North Carolina Personal Injury Law Advocate

Operation Shoebox Donation Locations

Dan Deuterman — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 07:58:43 -0500

Did you get a lot of holiday shopping done during the long Thanksgiving weekend? I hope you didn't forget to pick up a few things for Operation Shoebox, the wonderful organization that sends care packages to deployed troops.

This year, the Deuterman Law Group has organized a donation drive for Operation Shoebox with the help of lots of local businesses.

You can drop off donations of personal care items and nonperishable snacks at our offices or any of the locations listed below through Dec. 14. The items will be sent to service members serving overseas. They will receive them before the holidays.

Operation Shoebox Drop-Off Locations in the Triad

Deuterman Law Group

Carolina Theatre

The Hand Center

Hughes Supply in Thomasville

Pine Knolls Golf Club in Kernersville

Jackson Library at UNCG

Mb-F Incorporated

Matthews Mobile Media

Guilford Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Center

Providence Baptist Church in Stoneville

Charlotte Business Journal in Charlotte

Me & E

Costello Hill & Co.

Iron Hen

E.M. Holt Elementary School in Burlington

Southern Alamance High School in Graham

Le Salon in Burlington

Kemco Electric in Graham

South Court Drug in Graham

All Star Copying & Printing

The Reynolds Center at Greensboro College

Haynes-Inman Education Center in Jamestown

Don't forget to visit our Facebook page for more information about events we'll be sponsoring in conjunction with the Operation Shoebox donation drive.

Operation Shoebox Donation List

Dan Deuterman — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 20:51:15 -0500

Last week, we told you about Operation Shoebox, the organization our staff has chosen to support this holiday season. We are collecting items for care packages for deployed troops who can't be home for the holidays.

Here's a reminder of the best items to buy to donate.

Operation Shoebox Donation List

Candy

Heat-resistant candy (hard candy)

Cough drops

Gum

Correspondence

Writing paper/envelopes

Pens/pencils

Drinks/Snacks

Instant coffee

Powdered drink mixes

Beef jerky

Small boxes of cereal

Pop-Tarts

Ramen noodles

Pop-top ravioli cans

Tuna kits

Games/Books

Playing cards

Crossword puzzles

Sudoko books

Local newspapers

Magazines

Other

Plastic zippered bags

AA and AAA batteries

Bug spray

Duct tape

Disposable cameras

Battery-operated fans

Pre-paid phone cards

Fly strips

Please don't procrastinate. All donations will be collected on Dec. 14, so Operation Shoebox can ship the items to the troops in time for the holidays.

Thank you in advance for your donations. And be sure to visit our Facebook page for special events tied to our Operation Shoebox drive!

Operation Shoebox Care Packages for Troops

Dan Deuterman — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:33:01 -0500

Every year, the staff at the Deuterman Law Group chooses a charitable organization to support.

This year, we are sponsoring a donation drive for Operation Shoebox -- Supporting Our Troops.

Operation Shoebox is a wonderful organization that collects personal care items, non perishable food and other items for care packages for deployed service members. It’s a way of giving our troops a small taste of home and thanking them for their service.

While U.S. troops in Iraq are set to return home soon, there are still 150,000 soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors deployed to Afghanistan and other locations around the world.

Normally, the leadership at our firm selects the charity that we will support for the year. But this year, we asked for recommendations from our staff. One of our paralegals suggested Operation Shoebox. Her husband is a former Marine. He now works as a military contractor and recently returned from a deployment. When Jody shared information about Operation Shoebox and the work the organization does, the rest of the staff wholeheartedly embraced this organization.

And I do mean wholeheartedly.

In addition to donating items for the care packages, our staff members reached out to schools and businesses in the local community and asked if they would be collection drop zones for Operation Shoebox. About two dozen agreed!

The Deuterman Law Group and these partners will be accepting donations for Operation Shoebox through Dec. 14. What we collect will be mailed to deployed troops in time for the holidays!

We're very excited about the widespread support of Operation Shoebox, and we can't wait to see how much we're able to collect over the next several weeks.

