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The Stoddard Firm Blog

Human Trafficking Victims Are Entitled to Compensation for Their Suffering and Unpaid Labor

Though it often goes unrecognized, human trafficking for the purpose of forced labor absolutely does happen in the U.S. In 2020 alone, the Department of Justice opened 663 investigations into suspected human trafficking activity, and for every confirmed case, there are likely many more yet to be discovered. Human trafficking is the use of lies, threats, violence, or other forms of coercion to force a person to work against their will or under unacceptable conditions. The coercion process o...

Bizarre Accidental Deaths

Common or Uncommon: Freak Accidental Deaths? Strangely enough, bizarre accidental deaths happen quite frequently, and the victims' families are often entitled to significant settlements with the help of a wrongful death lawyer. We all know that death is an unavoidable reality. And while some people are fortunate and live long, healthy, and fulfilling lives, others are struck by illness or fall victim to common yet unfortunate accidents. Still others still experience the weirdest accidental d...

Apartment Landlords Can Be Sued for Gun Violence Against Children

Atlanta’s children live with the constant threat of gun violence, and many will never get the chance to grow up because of it. Dozens of people aged 18 and younger were killed in shootings in Metropolitan Atlanta this past year alone. The danger isn’t limited to mass shootings at school or in public places. In fact, most of these deaths from 2021 occurred individually or in small groups, nearly half of them in or near homes. As grieving and worried parents know all too well, low-income ...

Accidental Discharge, Injuries, as Sig Sauer Refuses to Recall Its P320 Handgun

Defective Guns: A Real Concern The Result Can Be Catastrophic When you purchase any product, you expect that it will operate appropriately and that the manufacturer has taken every possible precaution to prevent injury from its use. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Sometimes defects in products are not identified in the production or testing phases and are first discovered when an accident occurs. Injuries caused by improperly functioning products can be significant. However, ...

Apartment Complex Shootings Are Often Grounds for Wrongful Death Suits

Wrongful death lawsuits are often associated with accidents — scenarios where someone died solely because of a product malfunction, medical malpractice, or some other serious but unintentional wrongdoing. Surviving family members are less likely think of this option when their deceased loved one was the victim of a crime, but criminal homicide is, by definition, a form of wrongful death. It’s a death caused by the wrongful actions of another. The most obvious person at fault in a shooting ...

Minors Affected by Sex Trafficking Have a Range of Options for Collecting Compensation

Child sex trafficking is, of course, an extremely serious crime with potential prison sentences to match. What many don’t realize is that it’s also grounds for a civil lawsuit. Some survivors like the idea of suing their traffickers, while others are hesitant for a variety of reasons, from emotional complications to fear of retaliation. From a legal perspective, suing a sex trafficker directly is certainly an option, but not the most practical one. The reason is that most of these criminal...

Apartment Elevator Injuries

Apartment Building Landlords Are Responsible for Keeping Elevators Safe for Use Everything in life comes with risks; each individual should consider them carefully when deciding on their actions. Of course, some behaviors and activities involve significantly more risk than others. In general, riding an elevator isn’t something that tends to raise a red flag. Unless a building is on fire, using the elevator should never be dangerous, and most of the time it isn’t. Modern safety measures in...

Wood Pellet Plants Must Do Better at Keeping Workers Safe from Fire

Manufactured from plant matter recycled from other industries, wood pellets are an efficient, renewable fuel, and can also be used for pet bedding and a range of other applications. Unfortunately, the process of transforming plant waste into stable, convenient pellets involves exposure to sawdust, flammable chemicals, and heat-producing machinery. The procedure for making pellets safely is delicate and complex, and all too often, pellet mills don’t do what it takes to keep their workers sa...

Apartment Complexes Must Protect Residents from Local Crime Patterns

Many people consider it a fact of life that only the rich can afford safety. Those who don’t own their own homes or pay luxury rates for their rentals end up living in areas with higher rates of violent crime, often in buildings lacking basic security measures. When a resident falls victim to a crime, there’s often an attitude of “you get what you pay for,” and an assumption that the landlord couldn’t possibly do anything about the local crime rates if they wanted to. As prevalent as this ...

Survivor Who Escaped from Gang-Related Sex Trafficking in Albany Can Now Sue for Compensation

In the summer of 2019, a 16-year-old girl reported to police that she had been held in forced sexual servitude by the Inglewood Family Gang, a Georgia chapter of the larger criminal organization best known as the Bloods. According to the survivor’s account, she was drugged, physically abused, and forced to have sex with multiple men to raise money for the gang over the course of two months, before she escaped and reached help. Many sex trafficking victims are instilled with so much fear of...