Metrolink Class Action

Texas grad suing college because she can't find employment

2009-08-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

"I don't really buy into this idea of entitlement," says Aaron Wingad, a senior at UW-Eau Claire majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology, who is one of two student regents on the UW System's Board of Regents. "I see college as a means to prepare myself for the real world and to expand my skill set and to give me the skills to succeed. College is a tremendous opportunity -- but I don't believe there are any guarantees."

While that might seem obvious to many, some who work in higher education are noting a shift in how students -- and parents -- view secondary education. In an ideal world, educators say, college is the time for students to grow as individuals, develop critical thinking skills and become more aware of the world they live in. Instead, a growing number of students appear to be viewing higher education as a consumer good, a product one purchases that ensures future earning power.

"I think there's this perspective that students and families increasingly have about education -- that it's a contractual relationship," says Scott Flanagan, vice president for planning and enrollment at Edgewood College. "In (Trina Thompson's) mind, she enrolled in college with the expectation that when she completed, she would get a job. I think that's an extreme example of what's becoming a more common perception -- and that's that college is a means to a specific end."

Flanagan says he understands why, to a certain extent, this shift is taking place, said Weinberg Law Firm, Texas Employment Lawyer.

Los Angeles women and the bottle leading to more DUI's

2009-08-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

According to FBI statistics, the number of women taken into custody in the U.S. for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs was 28.8 percent greater just two years ago than it was in 1998, while the number of men apprehended was 7.5 percent lower, according to figures that cover some 56 percent of the country.

Here in California, based on the same FBI statistics, women accounted for 18.8 percent of all DUI arrests in 2007, an increase from 13.5 percent nearly a decade earlier, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety, said Michael Bialys, Los Angeles DUI lawye r.

Mom Says Coach Ignored Son's Stroke-Causing Brain Injuries During Football Game

2009-08-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

Sunkett, the school district's superintendent and the high school's athletics director did not return telephone messages Tuesday seeking comment about the lawsuit, filed last week in St. Clair County, says John Q. Kelly, New York brain injury lawyer.
The suit seeks compensation for at least more than $200,000 Hunt has incurred, as well as at least $50,000 for each of the petition's four counts.

Orange County hospital employee claims promotion denial due to sexual harassment complaint

2009-08-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

However, he was denied the position with no explanation and instead a director from the Beaumont location, Frank Hunter, was transferred to Orange to serve as interim director, the suit states.

Houser alleges that soon after his transfer, Hunter began to write Houser up for minor issues, but did not write up other workers, the sexual harassment lawyer Orange County says.

86-Year-Old Chicago Association Files Suit Against New Partisan Organization Using Same Name

2009-08-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The 86-year-old, nonpartisan, government watchdog group Better Government Association (“BGA”) filed suit late Monday in Federal Court against a newly formed partisan political organization based in Akron, Ohio and calling itself by the exact same name (“New BGA”).

The lawsuit, Better Government Association, Inc. vs. Better Government Association (Case #1:09-cv-4686) seeks a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction to prevent New BGA from continuing to use the name Better Government Association and BGA.
Litigation lawyer Chicago further seeks an immediate halt of any planned advertising or other publicity efforts as long as it operates under the BGA name.

The Chicago-based Better Government Association was formed in 1923 in response to Al Capone’s control of the City of Chicago government and has been operating as an independent nonpartisan watchdog organization continuously since that time under the trade names Better Government Association and BGA. Its website (www.bettergov.org) has been operating since 1999.

City fires manager after DUI offense last fall

2009-08-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

Public works official 24-year employee
Saturday, June 20, 2009
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The city of Pittsburgh yesterday fired a public works manager who pleaded guilty last week to driving under the influence of alcohol on his way back from a city wellness event.

John Barley, 57, a 24-year city employee and the public works operations coordinator, didn't violate city policy when he failed to report an October arrest for drunken driving until the day after his guilty plea.

