Why Corporations and Small Businesses Shouldn't Pay Lawyers by the Hour...

I have to admit that in Louisville, I'm probably a rare breed.  I handle business litigation cases on a contingency fee basis (or a hybrid hourly-contingency basis depending on what the client wants).  I am a firm believer in the contingency system because it provides the most incentive for the lawyer to do the best job possible for the client without expending needless resources simply because the lawyer is paid by the hour. 
I recently ran across the following article , expressing much better than I can, several reasons why corporations and small businesses should incorporate contingency fee contracts in their cases, regardless of how large they potential recovery may be.

hans

Follow Up: Just How Bad is Duke Football

In a follow-up to a blog post I did earlier about the contract dispute between Duke University and the University of Louisville, my friend James Cole sent me the following video link of Duke's attorney.  Here, she explains why Duke should not be forced to pay Louisville for breaching its contract to play Louisville in football.  Enjoy and GO CARDS!

hans

How Bad Is Duke Football.....

Duke University football is so bad that they can breach a contract to play the University of Louisville and not have to pay damages to Louisville.  How is that?  Well, the contract contained a damage provision that entitled UofL to $150,000 for each of the three games that Duke refused to play following the 2003 season.  That was the Large Print; but the small print said Louisville was only entitled to damages if they could not find a team of equal caliber to replace Duke.  Therein lies the Devil (pardon the pun) in the details.  Duke's lawyers argued that the Blue Devils' performance on the field was so poor that any Division I team would suffice as a replacement. Duke is 6-45 over the past five years, 13-90 since 1999.

Judge Phillip J. Shepherd of the Franklin County (Ky.) Circuit Court agreed, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

"At oral argument, Duke [with a candor perhaps more attributable to good legal strategy than to institutional modesty] persuasively asserted that this is a threshold that could not be any lower," Shepherd wrote in a summary judgment issued Thursday, according to the paper. "Duke's argument on this point cannot be reasonably disputed by Louisville."

Thanks to Dean Chen of the University of Louisville School of Law for pointing this interesting legal story out in his blog

Hans

 

Kentucky to Receive $2.3 Million From Drug Maker in Settlement

Attorney General Jack Conway has announced the Kentucky will receive $2.3 million dollars in a negotiated settlement with drug manufacturer Cephalon.  The settlement arises out of a lawsuit filed by several states Attorneys General that allege the drug company marketed their products for off-label uses to doctors. The drugs involved are Actiq, a painkiller, the anti-epilepsy drug Gabitril and the narcolepsy drug Provigil. 
In October, Cephalon agreed to pay over $375 million to settle the civil case, $40 million in criminal fines and forfeited $10 million.
hp

You've Been SuperPoked and Served...Facebook Used To Serve Court Papers

Sometimes lawyers have to serve important documents on people that don't want to be served.  It could be a divorce suit, a doctor in a medical malpractice case, or any other number of unpleasant legal proceedings.  One lawyer in Australia has found a new way to get reluctant defendants served with papers....Facebook!  Here is the article.

New Federal Safety Rules Target Medically Unfit Semi Truck and Bus Drivers.

