Police Thyself, City & County of Honolulu!

Police Thyself, City & County of Honolulu!

In 2009, the City & County of Honolulu established the "The Concrete Sidewalk

Maintenance Program for City & County of Honolulu" The City stated that the purpose of the program was as follows:

Over time sidewalks are damaged from weathering, tree roots and regular use. A

sidewalk maintenance program to regularly repair or reconstruct damaged sidewalk is

important for ensuring pedestrian safety on city sidewalks. The goal of the Concrete Sidewalk Maintenance Program is to prevent and repair sidewalk trip hazards in a timely manner in the interest of public safety and welfare.

The Program and its supporting ordinances make the abutting property owner responsible for the sidewalk maintenance. Pursuant to the program, the City’s Department of Planning & Permitting (the "DPP") is charged with enforcing the program, and thus, ensuring that these property owners maintain their sidewalks. The DPP is supposed to be both proactive and reactive.

So, if a sidewalk is found to have a tripping hazard, the City (pursuant to its ordinances, and, the Program) notifies the property owner and orders it to fix the hazard. "Tripping hazards" are defined, by the Program, as a "vertical separation greater than ½ inch."

IF, for some reason, the property owner does not fix the hazard within 60 days, then, the City is to fix the sidewalk. After all, we can’t just leave trip hazardous on our sidewalks.... Its dangerous. The City can charge the abutting landowner for the cost of repair.

But, what if the abutting landowner is the City itself? According to the law, their supposed police themselves and fix any trip hazards (vertical separations of ½ inch of more, etc.). Apparently, that’s not how it works.

I recently met a woman who tripped on a "vertical separation" of over an inch, twice the height which the City considers dangerous. What made this "vertical separation" even more dangerous is that it was covered with dirt, leaves and other debris. This made it almost impossible to see, especially when dark.

Sidewalk across the street from where the accident happened. 
Note, it has been recently patched.

I’m generally not a huge trip and fall claim advocate, but, I thought I’d better go check it out. When I got there, I had to park across the street. As I walked to the nearby crosswalk, I was saw that the sidewalk had been recently fixed. Bear in mind this is just across the street from where this poor lady tripped. On this side of the street (which abutted a private landowner), the sidewalk showed new concrete patches, obviously fixing the same trip hazards which existed on the opposite side of the street.

I crossed the street and saw that, in fact, the sidewalk had numerous vertical separations of more than an inch, up to two inches in some places. There was no evidence of repair or patches. Ironically, this sidewalk abutted property owned by the City.

Sidewalk abutting City's property, just
across the street from a private landowner
who was recently made to fix the vertical
separation hazards on the sidewalk abutting
its property.

Clearly, the City had ordered the private landowner across the street to fix the dangerous vertical trip hazards. But, what about the trip hazards abutting its own property? To this day, it continues to present a hazard to people walking there. The vertical separations are obscured by dirt, leaves and debris. Police Thyself, City & County of Honolulu!

A more than one ince separation is very
hazardous, especially if it obscured by
dirt, leaves and debris.

Recovery Law Center

Glenn T. Honda

Honolulu Personal Injury Attorney

1260 Young Street, #228

Honolulu, Hawaii 96814

808 597-88868

http://recoveryourloss.com/

Avoid the "Paperwork Jungle"

Avoid the "Paperwork Jungle"
 

At the Recovery Law Center, our personal injury attorney and his staff will help you to work through the "Paperwork Jungle." Keeping all of the paperwork straight can be difficult. If the victim misses a deadline or fails to file the correct forms, a claim can be denied. Also, victims need to avoid signing any releases or waiver such as medical release forms. These can be buried in the mass of paperwork and are easy to overlook. Signing such a waiver can give the insurance company access to confidential medical information that can be used against the victim. What is more, sometimes an insurance company can use "paperwork" to delay, harass and/or burden an accident victim.

In Hawaii, it is considered an unfair claim practice to Delay the investigation or payment of claims by requiring an insured, claimant, or the physician of either to submit a preliminary claim report and then requiring the subsequent submission of formal proof of loss forms, both of which submissions contain substantially the same information.

