Take a look at the latest edition of The Shuttlesworth Sentinel!
THE SHUTTLESWORTH SENTINEL
201 Vulcan Road, Suite 210 Birmingham, AL 35209 (205) 322-1411 ShuttlesworthLasseter.com
Personal Injury Product Liability Wrongful Death
Nursing Home Abuse/Neglect Assisted Living Abuse/Neglect
07 .2021
LEAVING IT ALL AND MOVING TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD The Best Risk I Ever Took
I’ve taken a lot of risks in my life. When you grow up with nothing to lose, that tends to foster risk taking. Some risks I’ve taken have turned out well, and one in particular I took early on in my career ended up teaching me a lot — and it brought me to the other side of the world. The year was 1995, and I was five years into my career as a corporate lawyer. I hated it. I hated representing the corporations, insurance companies, and nursing homes to fight against the little guy. But I didn’t really know what I wanted to do besides that. Then, I met a girl. She was a Turkish filmmaker, who at the time was living in Holland. We met while she was visiting her brother-in-law in Birmingham, when we both happened to be eating at the same Thai restaurant. Talk about worlds colliding, right? Anyway, after noticing her at the restaurant, I decided to take my first big risk in this journey: walking up to her, giving her my card, and asking her if she wanted to get lunch sometime. The craziest part? It worked. A few days later, I got a call from her brother-in-law, who commended the guts I had to ask out his sister-in-law like that.
Birmingham for a period of time, and I often expressed my frustration with my work to her. I also mentioned that I had an interest in international trade, which prompted her to invite me on my next big risk. She told me I should move back to Holland with her. At first, I thought, “I can’t do that! I can’t just sell my house, quit my job, and move to Amsterdam!” But the more I considered the idea, the more attractive it became. Eventually, my thought process switched from “Why should I move to Holland?” to “Why shouldn’t I move to Holland?” In the end, I decided to make the move. After all, I didn’t want to be 65 years old, telling my grandkids I didn’t seize the opportunity to live abroad. When I broke the news to some of my family, they thought I had lost my mind. Strangely enough, though, many of the conservative judges who I’d grown to know as a lawyer commended my decision. “I would have done the exact same thing if I had had the chance at your age,” I remember one of them telling me. So, that’s how I found myself living in Holland for a year and a half. I did some work for a German company while I was there, but mostly I traveled,
wrote short stories, painted, and drew. I immersed myself in Dutch culture, but I was still identified as a foreigner because I was the only one in my neighborhood who would jog regularly, and I had a huge 180-pound dog. When I lived there, I had no safety net. I didn’t have a family to fall back on for support if things went south, and I certainly wasn’t furthering my career. Also, things didn’t end up working out with the girl. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t trade that time for anything. It felt like until that point in my life, I had just been rushing to check off all the right boxes. For that year and a half, I felt a really surreal sense of freedom. Through that experience, I learned that if you’re not happy with your work, you should get out if you can — preferably in spectacular fashion. I also learned that you can take big chances, and whether or not they work out, you can still come out okay in the end. Putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation and testing your resourcefulness is something I would recommend for anyone. I think we should all be encouraging our children to take risks that will help them discover what they want to do — to really get out and live. We shouldn’t let them, or anyone, be satisfied with a risk-free life.
We ended up getting dinner, not lunch, but it was the first of many dates. She ended up moving to
“Eventually, my thought process switched from ‘Why should I move to Holland?’ to ‘Why shouldn’t I move to Holland?’”
–Perry Shuttlesworth
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5 New Sports Join the Olympic Roster in Tokyo
3 REASONS WHY Police Reports Are Essential to Your PI Case
After a year delay, the Tokyo Olympics are once again gearing up for two weeks of action and excitement. Athletes from around the world are descending on Japan to give it their all and, hopefully, walk away with gold. This year, however, the games will be folding five new sports into the mix. Four of these sports have never been part of the Olympics, while one sport hasn’t been part of the games in over a decade. Here’s what to expect:
If ever you are in an accident and you call the police to the scene, they will file a police report — a record of their findings with regard to your accident. Accident reports are one of the most important pieces of evidence you can have when dealing with insurance companies, which means you should have a copy of yours and understand its contents. More specifically, these reports are so important for three main reasons:
AT
THEY SHOW THAT YOU OBEYED THE LAW
SURFING
In Alabama, you’re legally obligated to call the police when an accident causes injury or death. If the accident only led to property damage, then you just have to move off the road and exchange information with the other driver. However, it might be smart to call the police and have them create an accident report even then, in case you experience any latent injuries in the following days or weeks.
Both men’s and women’s competitions will be held on Tsurigasaki Beach in Chiba Prefecture. Officials say due to the nature of the competition (being in open water), they’ll be generous with the scheduling. Depending on weather and waves, the preliminary round heats and head-to-head competitions may shift around as necessary.
SKATEBOARDING
THEIR REPORTS ARE EVIDENCE THAT THE ACCIDENT CAUSED YOUR INJURIES
There are two categories: park and street. The street competition takes place on a linear course featuring “real world” elements like stairs and handrails, benches, planter boxes, and curbs. The park competition takes place within a more structured environment with a variety of slopes, curves, and other obstacles that will test skaters.
Accident reports will help you prove the accident is, in fact, what caused your injuries and that you’re, therefore, entitled to compensation. Insurance companies will try at every turn to downplay and discredit your injuries in order to keep from paying you the compensation you deserve. An accident report will make it a lot harder for them to do that.
