you or a loved one has been injured, you can call Stevens - MacPhail, P.A. at (800) 897-8856 or (864) 598-9172 or e-mail us to schedule a meeting.  The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to accept your case, we work on a contingent fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary award or recovery of funds.  Don’t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.

Trespass

The law recognizes that owners of property have inherent rights, perhaps the most important being the right to the "exclusive" use of their property. A defendant will be liable for trespass if he or she enters the plaintiff's property without the plaintiff's consent and interferes with the landowner's exclusive right to use the land.

As generally used, "trespass" occurs when either:

1. a person intentionally enters another’s land, without permission;
2. a person remains on another’s land without the continued permission to be there, even if he entered rightfully; or
3. a person puts an object on (or refuses to remove an object from) another’s land without permission.

Note that the term "trespass" refers only to intentional interference with another’s interest in property. If one accidentally enters another’s land, this is generally not trespass.

For example, a burglar who intentionally enters someone's home commits trespass. On the other hand, if you have an unexpected epileptic seizure while driving your car and end up driving across someone else's lawn and causing damage to the property, you are not liable for trespass.

At Stevens - MacPhail, P.A., we strive to obtain fair and just compensation for our clients' injuries.  Using our experience and the extensive resources available to us, we focus on achieving the best possible recovery for our clients.  In all matters involving personal injury it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence, investigate the accident in question, and to file a lawsuit prior to the deadline imposed by the statute of limitations.

If you or a loved one has been injured, you can call Stevens - MacPhail, P.A. at (800) 897-8856 or (864) 598-9172 or e-mail us to schedule a meeting.  The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to accept your case, we work on a contingent fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary award or recovery of funds.  Don’t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.

Fraud and Misrepresentation

Fraud occurs when someone intentionally makes false statements to induce another person to engage in certain conduct or give up something of value. For example, if a store sold you what they claimed was a diamond ring, and you later find out it is worthless cubic zirconium, you would have a claim of fraud against the store.

Misrepresentation occurs when one person makes a false statement (or impression) with the intent to deceive another person. The requirements to establish misrepresentation are similar to those required to establish fraud, and there are a number of elements that must be proven in order to recover damages in these types of cases.

At Stevens - MacPhail, P.A., we strive to obtain fair and just compensation for our clients' injuries.  Using our experience and the extensive resources available to us, we focus on achieving the best possible recovery for our clients.  In all matters involving personal injury it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence, investigate the accident in question, and to file a lawsuit prior to the deadline imposed by the statute of limitations.

If you or a loved one has been injured, you can call Stevens - MacPhail, P.A. at (800) 897-8856 or (864) 598-9172 or e-mail us to schedule a meeting.  The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to accept your case, we work on a contingent fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary award or recovery of funds.  Don’t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress

The tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress is committed when one engages in extreme and outrageous conduct that is intended to cause, and does in fact cause, severe mental anguish and distress in a victim. What constitutes "outrageous" conduct is determined by deciding whether a reasonable person of "ordinary sensibilities" would feel extreme distress under the circumstances.

If the perpetrator knows, however, that the victim is a highly sensitive person, the standard for determining outrageousness is lowered. In order to recover damages in this type of case, the plaintiff must show physical manifestations of distress or some other non-psychological damage (such as loss of wages).

For example, a man threatens that if you, a garbage collector, do not pay over part of your garbage collection proceeds to he and his henchmen, he will severely beat you. Since the man’s conduct is extreme and outrageous, and since he has intended to cause you distress (which he has succeeded in doing), he is liable for infliction of mental distress.

The intent for this tort is a bit broader than for others. There are three possible types of intentions that are actionable:

1. the wrongdoer desires to cause you emotional distress;
2. the wrongdoer knows with substantial certainty that you will suffer emotional distress; or
3. the wrongdoer recklessly disregards the high probability that emotional distress will occur.

At Stevens - MacPhail, P.A., we strive to obtain fair and just compensation for our clients' injuries.  Using our experience and the extensive resources available to us, we focus on achieving the best possible recovery for our clients.  In all matters involving personal injury it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence, investigate the accident in question, and to file a lawsuit prior to the deadline imposed by the statute of limitations.

If you or a loved one has been injured, you can call Stevens - MacPhail, P.A. at (800) 897-8856 or (864) 598-9172 or e-mail us to schedule a meeting.  The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to accept your case, we work on a contingent fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary award or recovery of funds.  Don’t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.

False Imprisonment

False imprisonment is the unlawful detention or restraint of another’s freedom of movement, for any length of time, without justification or consent. There are four principle elements in a false imprisonment claim:

• The confinement must be without the victim's consent. Confinement can occur in a number of ways, including using a physical barrier (locking someone in a room or tying him up) or by threats of force (threatening to kill or by holding someone at gunpoint).
• There must be an intent to confine the victim.
• The victim must be aware of the confinement or be harmed in some manner by it.
• The victim must not be aware of any reasonable means of escape.

For example, if you intentionally trap someone in the basement of your home and lock all the doors, you have falsely imprisoned him or her. However, if there is a window that is within reach and wide enough for him or her to fit through, he or she is not falsely imprisoned because the window is a reasonable means of escape.

At Stevens - MacPhail, P.A., we strive to obtain fair and just compensation for our clients' injuries.  Using our experience and the extensive resources available to us, we focus on achieving the best possible recovery for our clients.  In all matters involving personal injury it is essential that measures be taken promptly to preserve evidence, investigate the accident in question, and to file a lawsuit prior to the deadline imposed by the statute of limitations.

If you or a loved one has been injured, you can call Stevens - MacPhail, P.A. at (800) 897-8856 or (864) 598-9172 or e-mail us to schedule a meeting.  The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to accept your case, we work on a contingent fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary award or recovery of funds.  Don’t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.