Bagen Law Blog

It’s the spookiest time of the year! Many people call Halloween their favorite holiday; with fun decorations and creepy ambiance, grinning jack o’ lanterns, and plenty of sweet treats, it’s no wonder! Since most of us didn’t get a chance to go all out for Halloween last year, we expect this year’s celebrations to be bigger than ever.

Despite all the excitement, Halloween also comes with its own set of risks including lack of visibility on the streets, increased pedestrian traffic, and inattentiveness of drivers. As a refresher, here are some ways you can make sure your community stays safe this Halloween:

It can be difficult for working parents to leave their children at daycare. Finding a facility you trust takes time, effort, and a big leap of faith when you say goodbye at the door. Yet for many, daycare is the best or only option for childcare while parents are away from home.

In these economically-challenging times, finding your capacity to work and fend for your family taken away by a disability can be one of life’s most cruel blows. The disability itself presents a considerable challenge in terms of the hardship and pain it brings to you and your family, not to mention the sometimes extreme difficulty you might experience trying to adjust to the new situation. It’s only natural that you will want to approach a state agency for compensation to help you rebuild your life. However, your experiences trying to pursue justice may prove to be Kafkaesque with red tape and hurdles to overcome. Although you may think that your disability case is cut-and-dry and you are optimistic that your disability hearing will be positive, the administrative law judge presiding over your disability hearing might take a different view of things. You may be denied which will add to your consternation and adding to your conundrum and troubles.

Despite this, you can take heart in knowing that more than 50% of first-time disability hearings are turned away by the courts. However, the good news is that the chances of your case being successful rise dramatically if you appeal. With no appeal, you will not be considered for compensation.

Gainesville has recently received negative publicity following a devastating pile up on I-75 that resulted in the death of ten people, as well as the hospitalization of eighteen. This isolated incident is just one example of the increased rate of auto accidents in the area, and residents are desperately searching for answers as to why this is occurring.

Foggy conditions make for bad drivers
One common hindrance in the Gainesville area is the low visibility during morning driving. Early morning fog is prevalent in this area, and it can significantly affect a driver's ability to see what lies ahead. In the case of the recent pile up, a mixture of smoke and fog prevented unsuspecting drivers from seeing the danger that was right ahead of them.

There is something that all parents can agree on – being a child in today’s world is vastly different than when you were growing up. Bullying in schools is on the rise and it’s taking on different forms thanks to smart phones and online messaging applications. Parents breathe a deep sigh of relief seeing their child get off the bus at the end of the day with no tears, bruises, or torn clothes. It’s a sad, sad world where every corner in school could be one that your child is backed into.

According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, close to half of all children will experience school bullying at some point while they are at primary or secondary school. At least ten percent of children are bullied regularly.

A Jacksonville man was charged with drunk driving and a hit and run accident. Oscar Adolfo Gomez was driving with his children, ages 5, 6 and 9. Police said that they stopped Gomez because he was weaving all over the road around 9 p.m. on Friday. When police questioned him after being pulled over,they noticed the strong alcohol odor and slurred speech. They also matched his car to the same one that was involved in a hit and run accident earlier that evening.

Top Florida officials announce that crime in the state is down during the first six months of 2011 as compared to the first half of 2010.

A Gainesville man has been sentenced to 60 years in state prison for attempted murder and robbery.

A motorcyclist is accused of leading a high-speed chase through three counties at speeds up to 130 mph. A high-speed chase that resulted in the man and his female passenger in the hospital before his arrest.