Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:05] Hey, everybody, this is Lauren and we are here for another episode of the Llamas podcast.
[00:00:11] Today is just me. Lacey is at the beach enjoying her family vacation this week and this is going to be a quick episode because this is the week of the 4th and this is coming out on July 3rd.
[00:00:24] So we're going to just talk about some 4th of July things. This is a big year. It's the 250th year, so that's pretty cool.
[00:00:32] If you're watching this, I have all my red, white and blue nails going on right now.
[00:00:38] So I just want to talk about a case I dealt with that dealt with the fourth.
[00:00:43] I will say one thing, be safe, don't drink and drive. I think we've had those episodes on what happens if you drink and drive. Be safe when you're shooting fireworks. Don't be intoxicated and use them.
[00:00:55] Make good decisions. Also, if you're in the south, it is going to be really hot this weekend. So make good decisions in that. Hydrate, drink lots of water, preload on the water, pre game water this time because it is going to be really hot. Make sure you don't spend too much time outside, take breaks, those type things. So just be safe and enjoy the fourth of July. But I want to tell you a story about a case that when I was clerking for Judge Cole and hearing the upstate, I got to watch and it was a pretty cool case.
[00:01:27] Well, it was an interesting case. Not cool. So it was about the 4th of July.
[00:01:33] This family had got together and were shooting fireworks and, you know, normal fourth of July things. I believe everybody probably had had some adult beverages in this situation.
[00:01:46] And what happened was a man was shooting fireworks and so this was a visitor at this person's house was shooting fireworks and with a firework canister, there's the canister and I'm doing visuals if you are watching online. If you're not, there is a long canister and at the bottom of it there's a cement thing. And it's to keep the canister from flipping over and causing fires and that type stuff. So that's why it's really important when you put out fireworks, you lay them flat on the ground. And that canister, the concrete at the bottom is there to make sure when it goes off it stays upright, doesn't hit the ground, doesn't it cause fires, those type things? So that was the case was built around this. So everybody had been having adult beverages, supposedly not drunk or anything. I don't know if that was ever tested. But anyways, the firework canister was not properly set down or something like that. But anyways, the. The concrete came out of the firework canister and hit a man in the ribs. It cracked his ribs, hurt his lungs, all of those type things.
[00:03:05] And so in this situation, there was going to be. There was a lawsuit involving, I don't really. It was with the homeowner's insurance. So it was like the man was suing the homeowner so their insurance would come in and pay. It wasn't like a product's liability case or anything like that. It ended up settling.
[00:03:29] But I found that case to be very interesting because it showed me a lot about fireworks that there is that canister and if you do not put it there and it flips, it can really hurt you. And I didn't know that. But also it was kind of interesting how the homeowners insurance came into play with, with this case. Because, you know, I'm guessing now a lot of policies probably won't cover that. That probably got them realizing, hey, we need exclusions if you're doing this, dangerous activities and those type things, we're not going to cover it. And if somebody gets hurt, that's on you. Or I don't know how it went from there. But they did end up settling it. Like we heard about two days of testimony. And then in the end they ended up reaching a settlement because the man had been in the hospital for a long time. I think he was in the hospital, had to have some surgery, his lot was out of work for a while because of his cracked ribs. But there is, I think the issue really came down to how much negligence. Like should the homeowner's insurance covered it or was he completely negligent? Was it outside the scope? But they ended up getting a good settlement, I guess, and settled the case.
[00:04:36] Because your homeowner's insurance doesn't always cover everything. And that's one thing we're talking about the other week was trampolines. If you're at, you know, a lot of times if you have homeowners insurance and you get a trampoline and the kid gets hurt, your homeowners is not going to cover that. There's also the option the homeowner's insurance will drop you. And so at this point, I'm guessing in the fireworks case that homeowner's insurance dropped them. We had another case, not as much fourth of July, but very American, Shooting guns.
[00:05:07] A man was teaching a CWP class on his property and acts the bullet actually went off, shot somebody. Nobody was seriously hurt hurt. I mean, like, nobody died or anything like that. But the issue was, did the insurance come in and cover that? Because he really was running a business out of his house and those type things. It ended up settling again. So that's one of the things with all these cases. A lot of times we don't get definitive outcomes or, you know, see how the jury's gonna go because we start the case and then we end up in a settlement type situation.
[00:05:41] So that just was kind of some interesting cases dealing with America and kind of everything. The fireworks case was pretty good.
[00:05:52] I wish I could give you more details about it, but it settled pretty quick.
[00:05:57] And that's the thing. Civil cases, 90% of the time are going to settle, so they're not going to go to trial. I think all parties realize, you know, it's not worth it. One thing about insurance is so, like, if it's your homeowner's insurance is coming in to defend the action, they're going to pick their own attorney. And I think that's one thing people don't realize. Like, there are law firms that just do insurance defense that work with insurance companies and those type things.
[00:06:23] I know this one's going to be really short. It's been a long week. It's hot and I'm tired. And we'll get back to regular programming with our podcast soon. I know it's been a little not as great, but it's summer and everybody's busy. So Please enjoy your 4th. Have a safe and happy 4th forth.
[00:06:42] Enjoy time with family or friends.
[00:06:45] Enjoy, you know, your cookouts and barbecue and, like, are you having barbecue or are you having barbecue kind of thing? Because in the south, barbecue is, you know, like pulled pork with sauce on it. And then people up north will say they're going to barbecuing as hamburgers. So enjoy whatever it is you're doing and just have a great fourth.
[00:07:09] I'm thankful that I'm here in this country and able to celebrate the 4th. I know sometimes it's rough here and there's different things that go on that we're always not proud of, but overall, I'm very thankful to be here. And, you know, it's a great place to live and I love being in South Carolina. I know they said there's a lot of bad things here, but we have the mountains and the beach and I'm going to stop on this tirade and just end this podcast early and hope you all have a beautiful, wonderful for celebrate 250 years of America. And next week, we'll try to get back together and get this thing more on target again.
[00:07:48] But I hope everybody's enjoying your summer. And God bless America and have a happy fourth.
