The first Massachusetts man to stand was Ray Champagne, his head slightly bowed, right hand raised skyward. The ballroom crowd roared to celebrate his release after 41 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Others freed from Bay State prisons followed: Frances Choy (17 years), Robert Foxworth (29 years), Raymond Gaines (46 years), and four more. The newly exonerated or freed from across the country climbed to their feet one by one to be recognized for the years they spent wrongfully behind bars.

111 people; 2,459 years.

Last came James Watson, who, at 6-foot-6, shot up like a man with a new life. The 63-year-old, whom prosecutors in Suffolk County once sought to execute, pumped his fists and basked in the applause.

“It feels like a trillion bucks,”

Apr 30 2022

How Important Are Medical Expenses in a Personal Injury Claim

Personal Injury

With the help of expert witnesses, personal injury lawyers often put their clients who have suffered a wide range of injuries at an advantage. Unfortunately, many injured people usually have to cover medical expenses long after the case has been resolved. But the same bills and medical records can help plaintiffs strengthen their cases and receive substantial settlements from the defendants via insurance claims or lawsuits. So let’s see today the role medical bills play in a personal injury case.

The Medical Bills and Records Help Doctors Testify in the Case
A personal injury lawyer will often want to put the physician who has treated the client as an expert witness in the case. However, in most circumstances, law firms work with independent expert witnesses who corroborate the initial findings, add their knowledge and skills to the

Apr 30 2022

Working From Home And Worker Bargaining Power

Discrimination

A good deal of the narrative and debate over working from home focuses on workers—what do they get, why do they want it, how they are choosing it. But to work from home, someone has to pay you. Does telework signal a change in the power relationship between employers and employees?

Economist Teresa Ghilarducci told us in a recent Forbes blog that there are 10 indicators of workers’ bargaining power, and only 4 of them are up—quit rates, reservation wages, the unemployment rate, and the number of jobs per unemployed worker. But productivity and profits are rising faster than wages, the labor share of the nation’s wealth has fallen, and real income for workers also is down—all trends that favor employers over workers.

We shouldn’t

Apr 30 2022

They Just Took Me Away – Florida’s Guardianship System

Nursing Homes

It’s been a year since Jan Garwood, a 72-year-old central Florida woman, won her freedom back and started trying to piece together what was left of her life.

In 2017, Garwood was placed in an assisted living facility against her will. A judge had declared her mentally incompetent and put her in the care of a professional guardian to protect her health and finances. The system was supposed to help her. Instead, Garwood felt like a prisoner.

She was stuck in a lockdown ward for three years, until a local activist and two attorneys managed to get her rights restored. By then, though, she’d lost more than three years. Her guardian had sold her house, leaving her temporarily homeless. All of her possessions were missing.

Apr 29 2022

What To Do If You are Hit by an Unlicensed Driver

MVA

Because of the risks involved with driving, all drivers in the United States, including Washington State, are required to have a driver’s license to operate a vehicle. Unfortunately, there is always a percentage of people who don’t comply. At any given time, there are people driving on U.S. roads without a valid license; most often because their license was suspended or revoked. This selfish choice puts other drivers on the road with them at risk of being hit by an unlicensed driver.

Car accidents involving unlicensed drivers

According to a study published by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety in 2000, drivers without a valid license are responsible for 20 percent of all automobile accidents. The NHTSA estimates that 5 to 6 million car accidents

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