The NFL’s Conundrum: Depositions or Autopsies?

Lawyers representing more than 1,500 ex-players and their families petitioned the US District Court in Philadelphia last week to expedite depositions in a case alleging the NFL willfully concealed information about brain damage arising from repeated hits to the head (Court Focuses On Easterling Suicide).

The thrust of the plaintiffs’ petition was that many of their clients are suffering from extreme dementia and won’t be able to provide depositions if the case doesn’t move forward expeditiously.  For its part, the NFL indicated that on-field injuries are/were covered by collective bargaining agreements and the entire case has no merits.  U.S. District Judge Anita Brody indicated a master complaint summarizing all the issues in the individual suits must be filed before she addresses the deposition issue.

The Court That Really Matters 

Turning from federal court to the Court of Public Relations, the NFL’s situation is essentially a nightmare.  Shortly before last week’s filing, ex-player Ray Easterling, 62 and suffering from dementia, committed suicide (Easterling Suicide).  Shortly after last week’s filing, ex-player Junior Seau, 43, committed suicide (Seau Suicide).  Both of these suicides came fifteen months after ex-player Dave Duerson, 50, shot and killed himself.   All of these men were outstanding players and NFL role-models.

In an important, albeit gruesome, twist, Duerson shot himself in the chest to ensure that his brain could be studied by Boston University’s Traumatic Encephalopathy Center.  Seau, who apparently left no suicide note or instructions, also shot himself in the chest and his family has already agreed to donate his brain for study.  Easterling had earlier expressed a desire to donate his brain to the BU Center, but indicated a change of mind in his final note.  His widow has requested that medical examiners salvage what they can for research.

Legal vs Practical vs Moral

As stewards of America’s Most Popular Pastime the NFL faces a defining moment in the area of concussion-related “head shots”.  While the league has tightened-up rules to protect against injury & come down hard on violators, what about all those guys who played – and suffered brain-damage – before the new rules?  Three paths appear open:

• Take the legal approach.  Contest the ex-players’ right to file the case because of collective bargaining.  Contest everything.   Drag it out.  Reduce direct liability through plaintiff attrition, e.g., dementia & suicide.
• Take the practical approach.   Seek to kill off the consolidated case, negotiate individual claims.  Minimize the financial hit by recognizing the underlying problem for individuals but avoiding any blanket admissions.  Avoid being overtly adversarial but quietly drag it out where possible.
• Take the moral approach.  Recognize that these guys built the NFL’s multi-billion dollar business and need help.  Make sure that the current Players Association kicks in their fair share.

When deciding which approach to take, the NFL might want to consider the PR impact of 2-3 more chest-shot suicides.

About the Author:  Elizabeth Tice heads up Office Solutions Plus LLC, where we provide documents of record for all venues, including court reporting, depositions, and transcription.  We understand the importance and value of accurate records.  617-471-3510. Try us out!

Are Clemens’ (Perjured?) Deposition & Testimony to Congress Important?

As Roger Clemens’ perjury trial resumed this week in Washington, an important, albeit unstated, question seems to have taken center stage for the defense – does lying to Congress really matter?  Aside from questions of actual guilt or innocence, a distinctly cynical view has emerged that Capitol Hill is wasting its time – and our tax dollars – pursuing a celebrity athlete who may have lied to them to salvage his tattered reputation.

In cross-examination of House staffer Phil Barnett of the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform (Clemens Opted to Testify) Clemens’ lawyer Rusty Hardin questioned the motives of Congress behind the 2008 hearings into steroid use in baseball.

When his questioning brought an objection, Hardin stated that the House’s steroid hearings were “nothing more than a show trial” designed to punish Clemens for fighting the accusations against him.  “That is not a legitimate function of Congress,” Hardin stated. (Clemens Statements Played).

While it’s hard to fault Hardin for mounting this argument – a diversion like this may be appropriate since most observers feel the Feds have a strong factual case – this line of reasoning is both seriously flawed and potentially quite damaging.

