Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Judge Refuses To Dismiss CPS Lawsuit After Child’s Death
Traditionally, plaintiffs have been prevented from filing lawsuits against Child Protective Services on the grounds of sovereign immunity. However, recently, numerous lawsuits have been filed against CPS in multiple states after they failed to heed warnings made by concerned parents and others and a child died as a result of that failure. Every time… Read More »
$8 Million Settlement For Wife Of Man Killed By Police
The police in Mesa, AZ are paying $8 million to the widow of a man they shot and killed in 2016. The wife of the man and his two children will receive $8 million from the city. In an interview, the victim’s wife reported that the settlement would do nothing to bring her husband… Read More »
Kratom Manufacturers Face Wrongful Death Lawsuits
There have been numerous wrongful death lawsuits filed related to the “dietary supplement” kratom, which is actually an addictive drug that acts on the brain’s opioid receptors producing similar highs and deleterious effects. Recent lawsuits have been filed in Georgia where kratom remains readily available at gas stations despite being listed as a controlled… Read More »
Trial Begins Over CTE Death Of Former NCAA Player
The NCAA is facing a lawsuit filed by the wife of a former NCAA player. The allegations are familiar. The wife claims that the NCAA failed to protect her husband when he was an athlete at USC. She believes that the concussions he suffered while playing football there led to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)… Read More »
Assisted Living Facility Faces Third Wrongful Death
An assisted living facility accused of serving cleaning fluid to two of its residents who later died, is now accused of causing a third death. This death occurred prior to the cleaning fluid incidents and involved staff allowing a memory care patient to wander off the grounds through the front door. The last lawsuit… Read More »
Positional Asphyxiation Cited In Death Of 7-Year-Old Boy
The foster parents of a seven-year-old boy have filed a lawsuit against a state treatment facility after the boy died of what a coroner ruled a homicide. The official cause of death was positional asphyxiation, which is occasionally the subject of lawsuits filed against police departments that hogtie suspects. As a result of the… Read More »
Wrongful Death Filed After 10-Year-Old Dies In Man-Made Lake
A family has filed a lawsuit against the owners of a man-made lake with an exposed drainage pipe. According to the lawsuit, a 10-year-old girl was sucked into the drainage pipe as she was swimming in the man-made lake. All the pipe needed was a grate to prevent this tragedy, the details of which… Read More »
Family Files Wrongful Death Against Stanford After Student Suicide
This is the second suicide lawsuit filed against a major university in the last couple of weeks. Previously, Harvard was sued by the family of a young man who took his own life after a previous suicide attempt. The parents claim that the university could have done more to ensure he got the care… Read More »
Wrongful Death Lawsuits And Law Enforcement
If you run a Google search for “wrongful death lawsuit”, around 50% of the articles you’ll find are geared toward law enforcement actions resulting in the death of an individual. While you can sue the government over a police brutality claim, there are usually limits on how much you can recover. In Florida, the… Read More »
Can You File A Lawsuit Against Social Services If A Child Dies?
Had this question been asked at any other time, I would have responded ‘no’. It was traditionally almost impossible to hold a government official responsible for something they did not do. In fact, general negligence lawsuits against the government are usually not permitted. The rules stipulate that neither a government employee nor the government… Read More »
