Saturday, December 20, 2008

Warning About Holiday Drinking and Driving.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released data showing that from 2002 to 2006, nearly 4 in 10 roadway fatalities in the last two weeks of December were related to alcohol use. NHTSA Acting Administrator David Kelly called drunk driving "one of the most serious, and preventable, dangers we face on our roadways," as he launched the administration's holiday crackdown on December 17.

NHTSA research shows that drivers aged 21-24 were most likely to be alcohol impaired when involved in a fatal car accident. Thirty-five percent of drivers in this age group were alcohol-impaired when their accident occurred, as opposed to 18 % of 15-20 year-olds and 29 % of 25-34 year-olds. In Alabama, this percentage is even higher, with 38 % of 21 to 24 year-olds being alcohol impaired when involved in a fatal accident.

This data also follows an NHTSA report earlier this year that restricting the drinking age to 21 has probably saved a total of nearly 4500 lives nationwide during the five year period from 2003 to 2007. This is in addition to the estimated 15,000 lives saved every year by seat belts. In Alabama alone it is estimated that seat belts save 400 lives a year, and that another 188 could be saved by full seatbelt use.
For more information about accidents involving impaired drivers, please click this link to the Moore & Wolfe MVA Resource Center.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Wolfe Article Published

The December edition of TRIAL will feature an article written by Mark Wolfe. TRIAL is a monthly legal journal for trial lawyers published by the American Association of Justice. Wolfe's article is a practical guideline for attorneys to better help their clients when responding to written discovery. This is the third article Wolfe has had published in a legal journal and he currently has another article under submission. Wolfe is a frequent speaker at Continuing Education Seminars for lawyers and says most of the articles he has had published or written come from seminar papers. "When you speak at a CLE seminar the topics are current and these topics often lend themselves to journal articles," said Wolfe.
Wolfe will serve as a moderator at a CLE seminar in Birmingham on December 12th and he is the moderator and a speaker for the South Alabama Trial Lawyers Association's Winter CLE on December 19th. In January he will be a speaker at the Alabama Association for Justice's Mid-Winter Conference.

M&W Charity Wine Tasting 2008

On October 26th, M&W held its third annual charity wine tasting. This year's beneficiary was the Mobile Bar Association's Volunteer Lawyers Program (pro bono program). The event raised over $10,500. The Volunteer Lawyers Program (VLP) is one of the top free legal service programs in the United States and assists hundreds of clients each year with civil legal matters. After Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the VLP assisted thousands of victims with property and title issues so they could secure government assistance. Over 50% of the Mobile Bar Association attorneys donate their time to the VLP each year. The funds raised from this year's event will go towards office supplies and various incidental operational expenses. The event was held at the Bakery Cafe and Market at 1104 Dauphin Street in mid-town Mobile.

In 2006 the proceeds from the first M&W Charity Wine Tasting helped build a playground in mid-town Mobile at Central Presbyterian Church for use by children of residents of the Family Promise Network and summer camp participants. In 2007 the proceeds from the M&W Charity Wine Tasting went to buy computers and school supplies for the USA Children's and Women's Hospital Class Act program. That program provides full time teachers to children in the hospital so they can maintain school attendance credit and keep up with their classwork while in the hospital. In 2009 the beneficiary will be Victory Health Partners which provides low cost medical services to people without health insurance.

A special thanks to our friends at Russell Thompson Butler & Houston CPAs and Cormier Chiropractic and Physical Therapy for again being platinum sponsors for this year's event.