Summer

June 5, 2017

Happy Summer,

June marks the beginning of summer, where the living is easy – pool, vacations, no school, and warm weather.

It is also a time for me to do my yard work. Weeding, cutting down vines from trees and planting our garden. Here is a pic of a rock wall I'm building. Something about the hard work and geometry of putting rocks together is a great escape for me.

Summer safety is important, too. Guess which months have the highest incidence of teen auto crashes, water related incidents and ATV wrecks? – June, July, and August.

Summer brings more ER visits, water incidents, and work injuries. The most dangerous month, day and time to drive? August, Saturday, night. I'm writing not for us to be aware, not scare.

Heat stroke can strike anyone, but people who work outside and the elderly are particularly at risk. Wear loose fitting, lightly colored clothing and stay ultra-hydrated. Drink even when you don't think you need to. Early warning sign = leg cramps. People with heat stroke will not sweat (counter intuitive).

Don't leave your pet in the car. Gets hot in there quicker than you think. 16 States have laws against this.

It goes without saying that everyone regardless of age should wear a helmet when riding a bicycle, but I will include that reminder in here anyway. Cyclists should wear brightly colored clothing and make sure that their bikes have reflectors appropriate for dusk (and night).

Want to not ride an ATV? Make sure you read the latest CPSC annual report on ATV injuries and deaths. Do not allow children on ATVs. They are not designed to carry a passenger and you should always wear a helmet. ATVs are inherently defective as I have shown in a few cases: they have deceptively high centers of gravity and no wheel differential which cause them to too easily roll over.

Water safety and water incidents greatly increase as well. Urge them to make good decisions (tell the boys they don’t have to show off). Never leave a child unattended near a body of water. It doesn’t take much water for a person to drown.

Make sure that young children are equipped with proper flotation devices like water wings and life vests. Also beware of diving in water of unknown depths and never swim alone.

When boating, never operate the vessel under the influence of drugs or alcohol and always steer clear of people floating and swimming in the water.

Every year we get calls from folks with firework injuries. It is best to let sober adults handle fireworks and to keep children a safe distance away.

HOT CONSTITUTION SUMMER

Many know generally how the US Constitution was written (and the Broadway show Hamilton helps). It’s the 230 year anniversary of the summer of 1787 – an extremely hot Philadelphia summer when our Constitution was written.

Delegates at the Constitution Convention suffered unbearable Philadelphia heat. Still, the delegates worked together and in a matter of months wrote the oldest active constitution that exists. (Yet it’s taken Illinois years to agree on anything in the comfort of its air conditioned Capitol.)

The heat did cause problems. Many states were tardy to the convention. When it opened on May 14th, only Pennsylvania and Virginia showed up. Eventually, enough states gathered to form a quorum, marking the official start of the convention.

Weather was the most common excuse for this tardiness. The diary of William Samuel Johnson of Connecticut is the only weather reference we have and he describes 33 of the 80 days it took as "hot" or "very hot".

Despite the heat, the delegates still wanted the convention to be a secret, so the windows were closed and heavy drapes were drawn. With closed windows cutting off any air flow, it’s no wonder there are errors in the Constitution.

Between the final article and the delegate signatures on the Constitution’s final page is an “errata” paragraph listing some of the minor errors the writer had made along with the corrections.

But it’s interesting to wonder how things would be different if it had not been so hot. According to one journalist, the few times the framers got a break from the heat, morale boosted considerably and the sessions were more productive.

One example is the morning of July 13, described as "cool", when Edmund Randolph of Virginia looked to correct the language of the three-fifths ratio and how it would be applied. On another cool day, Alexander Hamilton helped resolve a conflict between a Georgia delegate and a British merchant.

The Constitutional Convention was famous for its heated debates. It begs the question -- does heat contribute to conflict? Or does cool weather just promote productivity?

Other notable hot American summers include the summer of 1967 where 159 riots broke out across the United States and the summer of 1849 when 80,000 immigrants rushed to California all to strike gold.

The 10 hottest summers on record have all happened since 1998. And the summer of 2017 is predicted to be another record breaker.

