Research has demonstrated that this BPA leaches out of polycarbonate plastics, out of the resins used to line most food cans and out of dental sealants. When we hear about polycarbonate bottles and BPA, the amount of BPA leaching out is so minimal that it can only be measured in nanograms. Now, when we hear about average cash register receipt containing BPA, the amount of BPA leaching out is so great that it is measured in milligrams! And the BPA that is leaching out from receipts is free BPA, free meaning the individual molecules are loose and ready for uptake. However there is no research yet that shows exactly how much BPA can rub off onto fingers from receipt papers, if it penetrates through the skin — and if it does, how much gets into the circulation and if it can reach organs throughout the body. Here at the Brod Law firm we believe that the government should mandate labeling of any and all products that contain BPA, including receipts—since they are the biggest threat—at the point of purchase. That way, at least consumers would know the risks involved regarding their purchases and, most importantly, if they should wash their hands after picking up a BPA-laced receipt.

There were more than 30 people on the bus, which was not equipped with seatbelts for its passengers. California Vehicle Code Section 23715 requires taxicabs to install seatbelts in their vehicles, which addresses the policy to reduce highway deaths and injuries by encouraging the use of seatbelts. While the cause of this tragedy has yet to be determined, if the Greyhound bus involved had seatbelts available to its passengers, the number of serious injuries, and possibly some fatalities, would almost certainly have been reduced.

If you or a member of your family has been involved in a bus accident or a vehicle rollover, please call the Brod Law Firm, P.C. for a free consultation.

First, this accident happened because the driver of the bus swerved to avoid an overturned SUV and could have been avoided if the SUV had not rolled over and obstructed the path of traffic, which forces the question--Why are some people are still under the impression that bigger is safer? Even though there is plenty evidence showing that SUV’s have a propensity for rollovers and instability at high speeds due their high center of gravity, plenty of people are still buying/driving them. Second, the accident resulted in serious injuries and 6 deaths, which forces the question--Can buses be made safer so that accidents such as this don’t have such catastrophic results? It turns out that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) is making it a priority to improve motor coach safety. In a meeting held in June 2010 they announced specific ways in which they will go about doing that. They will begin by addressing the root causes of motor coach crashes, such as driver fatigue, inattention, medical conditions and the oversight of unsafe carriers. Then they plan to address the root causes of fatalities and injuries in motor coaches by developing requirements for seatbelts for all seating positions to prevent ejections, strengthening the bus structure surrounding the windows to improve their crashworthiness, conducting verification rollover testing, develop performance requirements for motor coach structural integrity, leasing and testing Electronic Stability Controls to decide if they should be standard, upgrading the performance of tires used on motor coaches, and developing more stringent flammability and fire countermeasures and detection requirements. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we believe that consumers decisions about what form of travel they purchase should be tempered by their own research into the risks involved—which may, or may not, give them a better chance of staying safe than if they had not.

It is important to note that the law is not intended to criminalize bill bull ownership, as it takes into consideration there are a lot of people that can't afford to spay or neuter their dog, rather it is intended to remove animals that pose a danger. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we believe the law is good for everyone--spaying and neutering is good for pit bulls because it reduceds the number of unwanted pups, and it is good for the citizens of San Francisco, as it stunts aggressive behavior—which can often lead to bites, maulings, or in the most drastic case, killings. No one would disagree that a bite from a pit bull is potentially far more dangerous than a bite from other dogs due to the simple fact that they have more muscle and strength in a single bite. If you have been bitten by a pit bull or any other dog, or, if you have questions regarding dog bit law, please call us.

At the moment iPhone 4 consumers have three options to deal with the reception problem: 1)hold their phones in an akward manner; 2)return their phones and pay a 10% restocking fee; or 3) or purchase an Apple “bumper” case for their phones, which costs $29.99 on top of the premium their already paid premium. Without the class action iPhone consumers have no other leverage or relief. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we were wondering when something like this would happen two the largest companies in the U.S. For some time the public has not been properly informmed or even been made aware of corporate practices, and a class action case such is this is needed to force corporations to undertake informational campaigns, which would give consumers an opportunity to make educated decisions when purchasing products.

