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A man was injured in a scary bus accident in Brooklyn, NYC yesterday around 12:30 am.   The accident occurred on Palmetto Street in Bushwick.

For some unknown reason, the bus driver, Shatimma Simmons, decided to exit the bus. It was Shatimma’s third day on the job and she mistakenly left the bus in neutral instead of park. After she stepped out of the vehicle, the bus started to roll backward down Palmetto street. According to witnesses, the driver started to run after the bus while screaming “Help! Help! Please stop the bus!”. The vehicle rolled backwards down 3 blocks  at full speed and without a driver  while witnesses watched in horror.

The bus slammed into several vehicles before crashing into the wall of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church on Knickerbocker Ave. The bus first drove through the church fence and then hit one of the brick columns. Nicholas Rivera was in the process of changing headlights on his BMW when the bus slammed into it. The man was sent flying into the street. Witnesses saw blood pouring out of his face while he was lying on his back.  He was transported to the hospital to be treated. Fortunately he only suffered minor injuries and was released the same day. The 30 year old bus driver was also taken to the hospital to be observed. She wasn’t physicality injured but she was definitely under intense stress. She was mumbling and seemed extremely upset.  Her error caused thousands of dollars of damages on at least 10 cars and the church property.

Lawyers working with Native Americans and American Indians clients may sometimes need specifically targeted legal resources. In a recent note, Daniel Pollack, a professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in New York City put together an abridged listing of helpful national and regional legal resources.

5.2 million Americans identify themselves as American Indians and Alaska Natives. 2.9 million of them are solely from Native descent. 2.3 million of them are of mixed descent (native combined with one or several other races).  They have a unique legal status in the US that often requires specific resources and knowledge while working on their cases.

The complete note can be downloaded here

A defective e-cigarette battery exploded in the pocket of a man driving his car in New York City, seriously injuring him. 24 year old Ricardo Jiminez  suffered a large second-degree burn on his thigh and right hand after the e-cigarette exploded in his jeans pocket. At the time of the accident, Ricardo was driving his car. As he felt heat in his pocket he put his hand in his pocket to take the battery out. At the same time the battery exploded. Smoke invaded the car. Quickly Ricardo put the car in park, jumped out of it and removed his pants. As he was doing so a police officer saw him and called for an ambulance.

Another man was burned by a defective e-cigarette battery in New York around two weeks ago. The man was working at a wine store in Grand Central Station when the accident happened.

Recently, an increased number of people have been severely burned by exploding E-Cigarette batteries all around the world. The explosions are usually caused by poorly manufactured lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries are used in many electronic consumer goods. While many e-cigarettes batteries are produced in China by little known manufacturers, the recent lithium battery explosion also affected large worldwide manufacturers. Recently Samsung had to recall and stop the sale of its latest cell phone after multiple reports of defective battery explosions.  Hover-boards batteries also have led to multiple explosions that sometimes led to the destruction of entire houses.

Our partner, New York Personal Injury Lawyer Jeff Bloom, will be speaking at the New York State Bar Association “Bridging the Gap” Seminar. This seminar will take place on Wednesday November 30 and Thursday December 1st at CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The seminar will be broadcast live in Albany and Buffalo. Attendants at these two locations will have the opportunity to communicate live with New York Speakers. “Bridging the gap” is a CLE seminar dedicated to recent graduates and newly admitted attorneys. Jeff will present an Examination of the Defendant by the plaintiff’s Attorney. He will address the following points:

• Should the Defendant be the Plaintiff’s First Witness?
• Your Manner

Defective batteries in the Samsung Galaxy Note7 can potentially overheat and catch fire causing severe burns to users. On September 15 the smartphone manufacturer announced that it was recalling about 1 million Samsung Galaxy Note7 phones sold in the US and Canada before September 15th. The company received 92 reports indicating that the lithium battery was overheating. 26 people reported being burned and 55 others reported property damage including fires in cars and garages.  The recalled devices were sold in various colors and features a 5.7 inch screen. If you own one of these phones, please locate the IMEI number on the back of your phone. You can then go to the Samsung website to check if your phone is being recalled.

Read more about this recall on the CPSC website