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• Kudos to Bennington PD for Car Accident Prevention Efforts

  Ed Van Dorn | September 12, 2007 2:30 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  We would like to congratulate the Bennington Police Department for receiving recognition by the Vermont Governor's Highway Safety Program for its traffic safety record. Paul Doucette, Jr., a lieutenant in the Bennington PD responded to the award saying: "It was the highest score ever seen in the Vermont Law Enforcement Challenge. We couldn't do it without our dispatchers giving us the...

• Juries Respect Victims Who Keep Working

  Rob Curtiss | September 07, 2007 4:23 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Recently, a 101 year old man named Ray Jenkins has gotten a lot of publicity for being the oldest American still working. Mr. Jenkins, who is exceptionally modest, doesn't understand what all the fuss is about. I think what people find so inspiring about him is that he's overcome the odds and continued to be productive. I have had the privilege of representing many people who were seriously...

• One Lesson of Hurricane Katrina - Insurance Companies Need to be Pushed

  Rob Curtiss | August 31, 2007 3:57 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Two years have now passed since Hurricane Katrina struck. As a nation, our attention has moved on to other catastrophes such as the Minneapolis Bridge collapse and the Utah mine disaster. Yet many people who lost their homes or other property in the hurricane have been unable to move on because their insurance companies have refused to pay their legitimate claims. Even Senator Trent Lott, the...

• Victims of Multiple Auto Accidents Have Unique Challenges in Getting Justice

  Rob Curtiss | August 31, 2007 3:54 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Over my career, I have represented quite a few people for injuries they suffered in multiple car accidents. This type of client presents some unique challenges for a victim's lawyer particularly if the injuries suffered in both accidents are similar and the accidents occurred fairly close to each other in time.What makes these cases difficult is that the insurance company defending the first...

• Even Low Impact Automobile Collisions Can Cause Major Injuries

  Rob Curtiss | August 10, 2007 6:43 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Insurance companies have spent a lot of time and money trying to convince the public that victims of low impact car collisions couldn't possibly have serious injuries. How can someone have a real injury, the insurance companies will argue, when their car just has a little dent in the fender.Of course this is flawed reasoning. People are often badly injured in cases where the damage to their car...

• 13 Year-Old Dies in Car Accident

  Jenny Albano | August 01, 2007 1:49 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Shawna Linn Brown, 13, died in a car accident that took place on Monday, July 30 on Route 100 in Hancock. The driver of the car was driving southbound on Route 100 when the car crossed the line and ran into a vehicle in the northbound lane.The driver, Sammy Jo Wood, is 18 years old, but only has her learner's permit. Wood received non-life threatening injuries and the driver of the other...

• Avandia and Personal Injury

  Ed Van Dorn | July 30, 2007 8:18 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Yet another drug maker has come under attack for not disclosing that one of its drugs may cause serious heart problems. This time its the drug Avandia and the maker is GlaxoSmithKline. Today's New York Times reports about this dangerous drugA federal drug safety official recommended during an advisory committee hearing today that Avandia, a controversial diabetes medicine made by...

• Fairness in Arbitration and Personal Injury

  Ed Van Dorn | July 25, 2007 4:39 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  The focus of our firm is personal injury law and the protection of citizen's rights over the careless and sometimes reckless conduct of others. We are especially interested in large corporations and the medical industry that think they can use their clout to pass laws that disadvantage the average person from seeking legal recourse against them. The newly proposed federal legislation entitled...

• Wrongful Death and Punitive Damages

  Ed Van Dorn | July 24, 2007 6:50 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Can the family of a child killed in an auto accident caused by the reckless conduct of another driver sue that driver for punitive damages? Punitive damages are damages over and above what is required to compensate the victim for the loss. They are designed to punish the wrongdoer and set an example to deter others from similar conduct. This is the question the Vermont Supreme Court will soon...

• Motor Vehicle Accidents and Back Injuries

  Rob Curtiss | July 10, 2007 9:17 PM | 0 CommentsVermont, VT

  Many people who are rear-ended or otherwise hit by negligent drivers end up with chronic back injuries. Chronic back pain affects virtually every aspect of an injury victim's life including work, recreation and family relations. Because I have suffered with chronic back pain in the past I am particularly sensitive to the impact it has on my client's lives. I also bear in mind that many of my...