Looking first at the assertion that Congress had no business looking into the use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in professional sports, a pretty obvious question arises.  Isn’t it the job of Congress to address through legislation issues like the impact of PEDs on public health?   Given the devastating impact PEDs have had on so many young athletes, it’s ludicrous to suggest the issue is out-of-bounds for Congress.

As for dismissing or excusing the act of perjury before a Congressional committee, the thinking appears to be either, “Hey, this is Congress…these guys are all liars so it’s no big deal” or, “Well it’s just a Congressional committee, so it’s not like real perjury”.

The fact of the matter, of course, is that if Roger Clemens lied in his deposition and proceeded to lie during his direct testimony, he committed a federal crime.  While the American way of life might not hinge on celebrity cases like this, there is an important principle at stake.  If you lie to police officers, the FBI, or even Congressmen you have broken a law and will be brought to account…just ask Martha Stewart.

About the Author:  Elizabeth Tice heads up Office Solutions Plus LLC, where we provide documents of record for all venues, including court reporting, depositions, and transcription.  We understand the importance and value of accurate records.  617-471-3510. Try us out!

Deposition Fight Over Texas Voter ID Law is a BIG DEAL

The State of Texas and the US Department of Justice are slugging it out in federal court over DOJ’s request to depose 12 Texas lawmakers on behind-the-scene details of the state’s 2011 law requiring voters to produce valid government-issued photo IDs (Court Orders More Briefings).

The Issues.   Texas and a number of other states & municipalities have histories of discriminatory practices and therefore the Voting Rights Act requires a federal court or the DOJ to issue “pre-clearance” on new electoral laws which, in this instance, the DOJ declined to grant based on its concerns about discrimination. 

Reflecting those concerns, DOJ is seeking to depose 12 key lawmakers involved in creation of the legislation plus obtain copies of written communications on the bill from members of the Legislature.

For its part, Texas is challenging both the continuation of the “pre-clearance” requirement – which it claims single out Texas unfairly – and the depositions and document request, which it terms “an unwarranted intrusion into the operations of the Texas Legislature.”   

The Questions That Arise.   Laws that affect the composition of the electorate are critical at all levels of government in a democracy.  The US has made a remarkable transition over our history, going from “white-guys-who-own-land” to essentially all adult citizens.

Likewise, Americans have historically disliked “central control” or “one size fits all”.  While States Rights have weakened through the years, our system is still based on the concept that independent governance at the state & local level is an important aspect of our liberty.

The dispute over the Texas Voter ID Law and the DOJ’s request for depositions & documents, therefore, has a lot of constitutional angles.  Maybe (hopefully) the federal court will be able to answer some of the most obvious questions:

• Why is requiring a voter to produce an ID discriminatory?  You need an ID to drive a car, cash a check, buy alcohol & some prescriptions, leave/enter the country, get into a club, receive credit of any kind, and pick up tickets.  So why is that discriminatory?
• Why won’t Texas permit their lawmakers to be deposed under oath regarding this law?  It creates suspicion – what’s the problem with simply talking about what went on?
• Why does the federal government have a right to interfere with a state legislature doing its job?   Doesn’t the DOJ recognize the ability & responsibility of Texas to govern its own state?
• Why should a state with a history of discrimination be given any leeway regarding voting rights?
• The Voting Right s Act was passed in 1965.  That’s 47 years ago…isn’t it time to give it a rest?

It’s just a feeling but…Yo …Supreme Court – here we come.

About the Author:  Elizabeth Tice heads up Office Solutions Plus LLC, where we provide documents of record for all venues, including court reporting, depositions, and transcription.  We understand the importance and value of accurate records.  617-471-3510.  Try us out!

New Technology Rules for Journalists in Massachusetts Courts

The highest court in Massachusetts has updated its rules for news coverage of trials and other court proceedings.   The goal of the change is “to recognize the changes in technology and journalism” the court said.  

