Pasco Law Blog

Lucas, Green & Magazine is again involved in the collection of school supplies for the children of Joshua House. Friends of Joshua House Foundation is a non-profit organization supporting Joshua House, a program of the Children’s Home Society of Florida. 100% of your school supply donation will go towards our children. Joshua House currently has 36 children in their care. Foster children, families, and agencies are not provided funds to purchase school supplies. Fostering a child is a community service, monthly financial support is provided for only the most basic needs. Academic tools, like notebooks, are not considered a basic need. Below is a list of supplies that the children need. 

Our firm has a collection tub for the needed supplies.  Please bring any school supply donations to any of our offices by July 30, 2010. Please send monetary gifts to the address below.

Make checks payable to Friends of Joshua House and mark “school supplies” in the memo.

Friends of Joshua House Foundation

PO Box 26333

Tampa, FL 33623

A $25 donation will purchase 5 backpacks!

Composition Notebooks

Two-pocket folders

Pens & Pencils

Pencil Sharpeners

Zippered Pencil Pouches

Washable Markers

Notebook paper

(General & College Rule)

Spiral notebooks

Glue/Glue Sticks

Scissors (blunt end)

Rulers

Erasers (both kinds)

Highlighters

Hand Sanitizers Calculators

Pocket dictionaries Thumb drives

3-Ring Binders

For additional information about this very worthwhile program, please email: friendsofjoshuahouse@yahoo.com ; see their website at www.friendsofjoshuahouse.com or call 813-263-3469.

Thank you for your time, consideration and donation.

Press Release:  April 8, 2010

The Million Dollar Advocates Forum is pleased to announce that attorney Jeff Lucas of New Port Richey, Florida has been certified as a member.  Attorney Lucas joins his partner James L. Magazine who is also a member.

The Million Dollar Advocates Forum is recognized as one of the most prestigious groups of trial lawyers in the United States.  Membership is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar verdicts, awards and settlements.  The organization was founded in 1993 and there are approximately 3000 members located throughout the country.  Fewer than  1 percent  of U.S. lawyers are members.  Forum membership acknowledges excellence in advocacy, and provides members with a national network of experienced colleagues for professional referral and information exchange in major cases.  Members must have acted as principal counsel in at least one case in which their client has received a verdict, award or settlement in the amount of  one million dollars or more.   Please see their website www.milliondollaradvocates.com for further details concerning membership qualifications.

Thanks to the persistence of our assistant office administrator, Andrea Mastracchio, our firm has been collecting aluminum soda tabs for Shriners Hospital.  The following is an email received in response to our contribution to their cause:

Dear Andrea,

A heartfelt thanks to you and the Pasco Law Group on behalf of Shriners Hospitals for Children for collecting tabs to benefit the kids receiving medical care and rehabilitation at our hospital in Tampa. Your extraordinary efforts will ensure that Shriners Hospitals for Children is able to continue Changing the World Through Caring for Kids at our 22 hospitals throughout North America.

 Alicia Argiz-Lyons
Corporate Director of Public Relations
Shriners International Headquarters
(813) 281-8161 Fax (813) 281-8496

However, this accident scenario did bring some thoughts and office discussions about Florida laws and automobile insurance coverage. When our law firm handles motor vehicle accidents, most of the cases are the typical collisions that we all see on the news. In Tiger’s case, the accident involved his vehicle, a golf club, a fire hydrant, a tree and his wife.

Florida personal injury protection, under most auto insurance policies, will cover injuries sustained out of the use, ownership or maintenance of a covered motor vehicle. In Tiger’s accident, he will be covered under his PIP for injuries he sustained as a result of striking the tree and fire hydrant. Under most Florida personal injury protection policies, if you are injured in a motor vehicle accident, regardless of fault, the medical costs for injuries sustained will be paid under your PIP. For example, if you are in a one-car accident, hit a tree, hit a deer or a cow, or if your wife jumps out in front of your car and you run your vehicle into the garage, PIP will cover your medical expenses. If you are changing your tire in your front yard, on the side of the road or other maintenance issues and you are injured while performing these maintenance tasks, PIP can cover your medical expenses for injuries sustained as a result of the injury provided that your injury is sustained out of the use, ownership or maintenance of the covered automobile.

