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Do you always know what the recipients of your text messages are doing when you text them? An appellate court in New Jersey is considering whether text senders can be held liable when a driver reads a message and gets into an accident with a third party.   Duty Debate In Shannon Colonna’s case, the riders of a motorcycle reportedly sued both her and Kyle Best after Best crashed his pickup into them in Mine Hill, N.J., in September 2009. …

The legal limit for drivers’ blood alcohol content should drop to .05% from its current level of .08%, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended this week. Lowering the limit at which a driver is subject to arrest “could reasonably be expected to have a broad deterrent effect, thereby reducing the risk of injuries and fatalities from crashes associated with impaired driving,” the NTSB asserts in its report. About 1.4 million people are arrested for driving under the influence each year. …

California’s top lawyer has filed a suit against JPMorgan Chase for fraudulent and unlawful debt collection practices. Attorney General Kamala Harris accused the lender of burying California courts in thousands of debt collection lawsuits without verifying the validity of the suits or even serving the defendants with court papers. The suit specifically alleges a widespread practice of robosigning — signing hundreds of pages of legal paperwork without reading them — in JPMorgan Chase’s credit card collection efforts. JPMorgan Chase was …

As reported in Lawyers.com, a Florida couple is suing to get marijuana back from the Manatee County sheriff’s office. Cathy Jordan suffers from Lou Gehrig’s disease, and her husband says she needs the marijuana to alleviate her pain. Florida has not passed a law legalizing medicinal pot, although the state has an exception to its criminal statutes, prohibiting prosecution of the medical use of marijuana. Take our poll on government seizure of medical marijuana and compare your views with other …

When born in a hospital, a baby is routinely given a hepatitis B shot, a vitamin K injection and an application of ointment in the eyes. In all states, a parent can refuse these treatments. It is best to use a waiver signed ahead of time and submitted to the hospital. The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages healthcare providers to seek the informed permission of the parents before providing any immunization.   Be Clear in Your Birth Plan A waiver …

Soon after a jury awarded $6.5 million to a California man who claimed the diabetes drug Actos caused him to develop bladder cancer, a court erased the verdict. Jack Cooper , 79, on April 26 won the award against Actos maker Takeda Pharmaceuticals. His lawyer, Michael Miller, had asked to speed up the trial schedule because Cooper’s bladder cancer had metastasized. Cooper, a former cable-splicer for Pacific Bell Telephone Co., is a borderline diabetic and had taken the drug for five …

Jodi Arias’s jury agreed with the prosecutor on May 15, finding that her murder of ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander was “especially cruel” – one of the aggravating factors that now makes her officially eligible for a spot on Arizona’s death row. The trial moves on to the sentencing phase on May 16, with the jury hearing evidence about whether Arias should get death by lethal injection or life in prison.   Suffering Debate Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder on …

  Jose Antonia Franco-Gonzalez spent nearly five years in detention, separated from his mother after his deportation case was closed. Severe mental impairment prevented him from defending himself. Lawyers.com videojournalist Matt H. Mayes introduces you to Franco-Gonalez, who cannot even speak a complete sentence. But in this landmark court case, a Los Angeles federal judge ruled the U.S. government must provide legal representation for mentally disabled immigrants who cannot afford lawyers and are facing deportation. Franco-Gonzalez’s lawyer, Ahilan Arulanantham, deputy …

A couple who has been active in the effort to have medicinal marijuana use protected in Florida had their crop seized by the sheriff; now the cops are refusing to give it back, so the couple is suing.   Medicinal Use: ‘Life and Death’ Cathy Jordan, who suffers from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and her husband Bob reportedly say smoking marijuana is the only thing that relieves her painful symptoms. The couple had about …

NBA star Kobe Bryant has been spending more time in a trial court than a basketball court lately. Bryant, who has won five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers, is embroiled in a legal dispute over the ownership of his mementos and memorabilia. His adversary? His own mother. A judge on Monday set a trial date of June 17th if the family can’t first resolve the issue in mediation. The items in question are mostly keepsakes from Bryant’s high …