Author Archive
Call for Experts: Mass Tort Attorneys for High-Profile Case Interviews
January 30th, 2014. By admin
At LawyersandSettlements.com, we often interview subject matter experts—both attorneys and non-attorneys—for insight on current mass tort litigation. Many of the attorneys we interview are those we run into at conferences such as Mass Torts Made Perfect and the Annual AAJ convention. If you’re an attorney with specific practice area expertise and you’d like to be interviewed by our journalists, we’d like to hear from you. Simply contact us at , or call us at 888-881-7330.
Interviews at LawyersandSettlements.com are a great way to help spread the word on, and keep the general public informed about, important cases you’re working on—while boosting online visibility for you and your firm.
You Know Those Lawyer Billboards? Tell Us How You Feel About Them!
August 30th, 2012. By admin
We’re noticing a lot of lawyer billboards along the highways and byways lately–but what do you think about them?
Take our short (very short–4 questions!) survey and let us know. The survey’s right below.
Thanks…we’ll let you know the results.
-The LAS team
You Asked…LawyersandSettlements.com Gear is Here
March 24th, 2011. By admin
Visit our logo and fanware shop over at Zazzle (click the images above). We’ll be adding more, so stay tuned…
Attorney Michael Blickensderfer Opens his Wallet to Help Out in Tampa
March 8th, 2011. By admin
Lawyers Giving Back looks at a side of lawyers you don’t hear too much about—the side that gives back…pays it forward..and shares the love. We’ve found quite a number of attorneys who log non-billable hours helping others—simply because they believe it’s the right thing to do. Their stories are inspiring, and hey, who knew lawyers were so…good? If you’ve got a story to share about an attorney who’s doing the right thing, let us know—we’d love to let others know, too. Today, we’re talking with Florida attorney Michael Blickensderfer…
Attorney Michael Blickensderfer: “You think they are small or unimportant donations, and you don’t realize the impact that will have on others.”
A quiet spoken attorney with a very loud and clear commitment to the community around him, Michael Blickensderfer made a decision to open his wallet and open it wide. Although the Blick Law Firm may do a bit of legal work for free from time to time in the classic pro bono definition, Blickensderfer, a former prosecutor and public defender in New York and Florida, decided he’d step to the plate with cold, hard cash. 
The firm contributes up to 10 percent of its annual income to charity. “It varies,” says the very modest Blickensderfer, “a tithe is 10 percent, we are not always faithful to that amount, but we try to be consistent.”
After 25 years in public service and a brief turn at private practice in three other Florida firms, Blickensderfer went out on his on own two years ago. Together with his wife as the office administrator and his daughter as the marketing and community liaison, the Blickensderfers have established their own very personal way doing things.
The Blick Law Firm has established relationships with about a dozen organizations, from the St. Jude’s Hospital for Children to a Christian motorcycle riders association to a suicide prevention organization. “These are groups we have connected with sometimes out of personal relationships with some of their members, sometimes people come to us or perhaps it is through a client,” says Blickensderfer. “We discuss as a family where we can best put our resources and make a difference.”
Primarily a personal injury practice, Blickensderfer provides a range of other legal services from bankruptcy law to real estate. They regularly reach out to organizations and participate in community events. “Sometimes we hear about a needy family through some of these organizations,” says Blickensderfer, who is a committed Christian. “It touches your heart, you feel compassion and just you feel the need to reach out and help.”
“On New Year’s day we went to the Christian Motorcycle Riders Association event,” says Blickensderfer. “We just showed up and gave them a donation. We didn’t think we did that much but they were so grateful.”
“We were just putting a little gas in their tanks; they really go out and do all the hard work. They’re out there with their ‘tanks on fire’ ready to do things and we were pleased to able to help them,” Blickensderfer says.
Although Blickensderfer, who is also a former US Marine, says there are a lot of lawyers out there who volunteer their time he prefers to go the ‘donation’ route. “A lot of lawyers at other firms do a lot of pro bono work,” he adds. “I don’t do that much in the classical sense of pro bono.”
The firm is developing a bit of a reputation around Tampa for its generosity but Blickensderfer says people still seem surprised to see him arrive with a check in hand. “We just want to help the best way we can,” he says. “I think people are surprised in this day and age when anyone goes out of their way to help.”
“You think they are small or unimportant donations, and you don’t realize the impact that will have on others,” he adds.
“I wish we could do more,” says Blickensderfer. “We have a lot to be thankful for and I count my blessings when I look at others and see how many people are in need.”
“I thought I had problems,” says Blickensderfer with a smile and a bit of humor in his voice.
Lucky for Tampa Bay, Blickensderfer came to town with his check book.
Michael Blickensderfer has a degree in business administration from Ohio State University and earned his J.D. at the Seton Hall University School of Law in New Jersey. The Blick Law Firm, based in Tampa, FL, handles personal injury litigation, bankruptcy law, wrongful death lawsuits, medical malpractice cases, as well as other areas of law.
Is there an Actos Class Action Lawsuit?
February 25th, 2011. By admin
That’s the question someone posted over at Answers.com—aka, wikianswers. And there it sits with zero answers—which should pretty much state the obvious, that, no, there is not an Actos class action lawsuit*. There may well be Actos lawsuits, however.
And therein lies the crux of what many type-2 Diabetes patients who are currently taking Actos are finding themselves asking. After all, Actos became to go-to drug—starting back in 2007–when drug-of-the-same-class Avandia started to come under fire. Doctors began switching patients, many of whom probably asked for the switch themselves, over to Actos. Needless to say, as more and more information became available regarding Avandia adverse events, Actos became the favored child of the family, so to speak—the lesser of two evils.
Even with the halting of the TIDE study—which compared Avandia vs Actos—over ethical concerns about continuing a study that involved a drug, Avandia, with potentially very serious side effects—the default takeaway message appeared to be, “switch to Actos”. It was only after the dust began to settle and the FDA had chimed in on Avandia’s fate that attention began to drift back over to Actos.
Recently, an article in Cardiovascular Business showed just how great the switchover to Actos has been:
“Even after the class-wide FDA black box warning for congestive heart failure was added in 2007, pioglitazone [Actos] use was largely unchanged and it was prescribed Read the rest of this entry »
Find us on
Archive by Category
- Accidents (24)
- Airlines (9)
- Asbestos Mesothelioma (262)
- Automotive (25)
- Celebrity (14)
- Class Action (84)
- Complaints/Comments (15)
- Consumer Fraud (84)
- Contest (2)
- Court of Public Opinion (5)
- Crazy Sh*t Lawyers See (61)
- Criminal Law (4)
- Defective Products (111)
- DePuy ASR Hip Recall (2)
- Discrimination (22)
- Drugs/Medical (248)
- Elder Care Abuse (4)
- Emerging Issues (462)
- Employment (54)
- Environment (52)
- Financial (28)
- Food Illness (15)
- Human/Civil Rights (4)
- Insecurities (5)
- Insurance (16)
- Intellectual Property (16)
- Internet/E-commerce (19)
- lawsuits (161)
- Lawyers (20)
- Lawyers Giving Back (43)
- Lex Levity (10)
- Personal Injury (106)
- Pleading Ignorance (53)
- Real Estate (2)
- Recall (6)
- Scam (3)
- Securities (13)
- Settlement (81)
- Tort Reform (2)
- Totally Tortelicious (81)
- Veterans (11)
- Whistleblower (9)