The Dirty World of Staged Trucking Accidents – And How to Protect Your Fleet On November 10, 2020, a New Orleans personal injury attorney, Danny Patrick Keating, Jr. became the 33rd defendant charged in an ongoing investigation by the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana into crime rings that stage accidents with tractor-trailers and commercial carriers. https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2020/11/10/590210.htm. Charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, Keating, if convicted, faces a maximum term of five years imprisonment… Read More

The Comp. defense, bar, a generally dry bunch, is all atwitter over the recent opinion by the Virginia Court of Appeals in Mizelle v. Holiday Ice Inc. and Graphic Arts Mutual Insurance Company. In that case the Virginia Court of Appeals, in an unpublished opinion of limited precedential effect, affirmed a denial by the Full Commission of benefits to a driver injured where he attempted to reorient so that the trailer he was hauling had gotten out of line and… Read More

It is no secret that nuclear verdicts are on the rise in accident litigation across the United States. These “runaway” or “nuclear” verdicts are jury awards that exceed $10 million, and they are a major obstacle facing the trucking industry today. On June 23, 2020, the American Transportation Research Institute (“ATRI”) released a report confirming that verdict awards for plaintiffs over $1 million have drastically increased in number and size over the years. The report, “Understanding the Impact of Nuclear… Read More

“Drive time” can refer to the length of time it takes to get somewhere (I can already hear my toddler whining “are we there yet?”), a popular sports-talk radio show in Arkansas (the southern drawl of the callers-in undeniably exhorting that Malzahn lucked out from that shoulda-been fumble), or, in trucking circles, an aspect of the ever-present and ever-confusing Hours of Service rules. On September 29, 2020, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration made four categories of changes effective. So,… Read More

Setliff Law is pleased to announce that Kevin Streit has joined the firm as an associate who specializes in construction law, commercial litigation, insurance coverage, employment law and consumer protection law. Mr. Streit has practiced law as a civil litigator for twenty years, almost entirely representing the insurance industry in one capacity or another. For a number of years his focus has been on representing property and casualty insurers in disputes over insurance coverage in a variety of contexts ranging… Read More

2020 is the year for signs of the end times. Apart from rioting, a plague, economic collapse, three hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico at once, religious and political leaders falling from grace, the West Coast of the US is on fire. A lot of our clients are in trucking and transportation, and the overwhelming majority are on the East Coast. It might not be immediately obvious why Washington state, Oregon, and California becoming scorched hellscapes should matter to them.… Read More

The Virginia State Corporation Commission recently passed Administrative Letter 2020-06 (https://www.scc.virginia.gov/getattachment/35193336-78b1-4012-88c2-b34a0eba81e1/2020-06.pdf) which notes that, once insurers have made a liability determination that the insured is at fault for an accident, insurers are responsible to reimburse towing companies for “clean up and recovery costs,” which include “certain towing expenses.” In many cases, this is a relatively insignificant point. After all, when compared to the property damage and medical bills that can result from an accident, a small tow charge is a… Read More

We all know that drunk driving is dangerous, but how dangerous is it? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states that every 50 minutes, one person dies in a drunk driving-related incident. That’s around 30 people a day and almost 11,000 a year. Drunk driving fatalities account for approximately 28 percent of all traffic fatalities. Collectively, drunk driving accidents cost about $44 billion a year. Don’t drink and drive, folks. The reasons not to imbibe and drive are well… Read More