Construction site accidents are a leading cause of serious — and often fatal — injuries to workers. In 2013, according to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration [OSHA], 4,585 workers were killed on the job. This equates to more than 12 deaths every day. Of these, 20.2%, or 1 in…
When a visitor or patron is injured due to a slip and fall on another’s property in Massachusetts, the law imposes a burden on the injured party to establish that the owner or occupier of the land: (1) knew or should have known of the dangerous condition, and should have…
Imagine this: You or a person you love is seriously hurt in a car accident. But the person who hit you is driving a stolen car. Or they don’t have insurance. Or they have only a very small insurance policy. Are you left with little or no money to compensate…
Since the first winter storm hit Boston in January, the city experienced a record six feet of snowfall during a 30-day period – breaking the previous record of 58.5 inches, set in 1978. As a result of this historic snowfall, homeowners continue to feel the negative impact of these storms…
On April 10, 2014, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in Sheehan v. Weaver, held that owners/occupiers of certain buildings, as described under G.L. c. 143, § 51, are strictly liable for injuries caused by building code violations. The ruling applies to places of assembly and by the terms of the…
In Klairmont v. Gainsboro Restaurant, Inc., 465 Mass. 165 (2013), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court [SJC] clarified a number of issues about the interrelation of the wrongful death statute, G.L. c. 229, consumer protection claims under G.L. c. 93A and the survival statute, G.L. c. 228, §1. Recently, defense interests…
Only days after a fire in an Allston building killed a Boston University student, the owner of the building, Anna Belokurova, has reportedly been cited by Boston police for allegedly running an illegal rooming house, and using the basement of the premises as bedrooms. According to Boston police, Belokurova allowed…
It’s the worst fear of any parent who sends their child to participate in sports or other youth-related activities – the teacher/coach/leader is an alleged pedophile. Parents in the North Shore Town of Rowley face that chilling reality, as it has been revealed that Curtis H. Bryant was accused in…
On February 15, 2013, David W. Heinlein, a partner at Heinlein Beeler Mingace & Heineman, P.C., with offices in Boston, Cambridge and Natick, obtained a personal injury jury verdict in Las Vegas against the Excalibur Hotel and Casino in the amount of $1,291,435.53. The jury, in this case involving a…
On Saturday, February 2, 2013, a bus headed from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania crashed into an under pass on Soldier’s Field Road in Boston. While the police investigation is ongoing, it appears that the bus was simply too tall to fit under the Soldier’s Field Road, Boston underpass, and…