Now, I'd like to challenge you to donate to Operation Shoebox. We have convenient locations throughout the Triad where you can donate. And we've compiled a list of the troops' most wanted and most needed items. These are things you can pick up when you're at the grocery store or while you're doing your Black Friday shopping.

In addition to the items listed below, please consider writing a thank you note or having your children send cards and artwork to the troops. These are some favorite care package items.

Operation Shoebox Drop-Off Locations in the Triad

Deuterman Law Group

Carolina Theatre

The Hand Center

Hughes Supply in Thomasville

Pine Knolls Golf Club in Kernersville

Jackson Library at UNCG

Mb-F Incorporated

Matthews Mobile Media

Guilford Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Center

Providence Baptist Church in Stoneville

Charlotte Business Journal in Charlotte

Me & E

Costello Hill & Co.

Iron Hen

E.M. Holt Elementary School in Burlington

Southern Alamance High School in Graham

Le Salon in Burlington

Kemco Electric in Graham

South Court Drug in Graham

All Star Copying & Printing

The Reynolds Center at Greensboro College

Haynes-Inman Education Center in Jamestown

Operation Shoebox Donation List

Operation Shoebox Donation List

Candy

Heat-resistant candy (hard candy)

Cough drops

Gum

Correspondence

Writing paper/envelopes

Pens/pencils

Drinks/Snacks

Instant coffee

Powdered drink mixes

Beef jerky

Small boxes of cereal

Pop-Tarts

Ramen noodles

Pop-top ravioli cans

Tuna kits

Games/Books

Playing cards

Crossword puzzles

Sudoko books

Local newspapers

Magazines

Other

Plastic zippered bags

AA and AAA batteries

Bug spray

Duct tape

Disposable cameras

Battery-operated fans

Pre-paid phone cards

Fly strips

Thank you in advance for your donations. And be sure to visit our Facebook page for special events tied to our Operation Shoebox drive!

Durham manhole deaths raise issues about workplace safety on public projects

Bridget Shrader — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:50:43 -0500

Local governments may soon be required to review a company’s workplace safety record before awarding them contracts for public works projects.

The change is being considered following the deaths this summer of two Durham construction workers. Luis Castaneda Gomez and Jesus Martinez Benitez died while working in a manhole along U.S. 70 in Durham.

Despite a spotty safety record, their employer, Triangle Grading and Paving, had been awarded a contract for a water line project by the City of Durham. The company had been investigated 31 times and fined $217,000 for workplace safety violations since 1997, according to the News & Observer and NBC-17.

Emergency responders said Gomez and Benitez likely suffocated because there wasn’t sufficient oxygen in the manhole, according to NBC-17. News reports also indicated that standard safety procedures weren’t followed; workers did not use a gas detector or appropriate safety harnesses before entering the manhole.

Because Gomez and Benitez died on the job, their families applied for death benefits under the Workers’ Compensation Act, where they likely argued that their deaths resulted from an accident arising out of and in the course of their employment with Triangle Grading and Paving.

However, their claims were denied by Builders Mutual, their employer’s workers’ comp insurance company. The insurance company said their deaths did not arise out of their employment and that the men’s presence in the manhole was a “deviation from [their] job duties and responsibilities,” according to news coverage.

An appeal is likely in the works, but the recovery of death benefits will only begin to touch upon compensating these families for their tremendous losses.

Tragedies like this one underscore the need for better workplace protections and safety measures. It seems in this case, the system failed Gomez and Benitez because safety rules apparently weren’t followed. And the city of Durham did not review their employers’ safety record before awarding the work contract. On top of that, the Gomez and Benitez families are left to wade through the workers’ compensation system due to the denial of their death claims by the insurance company.

The fatal accident has some state and local government officials questioning why a company with so many workplace safety violations was awarded a government contract. Unfortunately, this could be standard practice because of a loophole in N.C. law.

Information about the number of times a company has been investigated, cited and fined by the N.C. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Division is easily available for public review. But there’s no provision in state law that requires city and county officials to review these records before awarding government contracts.

The law requires only that government contracts be awarded to “the lowest responsible bidder.”

Many local governments, including the City of Durham, do not check companies’ safety records when considering bids.

One state lawmaker wants to change that.

