Law Blog

O'Connor, Runckel and O'Malley LLP would like to announce our 2022 law school scholarship recipient, Jewel Drigo.

Jewel Drigo, born on the island of Dominica and raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands, is pursuing her Juris Doctorate (JD) at Yale Law school as part of the class of 2025. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations and History. As an undergraduate student, she had the opportunity to live and work in China as part of a study abroad program focused on cultural immersion and collaboration. Before law school, she returned to the U.S. Virgin Islands to work in the legal branch of the Office of the Governor. She is looking forward to law school and is keeping an open mind in terms of what aspect of the law she plans to pursue. However, she is passionate about serving others in her community and aspires to influence international policy and government relations.

We look forward to seeing Jewel succeed in her upcoming years at Yale Law School.

July 15, 2022

On Wednesday, an accident involving a vehicle and a parked public works truck left a driver seriously injured. The collision occurred at approximately 8:30 AM on Ygnacio Valley Road between Oak Grove and Cowell. The vehicle was travelling eastbound when it collided with the parked vehicle as the public works crew was working on road improvements. The driver was seriously injured in the collision and was rushed to the hospital. The accident caused a temporary road closure as the police investigated the accident. No other injuries were reported and the road was reopened 3 hours later.

Congratulations to Thomas O'Connor for being named to Super Lawyers for 2022. The designation means that he is a top-rated attorney as recognized by peers. He was selected to Super Lawyers for 2013 - 2022.

When a large semi truck collides with a passenger vehicle, the outcome can be devastating. Large trucks are significantly heavier passenger vehicles, and when the two collide, injuries are often inevitable. In 2019, large trucks accounted for only about 4% of all registered vehicles, but they were involved in 10% of all fatal crashes, a 2% increase from the previous year. Such statistics are shocking, but there are many factors behind this steady increase in fatal truck accidents.

New data from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) projects that the pandemic has had an impact on the number of pedestrian traffic deaths in 2020. Although data shows that the number of cars on the road has decreased during the pandemic, the projected fatality rate of pedestrian accidents increased by 21%, the largest spike ever recorded since 1975, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System was established.

O'Connor, Runckel and O'Malley LLP would like to announce our 2021 law school scholarship recipient, Margaret McCallister.

Margaret is an incoming 1L at Georgetown University Law Center. She just wrapped up a 2 year fellowship working as a Carbon Pricing Analytics Fellow at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).  Through analysis, policy outreach, and capacity development on the design and implementation of market-based climate policies, Margaret focused on the fight against climate change. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Princeton University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering with certificates in Environmental Policy and Sustainable Energy. While at Princeton, Margaret engaged with environmentalism as a member of Princeton Student Climate Initiative and as the managing editor of the Princeton Legal Journal. She used the Legal Journal as a platform to conduct and share research in environmental policy. Incorporating her personal interest in law and innovation into her independent work, such as her senior thesis, has challenged Margaret to more fully explore the politics of environmentalism and to envision creative solutions and strategies for combating environmental injustice.

We look forward to seeing Margaret succeed in her upcoming years at Georgetown University Law Center.

A car accident can cause many different types of injuries, ranging from minor all the way up to catastrophic and possibly fatal. Generally speaking, there are two different categories of injuries resulting from car accidents:

• Impact injuries: These are caused by the victim being slammed into part(s) of the car.
• Penetrating injuries: These are caused by objects penetrating into the victim.

O'Connor, Runckel and O'Malley LLP would like to announce our 2020 law school scholarship recipient, Annie Liu. Annie is a first-year law student at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.  She is the proud daughter of Taiwanese immigrants and the first person in her family to pursue a law degree.  Growing up in a low-income household, Annie shared in her family's struggle to overcome financial hardships and make a better life for themselves.  

Following her graduation from Harvard University with a degree in Sociology, Annie joined the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office as a Strategy Analyst.  She played an integral role in the creation of the Crime Strategies Unit (“CSU”), a special operations team that combined the office’s best legal talents with cutting-edge technology to concentrate resources on prosecuting Manhattan’s most violent criminals.  CSU paved the way for prosecutors to take on more proactive roles, not only in prosecuting crime but also in rehabilitating the communities most afflicted by it.  CSU quickly became a model for innovative prosecution and has been replicated by dozens of district attorney’s offices nationwide.

California drivers involved in any type of traffic accident are under specific legal obligations to report the crash. If you plan to hold the driver who caused the accident financially responsible for the losses you incurred, California has some laws that could substantially affect your case.