I have ridden the MS150 for several years now, but this year my law firm is sponsoring our own MS150 team, “Team Ambulance Racers.” We are spending a lot of time on the road. This is great fun, but also sometimes a bit scary. Safe practice is to always allow a three food passing space when you drive past a cyclist. The vast majority of the cars with which we share the road are courteous and willing to share the road. Unfortunately, a small minority are either unaware or simply ignore safe passing rules for cyclists. On behalf of myself and my fellow riders, I would ask you to be aware of the “three foot rule” and to keep in mind the potentially catastrophic consequences of a car vs. bicycle collision. (I’ve represented several cyclists injured in such a collision and the results of such incidents are always heartbreaking.)

So please, remember, the folks you see on the road are working hard on fitness, enjoying the good weather, and may very well be training to ride in the MS150 and raise money to support a great and worthy cause. Thank you so much for sharing the road with us!

A link to my law firm’s “Team Ambulance Racers” page is as follows:

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/AmbulanceRacers

When you have a moment, please call your insurance agent and make sure you’ve got adequate auto insurance. The State of Texas only requires that you carry liability insurance. If your car is still being financed, you may also have comprehensive and collision which is used to repair or replace your car if it is damaged or stolen. In addition to these coverages, I always recommend that you also add the following coverages: Personal Injury Protection “PIP” and Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists Coverage.

PIP coverage is typically seen at its minimum coverage amount of $2,500.00, but can be purchased at higher coverage levels, usually for a minimum increased cost. PIP will pay for your medical bills and lost wages in the event of a collision. UIM coverage is available from $25,000.00 per person / $50,000.00 per occurrence on up. If you are injured in an accident by someone who does not carry liability insurance, your UIM coverage will step into the place of that coverage, almost like “substitute” coverage. Likewise, if you sustain severe injuries and the person who caused the accident only has minimal coverage, your UIM policy can be “stacked” on top of the insurance of the person who hit you so as to afford you a greater pool of insurance coverage for your recovery.

Many people do not have PIP and UIM, but I think that anyone who owns and operates a vehicle in this state should.

In this country, a cyclist is injured in a bicycle accident every six hours. Over one million children will suffer an injury this year in a bicycle accident. In fact, half of all bicycle accidents will involve riders under the age of 16. As an attorney, I’ve handled cases involving bicycle accidents and the injuries are almost always severe. So young or old, please remember to share the road!

Keep in mind, cyclists have the exact same right to Texas roadways as automobiles. Of course, cyclists are also subject to the same traffic laws as well! I can promise you that my team and I are very conscientious and courteous riders. I wish all cyclists rode this way, but unfortunately, some do not. Please remember, any accident involving a cyclist is likely to be serious so please keep an eye out for all riders. As a personal injury lawyer, I can tell you that the results of carelessness on the part of drivers or cyclists can be catastrophic.

Perhaps it is because I’m a personal injury lawyer and I see the aftermath all too often, but I am really paranoid about getting out on the road on this holiday. Accident attorneys tend to see many car crashes, but drunk driving incidents are often much more severe and involve greater consequences. Its one thing to not be paying attention, apply your brakes too late and rear end someone in heavy traffic – people are hurt in this situation all the time. Often though, drunk driving collisions involve people who have literally passed out behind the wheel. I’m working on a couple of cases like that right now in the firm.

As I mentioned, we enjoy a good glass of wine and a party as much as the next folks, but we take it easy on New Year’s Eve. Just something to think about…

Please drive carefully, and don’t drink and drive. I would rather sit at my desk and twiddle my thumbs and see you and your family arrive safely then to have you need my services as a personal injury and accident lawyer.

I found this article online about a murder suspect in another state who has the Court paying for a makeup artist to cover up his neo-nazi tattoos before every appearance in front of the jury. My initial reaction was outrage. Upon further reflection, however, I realized that I really wanted this suspect to be judged on the evidence, not on his appearance. I do think, however, he should be billed for the makeup artist as a court cost to be assessed against him, whether or not his is convicted.

