Paul B. Harding

The Golden Years That Weren't

Nursing Home Negligence Injury and Death:

While more Americans are living longer, the number of individuals ending their days in nursing homes is also increasing.  However, accidents in the nursing homes due to negligence are on the rise as well.  In one case, an elderly woman was left unattended in a bathing chair;  no restraint had been engaged on the seat. The woman fell from the chair, broke her hip, and died shortly afterwards.  The injuries incurred, and the ultimate fatality, resulted in a lawsuit lodged against the facility and aide for institutional negligence. In many cases, nursing homes are responding to such lapses in supervision and care by raising standards. We urge all who have loved ones in such facilities to spend the necessary time evaluating the quality of interaction between staff and patient.  You owe it those you love.  The National Quality Forum is working to improve healthcare quality measurement.

Pool Safety

I have been interviewed about swimming pool injuries and death.  Drowning remains the second leading cause of injury-related death among children ages 1 to 14,   Pool safety negligence as a cause of accidental death shocks an entire community.  In the interview, I have listed some vital measures pool owners should take to avert the possibility of a child’s accidental death.  Pools not compliant with ASTM guidelines can have a lethal buildup of rainwater, in which an infant can drown.

Scott Wolter Endowment Fund in wake of tragedy.

            In 1997 my firm represented an Upstate New York family that had to bear the loss of a son in a motor vehicle accident.  Another son suffered severe multiple injuries.  The family car had hit another vehicle.  The parties in the second vehicle had actually sued the family for their injuries.  Eventually, our firm won a settlement for the family whose combined trauma of a son’s death and another’s injuries far exceeded those of the second car.

            After the settlement, an endowment fund was established in the son’s name to build a roof to a hockey field dedicated to the boy’s honor. Anyone who wishes to donate to the Scotts’ Endowment Fund can mail a check to P.O. Box 462 Chazy, NY 12921.

Holiday Drinking and Driving

            During the holidays, we like to think and plan all those things that make the special times so special. Whether it is a party, gathering, or quiet night with family, we all like to put all our worries aside. Unfortunately, many people drink their worries away, and make the bad decision to drive under the influence. This is a risk that many take that in too many cases results in injury or death to the driver and passengers, or innocent drivers that fall victim to these accidents. These tragedies are far too many in number, and the saddest part is that there is so much we can do to prevent it from happening.

Party hosts are expected to serve some sort of alcohol for his/her guests to enjoy at your party.  The last thing on the host’s mind is that someone might have trouble getting home safely. Many people don’t realize the precautions they can take as hosts to help keep the drinking responsible.

Here are a few:

• Provide plenty of non-alcoholic beverages.
• Don’t put any pressure on your guests to drink alcohol.
• Serve food to slow the rate of alcohol absorption.
• Stop serving liquor an hour or two before the party is over.
• And most importantly, not to let someone drive who obviously has had too much to drink and is in no condition to be a safe driver.

After you leave a party, usually at night, you might feel safe knowing that you had sobered up before heading home. Although you took the right precautions, other drivers who you might encounter have not. Even in the dark, there are telltale signs of drunk drivers, and you can avoid them before they get too close:

• Drivers who are weaving, swerving, drifting, or straddling the centerline.
• Drivers who are driving on the wrong side of the road.
• A very slow driver might be overcompensating.
• Drivers who respond too slowly to traffic signals.
• Cars after dark with no headlights turned on.

Even if these drivers aren’t drunk, they are still a clear danger. The best way to avoid    such drivers behind you is to turn right at the nearest intersection and let them pass you. The best way to avoid a suspicious driver in front of you is to keep a good distance. If they are coming at you, then slow down, move to the right and stop.

Product Liability Law

What is Product Liability Law?

            Common products in use everyday can be a potential cause of injury or even death. It is the responsibility of the both manufacturer and seller of consumer products to provide information on safe use.  Disclosures of potential harm or side effects, definitions of appropriate and inappropriate handling or use, and all known product liabilities must be clearly stated.  Explicit safety warnings must appear on the packaging and, in the case of pharmaceuticals, a full “human readable” drug profile should be supplied.  In short, consumers must be made aware of any known potential harm before exposure.  However, in some cases, consequential ill effects may be have been unanticipated by the manufacturer, setting the stage for a wave of potential victims. Releasing consumables that provoke harm can be an instance of product liability negligence.  In some other cases, though, the manufacturer’s research and development team might have discovered a potential product liability that, for some reason, has not been properly disclosed in the final commercial release. Such suppressions of potential liability impact are actually criminally negligent.  When consequential harm occurs, a Product Liability Lawyer steps in. The job of such lawyers is to find out if instances of harm are caused by a design flaw, a lack of warning of a previously known defect, an isolated single accident, or if the product in question was used improperly.  While the effects of product liability can be devastating for the victim, a legal action is one way of making it known to the product’s manufacturer or designer that a change in distribution must be effectuated immediately so that no one else will suffer the same fate. In some cases, the product is withdrawn. 

