Philadelphia Injury Attorney Blog

Normal force of an airbag deployment is over 200 miles per hour. Many times airbags deploy at a greater velocity and often deploy late. Frequently this is a failure of the airbag sensor or other components involved in the deployment of the bag. Recently we completed a car accident case involving an over-aggressive and late airbag deployment causing the phenomena known as “bag slap" which resulted in the loss of an eye of our client despite a minimal impact. When we think of airbags, we normally do not consider the case of individuals getting killed or seriously injured. However, due to defective airbags, many times catastrophic injuries and fatalities occur.

Reiff & Bily has had experience litigating defective airbag cases involving non-deployment, late deployment, and over-aggressive deployment. If you or a loved one has suffered from a serious or catastrophic injury, or a wrongful death due to a defective airbag, please contact one of our experienced car accident and product liability lawyers at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

In another verdict against Ford Motor Company on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 a jury awarded $8.5 million dollars after a 4 1/2 week product liability trial. The lawsuit was filed in 2005 alleging that the Mercury Mountaineer SUV was unstable and prone to roll over. The 22-year old passenger (victim) was ejected from the vehicle during a rollover and as a result sustained brain damage, broken bones, a collapsed lung, a fractured skull, paralysis to her left arm and hand, and a right leg amputation. The trial lawyers contended that Ford Motor Company negligently designed, manufactured, produced, and distributed the Mercury Mountaineer which caused the accident.

The Mercury Mountaineer was alleged to be inherently defective and dangerous as the model does not possess sufficient stability to prevent it from rolling over on its side and roof. Allegations were made at the trial that Ford Motor Company was aware of this defect but failed to make adequate corrections. Trial attorney Willie Gary stated that Ford Motor Company took a calculated risk by manufacturing defective vehicles.

We salute the efforts of Willie Gary as well as other attorneys in the fight against Ford Motor Company and other motor companies who continue to place unsafe vehicles on the road knowing that they are dangerous, selecting profits over safety and seemingly making calculated decisions to take their risks in the courts.

Most of time when a bicyclist collides with a motor vehicle the injuries are severe and often catastrophic. Unfortunately with the uninsured and underinsured motorist pandemic in Philadelphia, many times bicycle accident victims and clients come to our office with extensive and permanent injuries without adequate coverage available from the striking vehicle.

Recently a bicycle rider who had been in an accident with a minimally insured car contacted my office with multiple broken bones and permanent nerve damage with a minimal $15,000 policy from the other side. Her first attorney suggested that there was nothing more that he could do for her and she should take the $15,000. What this other attorney did not do, in fact, was perform a complete asset search of the defendant nor consider the ramifications of this client’s own underinsured motorist coverage through her automobile policy.

Continue reading " Philadelphia Bicyclists Beware - Most Motorists Who Share the Highway with You Either Have No Insurance or Minimal Insurance " »

In late September, a 5-year old boy was riding on the back of long trailer stacked with hay bales. He was with his family taking a hayride. As his mother attempted to lower him from the trailer which had not stopped, he was pulled under from unexpected movement of the trailer and crushed and killed by the wheels. Every year I write articles from the viewpoint of an experienced hayride injury lawyer concerning occurrences just like this. Every fall many farms and orchards turn into quasi-amusement parks offering Halloween hayrides and every year no doubt we receive a number of phone calls from parents of children who have been seriously injured from these seemingly innocent rides. Many hayrides are simply accidents waiting to happen when proper control mechanisms are not in place. Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of an innocent and unsuspecting 5-year old boy, the latest victim.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a hayride accident, please contact one of our experienced hayride accident lawyers at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

The Federal Highway Administration announced it will conduct an intensive study into the cause of the growing number of motorcycle accidents on American roads. Nearly 5,300 motorcycle riders died in highway crashes in 2008 in America, representing 14% of all deaths and there were 96,000 additional injuries. Between 1997 and 2008, motorcycle fatalities jumped from 2,116 to 5,290, a 150% increase according to the transportation department’s fatality analysis reporting system. In 2008 alone, deaths from motorcycle crashes rose by 2.2% while fatalities from crashes involving other vehicles declined. NHTSA announced it was considering new safety features on motorcycles such as anti-lock brakes as motorcycles with optional anti-lock brakes sustained a 28% lower fatality rate.