Because Louisville, Kentucky contains a several major interchanges (I-64 aka spaghetti junction, I-65 aka Martin Luther King Highway. I-264 aka watterson expressway, and I-265 aka Gene Snyder Expressway), we are home to lots of semi-truck wrecks.  What most people don't know is that semi-truck drivers traveling between states (and sometimes even when they stay in the same state) are governed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.  This federal agency writes the rules and regulations that govern commercial vehicles, including tractor-trailers, tour buses, and the like.
Unfortunately, we often find that many commercial truck drivers have medical conditions that should preclude them from having a commercial driver's license (CDL).  Often times these medical conditions make it unsafe for the driver to operate a commercial vehicle. 
These medical conditions often go un-recognized by the driver's employer and the state because their isn't any consistency in the reporting requirements between the state and federal government. 
That was the case until now.  Effective January 1, 2009, the states and the federal government will have a link commercial truck and bus driver's licenses with their medical examination certificates.  Here is a portion of the release from the FMCSA website: "FMCSA today issued a final rule that will require states to merge the commercial driver’s license (CDL) and the driver’s medical examination certificate into a single electronic record. When fully implemented, the new combined CDL will streamline record keeping obligations for the states and CDL holders, while providing instant electronic access to the CDL holder’s medical certificate by state and federal enforcement officials.  In addition, the rule requires states to take enforcement actions against CDL holders if they do not provide medical certification status information within the deadline."
While this is certainly a step in the right direction, it doesn't go far enough.  Their is still no requirement that drivers be screened for chronic obstructive sleep apnea, a common condition among truckers, that causes or contributes to a number of fatigue related crashes every year.  It also does not require the state medical examiner's to obtain copies of the driver's medical records and review them.  Both of these things would certainly contribute to making our roads safer by ensuring that driver's with certain medical conditions aren't allowd to operate large commercial vehicles, in Louisville or anywhere.

hans

Radcliff Man Dies in Fatal Louisville Wreck With Drunk Driver...why his estate might not have a case

According to the News Enterprise, a Radcliff, Kentucky man died Friday in a fatal car crash on the Gene Snyder in Louisville..  Even though the other driver was intoxicated, the deceased's estate may not have a good case against the drunk driver.  That's because the Radcliff man was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car.
Kentucky has a seat-belt defense that prevents someone from recovering for their injuries if a wearing a seat-belt would have prevented them
In order to succeed, his estate will have to prove that even if he had worn a seat belt, he still would have suffered severe injuries or death.  In situations such as this, we usually hire a biomechanical engineer and an emergency room physician to evaluate the forces and injuries to determine whether a seat belt would have prevented the injuries or not.  Tough case.

hans

Kentucky Truck Driver Turns Himself In After Fatal DUI Wreck...

On December 4th, I posted about a settlement arising out of a semi-truck wreck that paralyzed a young boy.   The driver of the truck was under the influence of drugs.  When I posted the entry, I didn't realize that just the day before, a kentucky truck driver had been charged in a fatal truck wreck that took the life of an Indiana man.  The Kentucky truck driver tested positive for Cocaine.

According to an Evansville television station, a truck driver involved in a fatal collision in July turned himself in December 3rd on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing death.  Delbert Majors, 53, of Corydon, Ky., was being booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail at 9:30 a.m. Bond was set at $20,000 as part of a warrant issued for his arrest.  Initial toxicology tests conducted after the wreck revealed Majors had cocaine in his system, Evansville Police Department spokesman Steve Green said.  Evansville resident Raymond Ferrari, 56, was killed in the July 29 accident on Evansville's West Side. Ferrari, driving a Pontiac Sunfire, was northbound on Rosenberger Avenue and trying to turn left onto the westbound Lloyd Expressway. A Robinson Engineering oil-rigging truck, driven by Majors, was traveling east on the Lloyd through the intersection.  Green said authorities determined Majors ran the red light. "Investigators say toxicology reports now show Majors had cocaine in his blood at the time of the accident July 29th. He crashed his oil truck into Ferrari's car."
According to the report, Ferrari's estate has filed a civil lawsuit against Robinson Engineering. 
What will be interesting is to see whether Majors has any history of abusing drugs or alcohol and whether Robinson Engineering have any policies and procedures to test drivers periodically to ensure they are not abusing substances.

To learn more about semi-truck wrecks, download our free E-Book:  What The Insiders Don't Want You To Know About Semi-Truck Wrecks.

