The San Diego City Council agreed during the third week of July to pay $450,000 for the settlement of two personal injury claims.

$375,000 of the total amount will go to Garrett and Pam Slavin, who incurred serious injuries, including bone fractures, when a Nissan SUV crashed into them while they were on a Harley Davidson motorcycle in 2013. The couple claims the city is partially at fault because the area was not properly striped. Meanwhile, $75,000 of the total amount will go to Jose and Elba Rios, who claimed that they were hurt in their home in 2012 by police officers who responded to a call of a domestic disturbance.

A serious personal injury accident can change your life at the snap of a finger. Not only will you be saddled with expensive medical bills, you will also have to contend with being physically impaired and having no capability of earning your daily wages. Get in touch with our attorneys at Ritter & Associates if you were the victim of a personal injury accident in San Diego by calling our offices today at (619) 296-0123.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has been named the defendant in a new wave of class action lawsuits over student athletes’ concussions, but experts say plaintiffs could hit a deadlock as the NCAA is trying to connect the new claims to a related settlement. The lawsuits are concerned about repeated blows to the head, or concussions, claiming that a lot of former players are currently afflicted with neurological and cognitive damage, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE.

The NCAA had already come to a $75 million medical monitoring settlement in the concussion multi-district litigation back in April 2015, but some athletes were not amenable to it, noting that the settlement did not provide relief for those who are already experiencing neurological concerns. For instance, former California-based San Diego State University football player Anthony Nichols, claimed the settlement mandated class members to waive “billions and billions of dollars” in personal injury lawsuits.

Sports and entertainment lawyer Timothy Liam Epstein said that the settlement does not provide the NCAA with “blanket immunity”, as it does not give individual damages to the former players as the plaintiffs demand in the new lawsuits. For his part, NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy made the contention that, “Failing to achieve a bodily injury component to the [MDL] settlement, it appears that counsel is attempting to extract a bodily injury settlement through the filing of these new questionable class actions.”

If you had been injured, maimed, or put at risk of physical trauma or even death due to participation in sports in San Diego and received no assistance from the school or team you played for, get in touch with our attorneys at Ritter & Associates by calling our offices today at (619) 296-0123.

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.

The Katz family of Porter Ranch in Los Angeles, California has recently filed a lawsuit against Los Angeles-based Southern California Gas Company and San Diego-based Sempra Energy in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that a leak caused by one of their tanks has resulted in health problems for their family.

According to the lawsuit, the entire family is experiencing severe health problems due to the gas leak, with two-year-old Ava suffering some seizures and having to spend four nights in an intensive care unit of a hospital for severe respiratory problems even though she had no pre-existing conditions that could have triggered such an affliction.

Ava has been described as “listless, suffering from persistent rashes, and painful nausea” allegedly due to the leak. The family’s two dogs were reportedly sick as well.

Victims of negligence often suffer not just from severe physical debilitation but also from emotional stress and financial burdens. That is why we at Ritter & Associates in San Diego work hard to represent individuals who are faced with this kind of suffering, and that is why we do our best to hold the people responsible accountable. Call our offices today at (619) 296-0123 if you are in need of legal help.

Brazilian model Amelia Racine filed a negligence lawsuit last Wednesday, September 9 in Los Angeles Superior Court in California against the producers of a commercial for Indonesian cigarette manufacturer Djarum, and Bob Gordon Films and Selekt Media & Management, who hired her as an independent contractor for the commercial. Racine claimed she had been wounded during filming when her head slammed into a personal watercraft during a flyboard sequence.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages to the injuries.

According to the suit, Racine was hired to appear in the commercial in May 2014. The commercial involved her riding a flyboard, which is a water jetpack attached to a personal watercraft, at Lake Powell, a reservoir in the Colorado River.

Racine complained that a BGF employee directing the shoot told her not to wear a life vest or a helmet; she refused to heed the order and was allowed to wear a life vest, but not a helmet.

Our personal injury attorneys at Ritter & Associates in San Diego can be counted on for legal guidance and representation when it comes to filing claims for personal injury suits such as wrongful death, above ground pool dangers, premises liability, and motor vehicle accidents, among others. Call our offices today at (619) 296-0123.

California prosecutors did not approve a request for bail reduction on Friday, September 25 for 13 individuals who have declared their innocence in a $150 million fraud scam headed by Dr. Munir Uwaydah.

Fifteen people have been charged in the fraud scheme that involved marketers and workers’ compensation lawyers directing patients to Uwaydah’s clinic, where they would undergo unnecessary surgeries and medical procedures so that the suspects could bill insurance companies more. According to the prosecutors, “Hundreds of patients were cut and scarred by these fraudulent practices… Between 2007 and 2010.”

It has also become apparent that fraudulent claims and billings have been posted even after the 15 defendants were arraigned in court, illustrating the scope of the conspiracy.

When medical professionals abuse their patients’ trust by engaging in fraudulent practices or conducting unnecessary procedures, patients have a right to hold those licensed medical professionals accountable. At Ritter & Associates, our legal team can help you build your claim to compensation after suffering injury at the hands of a negligent individual or group. Call (619) 296-0123 to discuss your case today.