St. Paul, Minnesota Personal Injury Lawyers caution: HOT DISH AND CAR CRASHES DO NOT MIX

Car Crash Advice From a St. Paul MN Personal Injury Lawyer

Being in the business of helping injured victims has taught us a thing or two about clients.  Midwestern clients that is.  We’ve all heard the cliché about those of us living in the heartland refusing an offer of hot dish at least three times before deciding that “maybe just a little” would be okay—as our stomach growls—“if it isn’t too much trouble”.  Unfortunately, this mentality extends to crash victims. 

 We Midwesterners have a reputation for being tough.  For not needing help.  For not getting injured.   And if we do get hurt?  Well, we make darn sure we don’t complain about it.   All too often the crash attorneys at Champion Law, LLC ask an injured client how he or she is feeling only to have that client respond, “Not too bad”.  If only multiple fractures, wearing a halo brace and being bedridden were so easy. 

 The problem with our pattern of niceties is that it doesn’t do us any favors in the examining room or in the courtroom.  When victims withhold information from their treating medical providers or diminish their symptoms they do not receive the care they need.  In turn, their medical records do not reflect the true extent of their injuries and associated symptoms.  And there we have it folks—an injured victim who is trying to “tough it out” and medical records that look like nothing much is wrong.  In other words, an insurance defense attorney’s dream. 

So, the crash attorneys at Champion Law, LLC urge you to step out of the Midwestern box.  Don’t be ashamed to talk about your injuries and what you are experiencing.  Your health and your personal injury case depend on it. 

 

Kimberly G. Behm

Attorney at Law
Champion Law LLC
3252 Rice Street
St. Paul, MN  55126
651-766-5886
f – 651-766-5235

kim@champion-law.com

www.champion-law.com

ATTENTION GYM RATS: THE PRODUCT LIABILITY ATTORNEYS AT CHAMPION LAW SPEAK OUT ON EXERCISE EQUIPMENT THAT COULD AMPUTATE YOUR FINGERS

On April 27, 2009, the CPSC and Paramount Fitness  announced a recall of a leg curl machine after receiving reports of the machine amputating and crushing fingers.  The defective product is the Paramount Fitness PL2100 leg curl machine - a machine designed to work the hamstrings. After hearing about the crushing and amputation injuries in the field, Paramount admitted it had a problem with a design flaw – one that would lead to product liability for the company – that allows people to get their hand caught between the cylindrical counter weight and the frame of the fitness machine. 

 So if you have one of these machines at home or use one at the gym, stop!

Contact Paramount and get the machine fixed.  If you’ve already been hurt by one of these defective leg curl machines, call the St. Paul, Minnesota product liability attorneys at Champion Law LLC.  Nate Bjerke, the head of litigation at Champion Law, worked for years defending manufacturers like Paramount in product liability lawsuits, but now works exclusively for people like you who have been injured by dangerous and defective products.

So call product liability attorney Nate Bjerke at 651.766.5886 or visit Champion Law’s web-site to learn more about the firm or discuss your case over e-mail.

MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN PRODUCT LIABILITY ATTORNEY, NATE BJERKE OF CHAMPION LAW, SPEAKS OUT ON ZIMMER DUROM CUP HIP IMPLANTS

I have blogged about Zimmer Durom Cup Hip implants in the past [INSERT A LINK TO THE BLOG HERE].  Briefly, Zimmer instituted a “stop sale” on its Durom Cup hip implants on July 24, 2008.  The Zimmer Durom Cup sale freeze was prompted by a letter sent to Zimmer and surgeons across the country by a leading orthopedic surgeon in Los Angeles, Dr. Larry Dorr.  Dr. Dorr, who had used the Zimmer Durom Cup implant on over a hundred patients, began noticing a high failure rate in the Durom Cup.  In a letter to his colleagues at the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, Dr. Dorr noted the following concerning the Zimmer Durom cup implants:

• The failure rate was very high in the first two years after the Zimmer Durom cup was implanted;
• Symptoms were classic for loose implants;
• The cups would “just pop free”;
• He did not believe the fixation surface on the cups was good;
• The cups were not properly seating to the pelvic bone; and
• He stopped using the cups after the first time he had to replace a Zimmer Durom Cup implant.