The Philadelphia motorcycle accident law firm of Reiff & Bily is committed to protecting the rights of motorcyclists. If you or a loved one has been involved in a motorcycle accident, contact one of our experienced Philadelphia motorcycle accident lawyers for a free no obligation consultation to fully evaluate your rights and options at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

As an experienced Philadelphia personal injury lawyer, Facebook, Myspace and Twitter have become valuable mining grounds for information on individuals and parties involved in lawsuits. Whatever you post on the Internet can be pulled up later in life and used in discovery and court proceedings.

Almost always in the preparation of one of our cases, we do a complete Internet search background on witnesses, parties and even lawyers involved in the case to determine more about their personalities, strengths and weaknesses. Many of the web-based information sites set forth their terms indicating that they have the right to do whatever they want with your content. Therefore, it is important to check the terms of service with the social networking site of your choice to determine what rights you have. Some of the sites state that once a person closed his or her account, the site no longer had a right to that content. However, it may no longer be the case.

In many cases, Facebook or other social networking sites may not be your friend in the personal injury case. Not only are the plaintiff’s attorneys viewing what you set forth on your page, but just consider this – all the defense companies, insurance companies and their legal team and experts have a right to your Facebook page as well, noting vacations, activities and any other information that may affect your claim. Many people who claim to have problems with limited activity reveal evidence of themselves dancing, participating in sports or traveling. Defense companies and lawyers will use any resource that they have available to discredit you. So, be careful what you post on Facebook.

Jeffrey Reiff is the founding partner of Reiff & Bily, an experienced personal injury litigation firm based in Philadelphia, and concentrates his practice in product liability, car accidents and medical malpractice.

The United States hospitality and hotel industry is struggling through one of the worst financial crisis in more than 20 years. I recently stayed at a brand new 5 star luxury hotel in Florida and the desk manager mentioned to me that his occupancy rate was 30%. Occupancy rates nationwide have been hovering at below 60% this summer. Revenue has taken the steepest dive in 22 years according to industry analysts, and hotel analysts do not expect the hotel industry to rebound to profitability until 2011 or later. Not so surprisingly, headlines are now claiming that terrorists are aiming for hotel and other easier to hit “soft" targets as government security measures continue to improve for more noteworthy and populated facilities. Additionally, there has been an increase in criminal activity and premise liability claims in United States hotels.

Despite the increasing threats and criminal activity, many hotel owners and managers have been reluctant to equip buildings with more security measures which are expensive, cumbersome, and serve to inconvenience guests, but in the long run prove to be worthwhile. More than a billion travelers stay at hotels each year and many of them become victims despite the false sense of security that a locked door and staff provide. As hotels cut back on costs and personnel as the recession worsens, several veterans of the hotel industry state there is greater likelihood of increased burglary and criminal assault. These economic times are prompting cuts in security and driving up incidents of theft including thefts and assaults perpetrated by hotel staff and other premise liability offenses.

The experienced premise liability and inadequate hotel security lawyers of Reiff & Bily have received an increasing amount of calls regarding these issues to represent the unfortunate victims. If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of inadequate security at a hotel, please feel free to contact one of our lawyers for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

On September 30, 2009, Judge John T. Ward issued an Order putting a hold on any product liability claim against Toyota. A former Toyota attorney claimed in a lawsuit that Toyota withheld and destroyed evidence regarding rollover accidents. The ex-Toyota attorney noted this summer in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles that Toyota did not heed his urging to disclose all evidence useful for rollover suits or for the National Highway Trade Traffic Safety Administration regulations. Toyota forced him to resign. Judge John T. Ward issued a temporary restraining order against Toyota in the case captioned Lopez, et al. v. Toyota Motor Corporation, et al. The temporary restraining order reads as follows:

It is hereby ordered that defendants Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., Christopher Reynolds, Jane Howard Martin, Eric Taira, and Dian Ogilvie, together with their officers, agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and other persons who are in active concert or participation with them with knowledge of this order, shall: 1. Issue litigation holds on all documents in any form pertaining to any make, model or year platform vehicle; 2. Issue litigation holds on all documents in any form pertaining to any non-production vehicle evaluation pertaining to product liability or crashworthiness issues; 3. Issue litigation holds on all documents in any form pertaining to research projects that involve issues related to product liability or crashworthiness issues; 4. Issue litigation holds on all documents that are presently or will be subject to any type of document retention policy; 5. Issue litigation holds on all documentation and all communications sent to outside Counsel, outside experts, or outside contractors. The Court sets a hearing on this matter to show cause why this order should not be converted to a preliminary injunction, for October 7, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. This order shall expire on October 7, 2009 unless extended by the Court for good cause shown. The Court has considered the issue of bond and is persuaded that no bond should be required at this time. Signed by Judge T. John Ward on 9/30/09. (ehs, )

If you or a loved one has been injured as the result of a defective motor vehicle, please contact one of our experienced Philadelphia product liability lawyers for a free no obligation consultation at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

As an experienced hotel inadequate security and premises liability lawyer, I was quite concerned as I read news reports surrounding the violent stabbing murder of Sara Bejjani at the Essex House in Manhattan by a longtime housekeeping employee.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Ms. Bejjani who had been peacefully residing inside the luxury hotel at the time of her stabbing. Shockingly, according to news sources, the 29-year housekeeping manager had worked for the hotel since he was 17 and was known to have a “flash temper." According to police, he replied that he “showed up drunk" before his 6:00 a.m. shift on Saturday and used his key to get into Ms. Bejjani’s 10th floor apartment and then admitted “I just lost it." Police videotaped the confession of the housekeeping manager who had been eyeing the victim for weeks and said he choked Ms. Bejjani who was found with a jump rope up around her neck and then stabbed with a 10-inch bread knife.

Continue reading " Drunken Housekeeping Manager At New York’s Famed Essex House Hotel Confesses To Stabbing Murder Of Resident - Hotel Security Lawyer Weighs In " »

I just returned from a case in the upstate mountain district of Pennsylvania and was surprised to read about the number of ATV accidents and resulting catastrophic injuries in the daily newspapers, as well as on television news reports.

As an experienced Pennsylvania rollover and ATV accident lawyer, I am all too familiar with the dangers of ATVs which cause catastrophic injuries and fatalities. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania holds the distinction of being the number one state in the country for ATV deaths. The majority of the accidents on ATVs come from inexperienced operators, including children, who were riding vehicles too big and powerful for their size. Often the accidents involve the use of alcohol. Almost 40% of all ATV deaths and injuries occur to children under the age of 16.

Our experience and investigation has revealed that many ATVs suffer from inherent design defects and are simply unsafe even under the best of circumstances. In one of our cases, we were able to demonstrate that even trained, skilled stunt drivers had accidents when filming a commercial for the manufacturer.

Since 1979, the experienced Philadelphia rollover and ATV accident lawyers of Reiff & Bily have represented ATV accident victims successfully and helped them get the money they deserve. If you or a loved one has been involved in an ATV or rollover accident, please contact one of our experienced catastrophic injury lawyers for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

Many times when one goes to a hotel and takes a shower in a bathtub, we easily assume that the bathtub is safe and treated with a non-skid surface. Unfortunately all too often this is not the case. Many times hotel employees fail to follow the manufacturers’ guidelines for cleaning bathtubs by using certain cleaning products or abrasives and the non-skid surface is removed. Not only may the bathtubs be slippery but it is often the case that there is an improperly installed grab bar that can rip from the wall or is poorly positioned.