But that event, combined with past problems, led to the decision to terminate, said city Operations Director Art Victor.

dwi defense lawyer pittsburgh

LA Personal Injury Lawyers Ringler Kearney Alvarez LLP

2009-07-31T14:38:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles class action law firm Ringler Kearney Alavarez LLP have established themselves as a premier law firm by providing clients with consistently excellent service. They pride themselves on their intellect, creativity and tenacity.

These LA personal injury lawyers have achieved victories in over 100 trials with total verdicts in excess of $250 million.

Ringler Kearney Alvarez LLP achieves their verdicts by utilizing their substantial financial resources to obtain the best result possible for each of their clients. This Los Angeles personal injury specialist law firm fights tirelessly for their clients, no matter the cost and no matter the foe.

Catastrophic Injury Lawyers not needed, with this averted disaster.

2009-01-22T14:32:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday in Rancho Cucamonga, the passengers aboard the Metrolink were evacuated after a suspicious looking package was left lying around. Thankfully for everyone involved it turned out to be a false alarm.

I guess when it rains it pours, because Metrolink has not been having any good news lately.

Today this, and lets not forget the Metrolink train wreck in Chatsworth last year. According to a well known train crash lawyer, last years' accident was not the first. Apparently the Metrolink has had quite a few train disasters here in the south land.

Click Here for a Full News Article on this story.

Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Get More Business

2009-01-21T11:50:00.000-08:00

According to the Associated Press, 5 more lawsuits have been files against Metrolink for last years' catastrophic train accident in Chatsworth. The lawsuits were filed by survivors and families of those that perished.

I bet with the total number of riders injured in the accident that they must be looking for the the best class action lawyers to represent them.

I guess for sure that the victims' families are looking for a high profile LA personal injury lawyer to make sure they get the best settlement against Metrolink.

Personal Injury Lawyer Has History of Dealing with Train Accidents

2008-09-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

Metrolink worker sued Burlington Northern Santa Fe, saying his alcoholism returned after the fatal 2002 Placentia collision.

A metrolink conductor who said his drinking problems resumed after the Placentia train crash in 2002 will receive $8.5 million to settle his lawsuit against one of the nations largest railroads.

Patrick Phillips of Riverside agreed Tuesday to settle his suit against Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co. The case was set to go to trial next week in Orange County Superior Court.

Phillips, now 52, suffered minor head injuries the morning of April 23, 2002 when a Burlington Northern Freight train crashed into a Metrolink commuter train in Placentia. Three people died and more than 260 were injured in the early morning crash.

Though his injuries were slight, the conductor alleged that the trauma was serious enough to trigger a resurgence of his severe alcoholism, which he said he had controlled since rehabilitation in the early 1990's.

"I have never seen a case like this in 30 years, yet it is indeed what happened here," said Jerome L. Ringler, Phillips' attorney.

"We had extensive medical evaluations by a variety of neurological specialists. All were in accord that his injury, although minor, changed his behavior."

After the train crash, Phillips was hospitalized for evaluation but released about two hours later, Ringler said. In the months after the crash, however, Phillips allegedly resumed his alcohol abuse, resulting in at least two other hospitalizations.

Ringler said his client was finally diagnosed with alcohol-related dementia, a sever mental deficiency.

Phillips, who is now disabled after working 12 years for Metrolink, was unavailable for comment. He is living with a sister in Riverside.

Under terms of the settlement, Phillips will receive $8.5 million, including interest, paid out over 20 years. The amount is worth about $4.5 million in today's dollars.
Officials for Burlington Northern Santa Fe, one of the nations four largest railroads, confirmed the settlement but declined to discuss the case.

Phillips' lawsuit is one of more than 100 Civil cases stemming from the Placentia crash, which federal investigators said was caused by an inattentive Burlington Norther crew that missed a warning signal.

The lawsuits allege the collision could have been prevented by an automatic braking system, long sought by the federal National Transportation Safety Board.
They also contend that the freight train crew was fatigued by overwork and that the Burlington Northern conductor had a history of losing track of signals.

In December, an Orange County jury awarded Pamela Macek, 53, also of Riverside, about $9 million in damages for psychological and physical injuries suffered in the crash. Her case was the first to go to trial.

Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer Comments on Chatsworth Metrolink Wreck

2008-09-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

As a governmental agency, lawyers noted, Metrolink cannot be subjected to punitive damages in any civil action - a situation those lawyers said likely protects it from a bankruptcy situation. A spokesman for Metrolink said the agency would not be making any comments on potential legal issues.

Attorney Jerome Ringler, who served as lead counsel for victims of a Metrolink train derailment in Placentia in 2002, those in a Burbank derailment in 2003, and in the Glendale derailment in 2005, said the Chatsworth crash could expose further fault with Metrolink.

"I suspect the real reason these tragedies occurred is due to either simple inattentivenesss on the part of the engineers or a failure on the part of the railrood industry to allow these engineers adequate rest between shifts so that these kind of tragedies could be avoided," Ringler said.

"This is a horrible tragedy. They are facing hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars of exposure."

Train Accident Attorney Jerome Ringler Interviewed by FOX 11

2008-09-18T02:34:00.000-07:00

Jerome Ringler, Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer and the Metrolink Train Wreck

2008-09-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

Special Message for Victims of Chatsworth Metrolink Disaster

On September 12, 2008, an unprecedented tragedy occurred in Chatsworth, California when Metrolink Train #111 struck a Union Pacific freight train which was traveling on the same tracks. Our hearts go out to the victims. But this tragedy should not have happened. It happened because of human error on the part of Metrolink employees. Unfortunately, as the lawyers of RKA know well, human error by railroad engineers is not at all unique as a cause of commuter rail disasters.

Jerome L. Ringler has greater experience in representing victims of commuter rail and freight train disasters than any other lawyer in the State of California, if not the country. He has served as lead counsel in every one of the largest commuter rail disasters which have occurred in Southern California in the past 10 years.

In the Placentia Commuter Rail Disaster of 2003, Mr. Ringler was appointed by the Court as lead counsel for all of the Plaintiffs. He was requested by all of the lawyers representing individuals injured or killed in that incident to try the first case. That case resulted in the largest verdict for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ever rendered by a jury in the United States. That verdict, which was for $9 million, is detailed below in the multimedia section.

In the Burbank Commuter Rail Disaster, which also occurred in 2003, Mr. Ringler was again appointed by the Court to serve as lead counsel. In that capacity he was given the responsibility to try the entire liability (i.e., fault) case for all of the victims. In other words, every one of the dozens of lawyers who represented individual victims in that disaster trusted Mr. Ringler to try the liability phase for them, knowing that their clients would only recover if Mr. Ringler was successful. He was. In fact, Mr. Ringler not only obtained a favorable verdict for all of the plaintiffs, he obtained a $12 million verdict for his own client as well. This verdict was the largest in the State of California for a person with the type of injuries Mr. Ringler's client had suffered. This verdict is detailed below in the multimedia section.

Mr. Ringler is currently lead counsel for all plaintiffs in the Glendale Metrolink Derailment Disaster of 2005. This incident was, before September 12, 2008, the largest Metrolink disaster in history. Interestingly, in that case (which involves 11 deaths and dozens of serious injuries), Mr. Ringler has, against all odds, developed testimony proving that, even though a mentally-ill person placed a jeep across the tracks that the Metrolink train was traveling upon, human error on the part of the Metrolink engineer prevented him from stopping the train before hitting the jeep, which caused the train to derail. In other words, while the jeep certainly never should have been on the tracks, the Metrolink engineer would have been able to stop the train before ever striking the jeep had he only been paying proper attention. That case is scheduled to go to trial on June 8, 2009, with Mr. Ringler as lead counsel.

The verdicts detailed on this page all relate to railroad litigation. However, Mr. Ringler has achieved enormous, record-breaking monetary awards across California in a variety of complex areas. Those accomplishments are detailed elsewhere in this website. To see them, click here.

If you or a loved one has suffered injury or death as a result of the horrific Chatsworth Metrolink Disaster, we are available to discuss your rights with you confidentially and at no charge.

Please feel free to contact us at your convenience. Ask for Mr. Ringler,or any of his partners, at (213) 473-1900.

www.rkallp.com