SPORT CLIMBING
THEY INDICATE WHO’S AT FAULT FOR THE ACCIDENT
This event combines three different disciplines on an artificial climbing wall: bouldering, lead climbing, and speed climbing. In the bouldering competition, climbers will navigate a fixed route to be completed within a specified time. In lead climbing, climbers aim to reach the high point within a specified time. Finally, in speed climbing, two climbers race against one another. Men and women, 20 per gender, will compete against each other, with the top eight advancing to the final round.
When filing an accident report, police will write down when and where the accident took place, the contact info of anyone who was involved, injuries that any party sustained, and determinations for who was at fault. All this evidence could work in your favor when you file a PI lawsuit for your compensation. To obtain a copy of your Alabama Uniform Traffic Accident Report, you can visit the Alabama Department of Public Safety website at AlabamaInteractive. org. Then give Shuttlesworth Law Firm a call for a free consultation at (205) 322-1411 and visit our website to see a sample of an accident report with our guide for how to read it.
KARATE
This martial art was developed in Japan in 1868, so it’s only appropriate to make its debut during the Tokyo Olympics. On top of that, the competitions will be held in Nippon Budokan, the site of the very first World Karate Championships in 1970. The Games will test two disciplines: kata (forms) and kumite (sparring). The sport will also be separated into men’s and women’s categories with three weight classes for each.
BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL
These aren’t new sports to the Olympics, but they were removed from the Games after Beijing in 2008. Baseball is hugely popular in Japan. This year, only six countries will take part in the baseball and softball competitions.
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Can I File a Claim for Fireworks Injuries?
FACTORS TO CONSIDER
Fireworks injure almost 13,000 people every year across the country, with many of them happening on the Fourth of July. While you might think that illegal fireworks are to blame for those injuries, they’re only the cause of around 16% of fireworks-related injuries every year. In fact, sparklers (you know, the little “harmless” fireworks you give your kids?) actually account for 28% of fireworks-related injuries every year. If you’re injured in a fireworks-related accident this year while celebrating our country’s independence, know that depending on the situation, you might have grounds to file a PI lawsuit and seek financial compensation for any injuries, loss of wages, destruction of property, or decreases in your quality of life. Anyone who uses fireworks has a high duty to exercise caution. Fireworks are dangerous, and in the event that someone is injured, the law will look to see whose negligent behavior caused the injury. If someone didn’t exercise a reasonable amount of care when handling fireworks, and a consequential accident led to your injuries, it’s against them that you could potentially file a lawsuit. Potential at-fault parties might include:
• An individual , such as a friend, neighbor, or other guest at a Fourth of July party, who was behaving irresponsibly with fireworks.
• A government agency that puts on a fireworks display and allows those in attendance to sit too close to the launch area, doesn’t properly prepare the display to go off safely, or doesn’t provide adequate emergency care in case of injuries.
• A fireworks manufacturer , if your injuries resulted from a malfunction with the product.
Regardless of who’s at fault, though, know you can rely on the legal team at Shuttlesworth Law Firm to help you get fair compensation for your injuries. Call (205) 322-1411 today for a free consultation and have a happy (and safe) Fourth of July!
FACTOID STRANGE
The Declaration of Independence? Which One? ONE NATION, 200 DECLARATIONS
On July 4, 1776, John Hancock and 55 other members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence — a document on display at the National Archives today. However, did you know that there were actually another 199 copies of the Declaration of Independence printed? Thomas Jefferson himself asked printer John Dunlap to make 200 copies of the declaration to be sent to colonial legislatures, committees of safety, and armies so they would know
they had declared independence. After all, it’s not like the Continental Congress could just announce independence over Twitter! Today, just 26 of the original 200 copies of the Declaration of Independence still exist, all of which (except for the copy on display at the National Archives) are just signed by John Hancock and Charles Thompson.
And no, there’s probably no treasure map on the back of any of those copies either ...
TAKE A BREAK
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201 Vulcan Road, Suite 210 Birmingham, AL 35209 (205) 322-1411 ShuttlesworthLasseter.com
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THIS ISSUE INSIDE
1
The Best Risk I Ever Took
2
These New Sports Are Coming to the Tokyo Olympics!
2
3 Reasons to Have a Copy of Your Police Report
3
Can I File a Claim for Fireworks Injuries?
3
This Month’s Strange Factoid
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The Smartphone Dilemma
The Smartphone Dilemma
Do You Need a New Phone When the Updates Stop?
Most smartphones are only supported by the manufacturer for a set period of time, and once that time is up, support will be unavailable for that phone. Support includes everything from operating system updates to security flaw patches. Although it varies greatly between manufacturers and even service providers, updates usually roll out every few months. Apple is one of the most generous supporters of its older devices. It typically offers updates on devices that are 4–5 years old. While older devices can sometimes struggle to run newer updates, this commitment means you can keep your device for a longer period of time. On the Android side, Samsung also tends to support its devices for
several years, often up to four years for its flagship devices. Despite that, for most brands the magic number is three years. So, once you notice that your device is no longer updating, what are you supposed to do? Are you expected to drop upward of several hundred dollars (or more) on a new phone? Or do you just “deal with it” and accept that your device is no longer receiving critical security updates? If your device still runs well — it does everything you expect it to, it has decent battery life, and the screen is in good shape — there might not be a reason to immediately buy a new phone. Many security experts say if you stick to a handful of
apps and your usage is consistent from day to day, your risk is low.
If your device is showing its age and/or you rely heavily on your phone for work and communication, the risk may be higher. Regardless, it’s a good idea to update your smartphone in regular intervals. We can all complain about planned obsolescence, but access to current updates and security patches is definitely beneficial. With so many cybersecurity risks out there, it’s better to not fall behind in these technological times.
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