You can also watch our video titled: The Six Things You Must Know If You've Been In a Car or Semi-Truck Wreck.
hans

Paralyzed Girl Settles Case Against Beer Vendor for $25 Million

Nine years ago, a two-year old girl was tragically injured in a car wreck caused by a drunk driver.  Antonia Verni was paralyzed and rendered a quadriplegic as a result of a drunk driving accident.  The man behind the wheel, Daniel Lanzaro, who slammed his pick up truck in to the Verni family’s vehicle, had a blood alcohol level of 0.226, nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08.   Lanzano admitted to having 16 beers at a football game.  The Verni family sued Aramark, which manages the beer sales at the stadium.
A jury returned a verdict in favor of the family and against Aramark for $105 million.  The court of appeals reversed and remanded the case for a new trial.  A judge recently unsealed the settlement and disclosed it was $25 million.
This case highlights the importance of finding and holding all negligent parties responsible.  Some attorneys may have taken this case and seen it simply as a case against a drunk driver, who probably only had a limited amount of insurance.   This type of thinking would be short-sighted.  Lawyers have to be willing and able to look past the obvious and determine who was really at fault.  Here, it was the beer vendor's employees that served Lanzaro when he was visibly intoxicated.  The employees violated numerous policies and procedures.  Hopefully, this settlement will provide the lifetime of car that little Antonia needs.

hans

Jury Awards $23.5 Million in Semi Truck Wreck Lawsuit

According to the Kansas City Star, a jury in Wichita rendered a $23.5 million verdict against a truck driver and her employer, Swift Transportation for their role in causing a horrible truck wreck in 2006.

According to the lawsuit, truck driver Robyn Getchel missed her turn while trying to pull into a rest stop and was trying to back-up on the highway when she was rear-ended by another semi.  The driver of the second rig, Dennis Bottorff, was killed instantly and his passenger, Terry Frederick, sufered severe spinal cord injuries leaving him completely disabled.

Likely driving the liability in this case were the facts that: (1) the at-fault driver was inexperienced (only driving for about 6 months), (2) had failed her commercial license exam several times, (3) had a history of drug use and (4) tested positive for methamphetamine in a post-acident drug test.

Everyday, big-rig semi-truck accidents occur all over Kentucky because companies, more concerned with profits than people, put inexperienced drivers behind the wheel.  The companies place unrealistic schedules on the drivers which often leads to the drivers abusing amphetamines to stay awake to drive longer distances and fudging log book entries so they can avoid the federally mandated rest periods.   Companies and drivers that operate in this careless manner have to be held accountable, regardless of whether it's in Wichita, Kansas or Louisville, Kentucky. 

Please download our free report on Semi Truck accidents here and watch our video on "The 6 Things You Must Know if You Have Been Injured in a Car or Semi-Truck Wreck".

hans

Kentucky Kingdom Case Settles for....

Truth is, we don't know how much the case settled for.  This settlement, like most, is confidential.  This has been one of the most high profile cases in Louisville, and probably Kentucky, for a long time.  It was also handled by one of the most successful plaintiff attorneys in the state, Larry Franklin. 
Larry has won numerous multi-million dollar verdicts and focuses the majority of his practice on handling medical negligence cases and, more specifically, birth trauma cases. 
I'm glad the family is finally able to put litigation behind them, there are never any winners when a child is injured, regardless of the settlement amount.
Here is the Courier Journal article
Hans

What Kentucky Residents Injured in Indiana Car Wrecks Need To Know

Today's Courier Journal had an article about a horrible car wreck that occurred in Indiana and injured several Kentucky residents and killed one.  According to the article, two people were killed and five others were injured in a multivehicle crash yesterday on Ind. 111 in Floyd County.  The wreck -- initially a collision of a sport utility vehicle and a minivan -- just before 8:30 a.m. shut down the two-lane highway, the main route to the Horseshoe Casino in Harrison County, for about four hours. Authorities said the road was wet from rain and that likely contributed to the series of collisions.  The two drivers who died were identified as Rosalind Bethea, 45, of Louisville, and Morris "Mo" Weldon Jr. , 46, of Scottsville, Ky.  The injured were taken to University Hospital in Louisville, where they were reported in stable condition.  They were identified as Bocchichio Henegar, 28, Bethea's daughter and a passenger in the SUV; Teresa Collard, 46, of Scottsville, Weldon's passenger; Ruth Clephante, 71, of Wilder, Ky., the driver of the minivan; and her passengers, husband David Clephante, 75, and Bob McCoy, 84, also of Wilder.
 
