Edwards & Ragatz News
 
 
 
 
May 2010                              Issue 2 
Good Afternoon, 
 In this issue:

-- We're hosting the 1st Annual

   Law Day In May Celebration to benefit JALA

-- Meet our newest attorney, Jeffrey T. Totty

-- Visit our new website  
-- Try the MedWatch link to health/hospital stats 

-- Bar Web rules revisited

-- Suits & Settlements of note in the U.S.  

-- AAJ lists 10 Worst Insurance Companies in America

 
Sincerely,
  
Tom Edwards                                      Eric Ragatz
 You're Invited!

Law Day in May Invite

 Don't miss our first Law Day in May Celebration! 
 
We're celebrating and fundraising for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. Join us for some of Jacksonville's best barbecue and locally brewed beer. 
Open bar, lively music.
Suggested donation for JALA - $25
Park on 4th level of the ramp before 6 p.m.,
in Visitor spots after 6 p.m.

www.edwardsragatz.com Has a New Look 

 
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We've expanded, improved and streamlined everything.
View our videos, attorney profiles, areas of practice, brochures, and join us on FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube.
 Find us on Facebook     Follow us on Twitter
 
In the News ...
High Profile Suits & Settlements From Other Firms Across the U.S.

Florida appeals court upholds $25.8 million judgment against Walgreens
An error by a teenage pharmacy tech resulted in a Lakeland, Fla., woman receiving blood thinner pills with a dosage 10 times greater than prescribed. She suffered a crippling stroke and was forced to stop cancer treatments. 
 
Bedsores case jury returns verdict for $5 million
A Philadelphia jury returned a verdict for $5 million in punitive damages against Jeanes Hospital and a Wyncote, Pa., nursing home in the death of a man who developed ultimately fatal bedsores while at both facilities. Read more ...  
 
Dannon yogurt to pay $45 million 
 A judge in Cleveland ruled that Dannon must pay consumers up to $45 million in damages in a class action settlement for promoting Activia and DanActive yogurt products as "clinically" and "scientifically" proven to regulate digestion and boost immune systems. 
Read more ... 
 
Lifelock to pay $12 million to settle false advertising claims
Lifelock Inc., based in Tempe, Ariz., has agreed to pay $12 million to settle claims brought by the Federal Trade Commission and 35 states. The company advertised its $10 per month fraud protection as a "proven solution" to protect consumers from fraud. Lifelock president Todd Davis is famous for plastering his Social Security number on Lifelock ads. 
... 
  
Source: The Jere Beasley Report, April 2010
Join the FDA MedWatch E-list
The site offers health care and hospital stats.  

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The FDA MedWatch provides medical product safety alerts and information about drugs and medical devices.
 
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services offers statistics on: hospital stays, ER use, U.S. hospitals, and national information on measures of health care quality.
 
Called HCUPnet -- the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project -- the site offers medical data, tools and reports.
 

Everbank rendering

" I consider trial by jury as
 the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which
 a government can be held
 to the principles of its constitution."
 
-- Thomas Jefferson  

 Attorney Spotlight:
 
   cleighwilhite

Join us in welcoming:

 

Jeffrey T. Totty, P.C.

 
Practice areas: Personal injury, medical malpractice, nursing home and commercial litigation.

Experience: 10 years practicing in personal injury, commercial litigation and criminal defense.
He began his career as an agency attorney at the New York City Department of Homeless Services. He then joined a boutique firm in New York as a litigation associate defending product liability cases nationwide.  

He worked as an insurance defense attorney in Florida handling automobile, construction defect and premises liability cases. He also managed a small personal injury and commercial litigation firm in Athens, Ga.

Admitted in: State Courts in Florida, Georgia and New York; U.S. District Courts in the Middle District of Florida, and the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York

Education: Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Lansing, Mich.;
bachelor's degree in comparative literature, University of Georgia; Stanton College Preparatory School; Robert E. Lee High School

Admitted to the state bar of: New York, Florida and Georgia

Professional organizations: Jacksonville Bar Association, Western Circuit Bar Association (Athens, Ga.)

Community involvement:  Former co-chair - Jacksonville Bar Association Mentor Committee 

Last book I read: "The Sign" by Raymond Khoury

Family:  wife, Ashli; daughter Skylar, 6; and son Anderson, 4

Pets: One cat named Aion and a dog named Jazz

 
 
Bar Revisits Web Rules 
 
Some information may be exempt from advertising rules.
 
Proposed amendments to Rule 4-7.6 would address creating a portion of a lawyer's Web site that could be considered information at the request of a prospective client and exempt from the advertising rules under specified circumstances. Find out more at www.floridabar.org.
AAJ's 10 Worst Insurance Companies
 
1. Allstate
2. Unum
3. AIG
4. State Farm
5. Conseco
6. WellPoint
7. Farmers
8. UnitedHealth
9. Torchmark
10. Liberty Mutual
 
Researchers at the American Association for Justice investigated thousands of court documents, and Securities and Exchange Commission and FBI records.
 
They also looked into state insurance department investigations and complaints, country-wide news accounts, and took the testimony and depositions of former insurance agents and adjusters. 
  
 
1 blue know what to do
Law day logo
 
Areas of Practice
Nursing Home Neglect
Car and Truck Accidents
Medical Malpractice
Insurance and Coverage Litigation
Product Liability
Construction Site Accidents
Business Litigation 
 
 "Balancing The Scales Of Justice -- For Those Who Need It Most"
 
 
 
Contact Us:
 
501 Riverside Ave., Suite 601                                  Phone: 904.399.1609   
Jacksonville, Florida 32202                                     Toll Free: 800.366.1609
                                                                                Fax: 904.399.1615
 
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