Court Records Blog

There are many resources that allow consumers to check on the validity of a business and its products, such as the Better Business Bureau, business license databases, and more. However, what do you do if you were actually injured by a defective product? Aside from reporting the company or their defective product, is there any recourse for you, as the consumer?  What if you or a loved one suffered a serious injury, or something of yours sustained serious damage? An area of law knows as product liability seeks to address these issues.

Product liability law essentially seeks to hold manufacturers, wholesalers, retail sellers liable for distributing defective products to consumers. Liability can even extend to those only responsible for creating one piece of a product, or those who assemble the product. In product liability, there is an expectation that a product meets the “ordinary expectation” of the consumer. The words “ordinary expectation” are important to keep in mind. If you buy a knife, and mishandle it, leading to an injury, you should have had an ordinary expectation that a knife is a sharp dangerous object. Thus, you likely would not have a claim against the manufacturer or any distributor. Conversely, if you buy a pillow, as a consumer, you likely have an ordinary expectation that there are no hard metal objects waiting to poke you. Another example that has become a major area of concern involves lead in paint used on toys. As a consumer, it is reasonable to assume that a child’s product will not cause illness. If the product fails to meet these standards, then there is a product liability claim.

In most states, not only the person who bought the product, but anyone who could foreseably have been injured by the product, can have a product liability claim. As long as the claimant can show that they were injured by the product because a defect made said product dangerous, then they legally have a right to sue. The three theories under which a claimant must demonstrate that the product was defective and dangerous include design defect, manufacturing defect, and marketing defect. If there is a design defect, that means that the way the product was designed is inherently dangerous. If a product was designed in such a way that a structure did not have enough support for its intended purpose, this could be a design defect. Manufacturing defect is present if there is a danger in the way the product was assembled or manufactured. The example of lead paint would likely fit into this category. Whereas the toy was perfectly safe in its design, the manufacturing/assembly process involving the lead paint is what created the defect. With a marketing defect, this could mean that there appropriate warnings, instructions, or labels were not present on the product. An example here would be a cleaning product with potentially hazardous substances that did not warn of this.

Consumers have a right to feel confident that their hard earned money buys them safe products, not products which could lead to injuries. As such, the area of product liability is an important part of the legal system that can help right the wrongs of manufacturers and sellers. Yet, as with any legal action, each claim requires specific proof and evidence to support a claim. The exact laws for product liability claims can vary by state. The requirements for proving a product defect can depend greatly on which state you are in and by what you base your claim on. CourtReference.com offers a guide for laws, self-help guides, and other resources by state. This would be a good way to start your research if you think you may have a product liability claim.

Do you remember when you were young and were disciplined for disrespectful behavior? The lessons about respect, especially respect toward authority figures, are often an important part of growing up. However, those lessons do not end with childhood. Actually, in a court setting, acts of disrespect are not taken lightly and the court does not always hesitate to dispense disciplinary measures to deal with such behavior.

In the court setting, engaging in behavior that is disrespectful to the court is called being in contempt of court. Actually, contempt of court is also the name of the order issued by the judge if he finds that a person has engaged in a disrespectful manner. Entering an order of contempt of court allows a judge to impose a punishment, such as a fine or jail time. If the order is entered, a judge could impose the punishment immediately, meaning the offender could be taken to a jail cell within minutes of the order. However, once the offender decides to comply with the court, then they are often released.

There are two categories of behavior that could lead to an order of contempt of court. These categories are Direct Contempt and Indirect Contempt. Direct Contempt occurs in front of the judge and can include disrupting proceedings and/or disrespecting the judge. In this situation, a judge will advise the offender of their behavior, and if the offender continues on their course, than a judge could enter an order of contempt of court. Indirect Contempt involves disobeying a prior court order. For example, in a divorce case, if a judge enters a court order regarding the paying of spousal support, and the obligated spouse does not pay the amount, this could result in an order for contempt of court. In the case of Indirect Contempt, the party in the divorce case who was owed the spousal support can actually file a motion with the court requesting an order of contempt of court. In the situation where a motion has been filed, this will likely lead to a hearing, where both sides can present their case. At the close of the hearing, the judge will decide whether or not the accused was in contempt of court, and issue the order accordingly.

Contempt of Court can be considered either a criminal or civil offense. Civil contempt typically applies in the cases of disobeying an order, while criminal contempt is typically ordered for disruption or disrespect to the judge. However, in either case, certain elements must be present for a judge to legally enter their order. These elements include presence of an order from the court, knowledge of the order, and ability to obey the order, and a failure to obey. If these elements exist, then a judge can find the offender in contempt.

If you are looking to file a motion, or simply want to learn more about your state courts, try visiting CourtReference.com.  This site offers descriptions of courts, an online directory to locate courts, and other court resources including access to online records.  Where courts offer online records, you may even be able to review a court record with an order for contempt of court.

Foreclosure, foreclosure, foreclosure! It seems that no matter who you are or where you live, foreclosures have become a part of our everyday landscape. In the fallout of bad loans and a deepening economic crisis, an unprecedented amount of Americans now face losing their homes to foreclosure. We see it in newspapers, hear it on the news, and see signs in our neighborhoods. Despite the election of a new President and the intiation of  new plans to save homes, foreclosures are still on the rise.

There are two different types of foreclosure, judicial and non-judicial. While non-judicial foreclosures are handled by a private trustee of the lender, during a judicial mortgage foreclosure, the procedure must be finalized by a court order. Whether a foreclosure is judicial or non-judicial can depend on the laws of a jurisdiction (visit www.CourtReference.com to find explanations of courts and court procedures by state). However, areas that require a judicial procedure have seen the court docket filled with up to several hundreds of foreclosure cases per day. In Lee County, Florida, which is one of the hardest hit counties for foreclosures, the court faces almost 1,000 foreclosure cases per day.

The Lee County court has been so bombarded with the number of foreclosure cases that have even asked retired judges to return to assist with numerous foreclosure proceedings. However, the additional judges still have not been enough to hear the thousands of foreclosure cases sitting on the court docket. As a result, the court has adopted a new method of resolving foreclosure cases called “rocket docket.” With the rocket docket system, a foreclosure case hearing can take as little as 20 minutes. If you are a defendant in a foreclosure case in Lee County, you will essentially be asked two questions: Are you behind on your mortgage payements and do you live in your home? Cases where the a defendant admits to being behind on their payments likely result in a judgement of foreclosure and a requirement to vacate the house within 60 days if they cannot work out a plan with the bank.

There is not much room for factual arguments or problem solving in this”rocket docket” procedure. It is is a fast and simple procedure that often leaves the homeowners feeling that they didn’t quite have their day in court. After all, how much can really be explained in 20 minutes. Yet, the court rationalizes that if the homeowner in fact has not paid their mortgage, there is not much left for the court to do but grant the foreclosure. Many believe this is the best way to get these matters resolved quickly and put the homes back on the market because staying in a home they cannot afford is not necessarily the solution either. In the end, perhaps it is simply that the court is finding a more efficient way to do its job, and it is really the responsibility of the banks/lenders to create actual solutions to the mortgage mess.