| Volume 65 Number 12 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Do not open email attachments you do not expect or do not recognize. If you receive a notice about your account, your order, or your bill, and you think it is an error or you may have a problem, go directly to the company's website or call them. If you get an email without a company name, ignore it. Click here for more.
Facebook Simplifies Privacy Settings
For years, Facebook users have complained about convoluted, complicated, and insufficient privacy settings. On Tuesday, Facebook announced streamlined user protections, relocating the previously hidden privacy settings to the front page. The move will allow users to immediately determine "who sees what" as soon as a post is made. What are some of the other changes? Will the changes prevent you from switching to Google+? Click here for more.
New Rules to Protect Airline Travelers
New federal rules regulating the airline industry's treatment of passengers took effect this week. The new rules will allow the Department of Transportation to fine airlines $27,500 per passenger if they remain on the tarmac for more than four hours. Airlines will also be required to provide more compensation to passengers who have been bumped and delayed from their flights. Most importantly, airlines must now prominently disclose all ancillary fees. How will the changes help you? Click here for more.
Understanding Your Car's Warning Lights
When something is wrong with your car, it is going to try to tell you. Is the engine getting too hot? Is the parking brake on? Is there a problem with the oil? These are just a few of the questions that can be answered with a quick glance at your car's instrument cluster. Take a moment to understand you vehicle's warning light system. Click here for more.
Your Money
Can you retire early? Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Plaintiff cannot recover amount of undiscounted medical bills. The California Supreme Court held that a personal injury plaintiff can't recover the face amount of her medical bills when her service providers accepted lesser sums as payment. “When a tortiously injured person receives medical care for his or her injuries, the provider of that care often accepts as full payment, pursuant to a preexisting contract with the injured person‘s health insurer, an amount less than that stated in the provider‘s bill. In that circumstance, may the injured person recover from the tortfeasor, as economic damages for past medical expenses, the undiscounted sum stated in the provider‘s bill but never paid by or on behalf of the injured person? We hold no such recovery is allowed, for the simple reason that the injured plaintiff did not suffer any economic loss in that amount.” Click here for more.