Arizona Legal Support

Arizona Lawsuit Funding

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:15:32 +0000

I just wanted to do a quick spot on the guys from Lawsuit Funding. They provide lawsuit loans for people in Arizona and I figured they might be able to help out a few people around the state. If anyone has any questions please leave a comment and I can talk to the company directly or pass on your question and info.

The weather is looking nice in Arizona, hopefully everyones case is moving along swiftly and everyone is getting the legal support they need. Good luck to everyone!

Another School Infested with Toxic Mold

admin — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:39:39 +0000

Dozens of parents and their teens showed up for a school board meeting in Roswell Tuesday night to voice concern over what they believe is toxic mold in the walls of Goddard High School.

One after another, parents addressed the board about fears that toxic mold is making their kids sick.

One parent quoted her child as saying, “Mom I can’t breathe. My asthma is flaring up.”

Another, Teresa Kyser, said her daughter “started showing very strange signs of blue hands, shortness of breath”

It all started in the fall of 2007 when one student got very sick. After extensive testing doctors told her parents that she had been exposed to dangerous toxins produced by mold.

In response, her father, Paul Taylor launched his own investigation and a Web site . Since then, more Goddard parents have come forward with their stories.

“I don’t know for sure that there is a problem at Goddard,” Kyser said. “What I can tell you as her parent, her father and I, we have taken her to her primary care physician.

“We have therapy sessions set up with alternative doctors that will begin next week. We are trying to rule in or rule out whatever is going on with our daughter.”

Some parents have pulled their kids out of Goddard.

Others are waiting and hoping the district will respond to a lawsuit filed by Taylor requesting an air quality inspection. He’s even offered to pay for it.

“You’re not the enemy,” parent Kevin Moore told the board. “Mold is the enemy, and that’s what we’re fighting against.

“We want to work within the system, and you are the system. We have to turn to you in order to get relief for what we perceive as a problem.”

The board members thanked everyone who came and shared their stories, but made no comment on what will happen next.

The district has already hired three outside contractors to do air quality inspections. They said they found nothing.

Be careful when using an alias.

admin — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:29:07 +0000

What: Arizona man who invented the name “Peter Reynolds” and used it as an alias appeals his conviction of 10-year prison sentence.

When: Arizona Supreme Court ruled on August 30.

Outcome: One of three charges resulting in conviction reversed; his convictions on the other two counts remain intact.

Arizona Statutes of Limitation regarding Debt Collections

admin — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:56:39 +0000

Written contracts: 6 years, runs from date creditor could have sued account.

Oral debts, stated or opens accounts: 3 years.

Actions for fraud or mistake: 3 years from the date of the discovery of the fraud or mistake.

Actions involving fiduciary bonds, out of state instruments and foreign judgments: 4 years. NOTE: Arizona applies its own statute of limitations to foreign judgments rather than that of the state that originally rendered the judgment whether the judgment is being domesticated under the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act or pursuant to a separate action on the foreign judgment.

An Arizona judgment must be renewed within five years of the date of the judgment.

Lawsuit settlement loans may be an option for some.

admin — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 06:20:27 +0000

So here is the basic situation. You are offered 100k to settle a case and you want to accept because you can not afford to keep the case active. Therefore you settle for the 100k and never know what would of happened had you been able to stay the course.

The average person may not know that they do have options in this scenario. There are many ways to obtain funding for your case such as lawsuit settlement loans. The case above is a real life scenario that almost played out except for the fact the clients attorney advised them about these loans and how they can help you get to court. In the case above the plaintiff was awarded 400k once they went to court. In this case everyone wins, the attorney makes more as their fee was based on percentage, the plaintiff walks out with a substantial amount of money more than the initial 100k offer and the loan company makes a nice amount of change based on the interest.

Now these loans are not without risk, like any other loan you may take on you should weigh the pros and cons. People should be aware that these tools are available.

Scottsdale Luxury Homes Prices Rising

admin — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 20:21:08 +0000

Scottsdale is becoming one of those destination spots. The home values here have been all over place. A list celebrities have been moving here for years and they have not spared any money when they build their homes.

These luxury homes near Scottsdale will require a good real estate attorney when prices are this high.

Southern Arizona Legal Aid offers free services to eligible clients

admin — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 04:14:23 +0000

Free legal services are available to low-income residents of Graham and Greenlee counties through Southern Arizona Legal Aid.

â€œWe provide legal services from counseling and advice to representation at hearings,â€ Vanessa Franco, Southern Arizona Legal Aid staff attorney, said.

To be eligible for free legal representation a person must be considered low income according to federal guidelines and must be a United States citizen or a lawful permanent resident of the United States, Franco said.

