49-year-old Raul Cadena lost his life when the SUV he was occupying flipped over on Saturday, June 11 a on the northbound lane of State Route 79. The SUV was carrying five passengers to Santa Ysabel at around 9:13 a.m. The crash occurred about a mile and a half south of State Route 76 near Lake Henshaw, a report from the San Diego Medical Examiner’s Office showed.

According to the preliminary investigations, the SUV veered from the roadway and crashed into a tree, causing injury to the other four occupants of the vehicle, including two Boy Scouts. Cadena was the front-seat passenger of the vehicle involved in the accident. Kevin Pearlstein of the California Highway Patrol said the vehicle’s right rear tire had tire separation, causing “the driver to over-correct and the vehicle to go off the roadway and strike a tree.”

The thoughts and condolences of the attorneys at Ritter & Associates are with the family and Boy Scout troop as they mourn their loss and recover.

One individual was killed and four others, including two Boy Scouts, sustained injuries after a single-vehicle rollover accident along state Route 79, near Lake Henshaw in San Diego County, California. The accident occurred around 9:15 a.m. on Saturday, June 11.

California Highway Patrol officials said their investigators are still trying to find out what factors contributed to the crash. California Fire Captain Kendal Bortisser said one adult was declared dead at the scene of the accident, two adults were brought to the hospital by an ambulance, and the two San Diego-based Boy Scouts were airlifted via Mercy Air helicopter to receive treatment at a local hospital. The victims had to be extricated from the vehicle by rescue teams. Public traffic was closed on all lanes of the highway to facilitate the rescue and were reopened at 2 p.m.

The attorneys at Ritter & Associates are saddened to hear of the tragic blow to the San Diego community. Our thoughts and condolences are with the victims of this accident.

St. Louis, Missouri-based biotechnology corporation Monsanto Co. was ordered to pay $45.6 million to three people who allegedly contracted cancer because Monsanto negligently mishandled toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB).

The three people claimed they ingested the PCB throughout the course of daily life by consuming food, drinking liquids, or breathing the air that contained traces of the chemical. Steven Kherkher, the plaintiff’s legal counsel, said there was plenty of evidence that led to the decision against Monsanto, noting, “The jury saw right through Monsanto’s misrepresentation. It was just that the facts and evidence were overwhelming.”

Monsanto spokeswoman Charla Lord said the company has “deep sympathy” for the plaintiffs, but the company will appeal the verdict because “the evidence simply does not support yesterday’s verdict, including the fact that scientists say more than 90% of non-Hodgkins lymphoma cases have no known cause.” Monsanto stopped making PCBs in 1977.

The attorneys at Ritter & Associates are devoted to helping individuals who have been injured by a harmful product in San Diego or another area of California receive compensation. Seek the legal assistance of a qualified member of our team by calling our offices at (619) 296-0123.

Pasco, Washington-based food packaging company CRF Frozen Foods has expanded a voluntary recall, from formerly just 11 products to almost 360 various organic and non-organic frozen fruits and vegetables that may be possibly contaminated with fatal Listeria monocytogenes bacteria.

The Unites States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday, May 3 made it publicly known that the Listeria outbreak has caused the hospitalization of eight people in three different states. The CDC noted that two of those patients, one from Maryland and the other from Washington, passed away, although it was said that listeriosis was not the main cause of the deaths. The other cases originated in California.
The recalled frozen fruits and vegetables belong to 42 different brands and were sold at well-known grocery stores, such as Trader Joe’s and Costco, in 50 U.S. states and some areas of Canada.

At Ritter & Associates in San Diego, we make sure to do our best to ensure our clients are fairly and properly represented in a court of law. Our goal is to help our clients attain justice and financial compensation for their troubles caused by negligent and irresponsible parties. Call our offices today at (619) 296-0123 to speak with a qualified member of our legal team today.

Los Angeles-based Southern California Gas Co. announced on Friday, April 15 that residents of Porter Ranch Estates are now being given the option to move into high-quality apartments that the utility has provided for them. The Porter Ranch Estates residents were evacuated from their homes and are living out of hotels because of a methane leak caused by the company in October 2015.

A state appeals court also ordered that SoCal Gas keep paying the residents’ housing expenses until at least Wednesday, April 27, when another court hearing is scheduled. SoCal Gas originally planned to stop making the payments after they capped the gas well that started the leak weeks ago, but residents of the subdivision claimed the noxious odors persist.

In a separate legal action, almost 700 residents filed claims on Friday, April 15 against state regulators, regional air quality regulators, and SoCal Gas for a minimum of $3.5 million in personal injury and property damages for each claimant.

