By: Daniel P. Dwyer
A United States Supreme Court decision issued on June 25 clarified an issue that may be of interest to school districts. For more information about how this decision may impact your school district’s search policies and procedures or your student’s rights, read this post on our Municipal and Land Use Blog or contact our office.
By: Stephen P. Lagoy
One approach to alternative dispute resolution is called “baseball arbitration.” It is patterned after major league baseball’s salary arbitration rule. This is the rule that was saved by then U.S. District Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, when she issued an injunction ending a long player strike in 1995. Under the rule, certain players are eligible for salary arbitration if they and their team owners cannot agree on a contract. Here’s how it works. Each side submits an offer and the arbitrator chooses the one that he or she considers the most fair. There is no middle ground. The arbitrator cannot “split the loaf.” Therefore, baseball arbitration encourages both parties to submit reasonable offers and may be an excellent approach to resolving your dispute. If you would like to learn more about baseball arbitration or any other aspect of alternative dispute resolution, please contact Steve Lagoy.
By: Donald C. Turner
Many Chester County residents use their property, in whole or in part, for various types of equine activities. Regardless of whether the use is of a personal or a commercial nature, these activities pose a variety of risks to property owners, horse owners, riders and trainers. As a result, those involved in these activities should carefully consider what they can do to minimize their exposure to liability and to provide for insurance.
Please read this larger article on preventative measures that you can take to protect yourself from the various risks associated with equine activities.
For more information on Equine Law or any type of property owner liability, contact Donald Turner.
By: Stephen P. Lagoy
If you are considering arbitration, here’s an article that may be of interest to you.
Please contact Stephen Lagoy to discuss whether arbitration might be beneficial to resolve disputes for you or your company.
By: Stephen P. Lagoy
When someone asks, “How much insurance coverage do you have,” most people respond with the limits of their liability coverage. This coverage protects you from claims and lawsuits by others for automobile-related injuries that you may have caused. In essence, liability insurance protects other people from your negligence. There is another type of coverage that protects you from the negligence of other drivers who don’t have any or adequate liability insurance coverage. This insurance is known as “uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage”. In my opinion, this is the most important automobile insurance coverage that you can have but it is often misunderstood or overlooked. Consider that more than one in 13 vehicles that you will encounter on Pennsylvania highways will be totally uninsured! Many more vehicles lack adequate liability insurance. If you are injured by one of these vehicles, coverage for your damages will be non-existent or insufficient. 
That’s where your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage comes into play. It protects you from these drivers by giving you the benefit of the coverage that they should have had on their automobiles. Your automobile insurance company must give you the opportunity to purchase uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage with limits as high as your liability insurance coverage. Yet many people either decline to purchase this coverage at all or select less coverage than they are allowed to purchase. For more information on uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, contact our office.
By: Stephen P. Lagoy
Selecting “full tort” coverage gives you the unlimited right to sue for automobile-related non-economic damages such as pain and suffering caused by the carelessness of another driver. In contrast, “limited tort” coverage allows you to sue for these damages only if you suffer a “serious injury”. Under the law, “serious injury” is defined as “a personal injury resulting in death, serious impairment of body function, or permanent serious disfigurement.” Needless to say, many injuries that you would consider painful and disruptive would not qualify as a “serious” injury under the law. With limited tort coverage, you would not be allowed to recover non-economic damages in these cases.
For more information on full tort coverage, please contact our West Chester office at 610-692-1371 or by email.
By: Stephen P. Lagoy
You and your family are at risk from automobile-related injuries if you don’t have both full tort and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages at the maximum permissible levels under your policy. Many people decline these coverages because they believe that, by doing so, they will reduce the cost of their automobile insurance. In fact, the premiums for full tort and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverages in Pennsylvania are surprisingly low and the benefits can mean the difference between full protection and financial catastrophe. Think of it as giving you and your family the same protection that you give everyone else on the road through your liability coverage. The premium you pay for this coverage is well worth the peace of mind that comes from knowing that you and your family are fully protected. For more information on the benefits of having full tort and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, contact our office.