Dr. Dorr wrote this letter concerning the Zimmer Durom Cup hip implant on April 22, 2008 and Zimmer finally stopped selling the Durom Cup implant on July 24, 2008.  Zimmer sent a letter to doctors and patients recommending that doctors monitor their Durom Cup patients closely.   

Zimmer seemed to be taking a step in the right direction when by offering to pay for revision surgeries for people who had the bad hips in exchange for a complete release of any additional claims.  (As a product liability attorney, I don’t think this is adequate because it does not account for rehabilitation expenses, lost wages, or compensation for the time lost and pain a patient suffers.)  It seems now that Zimmer has hardened it stance.  In a case Champion Law is handling, Zimmer refused to pay for the revision surgery ahead of time like they reportedly had done in the past.  Why Zimmer is taking this stance is anyone’s guess – it seems odd in light of the clear product problems. 

In light of this stance by Zimmer, Nate Bjerke and his law firm, Champion Law LLC, are gearing up for a fight.  If you or someone you know had a defective Zimmer Durom Cup implant go bad, call product liability attorney Nate Bjerke of Champion Law LLC at 866-778-2919 or 651-766-5886 or e-mail us by logging on to http://www.champion-law.com/.  We promise to answer your questions without the pushy sales pitch.

ST. PAUL MINNESOTA CAR CRASH – NOT CAR ACCIDENT – ATTORNEYS EXPLAIN WHY THE WORD “ACCIDENT” USUALLY DOESN’T MAKE SENSE

Car Insurance Companies and Car “Accidents” – A St. Paul Minnesota Attorney’s View

Something has been bothering us for years:  Insurance companies defending car crash cases always use the word “accident” when describing crashes their insured’s caused.  Why, you may be asking yourself, do the car crash attorneys at Champion Law care?  Because the insurance industry’s use of the word “accident” is no accident.  They use the word “accident” to take blame away and by extension, to lower the amount they have to pay on a claim.  The word “accident” means “an unfortunate event that happens by chance.”  And that’s what the insurance industry wants injury victims and juries to think: people who suffer personal injuries aren’t victims of bad driving, but rather they were injured by an unfortunate event that happens by chance.  In other words, stuff happens and we should all just move on with our lives. 

 But the car crash lawyers – sometimes mistakenly called car accident lawyers by the insurance companies – of Champion Law LLC don’t use the word “accident” when discussing the events that injure their clients.  Instead, we use the word “crash”.  Using the word crash makes it more clear that our clients were hurt because someone made choices.  By definition, bad choices don’t cause “accidents” – bad choices predictably cause bad things to happen.  For example, if a driver makes a choice to look for something on the floor of their car, adjust the radio when coming to an intersection, put on makeup while driving, trying to clear a yellowish/redish light, etc., those choices come with a predictable bad outcome – a car crash.  Crashes happen because of bad choices – not because of chance. 

The car crash lawyers at Champion Law – Robert Roe, Nate Bjerke and Kim Behm – take this attitude and attention to detail in every car crash case we handle.  If you have been hurt in a car crash, don’t play the insurance company’s game.  This is no accident and you shouldn’t settle for compensation commensurate with a “stuff happens” attitude. 

 

 

Nate Bjerke

Champion Law LLC

3252 Rice Street

St. Paul, MN 55126

(t)651.766.5886

(f)651.766.5235

www.champion-law.com

 

Licensed in Minnesota, Wisconsin and California

PRODUCT LIABILITY ATTORNEYS DISCUSS INFANT CHILD SEAT RECALL

Child Seat Recall

On April 24, 2009, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced the recall of yet another child seat.  This product defect relates to seats manufactured by Team-Tex America.  The defective child seats being recalled are certain Babyride infant child restraint systems, Model 374199, manufactured on December 18, 2008. The belt routing label with the “horizontal reference line” is incorrectly placed on the child restraint system which fails to conform to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213, “Child Restraints Systems.”

 If the belt isn’t routed properly, the child can be hurt or killed in a crash.  If you have questions about whether your seat is subject to the recall, contact Team-Tex at 1-877-912-1313.  Or call the product liability and safety lawyers at Champion Law LLC.  We love fighting for people who have been hurt by dangerous and defective products.  But we’d rather help you and your family to avoid getting hurt in the first place.  You can call us anytime at 651.766.5886 or visit our website.