Amid all the images of oil soaked marshes and gushing oil pipes in the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, it's easy to forget that this catastrophe killed
11 workers and injured at least 17 others.

Many of those were lost at sea.

America's tort system is villified by many people. Tort lawyers are seen as sharks and ambulance chasers.

There has been a concerted attempt to get "tort reform" to limit the rights of individuals to seek redress for wrongdoing.

But when cars crash because gas pedals stick or electronics go awry, or when corporations cut safety corners causing unbelievable human and economic damage, the public gets a quick lesson in why tort lawyers are necessary.

John Anton, my law partner at Oakland's Boxer and Gerson, is a tort trial lawyer who handled several of the cases arising out of a massive jet fuel pipeline explosion in Walnut Creek several years ago. The pipeline was ruptured due to negligence in a construction project.

Handling cases of that type takes both legal finesse and the ability to understand technical details. Oftentimes there are armies of defense lawyers representing the multiple defendants. As you might imagine, they will try to bury you with paper.

My hat is off to the lawyers who take on BP, Halliburton, and the other companies involved in the rig explosion. The facts they uncover in their civil lawsuits will be important as the government moves forward with hearings and possible criminal penalties.

Stay tuned.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com

Boxer & Gerson partner Jean Hyams has won a $1.3 million race discrimination verdict against BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit District).

The case was featured in an article in today's San Francisco Chronicle. To read about the Chronicle piece on the case, click here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... =printable

Racial discrimination still exists in the workplace. Boxer & Gerson salutes Jean Hyams for her great trial work on behalf of California employees.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com
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Boxer & Gerson LLP lawyers recently settled an employment discrimination lawsuit against the City Of Emeryville for $3.6 million.

Boxer & Gerson LLP partner Leslie Levy and associate Darci Burrell represented the plaintiff in the case, which is one of the largest employment law recoveries against a public entity in California history. The case, Leslie Pollard vs. City of Emeryville, is a major milestone in California employment law.

Ms. Pollard, a longtime employee of the city of Emeryville (a small city wedged between Berkeley and Oakland, directly across from the Golden Gate), had complained to her employer about racial comments and harassment by a co-worker. Emeryville's response was to force Ms. Pollard to undergo a psychiatric "fitness for duty" exam. Thereafter, she was pulled off the job. In essence, the employer attempted to retaliate against and get rid of her.

To read The San Francisco Chronicle account of the case, click here:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... =printable

The East Bay Business Times version of the case can be accessed here:

http://eastbay.bizjournals.com/eastbay/ ... =printable

This case is a good illustration of why workers should seek top-quality legal advice. Employment law is complicated. California workers' compensation is generally an "exclusive remedy" (i.e. you cannot sue your employer in most circumstances, and you are generally limited to workers' comp, which does not provide for full wage loss or damages). However, there are exceptions to this rule where there is discrimination because of race, sex, age, disability, and so forth. In those cases, a civil damages lawsuit may be a viable option.

Hats off to Leslie Levy and Darci Burrell for groundbreaking representation of California workers. We are very proud of their work at Boxer and Gerson LLP.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com

Great article in this week's business section of the Contra Costa Times... it features Gary Barkley Roth, Boxer & Gerson's newest personal injury trial lawyer.

Gary Roth was a successful trial lawyer (with a track record of several multi-million dollar trial verdicts) in New Orleans before the hurricane. Katrina wiped out his home. He (and his parents) lost their homes, and several relatives perished.

To read about Gary's compelling story in the Contra Costa Times piece, click here:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cct ... 532860.htm

Gary Roth will be handling third party civil personal injury cases at Boxer & Gerson.

Julius Young
www.boxerlaw.com