Toyota Recalls millions of vehicles

AP-Toyota Motor Co. indicated that it will recall 1.09 million more vehicles in the United States on Wednesday, because of mechanical problems that could cause accelerator pedals to become stuck.

Toyota, which issued a recall last week for 2.3 million vehicles, expanded the notice to include the 2008-2009 Highlander, the 2009-2010 Venza and 2009-2010 Pontiac Vibe.

Sources say that "This isn't the first time an automaker has initiated a sales stoppage. In the past four years, Chrysler, Nissan, Ford and Subaru all have initiated stoppages, but Toyota's affects the most models."

Victims of vehicle malfunctions have suffered millions of dollars in losses and injuries that could have been prevented. The automakers have been dealing with this problems for decades, and now the government is putting down pressure on them.

They dichotomy to the industry has been (whether to install the part needed or face possible litigation in the future) these is call the cost analysis. Big companies face it every day, but not to such extend of potential damages.

When victims are injured by the negligence of the auto makers, often they do not recover for their loss. It is time to make the industry more responsible for their actions or rather inaction. Rather than waiting for the government to intervene, auto makers should be more responsible with the production of their vehicles.

Let us know if you, or a loved one has suffered injuries as a result of vehicle malfunctioning. You may be entitled to recover for your injuries.

Homes evacuated in San Antonio

AP News- Thank God that no one was injured, or so the reports say, but what a nightmare. Construction crews, presumably from Centex Homes moved dirt to shore up a group of houses precariously perched on a crumbling hill in San Antonio on Monday as engineers tried to determine why the land below was shifting, causing dozens of homes to evacuate.

The City of San Antonio is saying that a wall that was supposed to retain the dirt in place to prevent what happened, was built without a permit. Gaping crevices, some 15 feet deep, cut across several yards as dirt cascaded into a towering stone retaining wall that nearly split in half.

Home buyers are wondering now whether the premiums payed for the supposed "view" were worth the trouble that now they face. Some lot owners payed $10,000 additionally for the upgrade that now it does not seem like an upgrade at all.

The Baez Law Firm will be representing home owners against the building companies in an effort to bring the buyers closure during this nightmare. If your house has been one affected, give us a call. Our San Antonio Law Firm can help you with your legal needs.

We help auto accident victims obtain justice

We have been serving the community in San Antonio for victims of auto accidents when the negligence of the driver causes either death, fractures or fatal injuries. We are happy to report that The Baez Law Firm has obtained numerous policy limits and beyond settlements for our clients.

Insurance companies usually attempt to minimize their insureds potential for liability by quickly settling the case for pennies on the dollar. They do this to keep more money for their shareholders.

When you, or your family members have been a victim of auto accident in San Antonio or Bexar County, give us a call. We will fight for your legal rights and we will get the justice that you deserve.

Our San Antonio Lawyer will manage your case to a successful outcome for you. When the insurance company does not want to offer a reasonable amount of money, our lawyers will fill law suits on behalf of our clients. This is one of the reasons why we say, The Baez Law Firm is here for you because we care about your legal needs.

We were asked to help on other police brutality cases in San Antonio and Brownsville Texas

Recently, The Baez Law Firm was asked by two renowned trial lawyers in Texas Ed Goldner and Rosie Alvarado to help them and to take the lead with their federal cases against two police departments unreasonable use of force when dealing with the public. The city of Los Fresnos and City of San Antonio both have been sued in Federal Court for allegations of wrong doing by its police force.

In both cases, the victims were disable individuals that were cowardly and utterly assaulted, raped and bitten by the police. In both cases, the police fabricated police reports and lied to cover up their wrong doings. This type of incident, although not common, does happens and when it does, some one has to defend the rights of the victims.

We believe that in both cases, the cops were given too much power, not enough training and not enough supervision thus allowing the cops to overstep their authority and misuse their otherwise legally granted powers given by the state.

Texas has seen an increase in Police brutality allegations and cases filed from those allegations. We must all stand together and fight for any injustice, including the abuse by some police officers that have forgotten that they were given authority to serve and protect not to antagonize and overpower on people's constitutional rights.

If you have a case in Federal Court, let us help you obtain the justice for your client that they deserve. That is why we say "we care about your legal needs!"

What to do if you have an accident

Many of our clients have asked us to let others know what to do when they have an accident. The reason for the request is obvious. In Texas, many people decide to represent themselves during a personal injury claim. Although we don't recommend it, here are some pointers to remember.