Here is a link to the article, I hope you find the question as interesting as I did.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/court-pays-for-make-up-artist-to-cover-neo-nazi-s-tattoos

All of us have either been in an auto accident or know someone who has. It’s a scary and terrible thing. In addition to the trauma of the initial event, we are often left inconvenienced for weeks or months with issues involving having the car repaired, dealing with injuries, missing work and other issues. There are many issues which need to be addressed, but the most important of these (in my opinion) is your health. A good personal injury lawyer will be able to help with the legal issues associated with your accident. Your top consideration of course, is your health, and the treatment you seek for your injuries.

In my opinion, everyone who has been in a car wreck involving even a moderate amount of force should be checked out by a doctor for potential injuries. If you are in significant pain or have any serious symptoms, I would further suggest that you seek medical attention IMMEDIATELY, either via ambulance or private transport to an emergency room. As I like to explain to people, I’m a personal injury lawyer, not a doctor, but neither are you! We only have one body in this life, so we really need to make sure we take care of it.

Many times in my 15 years as an auto accident lawyer, I’ve seen a situation where someone felt they were okay at the time of a collision, but then over several hours they start to develop trauma induced symptoms such as headache, neck pain and back pain. This is not uncommon. Given the shock and trauma of a car crash, we often don’t notice these things until after things settle down. I’ve heard of many instances where people thought they were okay, went to sleep, and were in so much pain the next morning they couldn’t even get out of bed!

After your initial treatment at an emergency room, it is important to pick the right care provider with whom to follow up for further treatment of your injuries. As with many other medical conditions, after you are in an automobile accident, you should try and seek treatment with a medical provider who specializes in this area. Most chiropractic clinics are extremely well equipped to deal with the types of injuries normally sustained in an automobile accident. While chiropractors do not have prescriptive authority, they often work with medical doctors who can write prescriptions for pain killers, muscle relaxants, or other pharmaceuticals as needed.

If you have been diagnosed with a broken bone, you want to make sure that you follow up as needed with an orthopedic doctor to insure that your fracture heals properly. Some types of fractures may need surgical correction, and it is important to find an orthopedic surgeon with skill and experience in treating these types of traumatically induced fractures.

Remember, your auto accident lawyer can help you with the legal and insurance issues, but you must make sure you seek help from the right medical practitioners to take care of your injuries.

Stewart J. Guss is a licensed attorney practicing in the Houston area for 15 years. He practices primarily in the areas of personal injury, auto accidents, and insurance law. Mr. Guss maintains an office in the Cypress / Northwest Houston area, but has represented clients all over the world. He may be reached at 281-664-6500 or via email at Stewart@AttorneyGuss.com.

Think about that. Too much to drink, trying to get home too fast, and in the blink of an eye – two innocent people are dead. As a personal injury lawyer here in Houston, I see the tragic results of bad decisions on a very regular basis.

Decisions have consequences, particularly when they involve the physics of a 4000 lb vehicle traveling at 70mph.

If you drink – don’t drive. Period. No excuses.

http://www.khou.com/news/Investigators-close-Gulf-Freeway-at-site-of-Mondays-fatal-crash-99321909.html

In Texas, the only required coverage on your vehicle is for liability. This is insurance that will pay for damages you may cause to other people or their property if you cause an auto accident.

Many people have an additional type of coverage called Personal Injury Protection, or “PIP” for short. As a personal injury attorney, I highly recommend that everyone have this coverage on their automobile insurance policy. It is not expensive for minimum coverage of $2,500.00, and not that much more to increase this coverage even higher.

PIP coverage will pay for your medical expenses and 80% of your lost wages in the event you are injured in a car accident, regardless of who was at fault. PIP will cover you and anyone traveling with you in your vehicle at the time of the collision.

I am surprised by the number of clients I represent who do not want to file a claim with their own insurance company for PIP benefits. In fact, I would say that more than half of the people I represent at least express reservations about doing so. The most common reason people do not want to file is that they are afraid that their insurance rates will go up or that their insurance will be cancelled even though they were not at fault. This, despite the fact that they have paid their hard earned dollars for this optional coverage which is designed to be used in their exact situation! As I explain to people, it’s a bit like installing a phone line in your house but not wanting to make any phone calls because you’re afraid the phone company will cancel your service.