Even though Kentucky and Indiana share a border, that's about all they share when it comes to personal injury law, especially when it comes to car wrecks.  As a lawyer licensed in both Kentucky and Indiana, I often get frustrated with the Indiana laws.
Here are some of the differences between Indiana law and Kentucky law:
Kentucky has pure comparative fault.  This means that if the jury finds the plaintiff partly at fault for the wreck, the plaintiff can still recover for the fault apportioned to the other driver, even if it's on 1%.  Indiana, has modified comparitive fault, meaning if the plaintiff is 50% or more at fault, the plaintiff recovers nothing.

In Kentucky, if the at fault driver doesn't have enought insurance to compensate the plaintiff for her injuries, the plaintiff can make an claim against her own insurance if she has purchased underinsured motorists coverage.  The plaintiff can recover 100% of the at-fault driver's insurance and up to 100% of their own underinsured coverage.  However, in Indiana, a driver's underinsured coverage is reduced by the amount of liability coverage carried by the at-fault driver.  For example , in Kentucky if the at-fault driver has $100,000 in coverage and the injured person has $200,000 in underinsured coverage available, the injured person has up to $300,000 in coverage available.  In Indiana, you would only have $200,000 in coverage available because the underinsured coverage is set off by $100,000 liability coverage available.
In Kentucky, an injured party can recover 100% of the medical bills.  In Indiana you can only recover for the amount of medical bills that were actually paid.

These are just a couple of differences between Indiana and Kentucky auto accident and injury law.  We hope the victims of this wreck hire a lawyer experienced with Indiana law.

Louisville Mother Loses Lawsuit Against Louisville Metro Police

Attorneys Will Driscoll and Davied Friedman recently tried a very interesting wrongful death case in federal court in Louisville, Kentucky against the Metro Police department.  The basic facts of the case are that a young woman was murdered by her boyfriend following several abusive episodes.  A warrant for his arrest was taken out; however, it was never served.   Believe it or not, generally speaking, neither the fire department, EMS, 911, or the police have any affirmative duty to protect or rescue us.  To state it another way, if one of these entities fails to protect or rescue us from another person, they can't be sued.  Here is the Courier-Journal story.
Regardless of the outcome of the suit, it does illustrate a real problem...domestic violence.  It also higlights the flaws in our system.  I congratulate Will and David in their success of bringing this issue to light.
Hans

Hans Interviewed for LawyersUSAOnline on Settlement v. Trial

A while back I was interviewed about a blog post I did on the risks of proceeding to trial versus taking the insurance company's offer.  Here is the interview

New study suggests it pays to settle

By Justin Rebello
Staff writer

To settle or not to settle, that is the question.

According to this recent article in the New York Times, plaintiff who reject settlement offers and roll the dice at trial are statistically likely to get less money than if they had taken the settlement.  According to the article, “The lesson for plaintiffs is, in the vast majority of cases, they are perceiving the defendant’s offer to be half a loaf when in fact it is an entire loaf or more,” said Randall L. Kiser, a co-author of the study and principal analyst at DecisionSet, a consulting firm that advises clients on litigation decisions.
The study was based on over 2000 trials and it concluded that about 60% of the time the plaintiff (the person bringing the suit) got a worse deal that the settlement offer they rejected .The study, which is to be published in the September issue of the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, found that plaintiffs typically received about $43,000 less at trial.  And, while defendants typically do better at trial, when they don't the results are far more pronounced.  When a defendant gambles wrong and goes to trial, statistically they end up paying about $1.1 million dollars more.
I found this article to be particularly interesting based on my own (completely non-scientific) observations.  Most medical malpractice insurance policies give the doctor the absolute consent to settle a malpractice suit.  That's not to say the insurance company has to settle the case if the doctor gives consent, but the insurance company usually cannot settle the case until the doctor gives his/her consent.  What this means, is that the healthcare provider is much more willing to take the risk of going to trial if the likely verdict is less than his/her policy limits.  Most medical doctors carry about $1 million dollars in coverage.  If the verdict is likely to be $1 million or less, the doctor has no reason to settle the case because there is not much of a chance the doctor will have to pay any money out of his/her own pocket.  On the other hand, if the exposure to the doctor is significantly more than the $1 million in coverage, the doctor is much more likely to give consent in order to avoid his personal assets being at risk.  
Hans
p.s. Thanks to John Day in Nashville for bringing this article to my attention. 