Under most Florida uninsured/underinsured (UM) coverage, compensation for anything above and beyond medical bills and wage loss would not be covered. Under most UM policies, coverage only exists if you are involved in an accident where there is another vehicle involved. It is often very difficult to collect on a UM claim when there is a “phantom vehicle” involved that causes a collision. A “phantom” vehicle would be a vehicle that causes the driver to become involved in an accident, and the phantom leaves the scene or is unidentifiable. Unless you have some very good, unrelated witnesses that can attest that a specific vehicle forced you to have the accident, you would not likely have a UM claim. In most cases uninsured/underinsured coverage is only available when the claimants damages exceed the PIP available and the bodily injury coverage from the adverse party.

So I hope we have all learned from Tiger’s experience, because accidents can happen to any of us.

When you or a loved one are involved in an accident of any type, whether it be an automobile or a slip and fall, most people are shocked, startled and confused. It is very important to try to focus and think clearly when the incident happens. Although this can sometimes be difficult, if we are educated and prepared, hopefully we can try to calmly review the situation and be proactive.

When the accident is a Slip and Fall, it is important to inspect the area where you or your loved one fell, and try to determine what caused you or your loved one to fall.

Make sure to write down the names, addresses and phone numbers of anyone in the vicinity where the incident occurred - both those who saw the fall, and others who were there after the incident. The individuals will likely be needed as witnesses on the victim’s behalf. Even if someone did not see the fall, he or she could, if necessary, describe your pain and the conditions of the floor, lighting, or other hazard immediately after the fall.

If the incident occurred in a store or place of business, speak with the manager or supervisor on duty, and have them make a record of the incident, being sure to get a copy of anything prepared. If anyone (especially an employee, supervisor or manager) makes a comment suggesting that this has occurred before, or that they were aware of the condition before the fall, obtain this person’s name and job title. Make sure to get the name, address and phone number of anyone else who heard him or her make the statement.

Have someone take photographs of the area as soon as possible, so a record is made. Dangerous conditions have a way of changing if the property owner thinks that you might file a claim for injuries.

If you slip on any substance on the floor, obtain a sample of the substance if possible.

After receiving appropriate initial medical treatment, contact an attorney with experience in handling claims for personal injury resulting from slip and fall accidents.

The Law Office of Lucas, Green & Magazine is assisting the Joshua House in the collection of back to school supplies for foster children in need.  Items that can be donated include: notebooks, crayons, colored pencils, rulers, scissors, highlighters, notebook paper (college rule), scientific calculators,  5-subject notebooks, mechanical pencils, pocket dictionaries, erasers, glue/glue sticks and backpacks.  Donations need to be dropped by our office by Wednesday, August 5, 2009.  Monetary Donations are accepted.  Please make your checks payable to “Friends of Joshua House Foundation” write “School Supplies” on the memo line and mail to:  Friends of Joshua House Foundation, Inc., PO Box 26333, Tampa, FL 33623.

On July 1, 2009, the seatbelt law in the State of Florida changed. Floridalaw has required drivers and front-seat passengers to wear seatbelts, however on July 1, 2009 the law changed so that you can be stopped just for not wearing your seatbelt. The law used to be that if you were stopped for another traffic violation, you could also be sited with a “no seatbelt” violation on top of the original charge.

The Florida Primary Seat Belt Law makes it a primary charge not to be wearing a seat belt while driving.  Drivers not wearing their seat belts may know that it’s not the safest of practices. They may even be aware that not wearing a seatbelt is against the law.

However, now law enforcement officers can pull over drivers and their passengers for not being buckled up.  With this change, there real is no excuse not to wear your seat belt. Drivers who get caught face a $30 statewide fine, plus an added county penalty.