Remember, when an insurance company decides to raise rates or cancel service, they are much more interested in the potential risk that an insured represents than any other factor. Put simply, if you go around driving recklessly and causing accidents by your conduct, the insurance company most likely will raise your rates or decline to renew your policy. But really, it doesn’t make any sense to cancel a policy holder who makes a PIP claim when someone else causes an accident. Wouldn’t that be a bit like penalizing you because a meteor fell from the sky and smashed through the hood of your car?

In my opinion, everyone in Texas should have at least minimum PIP coverage and more importantly, should never be afraid to use it when appropriate! If you have any questions about PIP coverage, ask your insurance agent or an experienced auto accident lawyer.

Stewart J. Guss is a licensed attorney practicing in the Houston area for 15 years. He practices primarily in the areas of personal injury, auto accidents, and insurance law. Mr. Guss maintains an office in the Cypress / Northwest Houston area, but has represented clients all over the world. He may be reached at 281-664-6500 or via email at Stewart@AttorneyGuss.com. His website is www.AttorneyGuss.com.

In the hours or days following your auto accident, you will likely speak to many people associated with an insurance company. You are always obligated to report any accident to your own insurance company, and you may decide you want to deal with the other person’s insurance company as well. When you call and report the incident, you will likely be contacted by an adjuster assigned to your claim. You may be speaking to an adjuster with your own insurance company as well as an adjuster for the person who caused the wreck.

Without going in to too much legal detail, suffice it to say that when you deal with anyone associated with your own insurance company, they have numerous legal duties to be honest and forthright with you, and to deal with you fairly and in good faith. It is very important to realize, however, that these same requirements do NOT apply to the conduct of the adjuster for the person who caused the wreck. This type of adjuster can be referred to as a “third party” adjuster, because they represent the “third party” insurance company, which is the insurance of the other party involved in the accident.

The duties and obligations of a third party insurance adjuster to deal with you fairly and in good faith are extremely limited under Texas law compared to those same duties of a “first party” adjuster (an adjuster for your own insurance company.)

You will often find that these third party liability adjusters are often VERY friendly and VERY sympathetic to your situation. They may offer a shoulder to cry on and encourage your to speak freely about the facts of the collision and your injuries. Often times people do not realize that the JOB of these adjusters is to find reasons to deny your claim and pay you nothing (or as little as possible) for your injuries. These adjusters may pretend to be your friend, but they are not. They are NOT on your side, and they are working against your interests.

As a personal injury lawyer, I am often hired by clients who have first tried to handle their claims themselves. After all, that adjuster was so nice and so friendly, and they PROMISED they would be fair! Lo and behold, weeks or months later, cold hard reality sets in. Often times in these situations, my client has said or done things to make my job in recovering appropriate damages much more difficult or even impossible.

My best advice to you is to remember that the insurance adjuster for the other party in your collision is NOT your friend, not matter how much they want you to believe otherwise. If you are involved in a car wreck, your best bet is ALWAYS to consult with a lawyer who truly will ALWAYS be on your side.

Stewart J. Guss is a licensed attorney practicing in the Houston area for 15 years. He practices primarily in the areas of personal injury, auto accidents, and insurance law. Mr. Guss maintains an office in the Cypress / Northwest Houston area, but has represented clients all over the world. He may be reached at 281-664-6500 or via email at Stewart@AttorneyGuss.com. His website is www.AttorneyGuss.com.

A grade school teacher was asking students what their parents did for a living. “Tim, you be first,” she said. “What does your mother do all day?” Tim stood up and proudly said, “She’s a doctor.”"That’s wonderful. How about you, Amie?” Amie shyly stood up, scuffed her feet and said, “My father is a mailman.” “Thank you, Amie,” said the teacher. “What about your father, Billy?” Billy proudly stood up and announced, “My daddy plays piano in a whorehouse.” The teacher was aghast and promptly changed the subject to geography. Later that day she went to Billy’s house and rang the bell. Billy’s father answered the door. The teacher explained what his son had said and demanded an explanation. Billy’s father said, “I’m actually an attorney. How can I explain a thing like that to a seven-year-old?”