The hotel safety and premises liability lawyers of Reiff & Bily have handled many cases involving hotel bathroom safety and hotel slip and falls. In one of our cases our client grabbed the bathroom grab bar to help him get out of the tub yet it pulled out of the wall causing him to fall to the ground seriously injuring his knee and shoulders. The law in Pennsylvania mandates that hotels must exercise reasonable care for the safety concerns of their guests, in or out of a tub. Hotel operators are liable for bathroom accidents where they knew or should have known of a defect. Hotels have a duty to their guests to inspect bathrooms daily by housekeeping personnel as well as conduct periodic engineering inspections and follow the manufacturers’ guidelines for the maintenance of all bathroom products including but not limited to bathtubs.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a hotel as a result of a slip and fall or a bathroom accident, please feel free to call one of our experienced premises liability and hotel safety lawyers for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

According to hotel industry statistics, slip and falls and premise liability claims account for almost half of all guest accidents at hotels. Bathrooms and bathtubs are among the top five places they occur. According to hotel industry experts, the use of marble and other smooth, easy to clean materials, combined with a lack of federal and state standards for hotel bathtub safety means an increase in slip and fall accidents.

Many times in our law practice we have determined that hotels do not follow manufacturers’ guidelines for cleaning and instead use abrasive cleanser on bathtubs, removing their non-skid surfaces. Most bathtubs have a factory installed slip resistant etching which is removed by common use of such cleaners. Also, many hotel bathrooms do not have grab bars which is an easy safety feature to add to a bathroom. Recently, one of our clients sustained a catastrophic injury of a permanent nature due to a fall in an improperly maintained hotel bathtub. Although a hotel is not an absolute insurer of your safety, they owe their guests a duty to permit a safe occupancy and avoid any dangers they knew or should have known about.

If you or a loved one has sustained a slip and fall accident, or any type of premise liability accident while a guest at a hotel, please feel free to contact one of our experienced slip and fall lawyers and inadequate hotel security lawyers at the Philadelphia catastrophic injury law firm of Reiff & Bily for a free, no obligation consultation at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

Last week, I had the occasion to spend four days in the mountainous upstate region of Pennsylvania in the early days of Fall and saw what was not an uncommon sight. A caravan of bikers traveling north on Interstate 81 finally coming to rest at a popular roadside restaurant guzzling down a few cold beers after a lengthy ride from the city. Not only does drinking not go well with the use of a motorcycle, what these motorcyclists did not take into account is the increasing number of deer on mountainous roads and the increasing number of motorcycle/animal crashes.

In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, there is a deer/vehicle crash approximately ever 8 minutes, often resulting in a catastrophic injury or fatality. Recently an accident occurred in Pennsylvania where a motorcycle rider struck a deer, lost control of the motorcycle and skated into the oncoming lane of northbound traffic where he was hit by an approaching car and killed. According to sources, Pennsylvania is the number one state in vehicle/deer collisions. Obviously, a disproportionate number of these crashes involve fatalities to motorcyclists. In winter months when roads are salted, deer are attracted to the salt licks.

When operating a motorcycle, one should be highly cautious at night and pay attention in wooded and mountainous areas. Deer often travel in groups. If you see one, there is generally a herd nearby. Dusk and evening hours are more active with deer crossings. Months noted prominently for deer collisions are late September through November with a smaller peak from May to June. It is important to have good powerful driving lights on the motorcycle when driving down dark highways at night. As always, it is extremely important to wear protective gear because as with other crashes, chance favors the prepared man.

The Philadelphia motorcycle accident lawyers of Reiff & Bily are committed to promoting motorcycle safety. If you or a loved one has been involved in a motorcycle accident, please call one of our experienced motorcycle accident lawyers of Reiff & Bily for a free consultation at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.