Simon Law January 2019
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January 2019
Our First Annual Retreat
ICELAND IN ALL ITS GLORY
The firm’s lawyers took their first annual retreat to Iceland this year. As with any family, a little getaway time can be good for encouraging teamwork and reflecting back. Reykjavik is the northernmost capital city in the world. In December, it is only light from 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. We rented a Land Rover Defender with 38-inch lifted tires in order to cross the glacial runoff rivers that form in the Highlands. The country is volcanic and raw with jagged peaks, expansive glaciers, and rushing rivers everywhere. Once off the coastal road, the roads are unpaved, and you can easily lose your way.
After a night in the capital, we hiked 8K into the mountains to swim in a river heated by magma and surrounded by snow. That night, we stayed in the shadow of Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano that blew up in 2010 and shut down air traffic in Europe. Iceland has over 130 volcanoes, and many are under kilometers of glacial ice. When they blow, it’s impressive.
The next day, we took the Defender into Thorsmork (Thor’s Forest), a valley where
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three glaciers come together, and stayed up late to catch the northern lights. The last night was a trip down to Vik, a fishing town with black volcanic sand beaches — the setting for many a scene in Game of Thrones. Our plans to return to Atlanta were spoiled by 46 mph winds, so we stayed an extra night, went on a beer tour with a local guide, and sampled rotted shark. What more could you want from a trip? If you ever get a chance, take the trip. Iceland is a 4.5 hours flight from New York, but it feels like another planet.
–Christopher Simon
Get More Life Out of Your Windshield Wiper Blades
When was the last time you replaced your windshield wiper blades? If you’re like most people, you may not remember. As a general rule of thumb, you should replace your wiper blades about once a year, assuming they’ve been through a normal level of wear and tear. However, with a few easy steps, you can make your blades last longer without compromising visibility. Keep your windshield and wipers clean of debris, dirt, dust, and other particles. Anything on the window or the blades can cause damage. Simply wiping them off with a microfiber cloth can go a long way. In cold weather, always clear your windshield of ice and snow before activating your wiper blades. Ice can shorten the life span of most wiper blades significantly
cycle without washer fluid, the wiper blades deteriorate.
How do you know when it’s time to replace your blades? The first sign is when they start streaking. However, in some cases, streaking may be caused by dirt or other grime stuck to the blades. If they continue to streak or skip after cleaning, they need to be replaced. Thankfully, wiper blades are typically the least expensive and easiest car part to replace. With this in mind, remember that you get what you pay for, and it pays to do research. There are many different blades on the market. Some are suited for icy conditions and some are designed for sunny weather. Take your time to read product descriptions to ensure you install blades that are right for your vehicle.
Every time you gas up your vehicle, take a moment to clean your windshield and the wiper blades. You can run the squeegee sponge over the wiper blade or use a paper towel.
Watch your washer fluid levels and top it off regularly. When you run a cleaning
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NAVIGATING MULTICAR ACCIDENTS Law in Real Life
WORD SEARCH
This fall, a Georgia mother and her three children were killed in a chain reaction, a multivehicle accident on Interstate 10 in southeast Texas. The devastating incident involved six regular passenger vehicles, a semi tractor trailer, and a pickup truck, and it escalated into several vehicle fires. Authorities later determined the cause of the large accident was a previous collision involving another pickup truck 45 minutes prior. If an accident like this were to happen four states over in Georgia, the legal responsibility would land on the shoulders of the party who caused the first crash. Despite the time delay, the chain of events following the first collision was tragic, and the subsequent victims deserve justice.
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But why does Georgia follow this statute? The answer is found in Georgia code 51-12-33.
Party Snow
Who’s to blame?
