Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and so forth- my gift of fun!
December 24, 2008
The holiday season is upon us. I mean REALLY upon us. As you relax with family and friends, count your blessings for the last year. And have a laugh on me, and the London Times online. Here is their list of the weirdest legal cases of 2008.
If you need to talk to an injury lawyer, please visit us at Farris Law. We won’t help your chimp be declared a human, but we do help real people with real problems every day. Hopefully you will never need us, but better to know us and not need us than need us and not know who we are!
Happy 2009.
Tort Reform- Another attack on the Poor?
December 3, 2008
My alma mater, Washington University School of Law, has published a couple of studies on the effects of “tort reform” in one of the school’s highly regarded legal journals. The first of these, Reforming the Tort Reform Agenda, http://law.wustl.edu/Journal/25/Davies.pdf, investigates the effect of tort law restrictions on the poorest in our society. By closing the court house doors, justice is effectively denied to those with the least resources in our society. A second study goes further, exploring The Racial Implications of Tort Reform, http://law.wustl.edu/Journal/25/DoroshowWidman.pdf.
These articles offer academic support that tort reform protects insurance companies while harming American consumers. Unfortunately, Americans don’t know that their rights have been attacked until they or a loved one are injured. And then, it is too late.
Tis the Season… for unsafe Toys
December 3, 2008
While you are filling stockings and wish lists this holiday season, make sure you are an educated consumer! The Consumer Product Safety Commission (http://www.cpsc.gov/) has recalled over 50 toys this year. My favorites? How about the Toy Army figures with Lead Based Paint on their faces? (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09060.html) These little guys stage play battles in soldierville while making real kids sick!
Or the doll clothing (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09059.html), also full of lead based paint. Hello, Toy Manufacturers? Hi. Lead based paint is BAD FOR CHILDREN! Sure, we have known this for about fifty years, but why stop exposing kids to it, right?
Perhaps my favorite though, is the MagnaMan Magnet figures. (http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08222.html) Besides being made of tiny parts that little kids can and will swallow, the magnets are so strong that if a child swallows two or more, they will link up and block colons and so on.
We can’t count on retailers or the government to keep unsafe toys off the market. Keep your kids safe- be an educated shopper this season.