Does Pre-Trial Publicity about the Kentucky Kingdom Case Taint the Jury?

Anyone who lives in or around Louisville, Kentucky has heard about the tragic events that caused catastrophic injuries to a young louisville girl at Kentucky Kingdom.  Recently, a friend of mine asked my opinion about whether there was anything wrong with the publicity the case was receiving and could it have an impact on the fairness of the trial. 

Pre-Trial publicity is governed by rules published by the Supreme Court of Kentucky that govern the conduct of all lawyers practicing in Kentucky.  Specifically, pre-trial publicity is rule SCR 3.130(3.6).  In short, it provides that there should be a balancing act between the public's right to have information about a case and the party's right to a fair and impartial jury.

In conducting the balancing inquiry, a lawyer should not make any statement "if the lawyer knows, or reasonably should know that it will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding."  There are severaly key phrases contained in that statement, including "substantial likelihood"  "materially" and "prejudicing."  While I won't go into a dissertation about the definition of these words, each one has a specific meaning  that must be applied to the statment, and must be done so from a prospective (not retrospective) view.

Also contained in the rule is a large section dealing with public statements that can always be made, even if the statements might have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding, including, but not limited to: 1) the general nature of a claim, 2) information contained in a public record, 3) that an investigation is in process, etc.; however, the exception most applicable to the Kentucky Kingdom case would be #6, "A warning of danger concerning the behavior of a person (or corporation), when there is reason to believe that there exists the likelihood of substantial harm to an individual or to the public interest..."

Here, the statements made by this young girl to the press, and in Washington D.C. at congressional hearings on amusement park safety have been "a warning of danger...of likelihood of subtantial harm to an individual or to the public interest."

Finally, because there hasn't been a trial date set, it would be difficult to argue there has been any likelihood of materially prejudicing  the trial.  Just my two cents.

Hans

Automobile and Semi-Truck Accidents Are a Serious Problem in Kentucky

So, I was talking with a non-lawyer friend of mine the other day and he was telling me how lucky we are to live in Louisville--because "we don't have that many car accidents. "
WHAT!!?? 
While I certainly agree we are lucky to live in Louisville, it certainly has nothing to do with the number of car wrecks.  In fact, Kentucky as a whole has statistically more injuries and fatalities involving semi-trucks than other states, probably because of the convergence of I-264 (Watterson Expressway), I-65 (Martin Luther King Highway) and I-64 and I-71, all in Louisville-- this is commonly known around here as Spaghetti Junction.
If you are ever involved in an automobile accident, you should do the following:

• If someone is injured, you should call for help immediately. Provide basic first aid but don't move an injured person unless you have medical training.
  
• Make note of the time of day, any weather factors that may have contributed to the accident, the position of the cars, etc.
• Courteously exchange information with the other parties involved such as names, addresses, phone numbers, driver's license numbers, insurance companies and policy numbers, if possible.
  
• If there were witnesses to the accident, get their names and telephone numbers. If the police are called, make a note of the reporting officer's name.
• Report the accident to your insurance agent or company as soon as possible, even if you were not at fault.
• And, if you were injured, and the accident was not your fault, hire a lawyer.