Most consumers do not fully understand how powerful these corporations are and how they may harm competition in the market. What is more, competition in the technology market is very different from competition in traditional markets. Specifically speaking, the technology market has powerful “network effects(FYI: the term ‘network’ refers to a common user base, not the physical wires or wireless systems that connect pieces of electronics).” What all this means is that the “first movers ( the term ‘first mover’ refers to the first significant company to move into a market)” in the technology market have an advantage over the “late movers” and rivals who have incompatible products--by setting up a dominant, proprietary standard—and, thus, make it difficult, if not impossible, to compete. If you feel that you been treated unfairly due to an iPhone 4 issue or have questions regarding any other defective product or class action issue, please contact our firm.

In Humboldt County, a jury awarded a verdict of nearly $619 million based upon health code violations against Skilled Healthcare, one of the largest nursing chains in the United States. The verdict did not include punitive damages, which were to be decided at a later time. The class action lawsuit involved approximately 32,000 patients. The facilities involved with the health code violations were: Eureka Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, LLC; Granada Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, LLC; Pacific Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, LLC; Seaview Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, LLC; and St. Luke Heathcare and Rehabilitation, LLC .

Ideally, jury verdicts like the recent one in Humboldt County will send a message to nursing facilities across California and the rest of the country. If you abuse elderly or dependent citizens, you will pay. If you or an elderly member of your family has been the victim of ) Financial Abuse; 2) Physical Abuse and Neglect; and 3) Abduction, please call the Brod Law Firm, P.C. for a free consultation.

The flip side of the internet’s influence over a case or trial has to do with attorneys using it to find evidence against opposing parties or information on prospective jurors. Divorce attorneys, especially, are using the internet, usually via social networking sites, to gather personal information about their client’s soon-to-be-ex and use it as leverage or as a way to cast doubt on the character of the soon-to-be ex. Also, a lawyer can check their client’s presence on the web for any information that could be used by the ex’s legal team. And when it comes to picking a jury, lawyers sometimes pay more attention to their computer screens during a voir dire than on the answers jurors are giving. Any attorney that thinks this is a good idea should consider the ethical and legal rules that may apply. Here at the Brod Law Firm we are noticing more and more how an individual's presence on the web could potentially hurt them if they become involved in a lawsuit. It is a brave new world out there, people. Proceed with caution.

Speaking of the need for proper legislation and people tirelessly working to bring about change, the practice of allowing double parking on Sunday’s is a slap in the face to the city’s Transit-First policy and the new Civil Grand Jury investigative report that has made recommendations for easing the tensions between drivers and cyclists. The report, titled Sharing the Roadway: From Confrontation to Conversation, states that its purpose is to focus city attention on identified barriers to the successful implementation of the San Francisco Bicycle Plan: serious mistrust, conflict and misunderstandings among city stakeholders including motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians. Also in the report, the Jury states its desire to move towards everyone seeing him/her self as part of the community sharing the roadway. In addition, enforcement of traffic codes is recommended and seen as the key to keeping roads safe and encouraging new and prospective cyclist to begin cycling in the city. And, in its summary, it states that education can bridge the mistrust, misunderstanding, and misperception motorists and cyclists have of each other, and shift (society) toward a more unified cultural perspective and coexistence.

Here at the Brod Law Firm, we couldn’t agree more with the recommendations of the report. During our years of fighting for people who have been injured on the road, due to road rage or driver inattention, and listening to all the stories of near misses, we sometimes feel that we, as a society, are living in the dark ages, psychologically. I mean how come some people don’t know how to share the road? And, why is that when a person is cut off by another on the road, they take it personally and feel as if something was stolen from them. Or, seen from another point of view, why are those people, those people who are cutting off the other people, either not paying attention or doing it intentionally? Is it really so hard for us to share the road? Will people in the future look back at us and laugh, or will they feel sorry for us? We have been on this planet such a long time; one would think our psyches would have evolved and adapted to sharing by now. I guess, considering that the automobile is a comparatively new invention and that evolutionary adaptations don’t happen overnight, we may need to wait decades before we see progress in the area of sharing.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 is a federal law that was intended to protect the retirement benefits of employees against mergers, acquisitions, and other corporate activities that might otherwise have endangered such funds. Originally ERISA had nothing to with overruling state insurance regulations. It specifically approved of the use of state laws to regulate insurance practices. That was until the insurance companies went to the US Supreme Court and argued that they could lower insurance premiums on health insurance policies purchased in the workplace and, thereby, make insurance more affordable to people if the Supreme Court would agree to preempt state laws. And in the 1987 ruling written by Justice Sandra day O’Conner, in the case of Pilot Life v. Dedeaux, the court decided that a state law that does not directly regulate the business of insurance is preempted by ERISA for insured plans, essentially eliminating the legal rights --established over many years—that protect policy holders from fraudulent and bad-faith insurance practices.