Essentially what this means is that insurance companies are not allowed to make multiple duplicative requests for information. They can not force claimants to file multiple documents, provide recorded statements, etc., which only provide the same information which they already obtained from that claimant.

http://www.recoveryourloss.com/

Slip and Fall Injury–It was raining....whose fault?

Slip and Fall Injury–It was raining....whose fault?

Although I am a personal injury attorney, I say this a lot to people: sometimes things just happen, and even if people are injured, its just bad luck.   Is there always fault for every accident and every injury? NO.

However, in a recent case, a client was walking in the parking lot for our City Building. Yes, he knew it was raining. Yes, he knew that wet surfaces can be slippery.  So, he was trying to be careful. As he took only a few steps out from the covered area, his foot slipped out from under him, in a terrible fall. His body literally flew up. He describes it like an "old cartoon character slipping and catching air before falling."

He sat there stunned for a few minutes. He looked around and all of the ground surface looked the same. What had he slipped on? He had tried to be so careful.

He rested several days, hoping he’d feel better, but, only got worse. When he called me to meet him at the accident scene, he could barely walk and needed the assistance of a cane. That day, it was dry and sunny.

What had looked evenly covered because of the rain, looked much different when it was dry. (I post some pictures of the surface here--as it appears when dry). There are numerous large areas of patches where the non-skid surfacing had been worn off. Of course, when it was wet you couldn't really tell where the worn-out patches were. That’s when it all looks the same color and you can’t tell some of it has worn off.  This is how it looks when dry, (you can actually see the unsafe areas):

This is a very dangerous situation. The City obviously knew it was dangerously slippery there, and so it applied some non-slip coating. But, the City let it get very badly, and quite dangerously, worn out.  The worn-out patches are hard to see when its wet, making it even more dangerous. As a result, this unlucky gentlemen was severely injured. But was this particular case just bad luck?  NO.  It could have been avoided.  Thus, in this case it WAS someone's fault:  the City.

http://www.recoveryourloss.com/

The "Blustery’ Lawyer: I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll force you to settle...

The "Blustery’ Lawyer: I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll force you to settle.

Beware of Insurance Adjusters

Beware insurance adjusters.

Never forget that all insurance adjusters, even the ones with a "conscience" are people who have a job, someone who is employed by the insurance company. Think about your loyalty to the company that you work for. While some adjusters, or claims representatives, honestly try to objectively pay what their company owes, car accident victims must understand that an insurance company’s interests are not necessarily the same as their own. And an insurance adjuster’s interests may very often be more aligned with his/her source of income, i.e., the insurance company.

This means, it may not be in the insurance company’s best interest to pay your claim in the fullest or fastest way possible. Some of these insurance companies have claims reps who will "charm" a victim into feeling safe, when in reality, they are trying to delay payment, and, trying to pay you as little as possible.

Some claims representatives may withhold information such as policy limits, ask for unnecessary information to wear the victim down, dispute medical treatments and even threaten to lower a proposed settlement if the claimant mentions that he or she is thinking about consulting an accident attorney. These are tactics that some adjusters and/or insurance companies may use to persuade you into settling your claim for, perhaps, less than it is really worth.

A personal injury attorney (aka car accident lawyer) can help to make sure that a claims representative does not take advantage of your inexperience with the injury claim process.

http://www.recoveryourloss.com/

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PAPERS! Present them or go to JAIL!

PAPERS! Present them or go to JAIL!


The United States federal courts (specifically, the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Hawaii, California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Montana–see map) has upheld a block on Arizona’s state law which would have required its own law- enforcement officials (police, sheriffs, etc) to check immigration status while enforcing laws, among other things.

The Arizona law is titled the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe 27 Neighborhoods Act" In my opinion, the most "offensive," worrisome and potentially dangerous portion of the law is as follows:



For any lawful contact made by a law enforcement official or agency of this state or a county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person. The person’s immigration status shall be verified with the federal government pursuant to 8 United States Code Section 1373(c). Before this law was set to go into effect, the federal government sued the State of Arizona to block the law’s enforcement. The federal District Court for Arizona granted the block. And the law could not be enforced. The State of Arizona appealed this decision to the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 9^th Circuit upheld the District Court’s block of the law. The law currently remains unenforceable.

