$2 Million settlement reached in Wayne County pedestrian accident case

Engineers concluded the intersection was unnecessarily dangerous for pedestrians

On August 27, a $2,050,000 settlement was reached in a wrongful death case scheduled to go to trial in Wayne County, Pa. The accident involved the death of a Wayne County woman who was struck and killed by a Ford pickup truck on the corner of 7th and Church Streets in downtown Honesdale, Pa.

A case was filed by attorneys Daniel Munley and Julia Munley of Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys, Scranton.

As a result of the accident, the victim suffered significant pain and suffering, and irreversible brain damage, which led to her death a few days later. It was always the position of the victim’s family that the change to the one-way street configuration and misplacement of crosswalks led to this accident.

Over the course of the case, the attorneys from Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys retained engineers who, […]

Never leave children in vehicles unattended in summer heat

During the warm summer months, children left alone in vehicles are at a high risk of suffering from heatstroke and possibly even death. We just saw tragedy strike earlier this month when 22-month-old Cooper Harris died after been left strapped in his car seat inside of a hot car all day. Each year dozens of children left in parked vehicles die from heatstroke. The National Weather Service warns that during extremely hot and humid weather, the body’s ability to cool itself is affected. This is even worse when inside of a hot vehicle.

According to a research study by a San Francisco State University researcher, at least 619 children have died in similar circumstances since 1998. It doesn’t take long for the temperature to rise inside of a closed vehicle. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), it only takes 10 minutes for the inside of a car to reach deadly temperature levels when the outside temperature is in the low 80’s. […]

Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer says untrained teens in summer jobs are an injury risk

With the end of the school year upon us, many young people are taking on summer jobs. According to the United States Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), Young workers, ages 14-24, are at a high risk of workplace injury because of their inexperience at work and their physical, cognitive and emotional developmental characteristics. They often hesitate to ask questions and may fail to recognize workplace dangers.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that up to 80% of high school students work at least sometime throughout the course of a year, with many working during the summer. Young workers are employed in various industries and may engage in tasks that expose them to different workplace hazards, including operating dangerous tools, machinery, and vehicles, and handling cash in settings prone to robbery. Employers many not fully understand the laws or they may not recognize that these inexperienced workers need special attention. […]

PA Personal Injury Lawyer: Exercise Your Right to Vote

By Robert W. Munley

The Pennsylvania primary election day is Tuesday, May 20. Voting is one of our constitutional rights and a key to our nation’s democracy. It is one of the most important rights and responsibilities a citizen has, so it is very important that we all exercise this right.

Approximately 150 million Americans are qualified to vote. Unfortunately far too many eligible voters will not bother to come out to the polls to vote tomorrow, giving up the chance to choose leaders and representatives who will make important decisions.

The right and privilege to vote have been hard fought throughout American history. Many people sacrificed and fought so that women, minorities, and adults younger than 21 could cast ballots. Soldiers and civil right voters died fighting for your right to vote. You owe it to them to exercise this right. […]

Marion Munley Offers Congratulations to Graduates in Commencement Address

I had the privilege earlier this week to receive an honorary doctorate from Marywood University and to provide the commencement address for the Class of 2014. I watched in awe as more than 875 students from 23 states joined the Marywood University Graduating class of 2014. I was so proud of their hard work and dedication in persevering and earning their degrees.

Marywood University has been a special place to me and to my entire family. My mother is a member of the class of 1955, my late Aunt Jean, a graduate of the class of 1960, and my grandmother also attended Marywood in the 1920’s. In addition, my aunt, Kathleen Munley, is a graduate and long-time member of the faculty.

I was so proud of the graduating class of 2014, this class and other graduates all over the country. They are entering the workforce at an integral time. […]

Katie Nealon Passes Pennsylvania Bar Exam

SCRANTON, PA – May 9, 2014 –Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys, a Pennsylvania personal injury firm, announced that Katie Nealon, an associate with the firm, passed the Pennsylvania Bar exam.

Nealon earned her Juris Doctor from Whittier Law School in California, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude, ranking in the top 2% of her class and receiving the 2013 award for Outstanding Graduate in Business Law. She also graduated Wilkes University Magna cum laude earning a bachelor of arts degree in Political Science with minors in Business, Women’s Studies and International Studies.

Nealon is a member of the California Bar and the California Bar Association. Prior to joining Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys, she served as a law clerk for a firm in California and also for the Orange County Superior Court. In addition, Nealon volunteered as an advocate for the Juvenile Hall Advocacy Clinic and the General Relief Advocacy Program. […]

Construction Accidents Leading Cause of On-The-Job Fatalities

Construction work increases with the start of the warmer weather months in the Northeast and Mid Atlantic states. The job of a construction worker continues to be one of the toughest, and getting the right safety training and equipment can mean the difference between life and death.