Georgia’s courts use a comparative fault model to determine liability and payments in multivehicle accidents. Under this model, any victim who is less than 50 percent at fault for causing a collision can be compensated for their injuries, but the court will reduce their damage award by the percentage of which they were responsible. If a plaintiff is partially responsible and there are multiple at-fault parties, a judge will divvy up a percentage of compensation each defendant owes, regardless of at-fault parties not listed in the lawsuit. Defendants are also not jointly accountable should one defendant be unable to pay. So, if a plaintiff sustained $500,000 in damages but was 10 percent at fault, their total compensation would be 10 percent less than $500,000 — or $450,000. If there were two defendants named in this case, and the judge determined they were equally at fault, the defendants would have to pay $225,000 each. In the tragic case above, a Georgia judge would have to determine the percentage at which both the multiple plaintiffs and possible multiple defendants were at fault and award or order compensation based on those numbers. Deciphering laws like Georgia code 51-12-33 is best left to the experts. If you or a loved one has been recently injured in a multivehicle accident, Simon Law Firm can help you get the compensation you deserve. Learn more by calling us at 404-259-7635.
ChickenChopSuey
INGREDIENTS
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2 large or 4 medium chicken thighs 3 pounds bok choy, cut into 3–4-inch ribbons 4 tablespoons vegetable oil 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
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2 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed with 4 tablespoons water 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
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• • •
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2 teaspoons sugar
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Salt and pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS 1.
In large pot, boil three cups of water. Add chicken and reduce to simmer, cooking for 30 minutes. Remove chicken and let cool. Once cooled, remove skin and bones, chop, and set aside. Reserve the cooking liquid. 2. In a large skillet over high heat, heat vegetable oil. Once shimmering, add bok choy and cook for 1 minute, stirring throughout. Add half of reserved cooking liquid, cover skillet, and cook for 2 minutes. Remove cover and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Transfer bok choy to a plate. 3. Add remaining cooking liquid and chicken to the pan, maintaining high heat. Heat chicken, then add oyster sauce, sugar, cornstarch- and-water mixture, sesame oil, and bok choy. Season to taste, toss together, and serve over rice.
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i Iceland in all Its Glory 1 Get the Most Out of Your Windshield Wiper Blades 2 Chicken Chop Suey
Navigating Multicar Accidents 3
Watch Out for Rogue Champagne Corks This Year 4
Putting the ‘Pain’ in Champagne SPONTANEOUSLY EJECTING CORK CAUSES LAWSUIT
For many people, preparing for the New Year’s countdown is the most exhilarating part of the holiday season. You tune your TV to the Times Square ball drop, hand out party hats, confetti, and noisemakers, and meticulously line up some champagne flutes. What’s left to do? Pop open the champagne! There are many partiers who pop the cork with enthusiastic and careless abandon, while others point the bottle away from their faces and anxiously twist the cork until they hear those bubbles
surge to the surface. Turns out, while the latter practice may be slightly less fun, it’s certainly the safer approach. On April 8, 1978, Charles J. Murray was injured when a natural cork stopper spontaneously ejected from a bottle of previously unopened Almaden Blanc de Blancs champagne and struck him in the left eye. He was preparing to serve the bubbly to a party of 40 people, so he placed 12 bottles on a rolling cart and removed the foil and wire retainer from three or four bottles — including the one that eventually injured him. Once he started to roll the cart toward the guests, the cork shot out of the bottle all on its own. Due to the severity of his injury, Murray sued Almaden Vineyards, Inc., National Distillers and Chemical Corporation, and Carbo, Inc., alleging that they were responsible because they failed to include a proper warning label
on the bottle. The defendants, however, argued that the cork stopper did not and could not spontaneously eject unless Murray had handled the bottle improperly. The case was argued by both sides for two years, but eventually, Murray won. Almaden Vineyards now prints the following on its bottles: “WARNING: THIS BOTTLE IS UNDER PRESSURE. THE STOPPER WILL EJECT SOON AFTER THE WIRE HOOD REMOVAL. TO PROTECT AGAINST INJURY TO FACE AND EYES, POINT AWAY FROM SELF AND OTHERS WHEN OPENING.” When it comes to bubbly-induced mayhem, the greatest potential trouble lies in the eye of the beholder — literally. With an estimated velocity of 60 miles per hour, uncontrolled corks do in fact fly faster than the blink of an eye. To avoid having to explain a not-so- fashionable eye patch at work on Monday, handle those fizzy drinks with care.
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