MY FIRST CORRECTION

In my last email I talked about Special Prosecutors and their unique role in the law. It prompted this great email from a friend, which I quote with permission as my first correction:

Dear Mr. Burger,

Thank you so much for your informative emails; I enjoy them and I always look forward to what you have to say. However, I am a little confused about a specific matter contained within your email today titled "Compelling Special Prosecution". In your piece you stated the following:

"There is also an example of the current special prosecutor threatening Ashcroft when he was in the hospital ill to resign if he did not reauthorize Bush’s domestic surveillance program."

I must respectfully take issue with your recollection or characterization of one of the key facts contained in this sentence.

It is my understanding from history that Comey and Mueller did NOT want Bush to reauthorize the domestic surveillance program, which they (Comey and Mueller) both believed was unlawful. [They] had both threatened to resign if said program were reauthorized.

Andrew Card and Alberto Gonzales were the ones who rushed to the hospital in their unsuccessful attempt to persuade a weakened, recovering Ashcroft to reauthorize this program. If I have somehow misinterpreted either your opinion or the facts, please let me know.

Once again, thanks so much for your terrific seminars and emails!

Sincerely, Bruce Bramoweth

Hope you have a happy, safe and cool summer.

Responses:

“Nice wall!

I also like the historical mentions pretty much every time. Yours is about the only e-newsletter I get worth reading ”

--Edward

“I don't do ‘Happy’ Summers. I do however do Meaningful Summers. Thanks for including me on you mailing list. Your comments are often quite thoughtful.”

--Stan

Rescue

June 18, 2017

Good morning Susan,

Last Tuesday my wife Kristen and I had the opportunity to spend the day with Donna from Stray Rescue. She told us about a puppy she had rescued a few weeks ago – she had seen the pup’s parents. So, we went back for them.

Their dwelling was long abandoned (with most of the houses on that street); an old brick house collapsing, moldy and rotten. There were huge holes in the floor requiring careful footwork to make it into the building without dropping to the basement below. Dogs barked inside guarding their “home.”

We went up the staircase, walking over old clothing and debris and rotted wood. Chunks of missing ceiling allowed light inside, and the momma dog cowered in a back room. As we approached, she fled to a tiny closet. Donna opened a can of hot dogs and began tossing them to the terrified pup, talking to her softly while continuing to move closer.

Kristen heard movement behind us and looked up to see the male dog apprehensively coming down stairs. He seemed unsure what to do – protect his home or go with us. I took a slip leash and tried to relax him, and myself (he was a strong black pit):

I went up the stairs to coax the papa dog down. He wouldn’t eat the hot dog I offered but let me slip a leash over his head. He pulled back. But I gently talked to him and walked him down the stairs and out the house.

Outside he relaxed, then wagged his tail and closed his eyes as I scratched his head and petted him. The side of his neck was an open, oozing wound, punctuated by a deep hole in his ear. He did not seem to care, things were changing for him – petting, leash, care.

Momma dog was hesitant to leave the closet. She did not yet trust us, and her facial scars and broken teeth told us her reluctance was well placed. We eventually carried her down the stairs and over the gaping holes in the floor to the yard with her companion. Once in Donna’s jeep heading back to the shelter, she rested her tired head in my lap and closed her eyes.

As we settled Sam and Diane into their new apartments at Stray Rescue (after shots and medical attention) Donna got a call from a concerned neighbor about five to seven puppies running loose in East St. Louis. We made our way across the bridge and Donna relayed how difficult it can be to catch puppies, especially if they are hiding in a wooded area or without their momma.

We spotted three pups in the backyard, but they darted into the weedy tangle of bushes and trees. We began to comb through the overgrowth looking, and listening, for the puppies. They ran from us.

Donna suggested setting a trap – a large wire kennel with a door that would close when their weight triggered it. She poured out a can of dog food and we waited.

Two puppies approached the trap and enthusiastically began eating, but their weight did not trigger the trap to shut. You could see their ribs protruding above their bloated bellies and they dashed back into the thicket. Donna made a few adjustments to the trap and we waited again, successfully confining two pups.