The rules permit electronic devices such as laptops in the courtroom, but require anyone seeking to use high tech gear to register with the SJC’s Public Information Office.   The new rules allow a third camera in a courtroom — a video camera potentially being used by a citizen journalist — in addition to the cameras from television and newspapers that have been allowed for many years.  

Judges would have the discretion to grant someone without PIO credentials the right to use a laptop and other equipment.  Judges can also restrict coverage it if could have potentially harmful consequences.   The SJC emphasized that “covert photography, recording or transmission is prohibited”.  These new rules go into effect July 1.  

About the Author:  Elizabeth Tice heads up Office Solutions Plus LLC , where our services include using DVDs and CDs recorded in the courtroom for transcription.

Depositions will Play a Vital Role in Drunk Driving Accident

Residents of a small town inTexashave filed a petition to gain the depositions of a liquor store.  This particular store may have sold alcohol illegally to minors; minors that later died in a drunk driving accident.  On September 18, 2011, three minors were killed in this car accident.  The driver of the car had surpassed the legal blood alcohol limit.

The residents Kimberly Jones, Harold Brantley, Jack Smith, Kelly and James Bates, and Dawn Fluts filed a petition requesting a deposition on February 24^th in front of the Jefferson County District Court.  These community members are seeking the deposition of Triangle Marketing corporate representative Hussain Ali Habib to further investigate into any wrongdoing on the part of the store.

The petition asserts, “The alcohol consumed by said minor driver had been illegally provided by The County Store in violation of the law prohibiting the sale of alcohol to minors.”  These community members are asking for the reports, video, and any testimony in regards to the selling of the alcohol.  Receiving a deposition and supporting documents will go a long way into providing a conclusion to this unfortunate affair.

Office Solutions Plus LLC handles depositions in many different types of court cases and even provides rush depositions.  OS Plus has over 15 years of experience and uses the latest technology to get your projects done quickly and efficiently.  When looking for court reporting/depositions, look no further than Office Solutions Plus LLC!

Reference

Yates, David. “NewsJeffersonCounty.” Depositions Sought in Potential Dram Shop Suit over Minors Killed in Drunk Driving Collision. 29 Feb. 2012. Web. 07 Mar. 2012. <http://www.setexasrecord.com/news/242229-depositions-sought-in-potential-dram-shop-suit-over-minors-killed-in-drunk-driving-collision&gt;.

Hey Attorneys! Here is a Document Review Tool to Help You!

Attorneys must decide which documents are relevant to a case.  This process is called document review.

Often law firms hire experienced document reviewers to study the legal papers.  Sometimes contract attorneys are also hired for this process.  Often much of this work is done electronically, through scanned copies, emails, and other files.

A great document-review tool that law firms are utilizing is called Westlaw CaseLogistix.  It allows the reviewer to see all the documents in one place.  This device allows a legal team to organize, review, analyze, and create any legal document.  Westlaw CaseLogistix has features such as grouping similar documents in specific folders while categorizing them by dates and issues, viewing documents in different formats such as PDFs and TIFs, and configuring the interface to include only what one needs.

This tool also allows one to browse through the documents and the security measures allow viewing restrictions. 

Another valuable tool to get the job done is to use Office Solutions Plus LLC for transcription and deposition projects.  Office Solutions Plus LLC offers speed, accuracy, and quick delivery!  OS Plus is certified by the Massachusetts Trial Courts. 

To learn more about Office Solutions Plus LLC and the services we provide, make sure to visit our website!

 

To hear more information on technology in the legal field, take a look at the video below.

References

“WESTLAW CASELOGISTIX.” Westlaw. Thomson Reuters. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://store.westlaw.com/products/services/westlaw-case-logistix/default.aspx&gt;.

“Document Review.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Dec. 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document_review&gt;.

 

A Hospital’s Mistake: A C-Section is Performed on a Not-Pregnant Woman

            Recent depositions show that a Manhattan hospital may have made some colossal medical mistakes.  Dr. Suarna Mehulic is indicting New York Downtown Hospital of performing a C-section on a patient who was not pregnant. 

