Legal News

Each year, the holiday season brings excitement about seeing family, eating delicious meals, and even opening a few presents. For some, the season marks a series of events complete with dinner parties and elaborate decorations. In addition to this seasonal mirth, families must consider safety issues related to driving long distances in rough conditions, the potential for shopping mall mishaps, and dangers associated with holiday decorations and lights. To help navigate those additional considerations, we’ve developed a list of some of the most common holiday-related injuries and some precautions families can take to avoid trips to the emergency room this winter.

It has been a big year for class action lawsuits. Most recently, thousands of Toyota drivers have sued the Japanese auto giant for injuries and loss of investment resulting from unintended acceleration, and victims of the BP Gulf oil spill disaster are lining up to take on the British oil conglomerate in court. Both of those budding class action battles pale in comparison to the legal storm about to engulf WalMart, which is being sued for gender discrimination by more than a million women in potentially the largest class action suit ever. To put this in perspective, we decided to round up a list of other massive class action titans over the past two decades.

We’ll discuss California laws governing car rentals, the various insurance-like products that rental companies sell, and free or low-cost alternatives.

People who follow the news in the United States are not strangers to disturbing legal stories that often dominate the headlines. From the Casey Anthony trial that concluded last month, to the Scott Peterson verdict years before, and even the controversial O.J. Simpson murder case nearly 20 years ago, it’s often difficult to avoid the day’s most followed legal stories. But there are thousands of legal stories that go unnoticed each year by much of the general public, or are nearly forgotten years later. In the four following examples, documentary film makers have exposed and revitalized those stories to create powerful documentary films discussing a variety of troubling legal issues. We’ve compiled the trailers for the films Hot Coffee, Capturing the Friedmans, Deliver Us From Evil, and Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, along with short descriptions and reviews.

Were you or someone you love injured in an accident in Piedmont, California? If so, call GJEL Accident Attorneys today for a free case review. Attorney Andy Gillin…

These 15 Driving Distractions Could Ruin Your Day. Wouldn’t it be nice to settle in to your morning commute in total relaxation, catching up with a friend in the passenger seat next to you, or with hundreds of friends all at once on social media?

What comes to mind when you think of traffic laws? There are right-of-way rules that say who yields and who proceeds at traffic intersections and crosswalks. And speed…

One common attribute of the “gig economy,” particularly associated today with “high tech” companies, is the retaining entity’s (The Company’s) frequent reliance on a worker placed by an employment agency

While LimeBike’s rapid expansion has brought thousands of bikes to dozens of cities across the U.S., not all dockless bike share operators have found success. Bluegogo, the first…

A great deal of litigation, in California and elsewhere has surrounded the issue of whether ride-service drivers should be construed as employees (or agents) of their “platform,” thereby rendering the platform or service vicariously liable for a driver’s negligently caused vehicular accidents.

Been in a situation where you need to exit a BART station shortly after entering it? If so, chances are you’ve been hit by BART’s Excursion Fare.

Just because DTX remains in limbo doesn’t mean that Caltrain’s 4th & King Station and the Transbay Transit Center should be disconnected indefinitely.

As car sharing becomes a viable alternative to car ownership in California, you might wonder if you can rent out your car to others. The law says you can.

Lines often extend across the entire platform adjacent to large swaths of empty spaces between doors, making entering and exiting the platform difficult.

It is hard to think of any public safety issue that has received more attention over the last few years than the use of smartphones while driving…

There’s no sugarcoating how brutal these cuts will be for weekend passengers traveling to work, a Giants’ game, or other events and activities.

Due to a lack of vision coupled with mismanaged implementation, the 51st and Broadway area has become even more of a mess today than it was before.

The City of Bakersfield and Caltrans has continued down a failed 1950s path toward social, economic, and environmental ruin.

According to the Washington Post of July 11, 2016, although Pokemon Go (the latest summertime craze made by Niantic, Nintendo, and the Pokemon Company) was released just five…

As common law doctrines evolve, sometimes their rationale, and proper application, can get lost; that can be because of just one “less than thoughtful” reported appellate decision. One…

California’s “primary assumption of the risk” doctrine was first set forth in Knight v. Jewett (1992) 3 Cal.4th 296. That case involved a plaintiff’s claim for personal injuries…

Pursuant to Rule of Court 2.550(c) and its predecessor, California court records have long been “presumed to be open” to the public, absent exceptions for confidentiality required by…

It happens more than it should. Someone (here we will call her Ms. H.) invites some friends, maybe a lot of friends and maybe their friends as well,…

Assume the following factual scenario: a serious car accident occurs, injuring the plaintiff. Just after the accident, the insured defendant called her husband and discussed, in detail, the…

Note: GJEL Accident Attorneys does NOT handle Medical Malpractice cases. To find a Medical Malpractice attorney please check with the California State Bar.  Propofol is typically used as…

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.