Announcement: 2009 Electric Shock Survivors International Conference

Lightening Strike and Electric Shock Survivors International is an indispensable organization for those who have suffered an electrical injury. The organization provides support and education in health and well-being for electrical injury survivors and their families. It also provides education to the public to prevent lightening and electrical injuries.

Each year the Lightening Strike and Electric Shock Survivors International holds a conference. The details of the 2009 conference were just announced:

What: 2009 LS&ESSI, Inc. World Conference

Where: Sea Mist Oceanfront Resort, 1200 South Ocean Blvd, Myrtle Beach, So. Carolina 29577.

When: August 13 - 15, 2009.

Rates: $86/night

To register contact Steve Marhburn at smarshburnsr@yahoo.com.

Judd Legum Represents Man Arrested For Tresspassing While Caring For Pregnant Girlfriend

In Annapolis, “Officers made 367 trespassing arrests from April through September of this year. That was up from 101 arrests during the same time period in 2007. Most of the arrests were made in and around public and subsidized housing communities.” While many of the arrests are clearly warranted, other innocent individuals are being prevented from visiting loved ones in need.

Judd Legum is representing a 19-year-old man with no criminal record who was placed on the banned list, arrested for tresspassing and prevented from visiting his pregnant girlfriend. Sunday’s Annapolis Captial has the story:

Judd Legum is an attorney who is representing a 19-year-old man charged with trespassing.

The man, whom he declined to name, was visiting his girlfriend when he was arrested for trespassing and banned from public housing. He was outside the apartment smoking a cigarette, Mr. Legum said.

His client still needs and wants to visit his girlfriend, who is going through a high-risk pregnancy, but isn’t able to do it.

“I think they need to have a system in place where the people who are engaged in criminal activity or otherwise creating an unsafe environment for residents there need to be kept out, but people with lawful purposes of being there need to be let in,” he said.

Mr. Legum has already succeeded in getting one of the two trespassing charges against the man dismissed. Read the full story here.

How To Protect Children From Electrical Shock With Tamper Resistant Outlets

Each year, 2400 children suffer electrical shocks and burns from contact with electrical outlets. The Electrical Safety Institute International has produced a useful video about how you can protect children from electric shock in your home at very little expense with tamper resistant outlets:

You can read more about tamper resistant outlets, which are required in all new homes by the 2008 National Electric Code, at childoutletsafety.org.

Jury Awards Nurse $3.2 Million For Severe Electric Shock

A Massachusetts jury recently awarded a nurse $3.2 million after she suffered a severe electric shock. Here is a summary of the facts of the case:

A nurse suffered an electrical shock, which severely injured her, when she was trying to plug in an oxygen container for a patient at a nursing home where she worked; a month earlier another nurse had filled out a repair order for an outlet in that room, reporting that sparks came out of it when she tried to plug in a lamp; a repairman had looked at the outlet on the other side of the room and had replaced a light, but did not speak to the nurse to determine which outlet was sparking.

The nurse’s injuries included “violent seizures,” “unconsciousness for eight to ten minutes” and “paralysis on the left side of her face.” The nurse currently suffers from “deep depression” is now unable to drive more than very short distances, because she easily gets lost.

The jury issued the award after finding “the nursing home vicariously liable for the repairman’s negligence.”

The case is Doe v. Comprehensive Addiction Programs, Inc.

Scottish Engineering Company Found Liable For Electrocution

The BBC reports that a Scottish Engineering Company has been found liable for the death of a man who electrocuted on the job:

A Scottish engineering company is facing a substantial fine following the death of an electrician on a construction site in Dundee.

Mitie Engineering Services (Edinburgh) Ltd has been found guilty of breaching health and safety laws.

Michael Adamson, 26, from Bo’ness, was killed while working on a live wire which had been marked “not in use” at a JJB fitness centre in 2005.

The company will be sentenced at Dundee Sheriff Court next week.

More reporting on the case from Construction News UK:

The Dundee Sheriff Court heard that, despite being labelled ‘not in use’, the cable he was working on was live.

HSE principal inspector Jim Skilling said Mr Adamson was not provided with the necessary test equipment to prove the cable was dead, nor the means to securely isolate the circuit.

Mr Skilling, commenting after the case, said: “The industry’s complacency in accepting dangerous practices is startling.

“Michael Adamson’s death could have been prevented had his employer ensured that safe working practices were being carried out in accordance with the company’s own written procedures. Managers and supervisors in this industry must take active steps to ensure that their electricians work safely.”

The company was ultimately fined 300,000 British pounds (about $500,000).

Welcome To Notes on Electrical Injury

Welcome to Notes on Electrical Injury, the first blog dedicated to electrical injury law. Each year, “electrical injuries result in approximately 20,000 emergency department visits” in North America. Electrical injuries are “the fifth leading cause of occupational fatality in the United States.”

This blog is published by Alan H. Legum P.A., one of the top electrical injury law firms in the nation. Alan Legum has successfully represented victims of electrical injury around the country, including Maryland, Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma and Delaware.

This blog will focus on three primary topics:

– Electrical safety. On a regular basis we’ll review the latest tips to help people avoid electrical injuries in the first place.

– Rights of electrical injury victims. On this blog, you’ll learn what your rights are if you suffer an electrical injury and who may be liable for your injuries.

– Latest cases. We’ll keep you up to date on the most important legal opinions and jury verdicts related to electrical injury.

If you have any comments, suggestions or tips please contact us at blog@alanlegum.com.