Boston Personal Injury Attorney Blog

July 9, 2015

Woman Sues Miami Marlins After Alleged Shark Attack Involving Mascot

We have been hearing a lot on the news these days about a increase in the number of shark attacks at beaches along the east coast of the United States. While some say they are not going to change their summer plans to the hit the Cape and other beaches, many are reacting to fears of increased shark attacks. However, according to a recent news article from Sporting News, a woman is suing the Miami Marlins Baseball Club for injuries she sustained in what is being called a “fake shark attack.”

According to her complaint, she attended a game at Marlins’ Park in 2013. As the team does at every home game, the “Great Sea Race” was held, in which mascots wearing foam and rubber costumes depicting various sea creatures run around the warning track in a foot race, and sometimes they engage in various other stunts or antics to amuse the crowd. Continue reading

July 7, 2015

Sarkisian v. Concept Restaurants, Inc.: Slip and Fall Accidents in Massachusetts

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

In Sarkisian v. Concept Restaurants, Inc., an appeal from the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (SJC), plaintiff slipped and fell at a nightclub in Boston owned and operated by defendant.

According to court records, the nightclub was licensed to hold 574 occupants at a time and contained a wooden dance floor, which was approximately 50 feet in length. There were two bars at which employees served alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks, and these bars were both located on the dance floor itself. One of the bars was 50 feet in length and the other was 15 feet long. Customers were allowed to take their drinks served in plastic cups on the dance floor or drink them in any other part of the nightclub including the lounge area that was accessible by a flight of stairs.

Plaintiff and her friends entered the nightclub on an evening when the club was staffed by eight security guards, three bar backs and a manager, in addition to the DJ playing music and the bartenders. All personnel were responsible for making sure the dance floor was cleared of debris and safe for walking and dancing. Continue reading

July 3, 2015

Area Evacuated – 5,000 Residents Displaced after Toxic Train Crash

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

For quite some time, the fatal derailment accident involving an Amtrak passenger train was making headline news across the county. There were a variety of theories about the speed of the train and whether someone was shooting at trains in the Philadelphia area, and a variety of other theories.

Whenever a passenger train is involved in a accident, it makes sense that it captures the public attention. However, passenger rail service only accounts for a very small portion of the total rail traffic in the United States. Most of the rail traffic in the United States is for Freight Trains, which carry everything from coal to cars across the country. Some of the freight trains are filled with hazardous chemicals and fuels, and an accident involving a freight train can result in serious personal injury not only to those operating the trains, but also to the entire community around the crash site.

According to a news report from the Tennessean, the recent derailment involving a CSX freight train carrying toxic liquid chemicals caused serious environmental concerns and a town of around 5,000 residents was evacuated following the train crash. All of the residents asked to leave their homes and business were located within a mile and a half of the crash site. Emergency personnel went through the neighborhoods knocking on individual doors telling them they should leave immediately. Continue reading

June 30, 2015

Customer Sues Big Box Retailer for Slip-and-Fall Injury

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent article from the WV Record, an injured customer is suing a major big box retailer for an alleged slip-and-fall accident resulting in personal injury.

This female plaintiff has alleged multiple negligence claims against defendant as being responsible for her slip-and-fall injury, which occurred in May of 2013 during a shopping trip to the store. In her complaint, plaintiff asserts she was in the pedestrian walkway of the store when the accident occurred. She further alleges defendant had breached its duty of care owed to her by allowing standing water to remain in the area designated for pedestrian traffic. Continue reading

June 27, 2015

Alan Dershowitz Sues Boston Arena for Slip-and-Fall Injury

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Boston Attorney and Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, best known for his role on the O.J. Simpson defense team during the world-famous murder trial, is making headlines once again. This time, according to a recent news article from The Boston Globe, Dershowitz is suing the TD Boston Garden arena where the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics play for alleged negligence involving a slip and fall accident.