A man walked into a bar with his alligator and asked the bartender, “Do you serve lawyers here?”. “Sure do,” replied the bartender. “Good,” said the man. “Give me a beer, and I’ll have a lawyer for my ‘gator.”

A lawyer died and arrived at the pearly gates. To his dismay, there were thousands of people ahead of him in line to see St. Peter. To his surprise, St. Peter left his desk at the gate and came down the long line to where the laywer was, and greeted him warmly. Then St. Peter and one of his assistants took the lawyer by the hands and guided him up to the front of the line, and into a comfortable chair by his desk. The lawyer said, “I don’t mind all this attention, but what makes me so special?” St. Peter replied, “Well, I’ve added up all the hours for which you billed your clients, and by my calculation you must be about 193 years old!”

An ancient, nearly blind old woman retained the local lawyer to draft her last will and testament, for which he charged her two hundred dollars. As she rose to leave, she took the money out of her purse and handed it to him, enclosing a third hundred dollar bill by mistake. Immediately the attorney realized he was faced with a crushing ethical question: Should he tell his partner?

A lawyer is cross-examining a doctor on the stand about whether or not he had checked the pulse of the deceased before he signed the death certificate. “No,” the doctor said, “I did not check his pulse.” “And did you listen for a heartbeat?” said the lawyer. “No, I did not,” said the doctor. “So,” said the lawyer, “when you signed the death certificate, you had not taken steps to make sure he was dead.” The doctor, having enough of the lawyer’s ridicule, stated, “Well, let me put it this way. The man’s brain was in a jar on my desk, but for all I know he could be out practicing law somewhere.”

A lawyer finds out he has an inoperable brain tumor. It’s so large, they have to do a brain transplant. His doctor gives him a choice of available brains. There’s a jar of engineer brains for $10 an ounce, a jar of doctor brains for $15 an ounce, and a jar of lawyer brains for the sum of $800 an ounce. The outraged lawyer says, “This is a ripoff! How come the lawyer brains are so damned expensive?” The doctor replies, “Do you know how many lawyers it takes to get an ounce of brains?”

Two lawyers walking through the woods spotted a vicious-looking bear. The first lawyer immediately opened his briefcase, pulled out a pair of sneakers and started putting them on. The second lawyer looked at him and said, “You’re crazy! You’ll never be able to outrun that bear!” “I don’t have to,” the first lawyer replied. “I only have to outrun you.”

Q: You’re trapped in a room with a tiger, a rattlesnake and a lawyer. Your gun has only two bullets.
A: What should you do? Shoot the lawyer. Twice.

Q: What do you call a lawyer that does not chase ambulances?
A: Retired.

Q: How can you tell when a lawyer is lying?
A: His lips are moving.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the lawyer jokes. Isn’t it nice to take a break and just have a good laugh sometimes? I promise I’ll be back next tome with something a little more informative. That is, of course, assuming I’m not off playing the piano somewhere!

Stewart J. Guss is a licensed attorney practicing in the Houston area for over 10 years. He concentrates in the areas of personal injury, insurance law, consumer law, and small business issues. Mr. Guss maintains an office in the Cypress area and is proud to serve the residents of Cypress and Northwest Houston. He may be reached at 713-355-7220 or via email at stewart@attorneyguss.com.

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Pedestrian-struck-killed-in-downtown-Houston-intersection-91828199.html

I’m going to address a matter that should be critical to moms, dads and Santas everywhere. How do you know if your toy is safe? Your first stop should be the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: www.cpsc.gov. This is the official government agency in charge of tracking recalls on dangerous consumer products. In addition to tracking recalls, the CPSC also maintains a “most wanted list” which can be helpful in finding the most dangerous products on the market.

Another good resource for toy safety information can be the toy companies themselves. Most major toy companies maintain accurate and up to date listings of toys that may present a danger to kids. For example, www.mattel.com/safety offers safety and recall information for their products. While I consider relying on the manufacturer a bit like allowing the fox to guard the henhouse, thanks to the civil justice system in this country, most toy makers are fairly eager to let consumers know about potential safety problems. (Hurray for the trial lawyers!)

