The late philosopher Norm MacDonald once observed that while it takes years of training to get a pilot’s license, it only takes a couple of minutes to steal a pilot’s jacket and hat. The doctrine of FAAAA preemption provides another avenue for one to profit by stealing from the airline industry. By “one,” we mean freight shippers and brokers, who are in some jurisdictions able to take advantage of a quirk of federal law to win dismissal of claims arising… Read More

School is out for summer, and with it, there is a substantial increase in child injury. Nearly one-third of all fatal child injuries occur during June, July, and August. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year there are 2.8 million children going to the emergency room for injuries related to a fall. We can all agree that children need to be protected from the various dangers facing them. This article will not cover personal injuries… Read More

Bankruptcy law in the United States provides several chapters under which individuals and businesses can file for bankruptcy relief. Each chapter serves different purposes and has specific criteria, debt discharge rules, and protections for debtors. A. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy (11 U.S.C. Chapter 7): Chapter 7 bankruptcy, often referred to as “liquidation bankruptcy,” is designed for individuals or businesses with limited or no means to repay their debts. In Chapter 7, a trustee is appointed to collect and sell the debtor’s… Read More

The mail comes in like any other day and you sit down to review. Bills, retail advertisements, a bizarre campaign announcement from the local knucklehead running for city council. Keep, toss, burn. Then your heart sinks. A letter from a law office from some county in the state you forgot even existed. You take a deep breath and open it with a sense of unease. That is when you see that your business is being sued due to an accident… Read More

Countless legal scholars have said their peace on this subject since it was established in the Virginia common law by a case called Baskett v. Banks, 45 S.E.2d 173 (Va. 1947). Virginia is one of a bare handful of states that enforce this rule, which to residents of other states can seem rather barbaric in its implementation. The rule plainly stated is that no one can recover from a defendant for injuries which they themselves negligently contributed to causing. To… Read More

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published their final rule reclassifying the northern long eared bat as an endangered species back on November 30, 2022, with an original effective date of January 30, 2023. This classification is pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The US Fish and Wildlife service is able to make this determination when a species satisfies any one of five factors: (A) The present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat or range; (B)… Read More

As you read this, it’s highly likely you have either been in a crash or soon will be. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMSCA) reported that in 2020, of the approximately 415,000 police-reported crashes involving large trucks, 4,444 (1 percent) of them were fatal crashes and 101,000 (24 percent) of them were crashes with injuries. The FMCSA also found that about 71 percent of these accidents were caused by distracted drivers. While these numbers alone are cause for concern,… Read More

Before this week’s article starts in earnest, we are going to have a quick quiz. So go grab your old CRT monitor and Star Trek: Nemesis movie poster, because we are going to play Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. See if you can tell which of these cases are real…and which are works of fantasy. Answers and an explanation of why you should care are below. In Illinois, an attorney managed to sue himself when he filed suit on behalf… Read More