Well, that’s basically what happened–there are a lot of technical legal procedural details and tactical constitutional maneuvers, including invocation of the "Supremacy Clause", etc. Basically, no state law may preempt federal law. As Judge Richard Paez wrote in his opinion, "In sum, we are not persuaded that Arizona has the inherent authority to enforce the civil provisions of federal immigration law."

To me, the offensive part of the law is that an officer making "any lawful contact," may demand proof of citizenship or other proof of immigration status. First, in general, I do not carry proof of my citizenship. Second, when going on a trip, within my own country, I also do not generally carry proof of my citizenship. True, I often bring my passport with me on trips. But, I usually leave it in the hotel safe. I do not make a point of grabbing it to go to the store, etc.

I think many, many Americans feel that it is their right as a United States citizen, to have the FREEDOM, to "walk the streets" without worrying about carrying proof that they have "permission" to do so. In fact, I would be so bold as to state that the overwhelming majority of Americans do not carry proof of citizenship, and further, believe that it is their right of freedom, to NOT have to carry such documents with them. This mind set has become part of our American way of life. Does anyone else recall the fear and revulsion of seeing movies where, in communist countries, officials are demanding "papers" from its own citizens?

What is more, the racial and ethnic profiling that would NECESSARILY come with this law is not just un-american, its wrong. Its uncivilized. Its illegal and unconstitutional. Let us not forget that an officer saying hello to you is "lawful contact." If you are not clearly, visibly and obviously, a white blond Aryan, may an officer then say that "reasonable suspicion exists that [you are] an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States?" If Arizona is allowed to enforce its immigration law, could that officer then demand your papers under penalty of jail?  Does this sound familiar? What’s next on this slippery slope? Forcing people to wear identifying patches on their clothing? Gold Six-Pointed Stars? Pink Triangles?

http://www.recoveryourloss.com/

Chipping Away at Hawaii Car Accident Injury Claims

After "abolishing" car accident injury claims in Hawaii, (with some exceptions), Hawaii legislators decided to chip even further away at accident injury claims. 

Hawaii law requires that, in car accident cases, the amount of the medical bills paid by the Personal Injury Insurance Company shall be deducted from the final settlement. This means that settlements, whether by settlement or by judgment/award, are reduced by the amount of medical bills paid, by a minimum of $5,000, or, a maximum of $10,000. The amount deducted from your award or settlement is the actual amount paid, for example, $5,029.32. This reduction is called the "Covered Loss Deductible," or the "CLD." The maximum CLD is $10,000, even if your total medical bills paid are more than that.
The applicable statute (law) is as follows:

§431:10C-301.5 Covered loss deductible. Whenever a person effects a recovery for bodily injury, whether by suit, arbitration, or settlement, and it is determined that the person is entitled to recover damages, the judgment, settlement, or award shall be reduced by $5,000 or the amount of personal injury protection benefits incurred, whichever is greater, up to the maximum limit. The covered loss deductible shall not include benefits paid or incurred under any optional additional coverage or benefits paid under any public assistance program. [L 1997, c 251, pt of §2; am L 1998, c 275, §17; am L 2004, c 174, §2]

In exchange for the reduced settlements and awards, insurance companies were required to reduce their insurance premium rates.  This they did (for a while).  But wait, there was a catch:  For the reduced insurance premium rates, you also got reduced coverage.  Huh?  (You'll see me write "huh?" a lot in my blogs).  Yes, the premium rates went down, but, the legally required coverage went from $35,000 to $20,000. So, it begs the question, what did the consumer really get in exchage for the CLD reduction of all claims, settlements, awards, etc., in car accident injury claims?

For those of savvy in the age of the "text," the answer is most succinctly, and profoundly, stated as follows: idk.

I think this is another reason why a personal injury attorney can be helpful in navigating the automobile/car accident injury claim process in Hawaii. 

If you were injured in a car accident, you should consult with a Hawaii licensed attorney.  The attorneys at the Recovery Law Center base their attorneys fees on the net settlement, meaning that the percentage used for attorneys fees is calculated after the CLD is deducted. This is much more fair to claimants.

http://www.recoveryourloss.com/

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Are you insured?

