Alaska Injury Law Blog

Hardly a news cycle goes by without there being a story about a consumer sickened by a foodborne illness or an exposure to an exotic pathogen. It is unfortunately the case that we need to become educated about these microbial threats, no matter what hat we
wear: consumer, teacher, health care provider, business person, patient, or parent. Here is a free online guide to keep handy for future reference, the Bad Bug Book, produced by the FDA. You can find it through this link: The Bad Bug Book. It is a comprehensive compendium that includes information about E. coli, Salmonella, Staph, Campylobacter, Listeria, Botulism, Shigella, as well as common viruses, parasites and food borne toxins.

Michael Moody, Richard E. Vollertsen, and Neil O'Donnell of the Alaska Personal Injury Law Group have been selected for inclusion in the "Best Lawyers In America" 2011 publication. Selection to the "Best Lawyers In America" listing is based on exhaustive and rigorous peer-review evaluations by the top attorneys in the country. Mr. Moody was named a "Best Lawyer" in two different categories--personal injury litigation and products liability litigation. He has now been selected as a "Best Lawyer in America" every year for 19 years. Richard E. Vollertsen is now in a distinguished group of attorneys listed in the publication for over 10 years. Neil O'Donnell has been listed in the publication for the past five years.

These lawyers have also all received "AV" ratings from Martindale Hubbell, the highest national rating for legal ability and ethics. They have also been selected for similar national rankings, as described here,here, and here. Their law firm has also been listed in the Best Lawyers Law Firm rankings as #1 in the Products Liability category and by Benchmark: Litigation as one of the top 5 law firms in Alaska in its "highly recommended" listing, as seen here.

The percentage of crash fatalities that are alcohol-related dropped substantially from 1982 -- when it was 53% of fatal crashes -- to 34% of fatal crashes in 1997. Since 1997, the alcohol-related crash fatality rate has remained in the 33% to 35% range. The factors that led to the substantial decrease in alcohol-related crash fatalities include stiffer drunk driving laws; a higher minimum drinking age; "zero tolerance" laws for drivers under the age of 21; a decreasing proportion of the population falling in the higher risk 18 - 34 age group; an increase in the proportion of female drivers and an increase in the percentage of total miles driven by female drivers (female drivers are much less likely to drink and drive); and a small general reduction of per capita alcohol consumption. Since 1997, however, further improvement in these statistics has stalled. Given the huge tragic toll drunk drivers still inflict on our society, new strategies and new technologies need to be enlisted to achieve another sustained decrease in drunk driving deaths. One promising possibility for prior offenders is the alcohol monitoring bracelet which continuously reads and reports on any alcohol use. As Lindsay Lohan discovered with her bracelet, it is hard to argue with a judge who has hourly readings of your alcohol consumption.

Source: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810942.pdf