Two more trap settings yielded three more puppies. The five babies huddled together in the back of Donna’s jeep terrified. At stray rescue they got medical care, food and water. We named the ten week old puppies after Missouri rivers and took them to our house to foster.

Spending a day doing this made us appreciate the hard work done by folks rescuing animals in St. Louis and everywhere. Hard work that usually doesn’t yield the success we had. Click here to adopt a puppy from Stray Rescue.

Motions Denied

Last week I defended 3 different motions against my client’s cases, and won all 3. Two Motions for Summary Judgment and a repeated Motion to Quash Subpoena against me were denied. Summary Judgments can come at any stage in a case. It requests the Court rule in a parties favor when there is no dispute of the facts.

The Missouri Department of Corrections does not pay its guards for the pre and post shift work they require them to do. These officers have to sign in, get keys, get radios, go through metal detectors, go through air locks, and pass through different checkpoints all the way back into a prison where they communicate with the prior shift to relieve that shift.

The State will not pay them for this work and don’t pay them until they arrive at their post. The State filed and argued summary judgment against us and we prevailed.

We also defeated a Summary Judgment Motion against us in a case against an area attorney and law firm. In that case, we allege the attorney took over his client’s sizable business without paying him and substantially profited therefrom. Our client had previously had a claim in Federal Court in Ohio but the lawyer and his law firm were dismissed from that case. The defendant’s argued that our case was barred by Res Judicata. This means you can’t sue the same defendant a second time for the same thing if you lost the first time.

We were able to show the Court that the Defendants in our current case had been dismissed as a party in the Ohio case before a final result. They thus did not have privacy with the defendants there and we can maintain our case. We argued this summary judgment motion at the beginning of the case and succeeded in defeating it. Now to win the whole case.

In a claim we have pending in Belleville IL we subpoenaed insurance information from the Illinois Department of Insurance. We are pursuing a claim against Unique Insurance Company for bad faith and sought other similar incidents and other evidence of vexatious delay. The State of Illinois filed a Motion to Quash our subpoena – which we defeated.

Then they came in and filed another Motion to Quash saying it was unduly burdensome and irrelevant. We won this motion and they have been ordered to provide information and documents. Interestingly, Unique Insurance Company is required by law to retain the documents we are requesting from the Illinois Department of Insurance, but have instead destroyed them.

Thanks.

Gary Burger

Responses:

“When I read the emails like these that you send (and after going through your Facebook), I'm really glad that I chose you guys to represent me. It's easy to be a good lawyer when you have no ethics and no soul, but you seem to be a good attorney who has both.”

--Michael

“Dear Gary, Your story touched my heart. I am amazed that you have the energy to work hard during the week and spend time on the weekend helping others. Bless you and your wife, and thanks so much for sharing your story. It is inspiring to read and helps me remember that these acts of kindness are important in order to have a joyful and peaceful life.”

--Susan

Independence

July 3, 2017

Hello Jim,

Happy Independence Day (tomorrow). We closed our office today to let our attorneys and staff enjoy the holiday and a long weekend, below I have an article about a recent settlement and ask you to google review firm. Please email me back if I can Google review your firm or business.

But first, I thought I would give you 10 surprising facts about the Declaration of Independence:

1. The Declaration was not signed on July 4th, 1776.

While the declaration was adopted by the Continental Congress on the 4th, most of the men did not sign it until August 2nd of that year and New York delegates did not even give their support until July 9th.

2. July 4th was not the day the Founders intended to be remembered as Independence Day.

July 2nd was when the Continental Congress voted on Independence and the day they thought would be remembered and celebrated as Independence Day.

3. Signers held a wide array of occupations – 24 lawyers, 11 merchants, 9 farmers.
4. There is more than one copy.

Most people see the original Declaration on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. While it is the original, it is not the only one -- there were hundreds of copies made. These copies are known as the “Dunlop broadsides”. They were used to spread the news of the Declaration throughout the colonies. The rebels had a great system of copying and disseminating information quickly.

