Miscellaneous Personal Injury

Hemet High School Accident – Possible Mechanical Failure and Products Liability

May 31, 2012 | by Robert Walch

New information has emerged in the Hemet High School accident that occurred yesterday. According to The Press-Enterprise, there are claims that a mechanical problem in the 1994 Ford Ranger pick-up truck may have contributed to or caused this Hemet pedestrian accident.

The California Highway Patrol’s Major Accident Investigation unit will be thoroughly examining the vehicle to determine if in fact there was a mechanical defect that caused this horrific accident. The driver of the vehicle involved, Daniel Carrillo, who is 18 years old, reportedly claimed that his breaks failed, causing him to run the red light and strike and run over students in the crosswalk.

According to investigators, about 30 students were crossing in the crosswalk when the vehicle ran the red light, at a speed higher than the 25 mile per hour speed limit. Thankfully, the three students who were first reported to be in critical condition now have a good prognosis. Two students however remain in critical condition after suffering serious or catastrophic injuries.

“Hot Coffee” – Documentary Exposes How Corporations Try to Deny You a Fair Trial

May 23, 2012 | by Robert Walch

We previously posted about the “Hot Coffee” documentary by Susan Saladoff, which exposes how corporations, like big insurance companies, spend millions of dollars so that injury victims do not receive fair trials and are not fairly compensated for their personal injury damages.

They have used one case, the “McDonalds coffee” case, to brainwash the general public (including jurors and politicians) into believing there are too many frivolous lawsuits and that lawsuits cause prices and insurance rates to go up.

For the truth, please watch this great documentary. You can watch it on HBO GO, or purchase the DVD on Netflix, from the “Hot Coffee” website or Amazon. It will also be able to be downloaded from iTunes in July.

“Hot Coffee” Documentary Addresses Corporate Brainwash of Consumers

May 22, 2012 | by Robert Walch

Recently, I had a client tell me that she felt there were too many “frivolous” lawsuits filed in the United States. When I asked her to back up her statement, she referred to the lady who sued McDonalds after suffering injuries from spilled coffee. When I asked for other examples, my client could not think of any, but still had this belief, from this McDonalds coffee case, that people can cause harm to themselves and receive millions of dollars. My client told me that she thinks that lawsuits such as these drive up the costs for everyone else.

Unfortunately, this is a commonly held belief of many Americans, who hear about a sensational case on the news, and think there is an epidemic. This is no different than people watching the news, hearing about one crime, and immediately concluding that there is too much crime and feeling unsafe, even if overall crime is going down.

The media does not report about how much safer our lives are due to the fact companies are held financially responsible for their unsafe behavior. Without this regulation, companies would act with impunity, neglecting the safety of consumers, as can be seen by the unsafe business practices in many other countries. Instead, sensational stories get the headlines and attention.

Susan Saladoff’s documentary film, “Hot Coffee,” attacks the brainwashing that corporate America, especially very large billion dollar insurance companies, has inflicted on the American public. This film gives us the facts that many people do not know about the McDonalds coffee case. For instance, many people forget that this one incident occurred in 1992, over 20 years ago, but they still think that it represents an epidemic of lawsuits. Further, prior to this incident, McDonalds received hundreds of complaints that they were serving their coffee too hot, but did nothing to rectify it.

[For all the facts of the McDonalds coffee case, including answers to frequently asked questions, click here.]

St. Patrick’s Day – Los Angeles Car Accident Warning

March 16, 2012 | by Robert Walch

This Saturday is Saint Patrick’s Day, a holiday recognizing Saint Patrick, a patron saint of Ireland. As the holiday is often associated with the lifting of restrictions on drinking alcohol, this is a day that many people will be drinking throughout Los Angeles County. This holiday, combined with the rain showers that are expected throughout the weekend, can lead to heightened car accident dangers on the roads.

We at Gary K. Walch, A Law Corporation, wish to remind our readers to be extra cautious when driving this weekend. As with most holiday weekends, there will be people drinking and driving. It is important to remember that no matter how short the trip, or how costly the transportation, never drink and drive. If you plan on drinking, make sure you have a designated driver or can arrange for a taxi or other transportation. The cost of a taxi is always cheaper than a DUI arrest or, even worse, a drunk driving car accident.

