Our firm has handled many cases involving tenants getting injured by defective conditions on and in property they are renting. This time of year, especially in college rich, Buffalo, NY many college students are coming to town and choosing off campus housing. Please have a discussion with your child about living off campus. They are young adults who may have limited funds but they are still entitled to safe housing. Before your student signs any lease, have them walk the property with the landlord. Take photos of any walls, windows, stairs, etc, that are damaged. This is important for two reasons: 1.) Your student should not be held responsible for damage they did not cause; and 2.) Your student deserves a safe living space. A landlord has a duty to make certain repairs; put them on notice to correct the problem. Personal injuries at rental properties can be serious. A loose handrail, broken steps, and torn carpeting are but a few examples of conditions that have caused injuries to our clients.
Court Seals Documents at Expense of Consumer Safety
June 15, 2009
An AAJ article June 4, 2009 looks at the practice of courts sealing litigation documents to the advantage of manufacturers in certain product cases. For example, Bausch & Lomb settled hundreds of cases involving contact solution that involved blindness where the court ordered the documents to be sealed.