Kentucky Injury Lawyer Blog

In an unfortunate Easter weekend wreck, Glen Bussell died at the UK Hospital after a four car crash on US 460. The cause of the wreck is currently under investigation.

In what is believed to be a case of first impression at the highest court of any state, the New Jersey Supreme Court has held that e-mails sent by an employee to her attorney using a company-provided computer are protected by the attorney-client privilege even though the company policy specifically and explicitly stated that such communications were not to be considered private and were subject to review. The e-mails were sent from a private e-mail account, not a work-related account, but were sent using a company computer.

The court reasoned that individuals need to feel secure that they can speak honestly and candidly with their attorney, which trumps any company policy to the contrary. Furthermore, the company's attorneys who retrieved, read and used the e-mails to defend the case against the company were deemed by the court to have violated ethics rules and could face penalties including monetary sanctions and disqualification.

Even though the New Jersey decision is not controlling authority over a lawyer representing accident and injury victims in Kentucky, like me, I always instruct my clients to use a personal, private e-mail account when communicating with me, to consider a work account unsecure for communicating with me and to avoid using a work account for doing so. A court could rule that e-mails from a work account are not protected communications under the attorney-client privilege, which could lead to serious damage to a case.

A 79 year old Lexington woman crashed her SUV into a Kroger store today. While the vehicle crashed through the wall and into Lane 5, no one was hurt.

For the cigarette industry, a fight over the marketing of cigarettes known as “menthol” appears to be on the horizon.

The new administration’s federal advisory board for tobacco regulation plans to meet to discuss the menthol issue. At the forefront of the board’s concerns is a contentious, and socio-economically issue that Congress put off to this year when it empowered the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) to regulate tobacco for the first time.
It might surprise some readers that menthol flavorings in cigarettes account for almost a third of the nation’s $70 billion cigarette market.

Critics of the tobacco industry and many members of Congress have advocated a total ban of menthol in tobacco products. Said critics feel that the flavoring, which cools and some say covers the taste of cigarette tobacco, is being marketed to young smokers while also being marketed to African-Americans who, as a group, have the highest rates of smoking-related disease.

Congress has passed the issue on to the F.D.A., which will have a stated two-year deadline to propose new regulations.

In a follow-up to the continuing saga of Toyota Motor Co.’s ongoing issues involving problems with the popular brand new data was released late last month that seems to show that the vehicle manufacturer’s “fixes” are not working as well as the company would have liked. More than sixty (60) drivers have re-complained of sudden acceleration incidents despite the fact that their cars were repaired by Toyota Motor Corp. in the current recalls,

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) has recently released some follow-up figures showing a significant increase in the total number of complaints involving repaired vehicles. The figures are preliminary in nature and could prove to be an aberration or could be a precursor of things to come (which would be extremely problematic for Toyota). The new consumer complaints relay several accidents and at least three injuries resulting from runaway unintended acceleration despite the vehicles' undergoing a series of modifications at Toyota dealerships designed to resolve the issue.

Two people were killed in the Pike County community of Mouthcard, Kentucky when a tractor-trailer hit them while they were walking.

Police say that they have conducted a preliminary investigation of the accident, which happened this morning. They say it appears that the tractor may have had a mechanical problem which caused the driver to lose control of the truck. The truck driver apparently turned to avoid hitting a building and hit the two pedestrians instead.

Shawn Cantley, a Kentucky injury attorney provides our legal analysis (for attorney profile and contact info, click here):

From a legal perspective, as a general rule, a mechanical failure would not amount to negligence on the part of the driver. As a result, there would be no recovery available against the trucking company or its insurer for the victims. However, if the mechanical failure was foreseeable (for example, if it resulted from a failure to properly maintain the vehicle), then the owner of the truck would be legally responsible for the deaths of the pedestrians. In a case like this, involving fatalities, the truck should be preserved in its current state and an independent accident reconstruction, including a complete mechanical analysis, should be done immediately.

Versailles Police are reporting a single-car accident in Woodford County, Kentucky that took two lives and seriously injured a third occupant. The wreck happened on Dry Ridge Road in southern Woodford County, south of Versailles, Kentucky.

Police are saying that the driver of the car lost control and struck a tree, causing the vehicle to burst into flames. The female driver and a male passenger reportedly died at the scene of the wreck. Another passenger, a female, was able to escape the vehicle. She was taken to University of Kentucky Hospital with serious injuries.

Shawn Cantley, a Kentucky injury attorney provides our legal analysis (for attorney profile and contact info, click here):

This last week was a terrible week for devastating auto accidents. From a purely legal analysis, single-car accidents are generally caused by negligence on the part of the driver. There are obviously exceptions, and there isn't enough information to make that determination at this point, but if the wreck was caused by driver inattentiveness or carelessness, then the passengers would be entitled to recover under the driver's liability coverage, along with their own underinsured motorist coverage, if they carried this coverage. Under certain circumstances underinsured coverage can be "stacked" from multiple policies. However, it is an unfortunate fact that insurance claims representatives do not always properly advise claimants about multiple sources of insurance coverage. This is where an experienced personal injury attorney can be a valuable resource.

Kentucky State Police are reporting that 38 year-old Todd Wages of Salt Lick, Kentucky has died after being hit by a car last night in Bath County.

Mr. Wages was hit by a Pontiac Grand Prix that was being driven by 47 year-old Priscilla C. Patrick of Morehead, Kentucky.

The incident remains under investigation, but state police say Mr. Wages was walking eastbound along US 60 near Midland when he was hit by Ms. Patrick when she failed to notice him walking on the side of the road. She was also traveling eastbound. He was hit by the passenger side fender and thrown into a ditch.

Jaqueline Keith of Louisville was killed Saturday evening on I-65 in Bullitt County after she clipped another vehicle while changing lanes and crossed into oncoming traffic. Apparently, there were no cable barriers at that stretch of I-65. Again, how many deaths is it going to take before we install these cable barriers all along our highways. It is truly a matter of life and death.

Another accusation has surfaced against a (former) National Football League (N.F.L.) player involving sexual assault. This, on the heels of recent news involving Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. In the most recent accusation a woman has accused retired NFL placekicker Tony Zendejas of raping her two years ago. A criminal trial has been conducted with the jury finding in favor, and acquitting, Mr. Zendejas. However, his accuser has elected to file a civil lawsuit against Zendejas and his San Dimas restaurant.

The woman is seeking unspecified monetary damages from Zendejas in her Jan. 22 complaint, which alleges negligence, battery, sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. While denying all accusations of rape or sexual assault Mr. Zendejas does acknowledge that the two had “consensual” sex on the night in question.

Zendejas' attorney said Thursday that he expects to prevail again in civil court. "Obviously our position has been the same as it was in the criminal trial," said attorney James Reiss. "The lawsuit has no merit. This was a completely consensual sexual encounter."

"We expect the same outcome as we had in the criminal trial," Reiss added. At present, this matter has not been set for trial.