Newsletter Navigation
- Hill Boren Attorneys Active At ATLA
- Hill Boren Lawyers Elected To TTLA
- Hill Boren Salutes Soldiers And Families
- Returning Military Members: Know Your Rights
- Scarborough’s Family History Entwined With Military
- Vioxx Update: Time Is Running Out
- Downsized Employees may be able to Reopen Workers’ Comp Cases
Hill Boren Attorneys Active At ATLA
What a trip! Hill Boren just got back from the ATLA Convention in Toronto, Quebec. ATLA, the American Association for Justice, is an organization focused on helping lawyers provide better legal advice for their clients. I was joined by trial lawyers Jeff Boyd, Chris Taylor and Randall Phillips at the convention July 23-27.
While there, we had the chance to listen to lectures given by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, CNN political commentator and author Paul Begala and the U.S. Senate Assistant Minority Leader Richard Durbin.
Hill Boren attorneys also had the chance to attend classes focusing on jury selection, Vioxx litigation, workers’ compensation and railroad and automobile injuries. The convention allows Hill Boren to further train our lawyers in the issues important to our clients.
Hill Boren Lawyers Elected To TTLA
Several Hill Boren lawyers were recently elected to the Tennessee Trial Lawyer’s Association Board-of-Governors. TTLA is a Tennessee-based organization geared to protecting an individual’s rights to trial by jury. I will remain active in TTLA as the Immediate Past President. Chris Taylor, James Krenis, Jeff Boyd and Randall Phillips are all members of the TTLA Board-of-Governors. Members of the association have access to Trial Smith, a national research bank designed for lawyers, websites, newsletters and other legal publications. These tools offer a variety of information that helps the lawyers at Hill Boren protect your rights.
Hill Boren Salutes Soldiers And Families
To show our appreciation for deployed and recently returned soldiers and their families, Hill Boren helped sponsor the Diamond Jaxx Salute to the Tennessee Army National Guard on Friday, July 29, 2005.
Soldiers and their families attended a pre-game picnic where military vehicles and equipment were on display. They then received complimentary tickets to attend the game, where messages from the deployed soldiers were played on the scoreboard during and after the game.
A fundraiser auctioned off specially made camouflage jerseys worn by players during the game. The 25 jerseys raised $2,985 for the Soldiers’ Relief Fund. It was a nice opportunity to thank our nation’s service men and women and their families and let them know that we appreciate what they go through.
Returning Military Members: Know Your Rights
In today’s uncertain times, many of our clients have spouses or family members that are on active duty in the National Guard or Armed Forces Reserve. As their active duty ends, many are returning home from military service to find that their civilian jobs have been given away or done away with all together.
In 1994, a law called the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act was passed to guarantee the rights of returning service-men and women. USERRA requires prompt re-employment in a position of like seniority, status and pay to military members who have been gone for up to five years. It prohibits an employer from denying any benefit of employment on the basis of an individual’s participation in the military.
USERRA also requires that an employer provide the same type of benefits to military leave as they would to any other leave. For example, if your employer continues life and disability benefits for employees on unpaid leave, then the military member is entitled to the same thing. Employers must offer military members and their families the option of a COBRA-like insurance plan, which is a temporary continuation of health coverage at grouprates.
More information about USERRA can be found online at www.osc.gov/userra.htm
Scarborough’s Family History Entwined With Military
The military has played a large role in the Scarborough’s family history. Charles Scarborough, Sergeant First Class in the Army National Guard, proposed to wife Rita in the army barracks at Fort Campbell 18 years ago. During his 12 years in the Army, Charles and family were stationed in Germany where his son, 11-year-old Jonathan, was born. Emily, his daughter, is now 9.Charles, a National Guard aviation technician at McKellar Sipes Regional Airport for the past 10 years, is currently deployed to Iraq, but hopes to be home by Christmas of this year. He and Rita, a speech pathologist for the school system in Humphreys County, communicate using email, telephone and instant messenger. It wasn’t always so high-tech, though. During Desert Storm, they could only communicate through letters and rare telephone calls.
Rita’s computer died not too long ago. She spent three or four days trying to get it fixed so they could talk, only to find out that she needed a new hard drive. “I called my brother, crying that I’d lost my main communication tool,” Rita said. “He made a phone call and offered to meet the dealer half-way for the part. When the dealer found out why I needed it, he gave it to me, free of charge. So many people have shown their appreciation.”
Rita is the unit’s Family Readiness Group Leader, a family support group for deployed soldiers. Her advice to other families in similar situations is, “Hang in there—it doesn’t last forever.”
Vioxx Update: Time Is Running Out
The statute of limitations (the deadline for filing claims) against Vioxx is set to end Sept. 30, 2005.
Introduced in 1999, Vioxx was prescribed to treat arthritis. In 2000, the FDA suggested to Vioxx’s manufacturer, Merck, that the product should carry a warning label after studies showed that people using the drug are twice as likely to experience problems such as heart attack and stroke. Vioxx was pulled from the market in September of 2004. That means that the one-year statute of limitations for filing claims is quickly approaching.
Hill Boren is currently reviewing Vioxx cases. We filed some of the earliest Vioxx claims in West Tennessee. If you, or a family member, experienced a heart attack or stroke while taking Vioxx, contact Hill Boren immediately.
Downsized Employees may be able to Reopen Workers’ Comp Cases
With the recent announcement of Kellwood’s Rutherford facility closing, many employees are not aware that they may be able to reopen their workers’ compensation cases.
To reopen a closed workers’ compensation case, you must have remained at work with the same employer after your injury settlement or trial, and the injury must have be classified as to the body as a whole. Most back, hip or shoulder injuries qualify for the case to be reopened, though other injuries may qualify. Your must file your claim to be reconsidered for industrial disability within one year of losing your job with the company and have been released by your doctor within eight years (400 weeks) of your termination or layoff.
Even if the right to reopen your case was waived through the original injury’s settlement, you may be entitled to file a claim. The attorneys at Hill Boren understand the rules of workers’ compensation cases and can help you determine if your case can be reopened.