At Ritter & Associates, our attorneys have years of experience in personal injury law in San Diego and other areas of California. We go the extra mile to ensure that our client’s cases are in good hands. To discuss your specific situation, call our offices at (619) 296-0123.

San Diego Unified School District Police Officer Bashir Abdi, 31, filed a personal injury lawsuit on Tuesday, March 8 in San Diego Superior Court, seeking damages for his hospital and medical expenses, property damage, and other losses from three teenagers. These teens, who are students at Lincoln High School in Lincoln Park, supposedly hurt him during an altercation on Feb. 26, 2016.

Abdi did not name the school district as a defendant in the lawsuit, though claimed that the district was unable to provide adequate security and other police forces on the school premises.

Daniel Gilleon, Abdi’s legal counsel, stated the school district had been “negligent”, allowing the events to occur in the first place, and that “a single officer is not sufficient and they know this”.

Our attorneys at Ritter & Associates are well-versed and are experienced in efficiently handling personal injury lawsuits. If you need an attorney to litigate your personal injury case for you in San Diego or other areas in California, do not hesitate to get in touch with us by calling (619) 296-0123 today.

Under the laws of our state, you will have exactly two years from the time of your accident to file your claim.  If you choose not to file a claim within this period of time—otherwise known as a statute of limitation—you will have forfeited your right to file a claim against the responsible party in the future.

One thing that is important to note here is that that this period of time only begins the moment you become aware of an accident, not necessarily the time you sustained the injury.  This distinction is important for people who sustain injuries that are not immediately apparent; for instance, the cumulative effects of a dangerous pharmaceutical may take years to become apparent.

If you or someone you love was injured in an accident that was caused by the carelessness or recklessness of another person, you may be able to take legal action against the party found to be responsible for the accident.  To speak with a San Diego personal injury attorney from Ritter & Associates about the particulars of your claim, please call our offices at (619) 296-0123 today.

According to news sources, the recent methane leak in California may rival the 2010 oil spill of Deepwater Horizon into the Gulf of Mexico in terms of litigation and personal injury claims. Southern California Gas Co. may find themselves next to British Petroleum after all is said and done.

The leak took place in Aliso Canyon and involved the release of 80,000 metric tons of methane at the natural gas well. It began on October 23, 2015 and was only stopped recently in February. Almost 5,000 households living within the vicinity of the leak moved away during the crisis. Lawyer and activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Erin Brokovich conducted town meetings in which locals aired grievances and discussed legal options.

The co-founder of the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management at the University of California, Berkeley, Robert Bea, said a primary concern is the lack of proper safety measures at the Aliso Canyon facility, specifically, a missing well valve that was removed for repairs in 1979 and never replaced.

Our attorneys at Ritter & Associates in San Diego will do everything we can to help you recover from the injuries you sustained as a result of someone else’s negligence. To discuss your case, call our offices today at (619) 296-0123.

The California Court of Appeal’s Second District recently upheld a ruling made by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury in June 2014 that awarded almost $20 million to 27-year-old Pengxuan “Dean” Diao, who claimed in a personal injury lawsuit against Southern California Gas Co. that the utility company was responsible for a natural gas explosion in San Gabriel which severely burned him on Jan. 19, 2011.

Diao also filed a lawsuit against Richard Liu and Joanna Cheung, the owners of the Marshall Street home where the accident occurred.

Jurors awarded Diao a total of $19,876,818, noting that SoCalGas should be responsible for $18.1 million, while the remainder of the award should be paid by the landlords. Kevin Boyle, Diao’s legal counsel, said SoCalGas admitted its liability regarding the accident before trial proceedings and that the jury’s only job was to assign the amount of damages.

If you have suffered injuries in an accident that someone else caused, contact the legal team at Ritter & Associates by calling (619) 296-0123 as soon as possible to discuss your legal options.

Sixty-six-year-old television personality and retired Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner has reached a settlement with Jessica Steindorf, the driver of the Prius that was involved in the four-vehicular pileup that happened in February 2015 along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California and resulted in one fatality.

According to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, Jenner was not charged with a crime at the time because she “was traveling at a speed slightly below posted speed limit and minimally slower than victim” and it was not believed that Jenner committed any moving traffic offenses.

In a statement given the day after the accident, Jenner said: “It is a devastating tragedy and I cannot pretend to imagine what this family is going through at this time…I will continue to cooperate in any way possible.”

Our attorneys at Ritter & Associates in San Diego, California work for victims of car accidents caused by the negligence of others. We can help you pursue compensation for you injuries while you focus on your recovery. To learn more, call our offices today at (619) 296-0123.