Motor Vehicle Accidents resulting in bodily injury, emotional injury and economic damage: A significant portion of Jim's practice is devoted to those who have suffered bodily injury, emotional injury and economic losses as a result of motor vehicle accidents. These cases involve clients suffering from the full spectrum of bodily injuries, including but not limited to: herniated discs; bulging discs; torn ligaments and muscles; broken bones; closed head injuries; nerve damage with and without paraplegia, and soft tissue injuries. Jim has successfully completed a tremendous amount of motor vehicle collision cases.

Wrongful Death: Wrongful deaths result from wrongfully caused motor vehicle collisions, as well as other wrongful acts and omissions. As an example, Jim successfully completed a wrong death claim for the Estate of an 18 year old young man and his Parents. At that time, Jim challenged the plain language of a relevant statute that allowed the next of kin, (in this case the Parents), a recovery for loss of love and compassion for the wrongful death of a minor child. That matter stayed in litigation until the Vermont Supreme Court construed the statute to allow the next of kin to recover for loss of love and compassion for the wrongful death of an adult child, as well as a minor child. Jim successfully obtained all available proceeds for the Estate and the young man's Parents.

Lead Poisoning of Children: Jim's practice is also devoted to children who have suffered lead poisoning from their rental premises. In 1996, Vermont, recognizing that lead poisoning occurs primarily from lead-based paint in rental housing units, and that it can cause learning disabilities in young children, enacted statutes that placed significant responsibilities on landlords to keep their rental premises free of lead hazards.

Jim has successfully completed lead poisoning cases, both before and after the Vermont enacted its lead poisoning law. Lead poisoning cases are normally complex. Jim uses exceptional experts to establish liability and to establish the damages that the child has suffered as a result of lead poisoning.

Child Sexual Abuse: Jim's practice is also devoted to children who have been sexually abused. Jim seeks out insurance coverage for the perpetrator's acts, as well as evidence that concerns the perpetrator's wealth. Often, there is insurance coverage for the intended acts of a child perpetrator. Likewise, there is often insurance coverage for any person or entity that was negligent in allowing the perpetrator's acts to take place or to continue.

Jim has successfully completed children's sexual abuse cases when the perpetrator was a child and when the perpetrator was an adult. Jim has also achieved recoveries for sexually abused children from the insurance carriers of negligent persons and entities. Jim has also achieved recoveries for sexually abused children direct from the adult perpetrator, when there was not adequate liability insurance..

Defective Products: There are several legal theories that often apply to a defective product claim, including strict liability, negligence, breach of warranty, and possibly consumer fraud. Jim includes each of the legal theories, that are applicable, to not only provide liability through the use of one or more, but also to pursue the highest damage settlement or award for his client. For example, pursuant to Vermont's consumer fraud statute, a would be defendant or actual defendant, as the case may be, that has violated Vermont's consumer fraud statute is liable not only for compensatory damages, but also reasonable attorney's fees and possibly punitive damages.

Jim has successfully completed several defective product cases ranging from a defective dog leash that struck and permanently disfigured a woman, to defective hunting equipment that ripped a finger off of a hunter's hand, to a defective automobile that permanently injured a mechanic.

Dog Attacks/Bites: Often these cases involve bodily injury, with resulting permanent disfigurement. They involve young children, older children, and adults. Vermont's law requires that a person, attacked and/or bitten by a dog, must prove that the dog's owner, or caretaker, knew, or had reason to know, that its dog had vicious propensities before it attacked and/or bit the person. Without this proof, the dog's owner, or caretaker, is not liable and the owner's liability insurance coverage will not be reached.

Jim has successfully completed numerous dog attack/bite cases by the use of expert witnesses and lay witnesses to show that the owners knew, or should have known that their dog had vicious propensities, regardless of whether or not the owner's dog had previously bitten a person.

Worker's compensation: Pursuant to Vermont law, a person injured in a work related accident has a worker's compensation claim regardless of fault. This allows the injured Employee to primarily recover medical expenses, receive loss of income benefits, and permanent impairment benefits pursuant to a statutory scheme. However, when the Employee's injury was caused by the Employer's negligence, the injured Employee is not allowed to bring an action against his Employer.

Nonetheless, Vermont law does allow the injured Employee to make out a worker's compensation claim, and also bring an action against a coworker for negligent or other wrongful conduct. Vermont law also allows the injured Employee to make out a worker's compensation claim, and also bring an action against a third person or entity, that is not a coworker or the Employer, for negligent or other wrongful conduct.

Jim has successfully completed numerous worker's compensation cases, while several involved the liability of a coworker and several involved the liability of a third party.

Dangerous Property: These cases involve property owned by landlords, homeowners or businesses. They result from a dangerous condition on the owner's property, and the owner's breach of its responsibility to keep the property free of dangerous conditions. At times, when the dangerous condition is not identified, these cases involve the doctrine of "res ipsa loquitur," which means that the burden shifts to the would be defendant or actual defendant to provide
evidence to exonerate itself. When the would be defendant or actual defendant fails to provide that evidence, an insurance carrier or a jury, as the case may be, is allowed to draw an inference therefrom and find liability. Jim has successfully completed numerous cases when the dangerous condition has been identified and when it has not been identified.

Wrongfully Intoxicated Persons: These cases often involve liquor establishments, and fall under Vermont's dram shop law. A child or adult who is injured in person, property or means of support by an intoxicated person may bring a claim or cause of action against any liquor establishment that wrongfully caused in whole or part the person's intoxication. Wrongfully caused intoxication occurs when the servers knew or should have known that its patron was or
would become intoxicated and continued to furnish the patron with intoxicating liquor. Wrongfully caused intoxication also occurs when the servers furnish intoxicating liquor to a minor, and when the servers furnish intoxicating liquor to anyone after hours.

Moreover, a social host may be found liable where the social host served a minor, and otherwise, the social host may be found liable pursuant to common law principles of
negligence. Jim has successfully completed cases against liquor establishments where the burden was to show that the servers of the liquor establishment should have known that the patron was or would become intoxicated and continued to furnish the patron with intoxicating liquor.