N.C. Rep. Paul Luebke, a Democrat representing Durham, told NBC-17 said he will work to change state law so that a company’s safety record must be considered as part of the public bid process. However, no legislation on this issue could be introduced until 2013.

New law hurts auto accident victims in lawsuits

Michele Cybulski — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 10:46:21 -0500

Insurance companies scored a major victory – and a major financial windfall – with legislation that recently passed the N.C. General Assembly.

The new law, part of House Bill 542, will impact everyone who is injured in a car accident that was someone else’s fault. The new law effectively penalizes injured people who have health coverage through private insurance, Medicaid or Medicare by reducing the amount of money they can recover in a personal injury settlement or jury award.

This particular unfair portion of the law is known as the billed versus paid provision and it relates to a complicated rule of evidence used in trials. It’s easiest to understand through an example.

Next time you visit the doctor and pay with insurance, take a look at the statement you receive in the mail from the insurance company. Chances are, the insurance company paid a “negotiated rate” – less than the doctor’s standard rate to settle the bill. What was paid was different than what was billed.

Before H542 became law, defendants in personal injury cases weren’t allowed to tell the jury if the injured person’s health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid picked up part of the tab. But now, the rules have changed – in favor of the insurance companies and against injured people.

When someone causes an accident, they’re liable for the damages and injuries they cause. The responsible party’s level of liability should not change based on whether the injured person has health insurance or not. But that’s exactly what this new law does.

"The Republican-led majority has said with this bill that it's OK for people who hurt others to benefit from their victims,” said Todd Barlow of the N.C. Advocates for Justice. “And they've extended that privilege to insurance companies."

Consider this example:

You and your best friend are driving to lunch when you’re rear-ended by another driver. You both suffer identical neck injuries, requiring months of medical treatment totaling $10,000. In fact, the only difference is you have health insurance and your friend does not.

Your health insurance kicks in to pay $5,000 of your $10,000 in medical bills, leaving you $5,000 to pay.

Because your friend has no health insurance, the other driver’s auto insurance pays her $10,000 to settle her medical claim. Meanwhile, you’re only entitled to a $5,000 settlement, even though your injuries were exactly the same! The auto insurance company just pocketed $5,000 of your money because your health insurance covered half of the bill.

That’s not fair!

What’s really unfair about this new law is that it gives insurance companies an advantage in court. Their attorneys can tell the jury that an injured person had health insurance that helped pay their medical bills, thereby reducing the amount of money that person can collect in court.

But injured people aren’t allowed to tell the jury that the responsible driver has auto insurance that will kick in to cover any damages. As a result, jurors often believe that the other driver will be on the hook and will have to pay out of pocket for any damages. But in nearly every auto accident lawsuit, it’s the insurance company that will end up paying the bill – not the at-fault driver.

This new law is just another example of who really benefits from so-called “tort reform.” The insurance companies continue to take money out of the pockets of innocent victims.

Congratulations to our Best Lawyer and Our Super Lawyers Rising Star

Amy Buchanan — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:00:18 -0500

Firm founder Daniel L. Deuterman and attorney Joel W. Davis have both received prestigious awards from their peers in the legal community.

Dan has been named one of the Best Lawyers in America in workers’ compensation law, and Joel is a Super Lawyers Rising Star. The recognize the attorneys' experience, expertise and reputation among their peers.

For nearly three decades, Best Lawyers has been regarded – by both the profession and the public – as the definitive guide to legal excellence in the United States.

More about Dan's inclusion in the Best Lawyers guide:

Selection to Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive and rigorous peer-review survey. Attorneys do not pay to advertise in the guide or to be considered for inclusion. As a result, the annual Best Lawyers publication is considered one of the most respected attorney referral lists. In the United States, only about 3.5 percent of practicing attorneys are listed in Best Lawyers.

This is the second year that Joel has been named a Rising Star by Super Lawyers magazine:

Each year, the magazine asks attorneys to nominate the best attorneys who are under 40 or who have been practicing for 10 years are less. An attorney-led research team then reviews the credentials of each nominee and assigns points based on a set of defined evaluation criteria. Nominees are then ranked, and those with the highest points totals are recognized as Rising Stars. No more than 2.5 percent of lawyers in any state are named to the Rising Stars list.