1. The insurance company is not your friend. Contrary to popular belief, you are not in good hands. They are only interested on their bottom line, not yours.

2. Take your own pictures. Many liability cases are decided, not on what the police report says, but on what the pictures of the accident say. Always think on liability, even if its clear who is at fault.

3. Your recovery is directly proportional to your injury. There are two parts on an auto accident claim. Property damage and personal injury. For the most part, insurance companies will challenge the personal injury part.

4. Get witnesses information. Many times people stop at the scene of an accident to see whether everything is OK, ask for their phone numbers.

5. Get medical attention. Even if you feel OK at the time, the fact that you suffered an accident could be dangerous later on after the shock passes.

6. Get legal representation. As they say in law school "only a fool has him/her self for a client." Besides, what do you have to loose vs. what you could win.

Insurance companies have their legal team on hand, and so should you. We are San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyers here to help you with your legal needs. Visit our website The Baez Law Firm, P.C. or give us a call (210) 979-9777.

Why do you need damages?

Many people comes to our firm and ask, can we sue the negligent party for what they wrongfully done to us. In many cases, the answer is yes but upon further analysis of the cases, it becomes clear that the damages are missing. In order to recover under the theory of negligence, the law is clear, the fact that you have to have damages is as important as the fact that some one was negligent.

When there are no damages, unfortunately for many individuals, that means that there is no case at all. We have found this result with many medical malpractice cases and premises liability cases. Not so much so on the area of auto accidents. The reason is clear, if there is a car collision, there are some damages, both to the property and the person.

As an attorney, one has to look at the case, specially for negligence cases as one that can potentially reward the risk that the lawyers takes on taking the case. Since these cases are often taken on a contingency basis, the lawyers needs to insure that all elements are present before taking the case.

In a nut shell, for negligence to be actionable, there has to be 1) duty, 2) a breach therefrom, 3) actual cause, 4) proximate cause, and 5) damages. Miss one element, you miss the case. Although many cases the damages be nominal, generally, the greater the damage, the greater the recovery.

So, next time you hear the hype from highly commercialized lawyers, don't think that they are better at recovery, they just take the cases with the greatest rate of return form them and make it appears as though every case is going to win big.

If you have suffered or been injured by some one, give us a call (210) 979-9777 we will evaluate your case free and we will treat you with respect and dignity because, we care about your legal needs.

Why does police brutality happen?

In the years that The Baez Law Firm has litigated police brutality cases in Texas, the lingering question remains on our clients mind. Why did the police abused me? To understand the problem, one must go deep into the past, the present and perhaps into the future of our police force.

From the inceptions, police forces were not looked favorably. Since, police are agents or agencies empowered to use force and other forms of coercion and legal means to effect public and social order, where in many cases, the law becomes the lawless, many officers take that power to another level. But why?

Perhaps you have been a witness of reverse bully's. We have come to find out that, many officers who commit violations of civil rights, do so because they over exercise their power as a result of the phenomena that we will call “reverse bullysm.” Nearly 95% of officers that have committed violations were bullied by others when young. Since, now they have the power to use force, they are not going to be bullied again, thus the phenomena occurs.

According to the experts, "In order for police officers to do their job, they may be vested by the state with a monopoly in the use of certain powers. These include the powers to arrest, search, seize, and interrogate; and if necessary, to use lethal force. However, police organizations must sometimes deal with the issue of police corruption, which is often abetted by a code of silence that encourages unquestioning loyalty to one's police unit."

Again, as we litigate these cases, we find that many cops know that their fellow officers are violating the law, but because of the code of silence, they do not speak out. Sometimes without wanting to do so, other officers participate in the police brutality simply because of the code or simply because it is a way to release all pressure that they have build up from the job.

We are not saying that all cops are bad, but we are saying however, that the system that monitors our cops is obsolete. There has to be better technology to employ in monitoring police officers and harsher punishments for those who violate the law, specially of those officers who violate the rights of victims that did not commit a crime.

As of today, many police departments only suspend or terminate the offenders without ever having to face any criminal charges. And the worse part is, that since the department terminated the offender, now they say that they are not responsible for the victim’s damages since the bad cops was acting alone, and not under the color of law. We see these tactics over and over again.

If you have been a victim of police brutality, call us (210) 979-9777 we can help.