Download our Free Report on Semi-Wrecks.
Hans

Poppe Law Firm Involved in $900,000 Louisville FELA Verdict Against CSX Railroad

Sorry to be so long in posting, but we were in trial with Hal Bailey of Atlanta Georgia and Will Moody, Jr.  of Virginia, both of Moody, Strople, Kloeppel & Higginbotham, Inc.  A Louisville jury awarded our client, Paul Fairchild, $910,000 in a Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) case against CSXT Railroad.

In 2003, Paul was operating a ballast regulator when his supervisor stopped a fuel truck across the tracks at the crossing Paul was approaching.  While Paul tried to stop the regulator as quickly as he could, there was too much grease on the rail and Paul and his regulator slid 250 feet into the fuel truck. 

The wreck caused Paul to suffer a severe neck injury that resulted in a two level neck fusion and a permanent impairment that has disabled him.

This Louisville, Kentucky jury took their charge seriously and deliberated almost 8 hours before coming to their verdict.  We believe it is a verdict they should be proud of.

Hans

Think You're Safe In Your Hummer? Think Again...

If you are ever involved in a car wreck or semi-truck accident you probably think you want to be in the biggest, heaviest automobile or suv; however, you may be surprised to know that one of the vehicles everyone thinks is safe, isn't.  As a lawyer that represents people who were hurt or killed in car or truck wrecks, there aren't many things on which I can agree with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, but even I pay attention when they do their annual surveys on the safest vehicles.

According to the report released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the safest mid-size SUV was the 2009 Nissan Murano.  What might surprise most is that the Hummer H3 had one of the poorest showings.  The General Motors' H3 was the only vehicle in the group that did not receive the top rating for frontal crash protection and, even more disturbing, it received the lowest rating, "poor", in the rear crash test.  Of important note, the H3  and the Chrysler Jeep Liberty and Dodge Nitro are all three built on the same platform. 

So, just because its big doesn't mean its safe.  Do your research by reading the full 5-page report here and drive safely. 

Here are the Institutes "safest" vehicles:

Top Safety Pick 2008 award winners

Large cars

Audi A6

Cadillac CTS

Ford Taurus with optional electronic stability control

Mercury Sable with optional electronic stability control

Volvo S80

Midsize cars

Audi A3

Audi A4

Honda Accord 4-door models

Saab 9-3

Subaru Legacy with optional electronic stability control

Midsize convertibles

Saab 9-3

Volvo C70

Small car

Subaru Impreza with optional electronic stability control

Minivans

Honda Odyssey

Hyundai Entourage

Kia Sedona

Midsize SUVs

Acura MDX

Acura RDX

BMW X3

BMW X5

Ford Edge

Ford Taurus X

Honda Pilot

Hyundai Santa Fe

Hyundai Veracruz built after August 2007

Infiniti EX35

Lincoln MKX

Mercedes M class

Nissan Murano

Saturn VUE built after December 2007

Subaru Tribeca

Toyota Highlander

Volvo XC90

Small SUVs

Honda CR-V

Honda Element

Subaru Forester with optional electronic stability control

Large pickup

Toyota Tundra

Hans Poppe

Kentucky Federal Judge Dismisses Comair Crash Victim's Consoritum Claims

Judge Dismisses Comair Plane Crash Victim's Consortium Claims

As reported by the Lexington-Herald Leader, U.S. District Court Judge Karl Forrester has ruled that those who lost loved ones in the 2006 crash of a
Comair plane aren't entitled under Kentucky law to sue the airline for
loss of companionship. 

Kentucky is among four states that don't allow jury awards for loss
of companionship by surviving spouses. There also is no state provision
for companionship damages for adult children or their parents, although
the state does allow children younger than 18 to sue for damages when a
parent is wrongfully killed.
You can read the order here.