Now, without federal laws making it illegal for an insurance company to defraud somebody or ensuring accountability for bad-faith practices, insured people in almost every state are having their rights taken away, because of ERISA preemption. Here at the Brod Law Firm, we know that the likely hood of ERISA reform is slim, considering that the insurance companies are the strongest lobby in Congress (FYI: ERISA is also our roadblock to health care reform). But you can help lobby Congress by calling and voicing your concerns to your local Congressional representative and your state’s U.S. Senators. If you feel that you are the victim of bad-faith practices and have questions about the state law and how it will (or will not) protect you, please contact us.

Remember that elder abuse refers to any intentional, reckless, or negligent act by a care giver or other that person that causes harm or serious risk of harm to a vulnerable adult and deprives the vulnerable adult of the necessities of life, which is similar to nursing home abuse. Nursing home abuse refers to elder abuse or neglect committed in an institutional setting such as a skilled nursing facility, rest home, convalescent home, or residential facility or long term care home. People who reside in nursing homes do so because they have special care needs due to their age or medical condition, making them especially vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Sometimes, because of Alzheimer’s or dementia, they may not be able to recognize or speak-out when they are neglected or abused. Also, they may have physical limitations that prevent them from caring for themselves and are utterly dependent on nursing home staff to provide for their every need. And as mentioned in previous blogs, nursing homes sometimes underpay and overwork their staff in order to maximize profits, which may lead to a higher probability of injury or neglect of an elderly adult. In this case, it is the building owners, operators and managers who have cut corners and put the residents at risk.

Here at the Brod Law Firm, we believe one of the most important laws in California is the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection ACT. California Legislature has declared, under the Act, the intent to enable interested persons to engage attorneys to take up the case of abused elderly persons and dependent adults, as well as provide for attorneys fees and damages for pain and suffering. The Act targets institutional care givers and health care providers and aims to deter those in charge from trying to cut corners and make it expensive to risk neglecting their residents and patients. As declared in the Act, living elders, defined as adults 65 years of age and over, and dependent adults, defined as adults with disabilities, have rights to monetary compensation for their injuries. And if the elder or dependent adult is deceased, then their estate, heirs, next of kin and other family members may have rights to monetary compensation due to injuries suffered by the elder or dependent adult prior to death and for punitive damages for abuse or neglect committed with oppression, fraud or malice. Despite legislative efforts to protect elders, abuse and neglect continue. If you believe a member of your family is or was the victim of elder abuse, or if you have questions regarding the laws that pertain to nursing home abuse, please contact us.

While the laws designed to protect cyclists may govern the fault and responsibility of a driver of a car or truck after an accident, they cannot, however, protect you as a cyclist. That’s why it is important to be as aware of the cars and trucks around you as possible, and to ride defensively. Assume that drivers do not see you, and always wear a helmet. In the event you’re involved in an accident with a car or truck, or even doored, ensure the local police are called so they can document what happened, take witness statements, and get the insurance information of the driver. The most important thing to do after an accident with a car or truck is to monitor your body and seek proper medical treatment for anything that’s bothering you. You should consult an attorney prior to speaking with the insurance company of the driver involved in your accident, though your health, not your legal case or claim for damages, is the most important thing.

At the Brod Law Firm, we have been advocating on behalf of injured cyclists for over ten years, and have helped clients who have suffered minor injuries to catastrophic injuries. If you or a loved one has been injured by the fault of someone else, please contact us for a free consultation.