People seeking the services of Legal Aid may apply over the phone at 520-432-1639. Applications are taken from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Wednesday. Franco said there is no charge to apply.

Legal Aid attorneys will represent eligible individuals in civil matters, such as landlord-tenant disputes, child custody, divorce, consumer issues and wills.

â€œWe donâ€™t do any criminal law at all,â€ Franco said.

There is, however, an exception – the Violence Against Women Act. Franco said Legal Aid will provide legal advice and representation to victims of domestic violence.

Legal Aidâ€™s office is at 2 Copper Queen Plaza in Bisbee. Franco does not see the long drive to Bisbee as a stumbling block to obtaining legal services.

â€œIf they canâ€™t come to us, we can come to them,â€ Franco said, adding that much of the work can often be done via the telephone.

The office is staffed by Franco and another attorney and two support staff members. If additional help is needed for a personâ€™s case, Legal Aid refers the case to a lawyer from the Volunteer Lawyer Program.

Southern Arizona Legal Aid is headquartered in Tucson and is part of the national Legal Aid, which is a nonprofit organization.

Arizona joins 4 states in greenhouse gas accord

admin — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 04:12:47 +0000

Arizona and four other Western states agreed Monday to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from utilities, cars, oil and gas operations, and other industries in an effort to curb global warming.

But Arizona officials sent out mixed signals about whether this state will use legal, enforceable regulations or set goals and timetables to cut levels of greenhouse gases. The reductions would most heavily affect power plants and motor vehicles in Arizona, because those are the state’s biggest sources of greenhouse-gas emissions. Residents’ electric bills probably would rise, although a retired utility executive said Monday that he thought the increases would come gradually.

Seven Eastern states, including New York and New Jersey, are in the process of adopting formal regulations to establish mandatory cap-and-trade programs to curb carbon dioxide emissions. Under such programs, due to take effect by January 2009, emissions from power plants will be capped at about their current levels until 2015, with emission reductions of 10 percent kicking in that year and goals due for completion by 2019.

Under a cap-and-trade program, individual companies can buy and sell credits enabling them to keep stable or increase the amounts of greenhouse gases they emit if other companies have reduced their emissions enough so states meet overall goals. In the Eastern program, states predict that the effects on electric bills are likely to be minimal â€” increases of $3 to $21 per year.

The Western agreement requires states to set regional greenhouse-gas-emission goals within six months, with specific reductions for each state. In 18 months, the states would set up a system of caps and trades to achieve the goals. Others signing on are California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington.

But on Monday in Phoenix, a spokeswoman for Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano said the Western goals are more aspirational than enforceable. Napolitano’s top environmental-policy aide, Lori Faeth, said the goals are different from regulations.

She said that last September, Napolitano issued an order to have greenhouse-gas emissions cut to 1990 levels by 2020, and she has challenged the state to push the timetable up to 2012.

Because emission goals will vary by state, the agreement allows 18 months for officials to meet with interest groups in each state to map out strategies, Faeth said.

Steve Owens, the chief of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, said the state will ultimately issue regulations to carry out the agreement’s goals, but he acknowledged that the state may not have enough legal authority to do everything that’s needed and may require additional legislation. The caps will be legally enforceable, but the specific actions to be taken to carry out the caps may need more legal underpinnings, he said.

“You have to start with aspiration,” said gubernatorial press aide Jeanine L’Ecuyer. “As the states work together, the goals â€” and how they’ll be enforced â€” will be fleshed out.”

Jack Camper, director of the Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, said there’s no question that reducing greenhouse gases is a good idea, but this is a federal problem and should be handled by the federal government.

Camper said he doesn’t believe there should be any new state regulations until the states figure out who would be affected by new rules and what the rules would do to the economy.

“There’s a whole lot of things you need to do before you put in regulations that may be so onerous that business can’t comply and it disrupts the economy,” Camper said.

But an Arizona environmentalist said that without regulations with legal teeth, Monday’s agreement would amount only to window dressing.

“It is a step in the right direction. We need to put pressure on elected officials to make sure this is translated into law,” said Erik Magnuson, program associate for Environment Arizona.

Napolitano and the other Western governors said they were taking these measures because the federal government has failed to act. Meanwhile, the states are suffering from climate change: extended droughts, excessive heat waves, reduced snowpacks, decreased spring runoff and severe wildfires, the governors said.

According to Napolitano’s Climate Change Advisory Group, greenhouse-gas emissions have increased by 56 percent in Arizona since 1990.

Monday’s agreement “sets the stage for a regional cap-and-trade program, which will provide a powerful framework for developing a national cap-and-trade program,” California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. “This agreement shows the power of states to lead our nation addressing climate change.”