Congratulations to them both on their outstanding achievements.

Good for families

Amy Buchanan — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:41:43 -0500

For the fifth year, the Deuterman Law Group has been selected as one of North Carolina’s most family-friendly workplaces by Carolina Parenting.

The Greensboro injury law firm with a longstanding reputation for putting people first made the magazine publisher’s 2011 Family Friendly 50. The award recognizes companies statewide that offer unique benefits and incentives that help working parents balance their professional and family obligations.

Carolina Parenting, which publishes Piedmont Parent and Carolina Parent magazines, has been compiling the list for the last 12 years, and competition has grown so intense that the number of winners has expanded from 40 to 50.

In many ways, the Family Friendly 50 list is the ultimate employee satisfaction survey. Companies are nominated by their employees, and follow-up surveys are sent to finalists. The magazines’ editorial staff ranks the applications, and a committee determines the winners.

“Most of our employees are working parents, and it says a lot that they would nominate us for this award.” said Daniel L. Deuterman, president and founding attorney. “We’ve shaped our policies and benefits to accommodate the challenges that come with being a working parent, and we try to offer our employees flexibility so they don’t have to sacrifice family for work, or vice versa.”

Piedmont Parent magazine is featuring the Family Friendly 50 companies in its September issue, available on newsstands now and online at www.ncfamilyfriendly.com. You can read the Deuterman Law Group's profile here.

Free, informative Social Security Disability Seminar set for Aug. 11

Benjamin Burnside — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 14:49:10 -0500

Please join the Deuterman Law Group for a free, information seminar about Social Security Disability benefits.

I'll be leading this session, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, at the Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., just across the street from our offices in downtown Greensboro. Everyone who attends will get a free Deuterman Law Group tote bag, plus tickets to the Carolina Theatre's Summer Film Festival. You can use the tickets for any movie at the theater, including Thursday's 7:30 p.m. showing of "Top Gun."

I'll be explaining the "ins and outs" of this complicated federal program, and I will also answer your questions, as i did during another seminar in February.

Did you know:

If you suffer from an injury, physical or mental illness that could keep you out of work for a year, you can and should apply for Social Security Disability benefits.
You may be able to collect Social Security Disability benefits while recovering from a workplace injury, automobile accident or chronic illness, such as cancer.
Veterans collecting VA benefits may also apply for and receive Social Security Disability benefits.

Call (866) 373-1130 for more information and reservations.

Social Security Disability: Spotlight on Ankylosing Spondylitis

Benjamin Burnside — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:21:41 -0500

People often ask me how “hard” it is to get approved for Social Security Disability benefits if they have this or that specific medical problem. I usually respond by first saying that you don’t have to be found disabled solely on the basis of one problem alone.

If, like many people, you have multiple medical problems that, taken together, combine to prevent you from being able to sustain full time work, the Social Security Administration is supposed to look at how all of your different medical problems affect you in a holistic way. In other words, you don’t have to show that one medical problem by itself is severe enough to disable you, if in fact you have several medical problems, none of which by itself would be disabling, but the combination of which is disabling.

The second thing I often tell people is that you usually can’t get a feel for what your chances of getting approved are just by knowing the diagnosis, because most medical problems can affect people in vastly different ways. One person with a given disease might be able to manage it effectively with medication and lifestyle changes, with minimal interference in her life. Another person might be debilitated by the same illness, unable to even take care of her basic needs. Because of this variation, what is most important is how your medical conditions, and the side effects from any treatments you need for your medical conditions, affect you.

That being said, I’d like to highlight a few specific medical conditions that can be the basis of a Social Security Disability case in a series of short posts.

Although it may sound like the Latin name for a particularly nasty beetle, Ankylosing Spondylitis, sometimes shortened to AS, is a type of chronic inflammatory arthritis that causes long term inflammation in the joints of the vertebra, and sometimes other joints.

Ankylosing Spondylitis is in a group of diseases called spondyloarthritis or spondyloarthropathy, which include Psoriatic Arthritis (Phil Mickelson’s arthritis commercials ring a bell?), juvenile spondyloarthropathy, enteropathic arthritis, and reactive arthritis.