Hawaii law requires that insurance companies notify their customers whenever they are cancelling, or otherwise, non-renewing the insurance policy. This sounds like a great safeguard to make sure every driver knows that he is either insured or not insured. Hawaii Revised Statute Section §431:10C-112, requires insurance companies to send out notices, via certified mail, in cases of non-renewal or cancellation for non-payment. Further, no cancellation or non-renewal is effective unless the insurance company can provide proof of mailing, (the certificate from the post office).

However, the effectiveness of this notice requirement in Hawaii law is questionable.  In fact, one could argue that the law may be totally worthless and not helpful to the public at all.

In reality, it appears that if a policy lapses because someone failed or forgot to pay an invoice that was sent to them, then no notice is necessary as long as the invoice was sent to the insured at least 30 days prior to the end of the previous insurance term. Huh? What about the Notice requirements?

An ordinary person might think that the Notice requirements in Hawaii provide a safeguard for coverage.  One might think: "o.k. if the insurance company is going to cancel or non-renew my policy because I forgot to pay, I will get a certified letter in the mail."

Hey, things happen–sometimes mail gets overlooked, or sometimes mail gets lost... sometimes things just slip through or gets lost.  Sometimes mail never reaches its destination at all. 

Consumers, insureds, etc., are supposed to feel safe because of Hawaii's Notice requirments. Certified mailing for cancellation or non-renewal  is supposed to help avoid the chances of cancellation or lapse due to such circumstances.  Hawaii drivers and insureds are protected by this Notice requirement, right?

Well..... that is not really the case. As long as an insurance company sends you an invoice prior to the end of your policy, (even if it is not sent via certified mail), they do not need to send the certified notice to cancel or non-renew your policy if they do not receive payment...Huh? What happened to the notice requirements?

So, the question is, WHEN would an insurance company EVER have to send a certified letter when it is going to cancel or otherwise non-renew a policy for non-payment?  Well, probably never.  In my opinion, this leaves the certified notice requirement essentially useless.

Be careful. Make sure that you are paid up on your premium. It sounds simple, but is it? Is there anyone out there who has NEVER had a piece of mail lost or delayed? It seems the whole purpose of certified notice would be to cut down on the chance of lost, overlooked or delayed notices, and, to cut down on the number of uninsured motorists.

http://www.recoveryourloss.com/

People “hate” lawyers...what about insurance companies?

People often make jokes about lawyers, especially plaintiff lawyers. They call plaintiff lawyers "ambulance chasers," "bottom feeders," "sharks," etc. Plaintiff lawyers are often blamed for high insurance rates, because of the claims and lawsuits they pursue (on behalf of injured people).

Comment blaming injury lawyers rarely point to high insurance company profits, multi-million dollar executive paychecks, poor insurance company investments, etc. Commentators seem certain that injury lawyers and "runaway juries" are the reason insurance rates are high, and even, that the economy has depressed. Surely, these commentators do not believe insurance investments in the sub-prime fiasco was to blame for the depressed economy. Surely, the mighty AIG collapsed because the claims payouts were too much?

My experience, over the past 17+ years is quite the opposite, especially with the now defunct AIG. Some insurance companies will delay settlement, even forcing claimants to file suit, before offering any kind of money for a settlement. Some insurance companies pay as little as possible, as late as possible.

If you were injured in an accident, you will know that your claim is not frivolous. You will not be trying to "stick it" to the insurance company, or, take away an elderly grandmother’s home. We all buy insurance (i.e. pay insurance premiums), just in case we make mistakes. The insurance premiums we pay are not meant to be pure profit for the insurance companies. It’s not meant to pay multi-million executive salaries, nor, host lavish parties and trips.

The InsuranceJournal.com reports that State Farm’s Chief Executive Officer earned 11.66 Million Dollars, that’s $11,660,000.00!, for one year’s work! Allstate’s proxy statement lists its CEO’s compensation at more than $9,425,000.00 for 2008. For 2009, Allstate’s CEO compensation was more than $10,420,000.00! Finally, the mighty (and now defunct) AIG’s CEO earned more than $10,500,000.00 during the same year that the United States government had to spend 173 Billion Dollars (thats $1,730,000,000.00) to bail it out!

http://www.recoveryourloss.com/

Car Accident Claims in Hawaii Abolished?

Hawaii has "abolished" car accident injury claims (except in certain circumstances). 

