In recent years, there has been a growing trend of distracted walking. This is the practice of walking while using a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet. Distracted walking can be dangerous, as it can lead to pedestrians being injured in accidents.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), distracted walking is a factor in an estimated 15% of pedestrian accidents. These accidents can result in serious injuries, including broken bones, head injuries, and even death.

Sushila Thind is a recent graduate from the University of California, Davis with a major in Political Science and a minor in Middle East and South Asia Studies. Currently, she is thrilled to embark on her journey as an incoming 1L student at McGeorge School of Law, where she will be focusing on immigration law. In the past year, Sushila gained valuable experience working at a criminal and personal injury law firm in Contra Costa County, which has been instrumental in shaping her understanding of the legal field.

During her undergraduate years, Sushila completed two internships, gaining hands-on experience with federal laws and congress. This exposure to policy-making further strengthened her passion for pursuing a legal career. With a strong commitment to social issues, Sushila believes in using law as a tool to create positive change. She looks forward to exploring her journey into law and dedicating herself to making a difference.

We look forward to seeing Sushila succeed in her upcoming years at McGeorge School of Law.

A 20-year-old woman, identified as Angela Fierro from Antioch, was killed on Thursday when the black Jeep Grand Cherokee she was in rolled over as the result of a collision with another vehicle. Fierro was ejected from the vehicle and died as a result of her injuries. She was reportedly pregnant.

The accident occured at 4:50 PM at the intersection of Lone Tree Way and Clayburn Road in Antioch. Residents report there are accidents at that intersection on a weekly basis.

Safety is vital to any community, and Antioch is no different. Nearly a quarter of the city's population are minor children, many of whom walk home from school or to the beautiful local parks.

Of course, everyone deserves safe passage on the roadways, no matter their age. When harrowing accidents occur, families take notice and look for ways to safeguard themselves.

Jewel Drigo, born on the island of Dominica and raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands, is pursuing her Juris Doctorate (JD) at Yale Law school as part of the class of 2025. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations and History. As an undergraduate student, she had the opportunity to live and work in China as part of a study abroad program focused on cultural immersion and collaboration. Before law school, she returned to the U.S. Virgin Islands to work in the legal branch of the Office of the Governor. She is looking forward to law school and is keeping an open mind in terms of what aspect of the law she plans to pursue. However, she is passionate about serving others in her community and aspires to influence international policy and government relations.

We look forward to seeing Jewel succeed in her upcoming years at Yale Law School.

July 15, 2022

On Wednesday, an accident involving a vehicle and a parked public works truck left a driver seriously injured. The collision occurred at approximately 8:30 AM on Ygnacio Valley Road between Oak Grove and Cowell. The vehicle was travelling eastbound when it collided with the parked vehicle as the public works crew was working on road improvements. The driver was seriously injured in the collision and was rushed to the hospital. The accident caused a temporary road closure as the police investigated the accident. No other injuries were reported and the road was reopened 3 hours later.

Congratulations to Thomas O'Connor for being named to Super Lawyers for 2022. The designation means that he is a top-rated attorney as recognized by peers. He was selected to Super Lawyers for 2013 - 2022.

New data from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) projects that the pandemic has had an impact on the number of pedestrian traffic deaths in 2020. Although data shows that the number of cars on the road has decreased during the pandemic, the projected fatality rate of pedestrian accidents increased by 21%, the largest spike ever recorded since 1975, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System was established.

Margaret is an incoming 1L at Georgetown University Law Center. She just wrapped up a 2 year fellowship working as a Carbon Pricing Analytics Fellow at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).  Through analysis, policy outreach, and capacity development on the design and implementation of market-based climate policies, Margaret focused on the fight against climate change. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Princeton University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering with certificates in Environmental Policy and Sustainable Energy. While at Princeton, Margaret engaged with environmentalism as a member of Princeton Student Climate Initiative and as the managing editor of the Princeton Legal Journal. She used the Legal Journal as a platform to conduct and share research in environmental policy. Incorporating her personal interest in law and innovation into her independent work, such as her senior thesis, has challenged Margaret to more fully explore the politics of environmentalism and to envision creative solutions and strategies for combating environmental injustice.

We look forward to seeing Margaret succeed in her upcoming years at Georgetown University Law Center.

A car accident can cause many different types of injuries, ranging from minor all the way up to catastrophic and possibly fatal. Generally speaking, there are two different categories of injuries resulting from car accidents:

• Impact injuries: These are caused by the victim being slammed into part(s) of the car.
• Penetrating injuries: These are caused by objects penetrating into the victim.