If you are intoxicated and cause a Los Angeles car accident, not only will you be financially responsible for any personal injuries you cause, you may also be subject to criminal liability, which may include jail or prison time. It is anticipated that the Los Angeles Police Department will set up checkpoints throughout the city to try to preemptively stop drunk drivers, before they cause a car accident in Los Angeles.

Personal Injury and Legal Ramifications from a Soccer Game: An Analysis of 4 Superclasicos (Part Two)

May 8, 2011 | by Robert Walch

Previously, a Los Angeles personal injury attorney gave some background into the superclasico soccer games between Real Madrid and Barcelona. In part two, we will give a more in depth legal analysis of the series of games. In the second game, the final of the Copa Del Rey, Real Madrid came into the game with the same intent of destroying Barcelona’s play with dangerous fouls and dirty play. At one point, Alvaro Arbeloa, a defender for Real Madrid, elbowed and then intentionally stepped on the leg of Barcelona striker David Villa. The referee did not see the assault, so Arbeloa got away with it. While normal fouling is part of the game, intentionally stepping on a down player’s legs, with cleats, is not and should not be considered part of the game. This is more comparable to criminal assault, as it is an intentional act with the sole intention of causing bodily harm.

In order for sports competition to be exciting, it is usually best to keep the legal world out of what happens on the field of play. However, certain instances, that should not be part of the game, deserve to be punished legally. For instance, in hockey, when a player intentionally swings his stick at another player’s head from behind, the injured player should not be assuming the risk of such an assault. In football, it can be expected that there are times when a player’s face mask will get pulled, but eye gouging a down player is not “part of the game.” Here, a stomp on a down player’s leg is not part of the game and could cause serious injury. Should this be any different than if this happened outside the stadium, in a public area, where the attacker would be subject to criminal or civil liability for the personal injury he has caused?

In the third game between the teams, this time in the UEFA Champions League, a Real Madrid player, Marcelo, had a similar intentional stomp on the leg of a Barcelona player, Pedro Rodriguez. While David Villa was able to recover and keep playing after he was stomped on, Pedro suffered a knee injury and had to leave the game. The culprit, Marcelo, was not punished as again the referee did not see the attack.

There are numerous reasons that such assaults exist, including the fact that players know that if committed away from the referee’s eyes, they will usually avoid any form of punishment. If suspensions, fines, or criminal or civil charges could be brought after the game, such attacks certainly would occur less frequently, if at all.

Personal Injury and Legal Ramifications from a Soccer Game: An Analysis of 4 Superclasicos (Part One)

May 4, 2011 | by Robert Walch

Normally, the worlds of European soccer and California personal injury do not intertwine. However, April and May of 2011 witnessed an historic set of events in world soccer; four matches between arch rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid, played over only 18 days. Most seasons only see two matches between the two giant Spanish soccer clubs, called the “Superclasico.” In this rare instance, the matches occurred in three different competitions, the Spanish league, the European Champions League and the Spanish Copa Del Rey (King’s Cup).

When the two teams met earlier in the season, at Barcelona’s Camp Nou stadium, both teams came to play and Barcelona emerged as 5-0 victors. In an attempt to prevent similar embarrassing losses in the four crucial games in April and May of 2011, Jose Mourinho, the coach of Real Madrid, employed certain questionable tactics that will be analyzed here from the point of view of a Los Angeles personal injury attorney.

In the first three games, Mourinho put out an ultra-defensive lineup which, while not illegal, was designed to frustrate his opponents and ruin the spectacle that a soccer match is supposed to provide. However, besides playing defensively, many of Real Madrid’s players seemed to come out with intent to cause personal injury to the Barcelona players.

Mourinho seemed to employ a clear strategy of starting the games with his players kicking and fouling Barcelona players, because in the opening minutes of a game, the referee is less likely to punish such offenses. Fouling, in itself, is part of a soccer game, and is comparable to a foul in a basketball game. However, the difference in soccer is that with the strength of a professional soccer player’s legs, combined with the cleats they wear on their feet, many fouls can cause serious injury (including ligament damage, fractured bones, etc.) to an opponent. For this reason, referees can grant yellow cards for certain fouls (2 yellow cards and the player receives a red card and is ejected and misses the next game) or direct red cards for more serious fouls.