Gartelos, Wagner & Ament
Personal Injury Newsletter
The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act - Death Benefits
 
If a maritime employee's death was caused by a work related injury, the employee's widow, widower, or other eligible survivor may recover death benefits under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act. The widow, widower, or survivor may also recover funeral expenses of up to $3,000.More...
 
Liability for a Person's Suicide
 
Traditionally, courts refused to hold a person or entity liable for a person's suicide. Suicide was considered an illegal, deliberate and intentional act that broke the chain of causation between any negligent or intentional conduct and the suicide.More...
 
Truth and Privilege Defenses to Defamation
 
Defamation lawsuits are not easy to win because the plaintiff must both prove the difficult elements of his or her case and avoid the many defenses to defamation. This article discusses some of the standard defenses to defamation, including truth and privilege.More...
 
Tax Considerations in Tort Litigation
 
The income tax consequences of damages that are awarded in a tort action may have a significant impact on the parties to the litigation. In most cases, the tax effect of the damages will depend upon how the damages are characterized by the parties. Whether the damages are taxable or not may often affect the amount that a plaintiff is willing to accept from a defendant and that the defendant is willing to pay the plaintiff under a settlement agreement.More...
 
Defendant's Wrongful Use of Process
 
It is a tort to use the civil or criminal form of process to primarily seek a result other than that for which the form of process was intended. The conduct that encompasses the abuse of process is a defendant's wrongful use of the process for an ulterior purpose and some willful act in the use of the process to accomplish that ulterior purpose.More...
 
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