What is a Judgment?
A judgment is the final part of a court case that resolves all the contested issues and terminates the lawsuit; a final decision is made about the rights and claims of each side in a lawsuit.
According to Black’s Law Dictionary, judgment is defined as “a court’s final determination of the rights and obligations of the parties in a case,” demonstrating the authoritative nature of a judgment as the culmination of legal proceedings, which resolves disputes and establishes legal consequences. Judgments can vary in nature, including judgments on liability, damages, and equitable remedies, depending on the type of legal action and the issues presented.
Judgements can often make changes in the law that can have ripple effects throughout the nation. Specific cases, such as Brown v. Board of Education, exemplify landmark judgments that have had profound impacts on civil rights and legal precedents. Understanding the concept of judgment is essential for navigating the legal system, whether as a party directly involved in litigation, a legal professional, or a member of the public seeking to comprehend legal outcomes and their implications.
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Medical Errors the 3rd Leading Cause of Death
A recent study from Johns Hopkins found that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States, claiming more lives than any other medical condition except cancer and heart disease.
Unfortunately, this problem is kept out of the public eye because the CDC’s mortality statistics, which rely on death certificate data, don’t capture things like communication breakdowns or errors in judgment that can lead to a patient’s death. As a result, medical mistakes are under-reported. This new study, based on eight years of hospitalization records, calls for a better way to track medical errors in order to better protect patients.
As personal injury lawyers, we know that there are seemingly endless numbers of things that can go wrong during a patient’s care. Missed or mistaken diagnosis, unnecessary procedures, poor communication, electronic medical record inconsistencies, prescription mishaps, […]
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Fatal ATV Accidents in PA: Tips to Avoid a Deadly Wreck
It’s becoming a problem:
A number of recent ATV accidents in our area resulted in serious injury or death. Three of those occurred within the last month.
All-terrain vehicles, also called four-wheelers or quads, are popular among both kids and adults, but accidents involving these vehicles can cause severe injuries or loss of life. Children are able to drive an ATV long before they’re eligible for a learner’s permit to drive a car. There are laws governing ATV use in Pennsylvania, but because many people ride ATVs on private property or in the woods in rural areas, it’s very easy to break those laws. Usually, that’s how people get hurt.
To avoid a potentially devastating ATV accident, everyone who rides an ATV should have a basic understanding of PA’s ATV laws and these safety tips:
1. […]
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The Dangers of Driving Drowsy
Driving impaired doesn’t have to mean driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. It can also mean driving while drowsy—a practice that leads to more than 100,000 crashes each year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Of this total, 40,000 injuries and 1,500 deaths are reported. In fact, a study showed that driving while being awake for 18 hours was the same as driving with a blood alcohol level of .05. Driving after being awake for 24 hours was equal to a blood alcohol level of .10—a level of .08 is legally drunk.
As with drunk driving, sleep-deprived driving also inhibits a person’s reaction time, judgment, and vision; causes problems with information processing and short-term memory; decreases awareness, and increases aggressiveness.
Unfortunately, in the commercial truck driving culture, getting behind the wheel, […]
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Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer warns beware of drunk drivers
The summer months are filled with graduation parties, reunions, picnics and other celebrations and travels. This time of year also brings an increase in drunk drivers.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, every 2-hours, three people are killed in this country in alcohol-related highway crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported 33,561 crash fatalities in 2012, of those 31% or 10,322 involved a drunk driver. This was a 4.6% increase from the previous year.
In 2012, 239 children age 14 and younger were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes. Of those, 124 were in the vehicle with a drunk driver. The NHTSA reported that the rate of alcohol impairment among drivers in fatal crashes in 2012 was nearly 4 times higher at night than during the day. 15% of al drivers involved in fatal crashes during the week were alcohol-impaired, […]
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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. […]
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