Through his complaint, Dershowitz alleges he was at the arena while attending a Boston Celtics game nearly three years ago. While at the arena, he went to use one of the bathrooms in the facility and slipped on an allegedly wet floor near the sinks and fell to the ground, injuring himself. He is blaming the hazardous condition of the floors on the arena operator’s failure to adequately supply the bathroom with paper towels. Continue reading

June 23, 2015

Two Dead in Hunting Boat Accident in Massachusetts

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

While hunting is a popular activity across New England, including parts of Massachusetts, there is obviously some degree of danger associated with the outdoor activity. Not only are you relying on the members of your own hunting party to act in a responsible manner, you may also have to contend with potentially negligent hunters in other groups sharing the woods with you. Sometimes their actions can result in serious personal injury or death.

While being shot is one obvious danger, there is a wide variety of equipment many hunters use that can also be dangerous, ranging from tree stands for deer and bear hunters to boats utilized by many duck and other waterfowl hunters. According to a report form The Taunton Gazette, two hunters died when their camouflaged johnboat capsized into frigid water. Continue reading

June 20, 2015

Fireworks Safety and Avoiding Personal Injury

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

With the Fourth of July holiday quickly approaching, this is a good opportunity to discuss fireworks safety. Despite the fact fireworks are illegal in many areas of Massachusetts without a professional license and municipal permit, many people will illegally launch amateur fireworks purchased in other states. Even those who are not personally shooting off any illegal fireworks are likely to be attending a party or barbeque where someone else will be holding their own fireworks display. Continue reading

June 17, 2015

Boston Boating Accident – Woman Loses Arm

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

With warmer weather, everyone is taking to the water whenever they get a chance. For Boston, that may mean learning to sail at the Community Boating, Inc. on the Charles River Esplanade. Or for those interested in getting a workout, traveling up the Charles to Community Rowing. Some will rent or go out on a friend’s powerboat docked around the greater Boston Area.

While boating can be a lot of fun, it can also be dangerous. According to a recent news report from My Fox Boston, a woman suffered a serious personal injury in a boating accident in Boston Harbor and suffered amputation of her arm.

Witnesses say the female victim fell overboard and landed in the water. Her arm hit the propeller, which was spinning at the time she fell into the water, and it cut off her arm. The victim was 19-years-old. The accident occurred just before 8 p.m.
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June 15, 2015

Boston Hospital Treats Man After Weed Trimmer Shoots Nail in Eye

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

According to a recent news report from the Calgary Herald, a man was operating his string trimmer (commonly called a “weed eater” or weed whacker”) when it picked up a stray nail and threw it into his eye.

The 27-year-old landscaper could have suffered a fate much worse when the three-inch nail penetrated his eye and traveled into his brain. A neurosurgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) who treated victim said when you looked at him, all you could see was the head of the nail sticking out of his right eye.

This medical case history made into the New England Medical Journal as doctors used a new type of CT scanner to get detailed imaging of his eye and brain, as they were unable to determine the length or path of the nail from an external examination. One radiologist who helped perform the scan said the nail was very deep and had almost punctured victim’s other eye.
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June 11, 2015

Police Officer Sues Starbucks Over Coffee Burn

by Jeffrey S. Glassman

Whenever anyone talks about lawsuits and big verdicts, they quite often think of the woman who sued McDonald’s when she was burned by hot coffee in her car. People often use that story as an example of how lawsuits are out of control in this country.

In reality, most people have very little idea as to what actually happened in that case. The victim had a hot cup of coffee in a car but was not driving. She was a passenger. The coffee was not just hot, but was around 210 degrees, because the company chose to hold their coffee just below boiling. The company had received nearly a thousand reports of customers being burned by their coffee – including children and elderly – and still refused to lower the temperature. Another fact most people don’t know is the woman suffered third degree full thickness burns to her crotch and legs, as it actually burned through her pants, and, despite that extreme pain, she offered to settle the case for less than $15,000, but the company refused.
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