The injuries that can result from construction accidents can be catastrophic and include spine and back injuries as well as traumatic brain injuries. According to the US Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), 4383 workers were killed on the job in 2012. Out of 3945 worker fatalities in private industry in 2012, nearly 20% were in construction. The leading cause of worker deaths on construction sites was falls.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics U.S. Department of Labor reported that nearly 3 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses were reported by private industry employers in 2012, […]

Attorney Julia Munley recognizes National Child Abuse Prevention Month as a time for action

Munley believes we must shine a light on child abuse in order to prevent it

The problem of child sexual abuse in this country and throughout Pennsylvania continues at an alarming rate. It can be difficult to acknowledge that sexual abuse of children of all ages, including infants, happens every day. This horrifying topic was brought to the national spotlight when Jerry Sandusky was found guilty of 45 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys, using his position in a prestigious football program to gain access to youth. This past week, Pennsylvania’s top court rejected a bid by this former Penn State football coach to appeal his 2012 conviction of charges of sexually abusing children.

Last week alone in Northeast Pennsylvania, we saw news reported of a trusted pastor at a Scranton cathedral being removed from his position and charged with indecent assault and corruption of minors. […]

Attorney Marion Munley’s Article on the Vanishing Jury Trial in The Scranton Times

As seen in The Scranton Times. America’s long and proud history has been shaped by lawyers and judges who made lasting contributions to the preservation of individual liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. To the Founders, the right to jury trial, secured by the Seventh Amendment, was on par with the right to vote and the right to free speech. In the initial draft of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson’s litany of abuses by the king included, prominently, “depriving us of the benefits of trial by jury.”

Jefferson considered “trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man that holds the government to the principles of its Constitution.” Jurors are true public servants who commit their time, critical thinking and impartiality to their fellow Americans. Jurors serve as checks and balances on our judicial system, and a jury trial is a fundamental right critical to our democracy. […]

It’s your money and they want it now!

As seen in the Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal.

By J. Christopher Munley

We all have seen the hard-hitting television commercials decrying: “It’s your money and you want it now!” These get-your-cash now ads, while seemingly helpful to those experiencing financial hardship, prey on individuals who have money in structured settlements.

They may seem too good to be true — and in most instances they are. What these ads don’t disclose is that the realized value to you now of this money owed to you in the future will be less than the amounts in the settlement, sometimes up to 40 percent less.

The ads are designed and created by companies that are in the business of purchasing structured settlements, otherwise known as “factoring companies,” and it is their goal to entice structured settlements holders to sell their settlements in exchange for a lump sum payment at the “present value” of the structure. […]

Silent demon too often preys in Pennsylvania

As seen in the Scranton Times.

By Julia Munley

Sadly, allegations of child sexual abuse happen every day and have become something we read about almost daily in our local and national news; it is everywhere, from our churches to our schools and even in our own homes.

Last weekend, this issue was front and center with the Woody Allen/Dylan Farrow abuse story resurfacing 21 years after Farrow’s initial claims of abuse. One of the most shocking things about this story is that the alleged victim has been criticized and belittled by Allen’s PR machine, chiefly by his lawyer, Elkan Abramowitz.

While everyone deserves a defense and the presumption of innocence, including Allen, these attempts to isolate, demonize and subdue claims of child abuse should be excoriated. These very public intimidation tactics will undoubtedly impact other victims and lead to more unreported and untreated child sexual abuse and allow offenders to abuse others. […]

Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers at Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys discuss workplace injuries and fatalities and new OSHA regulation

4,383 workers were killed on the job in 2012, averaging more than 84 deaths a week or nearly 12 deaths every day, according to statistics from the US Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA).

OSHA also reported that out of 3,945 worker fatalities in private industry in 2012, nearly 20% were in construction. According to the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, fatal work injuries in the private construction sector increased 5% to 775 in 2012. The leading cause of construction site deaths was slip and falls, followed by struck by objects, electrocution, and caught-in/between. These “fatal four” as they are referred to by OSHA were responsible for 56% of construction worker deaths in 2012. Eliminating the “Fatal Four” could save 435 workers’ lives in America each year.

Fatal work injuries in the private mining sector rose, […]

Unemployment benefits end for more than a million Americans

About 1.3 million of the nation’s 4 million long-term unemployed are no longer getting unemployment benefits. These extended federal unemployment benefits recently came to a halt, affecting many families who depend on this money for day-to-day expenses.

According to the National Employment Law Project in New York City, the cuts include 86,900 individuals in Pennsylvania, which has the fourth-highest total of unemployed workers collecting the emergency long-term benefits.

The expiration of the federal program, which was originally authorized in 2008 and extended 11 times as the recession and its effects dragged on, will affect an additional 2.3 million people this year. The extended benefits were designed as a cushion for the millions of Americans who lost their jobs and failed to find new ones.

President Obama said that his administration would push Congress to act promptly and in a bipartisan fashion to address this. […]

Congratulations to Marion Munley 2013 Woman of Excellence Sage Award Winner.

