Lawrenceburg Personal Injury Blog

Reminding your teenage driver to stay safe on the road

On behalf of Boston, Holt & Durham, PLLC on Friday, August 16, 2019.

The 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day are often the deadliest for teenage drivers. Statistics indicate that after the summer draws to a close, fatal accidents involving young motorists tend to decrease. While this happens for a number of reasons, driving hazards never really go away completely.

According to mental health experts, the human brain continues to grow and develop during adolescence. While your teenage driver is likely turning into a responsible adult, brain growth can make adolescents forgetful. Accordingly, you may want to regularly remind the young driver in your family about staying safe on the road. Here are some tips:

E-cigarettes appear to be dangerous products

On behalf of Boston, Holt & Durham, PLLC posted in dangerous products on Wednesday, August 14, 2019.

E-cigarettes were introduced to the world as another means to assist people in their desire to quit smoking. E-cigarette use morphed from being a smoking cessation tool to the latest fad among teens in Tennessee and elsewhere. In recent months, the juice used in the electronic smoking devices has resulted in them being identified as potentially dangerous products.

Recently, many teenagers have been hospitalized with severe breathing problems in several states. The one common denominator was that many reportedly used electronic cigarette devices in the weeks leading up to their illness. Some of the teens experienced seizures that could not be readily explained.

More evidence that vaping may involve dangerous products

On behalf of Boston, Holt & Durham, PLLC posted in dangerous products on Tuesday, August 6, 2019.

The health risks of vaping and the increased use by teens has been in the news a lot lately. Validating the health concerns is a recent news story concerning several teens in two states who have recently been hospitalized with ailments believed to stem from vaping. This indicates that the products being ingested through vaping, namely juices that contain nicotine, could qualify as dangerous products in Tennessee and around the country.

In one state, 11 young people were admitted to hospitals with symptoms of severe lung disease. Doctors believed initially that they were dealing with infections as that diagnosis was supported by the symptoms they were seeing. All of the tests that were run to detect an infection came back negative. The teens were otherwise healthy and the only common denominator was that they all claimed to have engaged in vaping activity recently.

Apparent suicide in jail results in wrongful death suit

On behalf of Boston, Holt & Durham, PLLC posted in wrongful death on Tuesday, July 30, 2019.

If a person in Tennessee is charged with breaking the law the criminal justice system exists to determine whether the accused is actually guilty of the formal accusations. If the accused is found guilty, it is up to the system to determine an appropriate sentence. While being held in jail, the system has a responsibility to try to ensure the safety of those being detained. An apparent failure to do so has resulted in a wrongful death suit.

In July 2018, a young man was arrested and charged with DUI, resisting arrest and driving on a suspended license. He was placed in the Hardeman County Jail where his parents went with the intent of paying his bail. They met with the sheriff who said he believed the young man had a substance abuse problem and needed help the jail could provide. The sheriff said the accused attempted suicide during two prior jail visits.

Distracted driving can cause tragic car accidents

On behalf of Boston, Holt & Durham, PLLC posted in car accidents on Wednesday, July 24, 2019.

Summertime is a time for relaxing, planning family time and trying to squeeze as much as possible into the long summer days. Planning and anticipating such events can be a distraction as one is talking on a cell phone, is not focused on driving or is even just daydreaming. With increased traffic on Tennessee roadways, safe driving requires that drivers remain fully focused on the traffic around them. Distraction may have played a part in one of the area's recent tragic car accidents.

A beloved area high school teacher was stopped in heavy traffic on Interstate 75. Another car crashed into the rear of his vehicle. The teacher, who was alone in his car, was airlifted to an area hospital with serious injuries and transported from there to University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. The medical staff were unable to save him.

“Go back to where you came from” may violate federal law

On behalf of Boston, Holt & Durham, PLLC on Thursday, July 18, 2019.

Working in the United States is often an effective way to realize the American dream. While you do not mind going to work every day, you should not have to worry about facing illegal discrimination. Still, if you have a dark skin tone or speak with an accent, your supervisors or other colleagues may engage in national origin discrimination.

If you think you have been the victim of discrimination at your place of employment, you may need to act quickly to preserve your legal rights and protect your job. You should also, though, know about the sort of conduct that tends to constitute national origin discrimination.

Prison suicide and a mother's wrongful death suit

On behalf of Boston, Holt & Durham, PLLC posted in wrongful death on Tuesday, July 16, 2019.

America is a nation of laws. People who are found guilty of violating those laws pay a penalty and serve their time. The goal is to enable rehabilitation so they can be released back to society and become productive citizens. One would not expect such a system to be the subject of a wrongful death suit in Tennessee.

A young man was arrested and charged with aggravated robbery. He was found guilty and was serving his sentence at a maximum-security facility. Prior to his incarceration, he had been diagnosed as bi-polar with schizophrenic tendencies. According to the young man's mother, those diagnoses were not taken into consideration in his incarceration.

Wrongful death an unwanted event on the 4th of July

On behalf of Boston, Holt & Durham, PLLC posted in wrongful death on Wednesday, July 10, 2019.

The 4th of July is a time for hot dogs, apple pie, fireworks and family get-togethers in Tennessee. Sadly, it also seems to be a time for an increase in the death toll on area roadways. As the holiday dawned this year, the life of a police officer came to an end. This tragedy could result in a wrongful death suit.

Early on the morning of the 4th, a Nashville policeman was on his way to answer a call involving a pedestrian incident. While he was driving through an intersection, another vehicle careened into him. The impact of the crash was said to have killed the officer instantly. The person who hit him was a 17-year-old juvenile who was fleeing a traffic stop at the time of the accident.

Employment law intended to help protect employees

On behalf of Boston, Holt & Durham, PLLC posted in employment law on Friday, July 5, 2019.

Workplace discrimination is a continuing problem in Tennessee and elsewhere around the country. Laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) have been passed to enhance the protections provided by employment law. A woman in another state is suing her previous employer on the grounds that she was fired because of health reasons.

The woman was diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed medication to help with her condition. Some years after being diagnosed with ADHD, she was told she had to undergo a surgical procedure that would require her to stop taking her medication for a period of time. The day after she began her medical leave for the surgery, she suffered a stroke and was told to permanently stop taking the medication.

Ex-husband files wrongful death suit in his wife's suicide

On behalf of Boston, Holt & Durham, PLLC posted in wrongful death on Monday, June 24, 2019.

Mental health issues and mental illness have been making headlines in Tennessee and around the nation for some time now. It is a problem that many people are aware of but there appears to be a challenge when it comes to getting a handle on it. The recent suicide of a woman who was involved in a complex relationship and was fighting for custody of her son resulted in a wrongful death lawsuit that was filed by the woman's ex-husband.

The woman, a nurse, became involved with the psychiatrist she worked with. The affair caused the breakup of her marriage after which the couple shared custody of their son. The woman moved in with the psychiatrist but started suffering severe depression when she lost her job. During the relationship, the psychiatrist received a handgun as a gift and showed the gun to his then girlfriend. The gun was apparently not secured.