In Hawaii, you are unable to bring a claim for an injury from a car accident. This is what is meant by the "abolition or tort liability." Perhaps this is the result of the mania stirred up regarding the "out of control" plaintiffs lawyers.

If you or a loved one was injured in a car accident, however, you know that these claims really are important and should never have been abolished. What does a family do if its mother or father is injured in a car accident and unable to work, or, support their family?  Car accidents can have devastating effects on lives.

Hawaii law does, however, provide for some exceptions to the "abolition" of accident injury claims. Hawaii Revised Statute Section 431:10C-306 is the applicable law, it provides as follows:

§431:10C-306 Abolition of tort liability.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), this article abolishes tort liability of the following persons with respect to accidental harm arising from motor vehicle accidents occurring in this State:(1) Owner, operator, or user of an insured motor vehicle; or (2) Operator or user of an uninsured motor vehicle who operates or uses such vehicle without reason to believe it to be an uninsured motor vehicle. (b) Tort liability is not abolished as to the following persons, their personal representatives, or their legal guardians in the following circumstances: (1) Death occurs to the person in such a motor vehicle accident;(2) Injury occurs to the person which consists, in whole or in part, in a significant permanent loss of use of a part or function of the body;(3) Injury occurs to the person which consists of a permanent and serious disfigurement which results in subjection of the injured person to mental or emotional suffering; or(4) Injury occurs to the person in a motor vehicle accident and as a result of such injury that the personal injury protection benefits incurred by such person equal or exceed $5,000.
Essentially, the law excepts from the abolishment of car accident claims, personal injury claims where the injured person accumulates $5000, or more, in paid medical bills. Car accident claims are also allowed, i.e., not abolished in cases where the claimant sustains permanent injury, scars, disfigurement, or, if the claimant dies. Also excepted from the "abolishment" are claims involving car accidents where the driver was drunk (a.k.a., D.U.I., DUI, Driving Under the Influence, drunk driver, etc.).

Because Hawaii "abolished" personal injury claim from a car accident, it is important to consult with a Hawaii personal injury attorney, i.e., car accident lawyer, who understands the law in this area.  The attorney can help you to navigate through what can be a tricky set of laws.

For more information about the Recovery Law Center, please visit our website:  http://www.recoveryourloss.com/

Beware when considering "simple" cosmetic procedures

Even "simple" cosmetic procedures can result in serious, disfiguring injury.  Research seems to indicate that injury even from "safe" cosmetic procedures, like Radiesse, Radience, Botox, and Juviderm injections can cause severe and disfiguring injury. Further, when these "relatively safe" injectible products cause injury, the consenus among doctors seems to be that it is technique related.  Meaning, an error caused by inexperience, or insufficient training. So, its important to keep in mind, if considering these fairly common injectable procedures:  Ask the right questions.  How many of these procedures has the doctor performed?  How much training was done?  Was it just an hour training by the sales represntative?  Was it just a weekend seminar?  What specifically did the doctor do to prepare for his use of these injection procedures?  Also, be specific in questioning the side effects listed on the doctor's release form.  How common is this one?  (etc.)  Accidents sometimes happen, even with the best of training, skill and experience. But, to be safe, it's always better to ask the right questions. Don't forget that these procedures are performed on your face. Any accidents will be prominent and noticeable for quite some time, if not permanent.
http://www.recoveryourloss.com/

Dangerous Products are in many forms, even those that seem unexpectedly innocent

You do NOT expect a hard, jagged walnut shell in your chocolate chip cookie.  This was not just a small inconvenience.  The jagged shell measured nearly ONE INCH!  When this unsuspecting client bit into the cookie, (which ironically, he bought from a health food store), he had severe pain.  He fractured four teeth. Perhaps a little shell every once in a while may be something we have to live with, but, ONE INCH???  It begs the questions:  What if this had been a small child?  Small children love cookies, and, they rarely go through the cookie, inspecting it for shells.  A small child could have easily choked to death on this one inch piece of hard, jagged walnut shell.  Our new client is obviously entitled to compensation for his severe injuries (four fractured teeth), but, he also wants to send a message to these companies who do not want to take responsbility for thier actions:  at the very least, be more careful, you could really hurt someone!