The primary symptoms of AS are back pain and stiffness.

Over time, AS can cause fusion of the bones in the vertebra, starting with the SI joints at the bottom of the spine and sometimes spreading all the way up the spine, resulting in a completely fused spine. Historically this condition has been one cause of a permanently stooped posture, or “humpback.”

Fortunately, newer types of medication, most notably drugs that block a specific type of molecule involved in the inflammatory process called TNFa, have showed promise in slowing or stopping the progressive bony fusion associated with AS. Nonetheless, posture exercises are important for anyone with AS, to preserve good posture should bony fusion occur.

The Spondylitis Association of America, a non-profit organization, has lots of great information about Ankylosing Spondylitis and related diseases.

AS is treated by a rheumatologist, who specializes in arthritic conditions. The chronic pain and stiffness associated with AS can be debilitating and can prevent full time work, and as such can form the basis of a claim for Social Security Disability.

"Hot Coffee" documentary, premiering Monday on HBO, tells true story behind the McDonald's coffee lawsuit

Dan Deuterman — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 11:51:04 -0500

You may not know the name Stella Liebeck, but I'd bet $2.9 million you know her story.

Liebeck is New Mexico woman who sued McDonald's after she was burned by a cup of coffee. Yep, she's the McDonald's coffee lawsuit lady.

You've probably cracked jokes about what happened to Liebeck -- David Letterman did. And if you're like most Americans, you believe hers was a frivolous lawsuit, an example of what one commentator termed "jackpot justice."

Well, you don't know the real story. There was nothing frivolous about Liebeck's lawsuit, and the injuries and pain she suffered as a result of McDonald's negligence were real and serious. Life-threatening, in fact. Doctors didn't expect her to live; that's how severe her burns were.

The documentary "Hot Coffee," which premieres Monday on HBO explains how cases like Lieback's have been distorted in the media to create the perception that so-called frivolous lawsuits are rampant. The real injustice is to people like Lieback, and the others featured in the HBO documentary by Susan Saladoff.

Despite the fact that federal legislation has never been successful, big business interests have won in the hearts and minds of average people. They launched a public relations campaign starting in the mid-80’s and continuing over the last two decades to convince the public that we have out of control juries, too many frivolous lawsuits and a civil justice system that needs reforming. They have used anecdotes, half-truths and sometimes out and out lies in their efforts, for one purpose – to put limits on people’s access to the court system, the one and only place where an average citizen can go toe to toe with those with money and power and still have a shot at justice.

Because of the success of the public relations campaigns, paid for by tobacco, pharmaceutical and insurance companies, to name a few, our civil justice system is not impartial. Jurors have been led to believe that a large verdict will affect their pocketbooks. Voters believe that we have a court system out of control that needs reforming. Although there are consumer advocacy groups who have attempted to set the story straight, there has yet to be enough money to launch the kind of public relations campaign for consumers that can even begin to combat and challenge the public relations campaigns of pro-business and tort reform groups. Over the last few years, however, documentary films and independent film festivals have become a vehicle for alternative ideas to get a public forum.

The documentary goes into specific detail, but here are the facts, in brief, of Lieback's case, courtesy of her attorney and the Center for Justice & Democracy:

By corporate specifications, McDonald's sells its coffee at 180 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit. Coffee at that temperature, if spilled, causes third-degree burns in two to seven seconds
Third-degree burns do not heal without skin grafting, debridement and whirlpool treatments that cost tens of thousands of dollars and result in permanent disfigurement, extreme pain and disability of the victim for many months, and in some cases, years.
McDonald's admitted that it has known about the risk of serious burns from its scalding hot coffee for more than 10 years -- the risk was brought to its attention through numerous other claims and suits. in fact, from 1982 to 1992, McDonald's coffee burned more than 700 people.
McDonald's admitted that it did not warn customers of the nature and extent of this risk of burns.
Liebeck's treating physician testified that her injury was one of the worst scald burns he had ever seen

I encourage you to watch this documentary. You may learn something, and you're likely to change your mind about "frivolous" lawsuits.