Lewis & Tompkins Blog

Automatic Safety Recall Notifications From NHTSA

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is providing automatic updates via e-mail or text messaging.
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Is it OK to fine a whistleblower?

State Farm seems to think so.
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New Law Requires Insurance Companies in Maryland to Act in Good Faith

Under a newly enacted statute, insurance companies must act in "good faith"  in dealing with property and casualty (car accident) claims. "Good faith" is "an informed judgment based on honesty and diligence supported by evidence the insured know or should have known at the time the insurer made a decision on a claim."
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Allstate Insurance Practices

How important is profit making to Allstate? Important enough for Allstate to hire a consulting firm, McKinsey & Co, to re-design their policies, methods and claims procedures that set up a claims payment system that shortchanges injured victims in automobile claims while earning big profits. The McKinsey documents, about 12,500 pages, is the Allstate Bible on how to amass large profits at the expense of its own policyholders.
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Attention Taxi Drivers Who Live in Maryland

The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled in Nasseri v. Geico that Taxi-Cab drivers are eligible for Maryland PIP on their own vehicles when involved in an automobile accident. In Nasseri, the plaintiff taxicab driver collided with another vehicle in Montgomery County. In Maryland taxicabs are not required to maintain the minimum PIP coverage on cabs. In the District Of Columbia, PIP coverages are not offered to taxicab drivers. The Court ruled that GEICO’s policy exclusion was not permitted by Section 19-505 of the Insurance article of the Maryland Code and thus was invalid and unenforceable.
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Serious car accident on I-270

A trash hauling truck struck a passenger vehicle on I-270.  The two occupants of the vehicle, a man and a woman, were pinned under the back two wheels of the tractor trailor.
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Not even the lizard can help this kid.

A Canadian teenager with a horrible driving record just got his insurance bill.
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Two Washington D.C. Area Students Shot In Delaware State School Shooting

Coming on the all to familiar heels of the Virginia Tech shooting, the Delaware State incident brings college campus security problems back in the public light.  The two students shot in this incident, one male and one female, both have ties to the Washington D.C. area.Perhaps these two students should have chosen to go to Georgetown, George Washington, or George Mason.  In any event, the tragic event has sent shock waves throughout the Delaware community and brought national attention to the question of what is happening on our college campuses.  Many of us have been to college or at least visited college campus.  How can a place of higher learning, usually so quaint and innocent, become the ground zero for some maniac?  It looks like admission committees will be looking for red flags more closely when admitting students.Any thoughts?Larry
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Taxi Meters Still on Mayor Fenty's Agenda

A new study has shown that taxi meters are basically a wash for cab drivers in DC, with shorter downtown runs having lower fares, and longer, cross town runs having higher fares.
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Insurance Company Tactics That Cost Us All

Yesterday, I got a visit from a former client of Harry Lewis. By former, I mean thirty years ago! This gentleman was a nice guy, not very intelligent, worked hard, but struggled to keep things together.
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D.C. Solicitation Bill Gets Enforcement

In 2006, the D.C. Council passed legislation making it a crime for anyone to solicit business for lawyers or medical providers. This bill was aimed at so-called "runners" who would call or visit car accident victims, medical malpractice victims, or other other negligence victims and market for attorneys. These runners were paid to refer cases to lawyers.
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Most Medical Malpractice Claims Close With NO Payment to Victims

A study by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics found that the majority of medical malpractice claims were closed without payment to those claiming injuries. The study assessed claims from seven states identified as having comprehensive medical malpractice insurance claims databases. In the states of ME, MO and NV, only one-third of the malpractice claims closed resulted in a payout.
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Taxi Cab Meters Coming?

It appears that Congress, in its paternalistic view, now has an opinion as to how the District of Columbia should handle its taxi cabs. According to NBC 4, Congress has passed a law that will require metered taxi cabs, and abolition of the zone system, within one year.
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Courts Should Use Technology More

In a recent web-news article, criticism has been leveled against D.C. Superior Court's new electronic case management system.    Our firm uses technology to manage its cases, and we believe that everyone, including the Courts, should as well.
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Myth of Excessive Jury Awards

WRONGLY BLAMES JURIES FOR EXCESSIVE AWARDS Here we go again, another misled op-ed columnist needs to fill column inches and goes for the easy out -- criticizing the legal system.
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Fraternity and Sorority Deaths Continue to Plague Colleges in America

As a college student, I was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at Northeast Missouri State University. Our chapter, at the time I joined was new, small and struggling. We did had an idea: What if we did the fraternity-thing differently?
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Uninsured Motorist Coverages for Taxicabs in the District of Columbia

Did you know that the taxi you get into every day in the District of Columbia has less insurance than any other car on the road?  Its true.  Our firm represents many taxicab drivers who have been injured on the road by the negligence of other motorists.  Unfortunately, taxicabs cannot carry the basic insurance coverages necessary to protect their occupants from financial harm.
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