Since 2005, law enforcement officers have been able to pull over a vehicle if any occupant under the age of 18 was not wearing a seat belt.  The change now is that the law applies to the driver of the car and the front-seat passenger regardless of age, and still applies to passengers in the back seat under 18.  There are no warnings.”

With my son in his junior year of college at Florida Gulf Coast University, I thought I was at the end of my parenting days.  True, you are always a parent to your children no matter how old they are, but at 21 your children either “get it” or they don’t.  They don’t require any supervision; they just need a few reminders now and then.  However, this week I learned that my life was coming full-circle as I learned I now had to be a parent to my parent.

Yes, I had to practice some tough love with my 87 year old mother.  Somehow she seems to have gotten herself released early from the hospital.  It appears that she was behaving “as cantankerously as she could” to the hospital staff.  Due to her surgery she could not go home immediately and live independently.  She will need to recover in the rehab facility.  She will need to heal, get her strength back and learn how to take care of her “new self.”  I had to sit her down and tell her that like it or not, she had to stay in the skilled nursing facility. If you have not been in this position, let me suffice it to say that it is very strange.  Here is the parent who lectured you about behaving yourself and minding your manners, behaving in a way that requires that the tables be turned.

“You are not going anywhere mom.  You are staying here, and if you want to get back home, you will need to behave and listen to your caregivers.  You need to make sure you eat right so your wounds will heal faster. Be nice to others, so they will be nice to you.”

I watched and held her hand as the nurses assessed the condition of her now frail body.  They checked and noted on their paperwork, every bruise, cut or other out of the ordinary injury on her body.  When I was ready to leave, she had settled down.  She promised to behave and try to be patient with her caregivers. Love you mom, see you tomorrow.

Wow, what a day last Thursday was! Two icons passing away in one day. Although the passing of Farrah Fawcett was certainly expected, the sudden death of Michael Jackson was not.

Farrah was the pin up girl of my generation. The poster of her red one-piece bathing suit adorned the college dorm rooms of most of the guys I knew in 1976. The poster was considered a bit risque for the time period, but would now appear to be somewhat pure in it’s content. I remember one entire fraternity of young men meeting in the student center every evening that Charlie’s Angels was on to watch and drool over the mesmerizing beauties Farrah, Kate and Jacqueline.

Over the past few years we have watched with both fascination and admiration as Farrah fought a courageous battle with colon-rectal/anal cancer. Sadly, in the end, her choices of how she treated her disease, in some opinions, may have shortened her life. Farrah made a personal choice not to have the portion of her tumor affected colon removed. If she had done so, this would have resulted in her having a colostomy bag for the rest of her life. She also originally sought out chemo treatments that would not cause her to lose her famous locks of hair. These were her personal choices, choices that she felt were appropriate for her and her family. For me, Farrah’s choices and ultimate passing, only serves to strengthen the choice my 87 year old mother made last week to have her tumor affected colon/rectum removed, only to be replaced by a colostomy bag. Farrah opted for the less evasive lasering off of her tumors, and this resulted in their return with a vengeance.

We cannot overlook the “King of Pop” passing either. Whether you like him or loath him, most can agree that Michael Jackson was an influential part of the music industry and played a large roll in the beginnings of the Music Videoand MTV. It appears that his untimely death may also be due to his health choices. The press on his death indicates that there may have been some abuse of prescription pain killers. It will take weeks for the toxicology reports to be final.

When our clients are in accidents, we cannot offer them medical advice, we are not doctors. We can only give them medical resources for them to choose from, and hope that with their doctors input, they can make the right decisions to help them heal properly.

We are attorneys. We can assist our clients through the legal process of being involved in an accident, however we leave the medical care and decisions up to our clients and their medical providers. Our New Port Richey Personal Injury Attorneys represent people injured in all types of accidents, including automobile collisions, slip and fall accidents, animal attacks. Our law firm has a well-earned reputation for providing aggressive and high quality representation to accident victims, and we know injury law. If you or a loved one are a victim of personal injuries, please contac a New Port Richey Personal Injury attorney for a free consultation so we can put our resources to work for you.

1-800-4-INJURY or Jeff@pascolawgroup.com