5. Two of those copies have been found in the last 25 years.

In 1989, a Philadelphia man got very lucky when he found an original Dunlap Broadside copy in the back of a picture frame he bought at a flea market for $4. It sold for $8.1 million in 2000. What a find! A 26th known Dunlap broadside emerged at the British National Archives in 2009, hidden for centuries in a box of papers captured from American colonists during the Revolutionary War.

6. Three US Presidents have died on 7/4.

Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Monroe all died on the Fourth of July. Adams and Jefferson both died on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration’s passage. James Monroe died 5 years later on July 4, 1831.

7. There was a 44 year difference between youngest and oldest signers.

Benjamin Franklin was the oldest signer at 70 years old. But 44 years his junior was Edward Rutledge, a lawyer from South Carolina who was only 26 at the time.

8. The movie National Treasure May Not be Way Off.

In the movie “National Treasure,” Nicholas Cage’s character claims that the back of the Declaration contains a treasure map written in invisible ink. That is not sure, but there is writing on the back. It reads: “Original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776.” It’s thought this was added as a label, but no one is sure when.

9. The Declaration has only left Washington D.C. twice.

The first time was when the British attacked Washington during the War of 1812, and the second time was during World War II from 1941 to 1944 when it was stored at Fort Knox.

10. Every 4th of July the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia is tapped (not rung) 13 times in honor of the original thirteen colonies.

Feel free to use the above to impress friends and family. Unfortunately when I share history with mine, they roll their eyes and call me Michael from the Office. I can't argue, because they are right.

Google Reviews for Cardinal tix

Thanks to our friends and clients for our firm's success. As a part of our continuing effort to inform the public about their rights and the good and hard work we do, we would love it if you provided a Google Review of our firm. Click the three links below to do so.

All Google Reviews for Burger Law from June 28, 2017 through July 10, 2017 will be entered to win tickets to the July 26, 2017 Cardinals game. We go live on Facebook on July 10 for the drawing.

I picked June 28 because our great clients the Swafford Family reviewed Burger Law that day. Here is a link to that review – mostly about my amazing paralegal, Casey. I Google Review all lawyers and firms that attend our CLE's and I have reviewed well over 100 firms. Email me and I will 5 star review your firm or business.

Click the link below to Google Review on any of our 3 office locations:

• St. Louis Office
• Belleville Office
• Chesterfield Office

$100,000 Settlement -- So Far

We represent Dan and his family for a car crash in May of 2016. Another lawyer referred me the case early on – so we were able to work fast. Dan was going south on Lemay Ferry. He was in the right lane (driving for work) when another vehicle suddenly turned left in front of him causing a very violent crash.

Dan has significant neck and shoulder injuries - and a concussion. Numerous medical providers treated him. His traumatic brain injury seriously impacts him- he cannot remember things, his whole life has changed, and he has to keep a memory aid notebook. He recently had shoulder surgery. Dan’s small business and family was seriously impacted by this.

The Defendant's insurer only offered $36,000 to settle on a $100,000 a policy. We threatened the insurance company, Progressive, that if they failed to settle within the policy limits we would pursue a bad faith claim. So, we filed suit, served the Defendant. Immediately the claims adjuster called and offered the $100,000 policy limits.

I am happy for Dan – but the case is not over. We are pursuing an underinsured motorist claim for Dan and will not rest until we get a large resolution for him and his family. The Missouri Supreme Court in Swadley v. Shelter Mutual Insurance, again approved the provision that the settlement with the defendant reduces the underinsured limits. But we'll keep fighting.

In another case we have a policy limits $50,000 offer for our client Nick. We always make the insurance company get an Affidavit from the insured that there is no more insurance in a case. We have found more insurance coverage in other cases (and more $$ for the client). But we became stymied when the defendant hired a separate lawyer who will not have the client sign the Affidavit.

So, we are refusing to settle the case. I just wrote the other lawyer advising him that he is jeopardizing his client’s insurance coverage. We have explained that we will sign the release to fully release his client but this other lawyer just does not get it. You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make them drink.

Have a fun July 4.

We saw the fireworks on Art Hill last night – and had funnel cake. Woohoo.