Cape Cod Injury Lawyer Blog

Massachusetts Court of Appeal Affirms Dismissal of Premises Liability Claim

October 20, 2015 | by John S. Moffa

Even when we think we are in a safely maintained environment, serious injuries can happen. When you set foot in a public business or establishment, you are trusting that the owner of the facility has done their best to make it safe for you and your family. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.

In a recent case, Finnegan v. Kingpin Entertainment, Inc., the Massachusetts Appeals Court had a chance to revisit the Commonwealth’s premises liability doctrine. In this case, a couple filed a lawsuit against a bowling alley after the husband suffered severe injuries while using the bowling alley’s facilities, alleging that the facility used oil on the lanes and that some of the oil had traveled over the fault line in front of the lane that the husband was using. The injured husband’s wife sought damages for loss of consortium stemming from her husband’s injuries.

Massachusetts Appeals Court Clarifies ‘Reasonably Foreseeable’ Element in Negligence Claim Against Hospital

October 16, 2015 | by John S. Moffa

Although most people are familiar with the concept of a hospital being held liable for medical malpractice, few are also aware that hospitals can also be held liable for a broader scope of injuries. In the recent case of Doe v. Boston Medical Center Corporation, the Appeals Court of Massachusetts was faced with the issue of whether or not it was reasonably foreseeable that a Spanish interpreter called to the hospital to help doctors communicate with an admitted patient would sexually assault patients.

The facts of the case are as follows. In 2008, the plaintiff, an immigrant who spoke Spanish, was admitted to the defendant’s hospital for the delivery of her first child. Since the plaintiff did not speak English, the hospital sought the help of an interpreter so that the doctors could communicate with the patient and vice versa. The plaintiff’s complaint alleged that, during the time she was admitted, a Spanish interpreter whom the hospital hired entered her room, lifted her gown, and touched her vagina and abdomen. The complaint also contended that another patient reported being sexually assaulted at some point that day as well. The interpreter was fired after the incident.

Massachusetts Court of Appeals Applies Continuing Treatment Doctrine in Reversing Dismissal of Medical Malpractice Case Based on Statute of Limitations

October 14, 2015 | by John S. Moffa

Statutes of limitations are one of the most important elements of any civil action, including personal injury cases. Like most other states, Massachusetts has enacted a statute of limitations for medical malpractice cases, providing an injured party with three years from the date the right to sue accrued to file his or her case. When it comes to medical negligence, however, it isn’t always clear when the plaintiff’s injuries arose. Some diagnoses can be difficult to make based on the plaintiff’s existing illnesses, or when the symptoms do not manifest for several months–or even years.

In the recent case of Parr v. Rosenthal, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals had the opportunity to review a trial court’s dismissal of a medical malpractice action based on the lower court’s determination that the plaintiffs failed to file their lawsuit within the statute of limitations. The plaintiffs consisted of two parents of a child whose leg suffered severe burns, ultimately requiring amputation. During 2005, and in an attempt to repair the leg prior to the amputation, the treating physicians used a procedure called a radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Complications arose during this procedure, requiring amputation of the leg.

Massachusetts Appellate Court Clarifies Liability for Slip and Fall Cases in Commercial Premises

October 14, 2015 | by John S. Moffa

Earlier this year, a Massachusetts Court of Appeal issued an opinion providing clarification for the State’s premises liability law. The court’s ruling can be viewed as a win for plaintiffs who suffer injuries as the result of unsafe conditions on a commercial property.

Back in 2007, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the highest court in the state, decided Sheehan v. Roche Bros. Supermarkets, Inc., 448 Mass. 780 (2007), in which the court used a rule known as the “mode of operation” doctrine to determine whether a plaintiff could recover against a storeowner for negligence in a premises liability case. This doctrine was more permissive in allowing plaintiffs to recover compensation.

Construction Caution & Accidents

September 3, 2015 | by John S. Moffa

It was a tragic, life-changing moment.

My client was young, healthy and earning a living working for a Cape Cod-based construction company. While working at a private home along Bass River, a concrete boom and hose swung and struck his head. The boom was attached to a concrete truck whose footings sank into the ground above a septic tank, thereby causing the boom to swing into our client.

An ambulance transported the young man to Cape Cod Hospital and afterwards he was med-flighted to Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He suffered significant facial injuries including multiple fractures and facial disfigurement. My client has undergone numerous surgeries since the accident including lengthy hospital stays, and is left with permanent conditions that unfortunately will significantly impact his future.

In this case, we alleged that the defendant was negligent in failing to ascertain the location of the septic tank upon the premises before beginning to pump the concrete. And we claimed the contractor was negligent in its failure to exercise that degree of control and supervision over the construction work being done upon the premises, with reasonable care for the safety of others.

