The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited a Wilmington FedEx shipping center for exposing employees to injuries. OSHA personnel inspecting the site found that rotating parts on conveyer belt systems were not properly guarded. This left moving parts on the conveyor belt system exposed to employees, which could result in pinching or crushing injuries, concussions,… Read More
Looking Ahead: Upcoming Trends in Personal Injury Law
The field of personal injury law is constantly evolving, and it takes an attorney dedicated to personal injury law to keep abreast of these changes. Some of these changes are relatively minor; for instance, a change in how a court document should look. Other changes are more significant, affecting not only how much compensation an… Read More
New Book Compiles Advice from Leading Personal Injury Attorneys
Leading personal injury lawyers across the United States come together to provide advice in the new book, “ Injured in an Accident?: Ten of America’s Leading Personal Injury Attorneys Share Their Wisdom.” The book includes a section by Massachusetts personal injury attorney Peter Ventura on the state of the insurance industry and the role of… Read More
Common Bone Injury Myths
Introduction A broken bone can occur under a variety of circumstances: a car crash, a bicycle accident, or a slip and fall at a grocery store can all result in broken bones. Although serious injuries, broken bones are typically treated easily at a local hospital or medical center. And while broken bones are common – about… Read More
Vehicle Safety Recalls: What You Need to Know
Vehicle safety recalls have found their ways into news headlines in recent months and years. From Toyota’s recalls over accidental acceleration to the recent massive recalls initiated by General Motors, chances are many individuals have either known someone whose vehicle has been the subject of a recall or have driven one themselves (regardless of whether… Read More
Massachusetts Case Reinforces Plaintiff’s Obligations in Personal Injury Suit
A recent decision from the Massachusetts Appeals Court outlined what plaintiffs must show when they bring suit against another person. In Alford v. Department of Transportation, the plaintiffs (injured parties) were driving along Route 1A when they hit a patch of snow and crashed into a roadside barrier on the ramp to the Massachusetts Turnpike. The… Read More
Massachusetts Employer Exposes Workers to Electrocution Hazards
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Massachusetts-based P. Gioioso & Sons Inc. with over $70,000 in fines for willfully exposing its employees to electrocution hazards. During a May 9 inspection of a Cambridge work site, OSHA inspectors found employees using a trench rod and a fiberglass pole with a metal end to lift… Read More
Who is Liable for “Freak Accidents”?
In late May, 2014, a woman was injured in a “freak” construction site accident. Workers were operating a large saw used to cut through concrete near 9th Avenue and 48th Street in Manhattan when the saw blade came loose from the machine and flew through the air. The blade (which is approximately three feet wide) was… Read More
Premises Liability When the Injured Party is Negligent
The 22-year-old woman injured at Fenway Park on May 16, 2014 was recently released from the hospital. Lizzy Scotland was injured at Fenway Park after a Red Sox game on May 16. She had fallen down an elevator shaft and landed on the top of the elevator two floors below. When the fire department found her,… Read More
“Going and Coming” Rule in Massachusetts
In an unpublished decision issued just last week, the Appeals Court of Massachusetts clarified and affirmed the application of the “going and coming” rule in Massachusetts workers’ compensation cases. Summary of Kelbe’s Case In Kelbe’s Case, 2014 Mass. App. Unpub. LEXIS 735, Daniel Kelbe was an employee at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After clocking… Read More