Product liability cases are frequently well publicized.  For example, vehicles are recalled because someone became seriously injured in an accident because of a design flaw or malfunction in the vehicle;   a child’s toy might unexpectedly cause choking. Sadly, the way that most products’ problems come to light is when someone is tragically injured.

            Some of the worst cases of pharmaceutical negligence result in serious illness, permanent impairment, or in some cases, drug-induced suicide. When many individuals have suffered, a class action suit is filed.

            Over the past few years, there have been many high profile cases that have arisen against product manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies alike. Martin, Harding, & Mazzotti have represented victims of the terrible side effects of Vioxx and Neurontin.  News coverage of the disastrous effects of these drugs has been ample.   

In May 2004, Pfizer Inc pleaded guilty to fraudulent promotion and criminal negligence in promoting unapproved uses of Neurontin.

In 1999, the Food and Drug administration approved the pain and inflammation drug Vioxx.  Now, thousands of suits have been filed that claim the drug has had life-threatening side effects:  http://www.legalnewswatch.com/Vioxx_t.html

Neurontin link: http://www.legalnewswatch.com/news_351.html.  $427M settlement against Pfizer.

Public Service for Injury Prevention

Martin, Harding & Mazzotti LLP is, as you know, a personal injury law firm in upstate New York.  I had worked at other law offices before this, which are listed in my bio on my web site. I originally met Judge Bruce Martin, who wasn’t a judge yet, while working on a golf course. Later on in my career, Bruce Martin and I joined with litigator Victor Mazzotti to form what the firm is today.

From the outset, we knew that assisting our community was a professional imperative.  We have set up charities and services which emphasize prevention of personal injury.  DUI and DWI prevention is targeted.  For example, in one program we give free cab rides home on New Years Eve, accidents. We also support the efforts of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).
 

Being a Personal Injury Lawyer

Hello reader:  My name is Paul B. Harding, managing partner in the law firm of Martin, Harding, & Mazzotti LLP, located in upstate New York. Although you may be aware of our personal injury firm if you live in the New York Capital District,  you may know little of who I am, my own professional philosophy, and my devotion to family, friends and community.  Even if you do not live in my region, I hope you can find the articles in this weblog useful, thought provoking, and even, perhaps, inspirational.

Part of my mission in the weblog is to expose and address the commonly held prejudices against personal injury law.  Being able to help individuals who experience inexpressible suffering as the result of an accident or neglect is a noble cause.  However, in every profession there are opportunistic individuals in pursuit of feckless compensation.

A Short Biography

My background is exclusively local to upstate New York, being born in the city of Schenectady on January 17th 1964. My father was a mailman, and my mother was a stay-at-home mom. I have one sister, whom I have a good relationship with. My father tragically passed away on April 2, 1994. My mother currently resides in Schenectady.

Presently, I am married with two beautiful children (both girls), and I have two basset hounds, which are with no doubt a vital piece to our family, since we are all animal lovers. Among the community efforts we support, Martin, Harding, & Mazzotti, LLP has launched a campaign to fund  rabies and distemper shots for people who adopt animals from certain shelters.  The cases of dog bites injury have been unusually high in the past three years, and our firm wants to reduce the potential for both animal deaths and human injury.

My educational background is one that you might expect for a lawyer. Even in high school, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer. I was on the debate team, which drove my passion further. Although being a lawyer was my goal, I still applied my self in many other areas, sports being one of them. My high school sports included pole vaulting, soccer, track, and wrestling. As for my college education, I went to SUNY (State University of New York) Oswego, where I double majored in English and Public Justice. The English I was interested in was mostly classic English literature.  The passion for literature and writing has persisted.  After graduation,  I was admitted to Albany Law School.

My Legal Mission

My passion is to represent people who need help and have a legitimate claim; helping them is the reason I get out of bed in the morning.  One of the reasons personal injury lawyers get bad reputations is for losing cases but still taking fees. At Martin, Harding, & Mazzotti, LLP, we never receive compensation unless we win the case and our client has been compensated.  Another commonly held belief is that personal injury lawyers frequently represent factious claims.  In this light, lawyers are seen as unscrupulous predators bilking money from innocent people, even if the client in question hasn’t really been injured! Our firm turns away any case that smacks of any questionable evidentiary foundation, even if it means losing business. If our firm finds out that a client has misrepresented their injury or condition, we recuse ourselves immediately.  We’ll talk later about the number of cases we take out of the calls we receive.

Welcome

Coming soon: The weblog of Paul B. Harding, a partner at Martin, Harding & Mazzotti, LLP