Richard S. Plattner, Firm Partner
Well, I’ve been practicing law; now I’m in my 41st year of doing it. What I love about being a personal injury lawyer for plaintiffs is I get to help people. I don’t represent corporations. I only represent people: fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters who’ve been knocked down and who need a hand to get pulled…
Read MoreFormer Banner Health Nurse Collects $6M in Whistleblower Lawsuits
Cecilia Guardiola, RN, has an impressive resume as a hospital compliance expert. However, recently, she’s been having trouble landing a job. It seems that once hospitals do a background check on Ms. Guardiola, she rarely hears from them again. That may have something to do with the three whistleblower lawsuits she’s filed against former hospitals…
Read MoreNick Verderame, Associate
I like representing injured plaintiffs because it’s a lot of fun. It’s not just fun what we do every day, going to court and making arguments, but it’s fun helping people in a way that impacts their life. Before I was doing this kind of work, I was doing corporate mergers and acquisitions, and it…
Read MoreNuisance Neighbors: NC Judge Awards $50 Million in Lawsuit against Murphy Brown/Smithfield Foods
Despite their reputation, pigs are clean animals. If given enough space, they’ll stay far away from their own waste. They’ll clean off their food if there’s water nearby. And the wallowing in mud? Not only does it cool them down (pigs don’t have sweat glands), but it keeps ticks, lice and other parasites at bay.…
Read MoreBike Safety
Bicycle safety can be a little bit complicated. Normally, bicycles are supposed to follow the same rules of the road that motor vehicles follow. But there are exceptions. In Arizona, for example, a bicycle in a cross walk is covered by the same rules as pedestrians, whether you’re riding your bike or walking your bike.…
Read MoreWhistleblowers Prevail in $11.4 Million Qui Tam Claim with Genetics Testing Company
On March 5, 2018, Natera Inc. settled with the U.S. government for $11.4 million dollars to resolve a qui tam action filed by Sallie McAdoo and Steven Aldridge in January 2015. The qui tam complaint alleges that Natera, a genetic testing laboratory which performed services for which they were reimbursed by several government agencies, submitted…
Read MoreHow to File Sexual Harassment Charges in Phoenix, AZ
Unfortunately in our society, people who have positions of authority take advantage of that authority, and harass employees sexually in the workplace. There are a couple of kinds of claims that can stem from that. First, you can file a claim with the EEOC. That’s a federal government agency, where you could actually get online…
Read MoreJaguar & Waymo Partner to Develop Luxury Self-Driving Car
Waymo, the autonomous car development company, and Jaguar, the luxury vehicle brand, recently announced a partnership to build and outfit up to 20,000 I-PACE fully electric cars over the next three years for their self-driving ride-hail service. The two companies plan to have prototypes on the road in Phoenix by the of the year, and…
Read MoreAre Bars Responsible if They Over Serve a Customer and it Causes an Accident?
Bars can be responsible if they over serve patrons, get them drunk and then an injury happens. It may seem counterintuitive that somebody who’s in the business of serving alcohol, actually is required not to serve too much alcohol, but it’s an important rule in the law because it’s necessary to prevent injury and death…
Read MoreU.S. Government Recovers $66 Million from Japanese Manufacturer of Defective Body Armor
The decade old lawsuit of a former law enforcement officer has facilitated the U.S. government’s re-capture of $66 million from a Japanese manufacturer. Toyobo manufactured and sold bulletproof fiber for bulletproof vests issued to local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies. The fiber was eventually found to be defective. The U.S. Department of Justice…
Read MoreCouple Awarded $117 Million in Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Lawsuit
On April 11, a New Jersey couple was awarded $80 million in punitive damages from Johnson & Johnson and Imerys Talc America. This comes a week after a Middlesex County jury had already awarded Stephen Lanzo $30 million and $7 million to his wife in compensatory damages. Lanzo claims his long-term use of asbestos-contaminated J&J…
Read MoreNine Deaths, Dozens of Injuries, Hundreds of Crashes – and Goodyear Has Known the Entire Time
In 1996, Goodyear started installing the G159 275/70R 22.5 tire – the G159, from here on – on RVs. That same year, the first complaint was made, claiming that the tire failed. To hear Goodyear tell it, there have only been 7 injuries and 58 tire failure reports since 1996. In truth, there have 74…
Read MoreCrash or Accident – Does it Make a Difference Which Word You Use?