Massachusetts Teen Driver Accidents Increase During Summer Months

August 18, 2015 | by John S. Moffa

According to AAA, summer marks the 100 deadliest days for teen drivers who get behind the wheel. Although summer offers young drivers an opportunity to travel and engage in other hobbies and activities, it also presents them with ample time to make mistakes behind the wheel. Unsurprisingly, Massachusetts and the surrounding New England region are seeing an increase in motor vehicle accidents involving teen motorists.

Last month, for example, a New England news source reported that two teenagers suffered severe injuries after the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a group of trees. Both occupants, one 19 and the other 17, were trapped inside the vehicle immediately after the collision.The passenger was flown to a local hospital and treated for severe injuries, while the driver was also treated for a number of physical injuries.

The Perils of Prom & Graduation

May 8, 2015 | by John S. Moffa

THE MOFFA REPORT MAY 2015

Five Ways Young Cape Codders Can Avoid the Perils of Prom & Graduation

By John S. Moffa, Esq.

They are innocent and iconic springtime rites-of-passage though both prom and graduation ‘seasons’ are fraught with danger between the Lower and Upper Capes and all towns in between. Between the glitter, flowers, pictures and teenage merriment that comes with proms and commencement into a wider world, only a thoughtless moment separates a minor wearing a gown or tux or graduation robe from a senseless, life-changing moment involving alcohol, a motor vehicle accident or other type of personal injury.

Unfortunately, my office has seen first hand the devastating effects of alcohol and driving during prom and graduation season. In 2010 I represented the family of a teenaged girl who was tragically killed while a passenger in a friend’s car en route to pick up their prom dresses. We have handled many drunk-driving cases over the years involving teenagers, and it is always heartbreaking to see the impact one bad decision can have
on family, friends and loved ones.

Cape Cod Attorneys Partner With Cape Cod Cares For Our Troops

January 20, 2015 | by John S. Moffa

(Yarmouth Port) – Three attorneys on Cape Cod, Chantal K. Hayes, John S. Moffa and Juliane Soprano, have partnered with Cape Cod Cares for Our Troops to use their offices as drop-off locations for food and personal items destined for U.S. Armed Forces in the Middle East.

The following items are needed right away: men’s shaving cream; body wash; diaper/hand wipes; and snack foods such as granola bars that the troops like to tuck into their knapsacks. Drop off items at the following office locations during business hours Monday through Friday:

Cape Cod Divorce & Mediation at Hayes & Hayes Attorneys at Law,
23 East Main St., West Yarmouth
The Law Offices of John S. Moffa, 1436 Route 132, Hyannis
The Law Offices of Juliane Soprano, 205 Worcester Court, Suite B-4, Falmouth

Winter Driving Trips

January 20, 2015 | by John S. Moffa

When you’re behind the wheel of a car or truck in winter, the only thing worse than heavy white snow is unseen black ice, so even on days when there’s no precipitation, cold weather presents awful road conditions everywhere in southeastern Massachusetts.

From Route 3 heading South from Plymouth toward Cape Cod, to Route 6 which runs down the spine of the Cape, to Route 25 that connects the Cape to the South Coast, to Route 195 leading to New Bedford, and all those small residential side streets-danger is excruciatingly close, so the best protection against winter accidents is mere common sense. Slowing down is the best course of action on the road in winter.

As simple as this sounds, I advise my clients that reducing speed is the smartest thing you could do when it’s snowing, sleeting or when the mercury is south of 32 degrees, or, the point when water freezes. After all, danger doesn’t announce itself and often you’re only a skid or a few seconds away from a serious traffic incident at any given moment.

Distracted Driving Defined

December 10, 2014 | by John S. Moffa

Distractions are everywhere on roads and highways from Hyannis to New Bedford, Plymouth to Falmouth, and no drivers behind the wheel of a car or truck are immune.

A beautiful deer stands at the berm along Route 3 and a driver takes her eye off the road for a mere two seconds to admire the animal’s beauty.

A trucker new to the Cape Cod area notices the iron beams that straddle the span of the Sagamore Bridge leading to Cape Cod and for several moments his mind is more occupied by its beauty, rather than keeping his thoughts wholly dedicated to the wheel of his semi. A working mother rushes to work along Route 28 in Falmouth and since she had missed breakfast, she wolfs down a muffin while balancing a cup of take-out coffee. A 17-year-old male from Barnstable, late for his school’s football game, texts his friends while driving on Route 132 in Hyannis and he barely notices the accelerator climbing over the speed limit.

In all these scenarios a thought ‘steered’ a driver’s attention and that’s the definition of distracted driving. And the granddaddy of distracted driving is texting.