Passenger DUI decreased drunk driving by 41%

Think drunk driving laws are tough in Kentucky, well their nothing compared to the laws in Japan.  According to Reuters News, a new Japanese law makes it a crime to be a passenger in a car with a drunk driver. 

Reuters also reports "Passengers riding with a drunk behind the wheel can be fined up to $5,000 and face up to three years in prison for not stopping the crime from taking place. Also, anyone who lends their car to a drunk is criminally responsible."

Then comes the hard part. Japanese drunken drivers face up to five years in prison on a first offense. (Japan has lower penalties of up to three years and $2,650 for drivers deemed impaired rather than intoxicated.)

Japan is a hard-drinking culture. So what makes a Japanese driver impaired? A blood alcohol level of .03 - about one beer.

No surprise, drunken driving declined 41 percent in 2007 in Japan. Despite this huge dent in the numbers, the harsher laws took effect only in September.

According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation, 39 percent of all fatal motor vehicle accidents in 2004 were alcohol related and 9 percent of all injury accidents were alcohol related. In total, approximately 248,000 people were injured and 16,694 people were killed in alcohol-related auto accidents. 

Kentucky's incidence of alcohol related fatalities is higher than the national average.  Below is a summary of Kentucky alcohol related automobile accident fatalities from 1982-2005 as published by the US Dept. of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Year	Fatalities
	Tot	Alc-Rel	%	0.08+	%
1982	822	482	59	401	49
1983	778	435	56	390	50
1984	754	389	52	333	44
1985	712	343	48	305	43
1986	805	398	49	347	43
1987	844	407	48	351	42
1988	838	411	49	355	42
1989	772	341	44	285	37
1990	849	371	44	320	38
1991	826	380	46	328	40
1992	815	333	41	292	36
1993	871	338	39	291	33
1994	778	309	40	246	32
1995	849	302	36	262	31
1996	842	317	38	275	33
1997	857	301	35	266	31
1998	858	306	36	261	30
1999	814	300	37	264	32
2000	820	280	34	237	29
2001	845	251	30	218	26
2002	915	302	33	263	29
2003	928	276	30	240	26
2004	964	308	32	269	28
2005	985	313	32	267	27

Maybe it's time we tried something different.

Hans Poppe

Louisville Woman Charged With Murder in DUI Car Wreck.

Accourding to the Courier Journal,  Emily A. Hall, a 20 year old Louisville, Kentucky woman was charged with murder and drunken driving Thursday after causing a fatal car wreck on the Watterson Expressway
According to the Louisville Metro Police Department, "Hall was driving a car while under the influence when she swerved into the path of a tractor-trailer on the interstate near Taylorsville Road just before 2 a.m. Thursday."  "The two vehicles collided and the truck hit a pole holding an interstate sign, splitting the truck in half, police said." "Abram Reimer, 53, of Ontario, was in the sleeping compartment of the tractor-trailer and was killed when he was thrown from the truck"
What is most is disturbing is that, according to court records, this is the second time Hall has been charged with driving under the influence this year. I have looked at her other records and she has also had multiple speeding tickets in addition to the DUI charges.
Typically, punitive damages aren't available in most car wreck; however, here, punitive damages can be awarded for Hall's conduct because she was driving drunk.  Because this is not her first arrest, the prior DUI arrest will likely be admissible as well, what is less clear is whether her three speeding tickets come in as well.
Punitive damages are meant to punish the wrongdoer, as opposed to compensatory damages, such as mental and physical emotional distress and past and future lost wages, which are meant to reimburse the Estate for its loss.  Unfortunately, most automobile insurance polices do NOT cover punitve damages, so if a jury awards them, the family will have to try to recover them from Ms. Hall.  That may not be possible since she is only 20 and likely doesn't have any significant assests.  This may mean that the family is limited to recovery what ever insurance Ms. Hall has and nothing more.  In Kentucky, most people only carry the minimum legally required amount of $25,000.  That amount can hardly be called "compensation."

Hans Poppe