Posts Tagged ‘Attorney’

Attorney Sean McDonough is heading DLP’s nursing home litigation efforts.  Attorney McDonough has attended and spoke at several national conferences on nursing home abuse.  He is handling nursing home abuse cases throughout Northeast and Central Pennsylvania.  He is also in charge of DLP’s new nursing home web site and nursing home abuse litigation unit.

A recent study out of Pennsylvania State University has been quoted by the gas industry as predicting that as many as 98000 new jobs may be created in Pennsylvania as a result of increased drilling for natural gas.

The Pennsylvania personal injury Attorneys at Dougherty Leventhal and Price LLP are committed to protecting the rights of workers and their families for injuries or death suffered while working at drill sites. Attorney Thomas Cummings and Attorney Joseph Price will be attending a seminar at the University of Texas which will discuss issues involving gas drilling. Attorney Cummings handles workers compensation claims for injured workers. Attorney Price handles serious/complex personal injury claims involving injury or death. Both Attorney Cummings and Attorney Price have been named Super Lawyers by Philadelphia Magazine.

Any person or family suffering death or injury as a result of gas drilling in Pennsylvania should contact Dougherty Leventhal and Price LLP immediately for a free consultation.

In a confidential settlement, the DLP law firm secured an award of $540,000 for a victim in a vicious dog bite attack. Personal injury Attorney David Smacchi was the handling attorney for the dog bite victim.

Attorney John Finnerty is a 2009 and 2010 Recipient of the Equal Access to Justice Award from Lackawanna Pro Bono, Inc. for volunteer efforts in representing indigent clients.

There had been a slew of gruesome murders dating back ten years. The police finally thought they caught their man when they arrested Bad Bart after accumulating overwhelming circumstantial evidence. Unfortunately, the police had nothing concrete to link Bart to the murders that took place in the past, although there were some similarities in the evidence.

Bart hired the famous criminal attorney, Attorney Backstabber, to represent him. When the attorney interviewed Bart, Bart candidly acknowledged that he had committed seven of the prior murders but steadfastly denied that he had committed the most recent one for which he was charged.

Issue: Does Attorney Backstabber have an obligation to notify the authorities of the confession made by Bad Bart of the prior murders.

Answer: The information that Bad Bart gave to his attorney is considered confidential and covered by the attorney/client privilege. In actuality, Attorney Backstabber would be violating that confidentiality privilege by going to the authorities concerning the prior murders. Had Bad Bart advised his attorney that he was going to kill in the future with any specificity, then the attorney would have the obligation to warn the authorities.

Only the client may assert the privilege because its only purpose is to safeguard and promote full, uninhibited discourse between the client and the attorney.

Disclaimer: The above article is for instructive purposes only and each case is fact sensitive. Consultation with an attorney should be obtained instead of reliance upon the legal issues discussed in this column.

Pennsylvania personal injury attorney Joseph Price was recently honored for outstanding service to individuals and families who sought compensation under the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. Attorney Price was one of the first lawyers from Pennsylvania to volunteer to represents victims of the 9/11 attack. Attorney Price attended training sessions offered by the New York Trial Bar conducted in New York City. Attorney Price was assisted by fellow DLP attorneys Judy Price, Brian Walsh and John Finnerty in representing several families before the Fund administrators. The efforts of Attorney Price and his fellow attorneys resulted in several awards for their clients all in excess of one million dollars. The efforts of the lawyers at DLP and other volunteer lawyers made through Trial Lawyers Care resulted in the largest pro bono service program in the history of the United States of America, providing free legal representation to more than 1700 victim families.

The lawyers at DLP remain committed to serving the public and members of the community in Northeastern Pennsylvania and beyond.

Recently, Pennsylvania Personal Injury Attorneys Brian G. Price & Brian J. Walsh of the law firm of Dougherty, Leventhal & Price, L.L.P. scored a major victory for car accident victims in the Pennsylvania Superior Court.  DLP’s latest victory will have a direct effect on motor vehicle victims’ cases throughout the Commonwealth and assist thousands of victims to receive the compensation they deserve.

In April of 2001, the Plaintiff, Thomas Vaxmonsky, was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident near Scranton, Pennsylvania.  Mr. Vaxmonsky retained the professional legal services of Dougherty, Leventhal & Price, (DLP law).  Attorney Brian Price immediately collected off of the person who caused the accident and simultaneously looked to American International Insurance Company to secure Thomas Vaxmonsky’s underinsured motorist coverage (UIM) which protected him on the date of the accident.

American International Insurance Company advised Attorney Price that Thomas Vaxmonsky had rejected UIM coverage.  Attorney Price requested proof of the rejection.  Attorney Price analyzed the paperwork and discovered that American International Insurance Company had not followed the very strict laws of Pennsylvania as it relates to an insured properly rejecting UIM coverage.  Thomas Vaxmonsky’s proposed UIM rejection form was missing one word.

Attorney Price advised American International Insurance Company of their error.  The insurance company refused to accept responsibility and would not pay Thomas Vaxmonsky his UIM benefits.  Attorney Price fought the insurance company in Luzerne County and all the way up to the Pennsylvania Superior Court.

Ultimately, in American International Insurance Company v. Vaxmonsky 2006 Pa. Super. 373, the Pennsylvania Superior Court agreed with Attorney Price and ruled that because AIIC’s proposed rejection of Uninsured Motorist Coverage was missing one word; it did not comply with 75 Pa.C.S.A. §1731.  Hence, Thomas Vaxmonsky was afforded the $400,000.00 worth of underinsured motorist coverage which DLP argued protected him on the date of the motor vehicle accident at issue.

Thomas Vaxmonsky received his money and now thousands throughout Pennsylvania are able to receive the underinsured motorist coverage that many did not even know they rejected.  Another example of why it is so important to hire a lawyer to fight for your rights after a motor vehicle accident.

Respectfully submitted,
Attorney Brian G. Price
DLP law
Toll Free 1-877-357-9700

Attorney Tom Cummings is on the committee for the Our Lady Of the Snows annual “Night at the Races” event. This year’s event will take place on March 6, 2010. The event raises funding for the church’s summer vacation Bible school. Personal injury attorney Tom Cummings has been a member of this committee for 4 years.