Author Archives: Lawyer Team

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This blog scans breaking news to find significant and interesting legal settlements. Lawyer.com is a directory website for lawyers. Featuring the best search in its field, lawyer.com connects people who need legal advice to the most qualified professionals who can provide it.

Fist Pumps Turn to Knuckle Sandwiches in Seaside Heights

Jersey Shore drama

In a year-old lawsuit, former Seaside Heights resident Joseph Alfieri claimed three members of the Seaside Heights Police Department choked, kicked, and sprayed him with tear gas after allegedly entering his house without consent.  The incident occurred in April of 2009 after Mr. Alfieri’s girlfriend, who was also arrested earlier that night, told the police that he had assaulted her. Upon the department’s release, Mr. Alfieri’s girlfriend returned to his residence and demanded her car keys.  He refused and told her to come back the next day.  The three officers, including the one who had arrested his girlfriend, later arrived and entered his home.  Alfieri claimed facial lacerations and a wrist injury among the physical abuse he received as well as emotional distress.  While the department is not admitting liability, Alfieri received $63,500 in the settlement.

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73 Year Old Woman Raped in Central Park

Justice

I mean, Central Park was never safe after dark but now the danger has creeped up in the middle of the day.  A 73 year old woman birdwatching off a path near Strawberry Fields was raped and robbed of her camera.  The sick part about it is that this was not the first encounter that she had with this gentleman.  Earlier in the week she spotted him in Central Park exposing himself.  She took a picture to show authorities and would not delete it after he told her to.  In retaliation to the photo bomb he found the 73 year old woman again in the park birdwatching.  The rapist asked an alarming question, “Do you remember me?” before proceeding to beat and sexually assault the woman.  Eric Ozawa found the woman and called the police after she informed him she had been raped.  The man that sexually assaulted the woman was identified as in his 40’s, white, with a Russian or Ukrainian accent.

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Hot Coffee, Tort Reform & the Civil Justice System

Hot coffee

 I recently saw a documentary, Hot Coffee. It discusses the idea of tort reform and bogus lawsuits. When one thinks of frivolous lawsuits, the case of Liebeck v. McDonald’s comes to mind.  Stella Liebeck went to McDonald’s with her son.  She was the passenger. After purchasing her coffee in the drive-thru, her son parked the car.  Stella placed the coffee between her legs while she took off the lid.  The 180 degree coffee spilled on her cotton pants absorbing it through the skin. The result was severe 3rd degree burns. Look up pictures and you will be shocked at the damage. The trial uncovered hundreds of past cases and proved that there was no reason to hold the coffee at that temperature. The jury decided to give Ms. Liebeck a few minutes of McDonald’s national coffee sales for her pain & suffering. That figure amounted to roughly $3 million dollars. The verdict was then lowered substantially by the judge; a power passed by the state legislature.

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OMG! One Direction Gets To Keep Their Name!

Not a fan

British boy band One Direction has recently settled with an American punk band of the same name who attempted to sue the band declaring they had the name first. The California-based punk band, who mostly plays local fairs and bars, claim to have been using the name since 2009.  In maybe the least punk-rock move ever, the American One Direction reportedly asked for $1 million dollars and and a percentage of the teenybopper’s future success. The settlement did include a monetary exchange, but the amount remains undisclosed.

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Camden Man Slits Throats on PCP

Justice

Phencyclidine also known as PCP is a hallucinogenic drug that when smoked can cause violent outbursts and thrashing.  Oswaldo Rivera, from Camden, New Jersey has learned this the hard way after smoking the drug “wet”; “Wet” is the street term used to describe the combination of PCP and marijuana.  Rivera is being charged with murder and attempted murder after he broke in to an apartment and slit the throats of two young children.  The 6 year old boy passed away and his 12 year old sister was sent to the hospital in critical condition.  Cops linked the murder to Rivera after they had found footprints on the scene that had matched his bloody shoes.  The hallucinogenic drug does not normally produce such violent effects, users are usually incoherent and spaced-out.

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