            This information was revealed in videotaped depositions during a lawsuit Dr. Mehulic filed for wrongful termination.  Mehulic had described dangerous practices in this hospital’s Obstetrics and Gynecological Department to the New York State Department of Health.  Two days later, she was fired.

            The hospital, however, claims that Mehulic was fired because she was confrontational and paranoid.  The hospital’s Chief Operating Officer, Anothony Alfonso, cites that she was fired due to insubordination. 

            Another video deposition given by Dr. Lana Boter shows that she was also a witness to a C-section performed on a woman who was not pregnant.  Dr. Boter is on the hospital’s Quality Assurance Committee, which studies any disputed hospital care.  Boter claims that “A little extra time would have shown that there was no pregnancy at all.”  According to Mehulic, the patient was sixteen years old.  The young woman had told the doctors that she was pregnant but could not feel the baby kicking.  Allegedly, the doctors believed what was stated and started surgery before confirming her pregnancy.

            Another doctor who was present at this incident, Dr. Anca Rosca, also answered a lawyer’s question on this surgery.  After affirming the C-section, Dr. Rosca states, “Turns out she wasn’t pregnant.”

            Despite all of this evidence seen through the depositions, hospital officials deny this ever occurred.  They even issued a statement claiming: “no C-section has ever been performed in our hospital on a woman who was not pregnant, and if you were to suggest otherwise it would be an egregious and inflammatory error.”

            Dr. Mehulic found out about this case when the young woman returned to the hospital due to aching pain in her pelvic region.  After speaking with the patient, Mehulic realized the young woman had never been told what had happened.

            Not long ago,New York DowntownHospital settled claims of Medicaid fraud with the state and federal governments.  This hospital paid out $13.4 million in settlements, and it seems that this new scandal will also take its toll. 

            Without these video depositions, the truth about a hospital’s practices would not have been brought to light.  Office Solutions Plus LLC takes pride in completing depositions and transcription as certified by the Massachusetts Trial Courts.

 

Reference

Burke, Tom, and Chris Glorioso. “I-Team: Doctors Start C-Section on Not-Pregnant Patient | NBCNew York.”New YorkNews, Local News, Weather, Traffic, Entertainment, Breaking News. 7 Feb. 2012. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. <http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/New-York-Downtown-Hospital-C-Section-Lawsuit–138783374.html&gt;.

Mobile Transcript: the Lawyer’s Lifesaver

The Mobile Transcript is a novel app that is very useful for all legal professionals.  A lawyer, paralegal, court reporters or legal assistant can employ this app to review court transcripts or depositions.  This device even allows a person to annotate their files! 

Lawyers often work with court reporters who upload the transcripts to the Mobile Transcript account.  A court reporter pays for the Mobile Transcript app and provides this service to law firms and lawyers.  The court reporter pays $29 per month for this application.  While the court reporters upload the documents, a lawyer can view them on the go. 

The Mobile Transcript is available for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry, and Android smartphones.  When using this device, a legal professional may highlight significant parts of a testimony and email the information to their associates, expert witnesses or legal assistants.  This device allows a person to email a whole PDF file with highlights or just the highlighted parts.  Also, the app allows one to send it via Excel file.

Along with this feature, the app also allows a professional to write deposition summaries.  A lawyer can also change the font size and color of the files they are reviewing through this app.  To help a lawyer remember when they started reading, the Mobile Transcript has a time capture feature that logs the amount of time spending reading a transcript or deposition.  This makes it much easier to have the billable time available to a client.  This time log can be exported from the online version to a PDF or Excel file.  This app allows one to be more productive, especially during travel.  The Mobile Transcript is a worthwhile device a legal professional should consider employing. 

Reference

Mobile Transcript. Web. 01 Feb. 2012. https://www.mobiletranscript.com/transcript/.

 

 To learn about other cell phone apps for lawyers, click here.