The head of the University of Arizona’s business school, as well as a former top utility executive and retired Arizona State University official, greeted the five-state agreement warmly, saying that it represented a major step forward for state governments to act where the feds have not.

States have taken similar measures to improve health care and combat illegal immigration because of federal failures to handle those issues, said Jack Pfister, a retired ASU vice president for institutional advancement and a former Salt River Project general manager.

“The realities of the world are that leadership fills vacuums,” Pfister said. “Whenever you have an ongoing vacuum, as I think you do with the federal government, it will get filled. This is almost an inevitable result of the polarizing state of federal affairs. Even if we had a Democratic president, I don’t think the results would be much different.”

Paul Portney, dean of the UA’s Eller College of Management, said he thinks it’s great that the Western states are taking on this issue, but he added that it’s definitely inferior to the federal government approaching it comprehensively.

“It is important that trading be able to take place not just within California or among the other states Arizona just joined, but across the country if we are to meet a reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions as inexpensively as possible,” said Portney, a former president of Resources for the Future, a nonprofit, Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

But any emissions-reductions program probably would cost consumers more in utility bills, Portney and Pfister said, although Pfister said he thought that bills will increase gradually, over 10 to 15 years.

“In total, it will probably be a substantial amount of money,” Pfister said. “I think it will be something that people will adjust to over time â€” not rate shock.”

Million Dollar lawsuit in laser hair removal burn case

admin — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 15:45:42 +0000

Be careful who you decide to use when you get that unwanted hair burned off.

A 34-year old investment banker in New York filed a lawsuit in 2001, claiming she received second- and third-degree burns on her face and neck from laser hair removal treatments at the Greenhouse Spa chain’s midtown Manhattan office. She says the scarring has caused her to become a virtual recluse who doesn’t date anymore and is embarrassed at her job.

“I could smell the burning, I could feel my face on fire,” she said. “It was so painful, I could have screamed. I kept wondering when it would be over with.” When she told the spa’s beauty technician to stop because of the pain, the attendant rubbed ice on her face and “asked me if I was ready to do the other side.”

She said a doctor at the spa looked in and told her to buy some salve and go home. According to the complaint filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court, she was diagnosed with serious second- and third-degree burns that plastic surgery cannot repair. She now wears coverings on her face while at work to hide the deep scarring from her laser treatments. Her complaint states she continues to experience “depressed mood, loss of confidence and self-esteem, sleep impairment, anxiety and shame over facial scars.” She says she was told that the treatments were safe and conducted by trained technicians.

Use of these devices by non-physicians is currently being reviewed by FDA due to injuries such as these.

Despite claims by laser promoters that some kinds of lasers are “perfect” for darker and tanned skin, the likelihood of injury is much higher for darker skin tones.

To help protect yourself, insist on having a physician, preferably a dermatologist or plastic surgeon with lots of laser experience perform the treatment. If this is not an option, learn the qualifications of the person performing the procedure. In some states, they require no formal training of any kind. See my section on choosing a laser practitioner for more suggestions.

Finally, avoid excessive use of painkillers during the procedure. This can alert you to the fact that you are being overtreated.

Locally there are a few places that have clean records including Avanti Med Spa and a few others. This is not an endorsement for them and I urge you to due your own background check.

Mold Litigation and Liability

admin — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 20:53:13 +0000

Mold is an ancient problem that has as of late made its way into the courtroom with increasing frequency. It is estimated that about 10,000 mold-related lawsuits were filed nationwide in the last three years. This was likely fueled, at least in part, by reports of the huge jury verdicts in several high-profile mold cases. In June 2001, a Texas jury awarded homeowner Melinda Ballard over $32 million in damages (reduced to $4 million) against her insurer for mishandling mold related claims. In June 1996, a Florida jury awarded Martin County, Florida over $14 million against its construction manager and sureties for the defective construction of the countyâ€™s courthouse and office building that lead to mold contamination. While significant, these awards did not involve personal injury claims.

While over half of mold litigation involves single-family homes, mold is increasingly being found in multi-family complexes, high-rise buildings, school and office buildings, hotels, and other commercial structures. North Carolina has not escaped unscathed. Cases have been filed in North Carolinaâ€™s superior courts arising from the mold contamination in single-family homes, manufactured homes, public schools, hotels, and a number of other structures.

Some places throughout the country experience higher rates of mold than us. We talked to a New Jersey Mold Inspector the other day and couldn’t believe how the mold problem continues to grow, pun intended. There is a surprising lack of online resources around the mold industry though this looks to be changing as many mold blogs and forums are popping up.