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Thought Leadership in Personal Injury

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Common Types of Personal Injury Claims in California

Personal injury claims in California arise when someone is injured due to another party’s negligence, unsafe conduct, or failure to meet a legal duty of care. These cases can involve a wide range of situations, including roadway incidents, unsafe property conditions, and defective products.

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I feel your pain: the Gerry Spence method taken over the top

On Thursday, May 3, I met with Ms. B___ and her daughter. Ms. B___’s arm, specifically her radius, was shattered when she took a bad fall. Surgery, a plate, ten screws. I took notes as she told me how she could not work at the hospital for now and how difficult it was to care of herself. On Friday, May 4, I had a court appearance in Redwood City.

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The Stoic

The lawyers sat there, stunned. The doctor sat across from them, giving the couple time to absorb the information. Their three-year-old daughter’s cough and fever? Not pneumonia. Cancer. A tumor. A big one, crushing the little girl’s right lung. Rare – a few hundred reported cases. And tough odds. Chemo, a surgery, more chemo. A year-long process and the hope that it doesn’t recur… because recurrence with the particular cancer does not end well.

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Dec 04

1.11 Community organizer

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Ways to come together as a community in our hybrid times The lawyer watched the swirl. Lots of people at the gala, celebrating the great outcomes community members had achieved for their clients. It felt foreign to the lawyer in certain ways. It had been years since the lawyer had been to an event like this. Not the lawyer’s cup...
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Dec 04

1.10 Break glass in case of emergency

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Successfully navigating the downs in litigation’s ups and downs The lawyer attempted to take it in stride. Rather than heading into final trial prep, the judge had just granted summary judgment on what, to the lawyer, felt like a straightforward case. Even the defense counsel was surprised. The long trip back didn’t help. Compounding the issue was another ruling, a...
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Dec 04

1.1.6.4 Call me AI

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What lawyers should know about generative artificial intelligence (this month) The lawyer noted the date. Recognizing the submission deadline for the column was coming up, the lawyer opened up a browser on the computer. Navigating to an AI prompt, the lawyer asked the AI to produce 800 words on what lawyers should know about generative AI. The AI window paused...
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Oct 31
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1.19: Collaboration, mentoring, and firm culture in various work environments

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The lawyer listened. The situation had gone off the wire. Not fatal. Also not good. How had it happened? Ultimately the lawyer owned it. And within leader ownership, it was important to determine what led to the issue. Process failure, delegation failure, communication failure? All of these? None? Time to dig in, grab those involved, and conduct an After-Action Review.

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Sep 24

13.7 Hardheaded

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Challenges and techniques for brain injury cases with unhelmeted cyclists The lawyer, reviewing the case facts, considered the issues. The cyclist, an urban commuter, had been taking her regular three-mile route to work, primarily using protected bike lanes. An adult with a job that required a professional appearance, she did not feel it necessary to ruin the work she put...
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Sep 24

15.9 Show me the money

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Evaluating, pursuing, and mediating personal contribution cases The lawyer thought about the case. Two cyclists struck from behind at 45 miles per hour by a driver with dementia. On a clear day, with a straight road, the meandering driver drifted across the fog line, plowing through the riders. The driver told the investigating officer that the riders spontaneously fell, and...
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Sep 24

21.8 Do great things

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We contribute to our historic legal fabric by doing our best in all things The lawyer thought about the place an individual plays, one small mote in this great timeless universe. Document review can do this to a person. How can one’s actions, seemingly small and potentially meaningless in the vastness, have any effect? Whether document review, a privilege log,...
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Apr 30

8.4 Federated states

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Avoiding traps: central differences between federal and California state courts The lawyer evaluated the fact pattern, considering venue potential. This case was likely headed to federal court, with complete diversity of citizenship. While a local defendant could be added to defeat diversity, the question remained: was the case better served in federal or state court? Grandeur Most knuckle-dragging personal injury...
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Apr 19

14.3 Argue your position

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Preparing for and delivering motion practice oral argument The lawyer arrived early in the law and motion department. The tentative for defendant’s summary judgment motion? “Parties to appear.” Not a lot to go on. Stacked on the dais’s edge were actual books. Squinting, the lawyer made out numbers on the California Appellate Reports spines. One applied to the lawyer’s case,...
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