GJEL Blog » Legal News

After flubbing their initial response to last September’s massive San Bruno pipeline explosion, utility Pacific Gas & Electric seemed to take responsibility for the accident, and even bought full-page ads in area newspapers proclaiming “We Apologize.” But in court filings this week, PG&E has backtracked, denying any blame for the deadly pipeline explosion and suggesting that other parties were at least partially responsible in order to dodge millions of dollars in damages from more than 100 lawsuits.

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A string of high-profile multi-million dollar settlements against the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency indicates that the city would save millions in the long run by putting forward funds to improve street safety for cyclists and pedestrians. This point was underscored last week by a record $5.36 million Muni settlement for a 2008 Muni accident that killed cyclist David Wheeler near Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

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We’ve all used Google Maps to find the best route to our desired location. What originally began as a resource for drivers has since expanded to include directions suggestions for pedestrians, bicyclists, and riders of public transportation. Of course, this raises a number of safety implications, since pedestrians and cyclists are always in more danger than motorists while navigating city streets. But if a pedestrian or cyclist is injured while following Google Maps directions, should they be able to sue the internet search mega conglomerate? A Utah district court ruled recently that Google is not liable since they did not owe the victim a duty, and since the company provides a valuable public service that is applied generally to all consumers.

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When implant devices fail, it is often difficult to tell whether the implant manufacturer or the doctor who performed the implant surgery is at fault. That’s the case for a new set of recalls involving Zimmer’s NexGen knee implants. The New York Times reports, in fact, that this dilemma came to a head last year, when one of Zimmer’s high-paid consultants said that the complications were likely a result of NexGen’s design, not doctor errors. This debate will likely have a serious impact on potential lawsuits against the popular Zimmer NexGen knee implant model.

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To many, California is known for its strong consumer protection laws. That explains why the lawyers for the class action involving unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles sought to use a California law to determine the damages from loss of value to their Toyota vehicle. But late last week, a Santa Ana judge ruled that the 70% of economic damages lawsuits that are outside of California cannot “piggyback” on the state’s law. Instead, lawsuits will likely have to refer to their own state’s consumer laws, which are often much more restrictive than in California.

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It’s been nine months since DePuy Orthopedics issued a recall for its popular brand of metal-on-metal hip implant models, designed for younger patients in need of artificial hips. This week, the Sacramento Bee reports that hip implant recall lawsuits continue to pile up against the Johnson and Johnson subsidiary from patients claiming pain in the wake of hip surgeries. That’s not surprising, as hundreds of patients here in California have reported complications in the form of hip pain and metal particles leaking into their blood stream.

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Social media is a great way to stay connected with friends and family members. But as a professional development tool, the purpose of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter is far less clear. So far, many lawyers and judges have opted to steer clear of the web when it comes to professional contacts, and the American Bar Association has even said that it plans to address the ethics of social media use for lawyers. Last week, the San Francisco Recorder tackled the subject in a profile of a number of Bay Area judges. Perhaps it wont come as a surprise that their opinions differed quite a bit.

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Legal aid clinics are in danger. As part of last month’s budget compromise, the nonprofit organization Legal Services Corporation saw its funding slashed $15.8 million, 4 percent of its total budget. Initially, House Republicans suggested cutting the LSC’s budget by a whopping $75 million, but after President Obama suggested an increase of $30 million, both sides agreed to the smaller cut. But this marks the newest in a string of legal aid cuts that have left poor Americans vulnerable to the worst aspects of the economic recession with little legal protection.

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Welcome to May, which marks the first full month of Spring, and the League of American Bicyclists’ National Bike Month. The group will celebrate the month with a variety of programs and events, including Bike-to-Work Week May 16-20, and Bike-to-Work Day on Friday May 20. Here on the GJEL blog, we will be posting a series of in depth blog posts on bicycle safety and bike accident statistics here in California and nationwide. To start off the month, we’ve collected data on the states that have pushed ahead of the pack with strict bicycle safety laws: Oregon, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, California, and Maryland.

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The GJEL Blog has always kept a close eye on the driver safety laws of each state, with a particular interest in California. Fortunately, the “Golden State” has maintained a record of progressive safety laws, including strict distracted driving laws and penalties for drunk drivers. Other states have been less receptive to driver safety laws, and some have even openly opposed legislation that would save lives and reduce car accident injuries. So in honor of Distracted Driving Awareness Month, we thought it would be useful to highlight the five worst states for road safety based on our research on teen driver and distracted driving laws, drunk driving penalties and statistics, and bicycle safety laws.

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