Munley Named 2013 Woman of Excellence by Scranton Chamber

SCRANTON, PA – November 15, 2013 –Marion K. Munley, a partner in the Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys firm, was recently honored by the Scranton Chamber of Commerce at the annual SAGE Awards gala with the 2013 Woman of Excellence Award.

The SAGE Awards, Scranton Awards for Growth and Excellence, recognize the outstanding efforts, talent, creativity and innovation with the northeastern Pennsylvania business community. The Woman of Excellence Award honors a woman whose character, conduct, service, leadership and achievements, personally and professionally, contribute to the current and future development of the region.

“I am very honored and humbled to receive the Woman of Excellence Award. I congratulate my co-finalists Sister Mary Alice and Ida Castro, truly women of excellence,” said Marion Munley. “I celebrate the women of excellence in my own family, […]

Pennsylvania Injury Lawyer tells you the first thing you should do after a work accident

You have just been in an accident at work and now you have some questions for a Pennsylvania injury lawyer. Questions such as:

• What’s the very first thing you should do the moment after the accident happens?
• What can happen to you if you don’t tell your employer about the accident?
• What if you get a disease or illness from work?
• Can you get workers comp for that?
• Do you have to talk to any insurance adjuster?
• What does a Pennsylvania Injury Lawyer advise?
• How long to you have to get a Pennsylvania Injury Lawyer to file a workers comp case for you?

Here are some answers straight from a Pennsylvania Injury Lawyer:

Right after the accident, you need to immediately tell your boss or a supervisor and make sure a written record is made of the incident. […]

Marion Munley Wins Verdict Against Hospice Over AIDS Scare

A subcontracted nurse who had been treating a patient affiliated with Hospice St. John, has received compensation for emotional distress after being pricked with a needle that had been used on her patient. The nurse was unaware that her patient, who passed away shortly after the incident, had AIDS.

The jury found Hospice St. John partially responsible and awarded the nurse with a $150,000.00 verdict. Attorney Marion Munley, from the law form of Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys, represented the nurse in the week long trial.

We are very pleased the jury held Hospice St. John accountable for the emotional duress suffered by our client. After the incident she lived in constant fear that she might contract AIDS. Fortunately she didn’t, but withholding that type of information is not acceptable,” stated Attorney Munley.

[…]

Congratulations to Marion Munley who was named as a finalist for the Scranton Chamber’s Woman of Excellence Sage Award

The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce just announced that Marion Munley is a finalist for the 2013 Woman of Excellence Sage Award. This award honors a woman whose character, conduct, service, leadership and achievements, personally and professionally, contribute to the current and future development of the greater Scranton community. The award winner will be announced at The Chamber Gala on November 11.

[…]

Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys Attorneys Selected for 2014 Best Lawyers in America

Five attorneys from the Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys firm have been selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2014. Best Lawyers is the oldest and most highly-respected peer review guide to the legal profession worldwide. Robert W. Munley, Sr. and Marion Munley were selected in the fields of Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs, and Product Liability Litigation – Plaintiffs. Robert W. Munley, III and Daniel W. Munley were selected in the field of Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs. James Christopher Munley was selected in the field of Workers’ Compensation Law – Claimants.

History Speaks For It’s Self

For more than 55 years, the family of lawyers at Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys have been helping clients all over the country with their claims. Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys has proven time and again to be leaders in truck accident litigation, […]

$32.25 Million Settlement For a Tragic Airplane Crash

A $32.25 million settlement was reached in a case stemming from a devastating plane crash in Bear Creek Township in Luzerne County. The plane was a charter flight operated by Executive Airlines, returning to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport from Atlantic City. The aircraft was only a few miles from its destination when it ran out of fuel and crashed, according to the National Transportation Safety Board investigation. The fuel gauges were determined to be defective, and the pilots ignored other warnings of low fuel. All seventeen passengers and the two pilots on board were killed in the crash.

Executive Airlines and BAE Systems, the plane manufacturer, combined for a settlement of $32,250,000, the largest personal injury settlement in the history of Luzerne County. The families of the deceased receive different amounts, depending on age, work status, and other factors.

Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys represented the families of some of the victims. […]

Dan Munley Wins $850,000 Settlement in Truck Accident Case

An accident on I-81 in Luzerne County resulted in a Massachusetts-based trucking company and its driver agreeing to pay an $850,000 settlement. The recipient of the award, Robert Reed of Irving, Texas was injured on his motorcycle.

An overturned garbage truck created a mile-and-a-half traffic backup. Mr. Reed was stuck in the traffic jam when a 53-foot rig, owned by Truckadyne Transportation Inc., slammed into him and several other vehicles. Although the traffic jam was clearly visible and other tractor trailer drivers had been sending alerts over their CB radios, the Truckadyne driver ignored the warnings and crashed into Mr. Reed’s motorcycle.

Mr. Reed, who was thrust into the air by the impact, suffered numerous fractures including a pelvis, hip, foot and ribs, as well as internal bleeding. One of his thumbs was torn off and needed to be surgically reattached. Mr. Reed missed more than eight months of work, […]