Outsourcing Transcription Helps Lawyers

 

            Court transcripts are vital documents for lawyers and legal professionals.  Without transcripts of previous court cases, a lawyer would have a hard time understanding how a jury may vote or what evidence is vital to a case.  With transcripts at hand, a lawyer can research similar court cases and learn which witnesses and evidence made an impact on the judge or jury.  

            A law office is in need of someone to transcribe the events from each trial.  Sometimes an employee would be hired to accomplish this.  However, outsourcing transcription is very useful for law offices.   Doing this can actually reduce costs!  An organization won’t need to spend the same amount of time and resources on transcribing legal recordings.  When a law office outsources these projects to OS Plus, the transcripts are finished quickly and efficiently, thereby saving the offices money.

            When outsourcing your transcription needs to Office Solutions Plus LLC, you will save money by reducing your number of employees.  This includes money spent of salaries, employee benefits, ongoing training, human resources’ efforts at recruitment, brand-new technology, and office space.  By outsourcing various projects, you will no longer need to worry about the depositions, briefs, letters, client and court recordings, court transcripts, or summons.  For a legal professional, this would definitely save precious time that can be spent on winning the case. 

Office Solutions Plus LLC has professional, experienced transcriptionists, legal experts, and proofreaders that will get the job done by deadline.  Our quick turn-around time will convince you to use OS+ for all of your transcription needs!  Along with this, we use the latest technology to supply quality legal transcripts.  We provide error-free documents with files that are easy to retrieve at any time.  When in need of a transcriptionist, consider using Office Solutions Plus LLC.  You won’t regret it!

 

Reference

Kruse, Bob. “Legal Transcription Outsourcing – How It Can Help You Save Money.” Free Article Directory – Submit Articles at SooperArticles.com. 20 Apr. 2011. Web. 11 Jan. 2012. http://www.sooperarticles.com/business-articles/outsourcing-articles/legal-transcription-outsourcing-how-can-help-you-save-money-405045.html.

 

To learn more about Office Solutions Plus LLC, please take a look at the video below:

How Depositions Can Make or Break a Case

           

           A deposition can be a critical part of a court case.  It could mean the difference between sending a person to jail or letting him or her go free.  In one recent case, twenty-one Haitian boys have accused a man, Douglas Perlitz, of sexually abusing them.

Perlitz had created a program to feed, clothe, educate, and house these boys.  However, the boys maintain that he manipulated them by withholding food if they did not give in to his demands.  The age of these boys varied from nine to twenty-one.  The young boys claim that nothing was done to stop the abuse by the organization.  The lawsuit for these boys is seeking $20 million in damages for each client. 

            Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston-based lawyer, is seeking to represent the defendants and has drafted the complaints.  Garabedian has successfully represented children that were sexually abused by Catholic priests.  Clearly, the paperwork for such a case is vital.  The depositions will clearly explain what has happened in each case of abuse.

A deposition is the voiced sworn testimony of a witness or victim under oath.  Depositions are handled out of court.  The testimony is recorded and transcribed verbatim to a written document.  These depositions are used to study the case and are often brought up in the court case as evidence.  Lawyers need these depositions to use as evidence and a legal tool that can help win the court case.

Office Solutions Plus LLC specializes in recording and transcribing depositions according to the rules and regulations of the courts.  OS+ is certified by the Massachusetts Administrative Office of the Trial Courts and is SOMWBA certified, DBE certified, and WBE certified.  We also make sure to use the latest technology in our services, which enable OS+ to provide rush services to our clients.  Office Solutions Plus has rush depositions available.  This means that OS+ will meet your deadlines and deliver a quality product!

Reference

Mayko, Michael P. “17 More Haitian Boys Claim Perlitz Abuse -ConnecticutPost.” CTPost.com -ConnecticutPost. 05 Jan. 2012. Web. 05 Jan. 2012. http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/17-more-Haitian-boys-claim-Perlitz-abuse-2441874.php.

To learn more about the Perlitz case, take a look at this video.