Following her graduation from Harvard University with a degree in Sociology, Annie joined the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office as a Strategy Analyst.  She played an integral role in the creation of the Crime Strategies Unit (“CSU”), a special operations team that combined the office’s best legal talents with cutting-edge technology to concentrate resources on prosecuting Manhattan’s most violent criminals.  CSU paved the way for prosecutors to take on more proactive roles, not only in prosecuting crime but also in rehabilitating the communities most afflicted by it.  CSU quickly became a model for innovative prosecution and has been replicated by dozens of district attorney’s offices nationwide.

California drivers involved in any type of traffic accident are under specific legal obligations to report the crash. If you plan to hold the driver who caused the accident financially responsible for the losses you incurred, California has some laws that could substantially affect your case.

How Long do Personal Injury Cases Typically Take Before a Settlement is Reached?

If you have a personal injury claim that you are seeking to settle, it may not be smart to rush it because your compensation may be less than fair.

Should you become injured or harmed in some way due to the negligence or actions of another, you may be legally entitled to compensation from the responsible party. Unfortunately, this often requires the filing of a personal injury lawsuit. These lawsuits take time and typically go through a number of stages before winding up in court.

The statute of limitations states how much time you have to file a lawsuit if you’ve been wronged. The law requires most lawsuits to be filed within a specified time frame. Generally speaking, once the statute of limitation passes, your claim is no longer legally valid.

The length of time you have to file a lawsuit depends on which type of legal claim you’re making.

Personal Injury Claims

If you’re making a personal injury claim, you have a full 2 years from the date you were injured to file your lawsuit. However, if you did not realize you were injured right away, then you are given 1 year from the date you discovered your injury.

We look forward to seeing Kristina succeed in her upcoming years at the University of San Diego School of Law.

The California Highway Patrol has reported that two people have died so far, and five others were badly hurt in an apparent wrong-way crash that occurred in the early hours of the morning last Sunday, not far from Orinda.

Although the investigation is still in the early stages, it is suspected that the male driving a Saturn Vue was traveling east in the westbound lanes of Highway 24 between Fish Ranch Rd. and Wilder Rd. when his vehicle crashed head-on into the Toyota Camry, the CHP reported. 

The man who was killed was riding in his Tesla, which was on autopilot at the time of the crash. His family is suing the car manufacturer and others for wrongful death.

The lawsuit is not only against Tesla, but it could also include subcontractors who helped design and build the autopilot system on Tesla’s Model X. 

Walter Huang was killed in March 2018 when his 2017 Tesla Model X smashed into a barrier on Hwy.101 in the city of Mountain View while it was on autopilot. 

His grieving wife Sevonne Huang told the press that this Tesla was her husband’s dream car.

“I gave the car to him for his birthday,” she said.

The family is convinced that the autopilot system is defective and probably the cause of Huang’s death.

Mark Fong, the family’s lawyer, said, “The car moved out of a safe lane, headed directly towards a solid concrete barrier while accelerating nearly 10 miles an hour in 3 seconds.”

Family members claim that Huang complained about the car constantly veering towards the same barrier at the very same location where the crash occurred. They also said that he took his car to the dealership a number of times to tell them about the malfunctioning autopilot.

The lawsuit is being filed on the grounds of defective product design along with intentional misrepresentation.

The company released a statement soon after the crash that said, “The driver took no evasive action even though he had a 5-second view of the divider before crashing into it.” The company went on to say, “Mr. Huang had received both visual and audible hands-on warnings earlier while driving and his hands were not on the steering wheel for a full 6 seconds before colliding into the barrier.”

Attorney Doris Cheng said, “Attempting to put the blame on Mr. Huang by suggesting that it was up to him to figure out what was wrong with his Tesla, is very unfair.”

The family also filed a lawsuit against the State of California, claiming that the highway median had no protective crash guard, which could have possibly prevented the death.

The lawsuit is for monetary damages, as yet unspecified.

Huang’s wife said, “I’m doing this so that other families don’t suffer through the same experience.”

The NTSB has not yet released the final report of its investigation into the accident. When asked, a Tesla representative declined to comment on the lawsuit.

A number of other Tesla drivers have lodged complaints and filed lawsuits against Tesla for autopilot errors.

The autopilot feature is one of Tesla’s most popular features because it is supposed to take over other functions, like steering, braking, changing lanes and speed.

Last year a Tesla driver whose car was on autopilot fell asleep while the car kept driving all on its own. Eventually CHP officers boxed the Tesla in with their cars, slowing it down until it stopped. They then arrested the driver when he couldn’t pass the field sobriety test.

Published on behalf of O'Connor, Runckel & O'Malley LLP