Gray Matters Winter 2011

November 2010

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Welcome to Gray Matters, Gray·Duffy, LLP’s seasonal newsletter, keeping you up-to-date on legal trends and firm news. If you’d like to be removed from our list, please click the “SafeUnsubscribe” button at the bottom of this email.
Gray·Duffy: Year in Review

Gary Gray

The year 2010 was an extraordinarily successful one for Gray·Duffy. We diversified and broadened the firm’s expertise with the addition of two new attorneys and achieved noteworthy settlements on behalf of our clients in many of our practice areas. To read representative success highlights, click here.


We’re proud to announce the addition of two attorneys who bring a wealth of experience to our litigation, mediation and personal injury practice areas. In our Redwood City office, we welcomed partner Richard M. Williams, who brought many of the clients from his large mediation and arbitration practice, including school districts and a major supermarket chain in the southern San Francisco Bay Area, a new geographic area for Gray·Duffy. In our Encino office, we welcomed Jack M. Liebhaber, whose particular speciality in automobile, motorcycle, and pedestrian accidents expands our personal injury practice area.

 

We wish you all a very promising year and we look forward to 2011.

 

Sincerely,

Gary S. Gray, Managing Partner

UPDATE: Recovery of Medical Expenses
 Under Hanif/Nishihama

Brian PlessalaBy: Brian Plessala

 

When a personal injury plaintiff’s medical providers are reimbursed at a reduced rate for performed medical services by third party payors such as a private health insurer, Medicare or Medicaid, what amount is the plaintiff entitled to recover in settlement or at trial? When may a party liable for those expenses benefit from the reduced rate?

 

The Hanif/Nishihama doctrine has addressed these questions for some time in California. The California Supreme Court is now poised to address the issue in Howell v. Hamilton Meats and Provisions, Inc. The decision to review the case indicated the statewide importance of the issues and will likely resolve the conflicts between Hanif, Nishihama and Howell.

 

Click here to continue reading about this success.

Do You Need Security Guards?

 

Rene FaucherBy: Rene Faucher
Published: LA Daily Journal

 

As a commercial property or building owner, the security of your tenants and guests is always a main priority. But how do you know when you need increased security and what type of security system you should employ? The courts in California have recognized that circumstances which make assaults reasonably foreseeable may create a duty to have security guards.

 

Such circumstances include a prior incident of an assault or battery on a tenant or a guest on or near your commercial property, or several previously threatened assaults or even thefts in the vicinity of this property, as well as being located in a high crime area, or having a known presence of gang members around the property. Once you have made the decision to have security guards, who do you hire? What are the details you should consider?

 

Continue reading this article to find out how to protect your establishment.

15760 Ventura Blvd., 16 Floor
Encino, Ca 91436
(818) 907-4000
In This Issue
Year in Review
Case Update: Recovery of Medical Expenses
Do You Need Security Guards?
So You Think You Know the Law…
New Partner Announcement
So You Think You Know the Law…

Test your knowledge on legal issues by answering True or False to the following questions. Click the (True/False) links for the answers.

1) The statute of limitations for medical malpractice is always one year from the date of injury. (True/False)

2) If a reasonable person knows of facts sufficient to cause them to suspect an injury caused by medical error or malpractice, the statute of limitations is one year from the date the person suspects the injury was caused by malpractice. (True/False)

3) The statute of limitations in medical malpractice can begin to run if a plaintiff knew or should have suspected that the injuries were caused by negligence or wrongdoing. (True/False)

4) The statute of limitations in a wrongful death case involving medical malpractice can extend beyond one year from the date of death. (True/False)

5) The time for commencement of a medical malpractice action may exceed three years if a foreign body is present which has no diagnostic or therapeutic purpose.  (True/False)

If you have any questions regarding medical malpractice, please contact Kevin Park or call (818) 907-4000.

Firm Welcomes New Partner:
Richard M. Williams

Richard WilliamsThe firm is pleased to announce Richard M. Williams  has joined as a Partner in the Redwood City, CA office. Mr. Williams has more than 35 years of complex litigation experience. His practice covers a breadth of litigation matters including product and premises liability, catastrophic and other personal injury, public entity defense and unfair business practices.

 

Mr. Williams has extensive experience in ADR and has been involved in more than 700 cases as an acting judge pro tem, special master, arbitrator or mediator.

 

View more Gray·Duffy profiles here.

Gray Matters is provided for informational purposes only, and the contents are not intended and should not be construed as legal advice.

© 2011 – Gray·Duffy, LLP. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without written permission.

Please Note: This article is necessarily general in nature and is not a substitute for legal advice with respect to any particular case. Readers should consult with an attorney before taking any action affecting their interests.