TatumlegalAdmin, Author at Tatum Law Firm

September 5, 2014 by TatumlegalAdmin

Even if Plaintiff Is Negligent, Defendant May Still Be Liable in North Carolina If the Accident Could Have Been Avoided

It seems axiomatic that if one car hits another, the first car is responsible for the collision.

It isn’t always that simple. In North Carolina, if the plaintiff driver brought the collision on himself or herself by his or her own action or inaction, the defendant may escape liability because of the plaintiff’s contributory negligence. Where the evidence before the court could support a jury finding of contributory negligence by a plaintiff, the trial judge will give the appropriate jury instruction to advise the jury what factors are proper for them to consider before reaching their verdict.

The defendant is not completely in the clear, though, even if the evidence supports a finding that a plaintiff has been contributorily negligent.

[Read more…]

September 2, 2014 by TatumlegalAdmin

Deputy Sheriff Responding to Call With Flashing Lights Could Still Be Liable for Crash

A law enforcement officer driving his or her official vehicle must sometimes violate traffic regulations, such as stop signs, traffic lights, and speed limits, to pursue a suspected lawbreaker, or to drive as fast as possible to the scene of a serious crime or accident.

The officer is required to weigh the necessity of the high-risk driving against the risk to civilians.

A recent case involved a speeding sheriff’s deputy, who crashed into a driver emerging into his path from a residential neighborhood, causing both the deputy and the driver to be injured.

[Read more…]

August 28, 2014 by TatumlegalAdmin

Hospitals and Health Care Professionals Held to Higher Standard of Care

A woman was admitted to Chowan Hospital to have labor induced for the birth of her baby. She was admitted on a Friday night, labor was induced, and she was given the drug Pitocin on Saturday morning. No vaginal exam was performed until after noon on Saturday.

The nurse who performed the exam discovered an umbilical prolapse, a condition where the umbilical cord protrudes from the vagina. If the cord becomes compressed, it can restrict the flow of blood and oxygen to the baby, causing brain damage.

The nurse called the attending obstetrician and prepared the mother for an emergency C-section. It took 16 minutes to move the mother into the operating room, where the C-section was performed under local anesthetic. [Read more…]

August 20, 2014 by TatumlegalAdmin

In North Carolina Real Estate Lending Transactions, Let the Borrower Beware!

Sometimes an investment in real estate pays off handsomely, and sometimes it doesn’t. A disappointed or defrauded investor may look to a lender to recoup losses, but such a strategy will not work in North Carolina.

In 2006, a group had invested in Grandfather Vistas, a real estate development in Caldwell County. Approximately 1,000 acres of land were purchased for $10.9 million, which Infinity Partners, LLC, Infinity Real Estate Partners, LLC, Source One Communities, LLC, Prudential Source One, LLC, and Peerless Real Estate Services, Inc., planned to subdivide into one-acre retail parcels for resale.

The purchase was financed. The developers sold about 60 10-acre lots for $500,000 each (“the founders lots”), with contracts guaranteeing the developers would repurchase each lot for $625,000 within one year. [Read more…]

August 13, 2014 by TatumlegalAdmin

South Carolina Supreme Court Rules that Hospital Negligence Not Always Medical Malpractice

Someone who is injured by the negligence of a staff member at a hospital may have a basis for a lawsuit, for either negligence or for medical malpractice.

The procedural requirements for the two causes of action are different, and a plaintiff must satisfy the right set of requirements to maintain a lawsuit in court.

The Supreme Court of South Carolina recently reversed a ruling by a trial court granting a motion by a defendant hospital to dismiss a plaintiff’s case with prejudice. The hospital had argued in support of its motion to dismiss that the plaintiff failed to satisfy the statutory requirements for filing a medical malpractice claim. The Supreme Court, however, found that the basis for the plaintiff’s claim was not medical malpractice, but negligence by hospital staff, which did not have the statutory requirements for filing. [Read more…]

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Even if Plaintiff Is Negligent, Defendant May Still Be Liable in North Carolina If the Accident Could Have Been Avoided

Deputy Sheriff Responding to Call With Flashing Lights Could Still Be Liable for Crash

Hospitals and Health Care Professionals Held to Higher Standard of Care

In North Carolina Real Estate Lending Transactions, Let the Borrower Beware!

South Carolina Supreme Court Rules that Hospital Negligence Not Always Medical Malpractice

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