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Depending on the jurisdiction, spouses, children, and parents may be able to recover for a “loss of consortium” in personal injury and wrongful death actions. Some states have extended the availability of loss of consortium damages to other parties, including grandparents and non-married cohabitants. Note, however, that the status of the law with respect to this issue varies c…

Over the years, intra-family immunity from lawsuits against other family members developed; “parental immunity” and “spousal immunity.” Some have suggested that these immunities were part of a body of rules that historically limited tort recoveries in general. At one time, there was even a certain stigma to bringing a lawsuit against another family member for damages…

Many people embark on a lawsuit without taking into consideration all possible consequences. Litigation can be very costly and not all the costs are obvious. Most expect the costs of hiring an attorney and make payment arrangements, usually payable based on an hourly fee schedule or on a “contingency” basis (i.e., the lawyer is paid only if successful, usually out of any judgmen…

The liability of property owners for injuries that occur to persons on their property is largely a creation of state law and court decisions. For this reason, the nature of a property owner’s duties to individuals on the owner’s property varies among states. Such duties may involve issues regarding the owner’s actions and/or the owner’s failure to act. Usually severa…

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving accounted for nearly 6,000 deaths in the United States in 2008 alone, and over half a million injuries. That fatality number accounts for 16 percent of traffic deaths. Distracted driving is on the rise, probably due to the increased availability and popularity of electronic gadgets that take the driverR…