American Family loses Wisconsin Case

American Family is a huge Wisconsin car insurance company. I've documented its extreme profits, denial of claims, pro-tort reform position, and pay "when pigs fly" story.

I've also given some car insurance advice and discussed Wisconsin uninsured, underinsured and umbrella policies.

Fortunately, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the rights of those buying underinsured car insurance in Wisconsin in a case where American Family, acting consistent with what I feel is typical insurance practice, refused to pay a claim.

Welin v. American Family Ins Co held that Wisconsin insurers cannot define an "underinsured motor vehicle" without considering the amount an injured person actually receives from a third party insurer. For those outside personal injury law, even lawyers, this may be abstract, but it's a victory for car insurance consumers in Wisconsin and is another example, as with giving statements to insurance companies, of why it's wise to consult with personal injury attorneys before accepting an insurance company's position.

Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorney

Buffet Trying to Level the Playing Field

Warren Buffett is one of my favorite business-finance gurus but his latest action shows why he's a great human being. Buffett is giving away about 85% of his wealth to Bill Gates charitable foundation. That's $30.7 BILLION.

Buffett's comment to Fortune on his kids is most interesting:

"But I would argue that when your kids have all the advantages anyway, in terms of how they grow up and the opportunities they have for education, including what they learn at home -- I would say it's neither right nor rational to be flooding them with money. In effect, they've had a gigantic headstart in a society that aspires to be a meritocracy. Dynastic mega-wealth would further tilt the playing field that we ought to be trying instead to level."

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MySpace.com Lawsuit

SFgate.com has a story on the MySpace.com lawsuit. Per the story, a MySpace.com web page was created, which resulted in a 14-year-old girl meeting a 19-year-old man and the two eventually had "consensual" sex -- except, since the girl is under 17 she can't legally consent to sex in Texas.

On a side note, here's a cool graphic from Wikipedia showing international "Age of Consent" laws.

Personally, I'd tell the attorney handling the case, Carl Barry, that his case against MySpace is weak at best and that his press release makes it appear like he's just trying to generate PR. I'll add too that the case for that appears strong given that the lawyer demanded $30,000,000.00 when filing the lawsuit.

Myspace doesn't control who surfs the web and has incredibly limited control over who creates web content. Parents, however, control their home computers and their kids' use of those computers and if these events took place through use of a home computer, then her parents are responsible and myspace is not . If this case were here in Wisconsin, it's highly doubtful any Wisconsin jury would find My Space at fault.

Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorney

Business & Finance Gurus

Though I'm a Wisconsin personal injury lawyer, I recognize the overwhelming importance of solid business and finance advice for everyone. From those starting a business, including law firms, to those just investing through their employers 401k. Business and finance gurus are a dime a dozen. You can find them anywhere. Thus, I'd like to recommend to you the following business and finance gurus who are my favorites (in alphabetical order):

John Bogle - Investor
Warren Buffett - Investor
Robert Kiyosaki - Author
Jeremy Siegel - Economist
Ben Stein - Economist
Andrew Tobias - Author

Wisconsin Personal Injury Lawyer