Additionally, you may want to explore the websites of major toy retailers. If you go to the main page at www.toysrus.com, you will find a clickable link regarding toy safety information. Through that link you will find a list of Toys R Us products which have been recalled.

Of course you moms, dads, and Santas will likely leave no stone unturned in your quest for toy safety information. But what should you do if something falls through the cracks? It is every parent’s nightmare to have their child injured or made sick by the very toys that are designed to entertain them. Unfortunately, it is happening in this country with ever increasing frequency.

If your child is injured by a recalled toy, you have legal rights. There are certain steps, however, that must be taken. First and foremost, if you find a recalled toy in your house, take it away immediately! If you feel that your child may have been injured by the toy, it is extremely important that you not throw the toy away. Rather, keep it in a ziplock bag, safely out of reach of the little ones. If the toy was recalled because of potential lead poisoning, I would suggest you bring your child to the doctor for a blood test. A blood test will be able to accurately determine whether your child has toxic levels of lead in their body. If your child choked or had some other toxic reaction, again, it is imperative that you preserve the toy as evidence. If you have any questions about product liability issues, you should contact your attorney to discuss the situation.

I hate to bring up such a grim subject about the holiday season, but as a father of two adorable young ones, I am keenly aware of this issue. Of course, by using common sense and by checking recall lists regularly, I am certain we shall all be able to enjoy a joyous and safe holiday season each and every year.

Stewart J. Guss is a licensed attorney practicing in the Houston area for over 10 years. He concentrates in the areas of personal injury, insurance law, consumer law, and small business issues. Mr. Guss maintains an office in the Cypress area and is proud to serve the residents of Cypress and throughout the Houston metro area. He is available for speaking engagements on a wide variety of legal topics. For further information or for a free consultation, he may be reached at 281-664-6500 or via email at stewart@attorneyguss.com.

Just to clear up a few things, let me tell y’all the real story behind this supposed “travesty of justice.” In 1992, Stella Liebeck, 79 years old, purchased a cup of coffee from a McDonalds drive through (she was in the passenger seat). She tried to carefully open the top to add cream and sugar, and when she did, some extremely hot coffee spilled on her lap causing her to sustain third-degree burns (the most serious type) around her groin, inner thighs and buttocks. How hot was the coffee? Approximately 180 to 190 degrees.

Well, as it turned out, McDonald’s own scientists testified at the trial that any coffee hotter than 130 degrees could produce third degree burns. The law firm defending McDonalds hired a law student to go test coffee temperatures at other restaurants in the area to prove that everyone else was serving coffee at the same temperature. The closest temperature they could find was at least 20 to 30 degrees cooler. Why serve their coffee so hot? There could be several possible reasons, including the fact that coffee puts off more vapor at higher temperatures giving the beverage a richer aroma.

Well, okay, so McDonalds was serving the coffee too hot. What’s the big deal? They couldn’t have known that Ms. Liebeck was going to get burned by it, right? Well… As it turns out, McDonalds had received at least 700 complaints about scalding burns from coffee in the ten years prior to the incident. Some of these complaints hd involved extremely serious injuries.

Because of her injuries, Ms. Liebeck spent eight days in the hospital. During this time, she underwent several medical procedures including debridement and skin grafting. The burns left her permanently scarred and disabled for more than two years.

Ms. Liebeck and her attorneys tried in good faith to settle this matter before the case went to trial. McDonalds’ response? An $800.00 settlement offer.

At trial, the jury awarded $160,000.00 in compensatory damages and 2.7 million in punitive damages. Yes, a lot of money, but at the time that award represented a mere two days worth of McDonalds’ coffee sales. The punitive damage award was later reduced by the judge to $480,000.00. (Judges can do that. Its another one of the checks and balances in our legal system.)

So… The next time someone is trying to persuade you that there is a “lawsuit crisis” in this country and that “tort reform” is needed, why not share with them the real story behind the three million dollar hot cup of coffee.