With the incredibly high rate of traffic fatalities lately, safety advocates and concerned people have been advocating for a change in what word we use to describe the collision of vehicles on the road. We have used the words, crash, collision, or wreck to describe what has come to be described as a traffic accident.…
Read MoreClarifying the Definition of Whistleblower Anti-Retaliation Protections
In February, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled that the anti-retaliation protections of the Dodd-Frank Act do not kick in until a whistleblower has reported the fraud to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A whistleblower, as the law defines it, is someone who provides information to the SEC (or another federal…
Read MoreSix People Confirmed Dead after a Small Plane Crashed at TPC Scottsdale Champions Golf Course
A small plane crashed at the TPC Scottsdale Champions golf course on Monday night, killing all six people aboard. The Piper PA24 Comanche left Scottsdale Airport for Las Vegas, but crashed soon after take-off. The golf course is less than a mile away from the airport, and the plane burst into flames after crashing. The…
Read MoreKmart Settles False Claims Act Case For $32 Million
At the end of December 2017, Kmart Corp agreed to pay out $32.3 million to the United States as part of a settlement of a lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act. The lawsuit, filed in 2008, alleged that Kmart overcharged government programs and private insurers for generic prescription drugs over a period of 12…
Read MoreReviewing 2017’s Biggest Car Recalls
As we move into a new year with a new round of car models hitting the market, let’s look back on the past year and some of 2017’s significant auto recalls. It’s worth noting that the number of recalls in 2017 dropped sharply from 2016—from 52,985,779 down to 28,146,661—although that difference was likely affected by…
Read MoreUber Halts Testing of Self-Driving Cars after a Woman is Struck and Killed in Tempe
A fatal car crash involving an autonomous vehicle occurred yesterday in Tempe, when 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg was struck and killed in Tempe, AZ. The investigation is still underway, but this is what the news is currently reporting: The car was traveling at a speed of 38 to 40 mph on a 35 mph stretch of…
Read MoreSupreme Court Unanimously Rules to Limit Dodd-Frank Protections for Whistleblower Actions
A whistleblower is a person who exposes fraud, or illicit or illegal behavior in an organization. When that information is reported to the government, and the government is able to recover funds from the company or organization engaged in such behavior, that is called a qui tam action. (So, all qui tam actions are acts…
Read MoreGrand Canyon Helicopter Crash Claims a Fifth Life
On February 10, 2018, a group of friends took a helicopter tour from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. They were visiting our country from Britain, to celebrate Stuart Hill’s 30th birthday. Just shy of 5:30 pm, the EC-130 helicopter, operated by tour company Papillon Airways, crashed near Quartermaster Canyon on the Hualapai Nation. Three…
Read MoreIllinois Court of Appeals Ruled that Motorola Must Face Birth Defect Claims in Court
When a worker is harmed by toxic chemical exposure, he or she can only make a claim for workers’ compensation. But what happens when the worker’s baby suffers a birth defect of injury that could be linked to those same chemicals? Can you make a claim in court for negligence? The First District Court of…
Read MoreAutonomous Trucks Are Coming to Arizona
In early 2018, the Chinese startup TuSimple will formally open a research and testing facility here in Arizona, testing and developing its autonomous trucks. The company already completed a successful test run in July 2017, with a 170-mile public road trial of an autonomous truck from San Diego, CA to Yuma, Arizona. They kick off…
Read MoreExploding E-Cigarette Leaves Man with First- and Second-Degree Burn Injuries
For the last few years, e-cigarettes have become the go-to product for people trying to quit smoking. While no one debates the dangers associated with traditional tobacco products (lung cancer, COPD, mouth and throat cancer, heart disease – the list goes on and on), there is a fierce debate over whether or not “vaping” is…
Read MoreQui Tam Whistleblowers Were Paid $392 Million by the Federal Government in FY 2017
You can be rewarded if you help uncover fraud perpetrated by a business against the federal government. That is what a qui tam action is. The latest numbers are out for fiscal year 2017, and this was a big year for the False Claims Act. The National Law Review reports that the Department of Justice…
Read MoreDistracted Driving is Downright Dangerous
Many people find driving to be a relaxing activity. Not that grinding day-to-day commute, but perhaps a leisurely weekend drive out to admire the local scenery. However, your pleasure drive can turn dangerous if confronted with road hazards or distracted drivers, which is why you need to always remain vigilant behind the wheel. Did you…
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