Contrary to that view, other cases have had the opposite judgment upheld, suggesting the insurer must place its insured’s interests above its own or its stockholders’ interests in maximizing profits, as in McCormick v. Sentinel Life Ins. Co. 1984 that found: “The duty (of good faith) does require an insurer to place the interests of its insured above its own or its stockholders’… We accordingly reject (the view that)…there is an equivalent duty…owed to an insurer’s stockholders which may be balanced against the duty owed to its insured.” Most people believe the latter when they buy insurance and feel overwhelmed and powerless when insurers don’t want to pay. And even though each state has their own insurance departments that enforce provisions of their state’s insurance regulations, it can still be difficult to recover money for a cheated policyholder. Because bad faith cases are complex and because most policyholders feel powerless going against insurance companies, most victims of bad faith find it useful to hire an experienced insurance attorney to fight for them.

Here at the Brod Law Firm we wonder what the future may hold for policyholders, considering the current political and economic climate and the instability of the stock market. Now, more than ever, large insurance companies, like any other large company, will fixate on the bottom line of making profits and providing returns to their stockholders. The more claims a company pays, the weaker its bottom line will appear. To avoid all that, insurance companies may withhold or refuse payment or use delay tactics to hang onto your claim payment as long as possible. Despite all of this, we have the experience and skills needed to fight and win any case involving insurance bad faith.

At the Brod Law Firm, we have been advocating on behalf of injured cyclists for over ten years, and have helped clients who have suffered minor injuries to catastrophic injuries. If you or a loved one has been injured by the fault of someone else, please contact us for a free consultation.

If you know the area of Potrero hill, you know that it is like no man’s land out there at night. During the day it is a vibrant place to walk, but it is isolated by the freeway and large sections of industrial space. Notwithstanding the busy restaurants and clubs, it feels deserted at night-- as most of the streets are not well lit, and the only people you really see are in cars. I have never recommended anyone walk or ride their bike out there alone at night. With that said, some people have no other choice but to ride or walk in that area, considering all the service cuts to public transportation. And in no way, am I suggesting that these cyclists could have avoided this situation. Clearly, the man who hit them was on a rampage and is responsible.

Here at the Brod Law Firm, we wonder about people who commit aggravated assault. What could possibly have gotten into this man? Is he simply insane or severely maladjusted? Did he have a bad childhood or does he have a chemical imbalance? Did he wake up feeling powerless and decide to act out his frustration by running over four cyclists with his car. And, since the theory behind road rage is that automobiles are obedient and give the driver a false sense of power, do we just classify this story as a road rage incident and leave it at that?

Or are sporadic, unexplained acts of violence such as this a sign that our culture diseased? Are our social structures and our dumbed-down, neatly packaged depictions of violence leaving us feeling uneasy or, perhaps, guilty? We see violence everyday in the media and popular culture, but that violence doesn’t really touch our lives. All we have to do is shut the television off or stop reading the newspaper to forget about the fact that we are living on the backs of those less fortunate than us. The truth is we are all guilty and do little or nothing to remedy our situation. So is living with an uneasy conscience what leads certain individuals to commit barbarian acts of violence? It is just a thought.

Needless to say, the spill is destroying wetlands and delicate ecosystems around the gulf and poisoning life in the ocean. And the spill poses long term health concerns for the safety of communities around the gulf. The toxins can persist for years in the food chain, as oil contains traces of heavy metal such as mercury, arsenic and lead, all of which raise the risk of cancer and neurological problems. Several restaurants from Louisiana and Florida have decided to take proactive steps toward recovery by filing a class action lawsuit against BP, whom they see as the responsible party, according to the Oil Pollution Act. The class action, dated, May 18, was filed on behalf of several plaintiffs who are restaurant owners and others in the seafood service industry who have or will suffer lost profits as a result of the spill. The action states that due to the dangerous environmental contamination as a result of the oil leak, “fishing, shrimping, oystering and other commercial activities have been suspended and will likely continue to be legally and/or effectively reduced,” thereby causing a loss of revenue and earning capacity for the industry.

Here at the Brod Law Firm, we believe unchecked development over the past century has put us in this devastating situation. Up until now, coastal erosion, land loss and vulnerability to hurricanes and flooding have been the end result of wreckless pillaging of the earth and sea for oil. But now, as the oil continues to gush--at a possible rate of 1million gallons a day--we wonder how long before the spill and/or byproducts of the it will show up other places around the globe, or perhaps, here in San Francisco, and ultimately place all of us in peril.