# Medical/Legal Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 7, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138 "2005-10-07T02:47:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/1 "2005-10-07T02:47:11Z")
Monday evening one of my friends was helping his neighbor put a new railing on his front porch. During the project his index finger lost an argument with a table saw :eek: and he had to go to the ER. Many sutures and bandages later he goes home. To his surprise, first thing Tuesday morning he receives a call from a local attorney asking if he wanted to sue his neighbor. He declined. At the time, the _only_ people who knew about the accident were he, his wife, and the ER personnel. Neither he nor the missus had called an attorney so the info must have come from someone in the ER. The same thing happened to a good friend several years ago. He slipped and fell in front of his father’s house and injured his elbow. I took him over to a different ER. Next morning he gets a call offering to sue his father (Well, not actually, Mr. M\_\_\_\_. We’d be suing your father’s insurance company). Again, the _only_ people aware of the accident at the time were he, me, and his father and none of us told anyone. It appears to me that hospital personnel are informing lawyers of potential clients without the patient’s permission or knowledge. Is this legal? If it is, does the legal community consider it ethical? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/2 "2005-10-07T04:39:47Z")
Moved from GQ to Great Debates. Truly an interesting question. I eagerly await the professionals on this. **samclem** GQ moderator ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/3 "2005-10-07T06:02:10Z")
I don’t understand why this was moved - it’s a factual question with a factual answer. From the legal side: No, it’s not ethical. In my state (Illinois), a lawyer arranging to have someone in the ER give him leads (or alternatively, recommend the lawyer to the client) would violate at least one provision of the Code of Professional Responsibility. > [@CPR Rule 7.3](#): > > Rule 7.3. Direct Contact With Prospective Clients > > Except as provided in this Rule 7.3, or as permitted by Rule 7.2, a lawyer shall not, directly or through a representative, solicit professional employment when a significant motive for doing so is the lawyer’s pecuniary gain. The term “solicit” means contact with a person other than a lawyer in person, by telephone or telegraph, by letter or other writing, or by other communication directed to a specific recipient. > > (a) Except as provided in Rule 7.3(b), a lawyer may initiate contact with a prospective client for the purpose of solicitation in the following circumstances: > > (1) if the prospective client is a relative, or a close friend of the lawyer, or a person with whom the lawyer or the lawyer’s firm has had a prior professional relationship; > > (2) by letters or advertising circulars, providing that such letters and circulars and the envelopes containing them are plainly labeled as advertising material; or > > (3) under the auspices of a public or charitable legal services organization or a bona fide political, social, civic, charitable, religious, fraternal, employee or trade organization whose purposes include but are not limited to providing or recommending legal services. > > (b) In no event may a lawyer solicit a prospective client if: > > (1) the lawyer reasonably should know that the physical or mental state of the person is such that the person could not exercise reasonable judgment in employing a lawyer; > > (2) the lawyer knows that the person solicited does not desire to receive a communication from the lawyer; or > > (3) the solicitation involves coercion, duress, or harassment. Depending on the precise arrangement with the ER runner, the lawyer might also run afoul of CPR 7.2(b): > [@](#): > > A lawyer shall not give anything of value to a person for recommending or having recommended the lawyer’s services, except that a lawyer may pay the reasonable cost of advertising or written communication permitted by Rules 7.1 and 7.2 or CPR 5.4(a): > [@](#): > > A lawyer or law firm shall not share legal fees with a nonlawyer… From the ER person’s side of things: It’s probably a HIPAA (a federal statute which restricts the disclosure of patient informatuion to third parties) violation. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/4 "2005-10-07T06:18:16Z")
In Ontario, it would be a major no-no for the hospital and its records person to give over the patient’s information, and by extension for the lawyer to receive and act upon it. We have legislation that assures patient records confidentiality, we also have torts such as invasion of privacy, and we have professional governing bodies such as the OMA and the LSUC that sanction doctors and lawyers. Coincidentially, this afternoon I finished drafting a claim against a couple of people for getting their hands on medical records without the patient’s permission and also for then using those medical records without the patient’s permission. My clients will win, which will bankrupt the folks being sued. ---
**Author:** ![OliverTwistofLime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b487fb/32.png) [@OliverTwistofLime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OliverTwistofLime)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/5 "2005-10-07T07:53:42Z")
In California, the medical records of a patient are not to be submitted to anyone withour the permission of the patient. I have heard of situations where after an atty gets a personal injury case, he may recommend a Dr. who gives him an under the table kickback for the referral…then the Dr. treats the patient with physical therapy…and when settlement occurs, the pt. often gets 75% of the settlement fees and the Dr. keeps his medical fees for the patient’s treatment. I would like to think that this does not happen often…But I can see an ER tech…not necessarily a Dr. or nurse…calling up a lawyer who might send the pt. a letter. To follow thru with the corrupt lawyer including a law suit…taking his deposition…and so forth is so expensive to the patient that he rarely fights back. The insurance companies would rather pay 6000 or 8000 dollars to settle the case than fighting the Dr. and/or lawyer to trial …paying for expert witnesses along the way and their own atty’s fees. How do I know so much about this? Ask any Dr most of whom practice medicine with integrity…they know that this goes on as well. ---
**Author:** ![Corrvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@Corrvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corrvin)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/6 "2005-10-07T08:43:37Z")
> [@OliverTwistofLime](#): > > I would like to think that this does not happen often…But I can see an ER tech…not necessarily a Dr. or nurse…calling up a lawyer who might send the pt. a letter. I am not medically trained (come on! my degree’s in the classics), but I work for a business whose clients include doctors and other medical professionals. We routinely sign HIPAA “business associate” agreements because of the medical information that goes through our hands. It doesn’t matter if the doctor treating them, the nurse, or **the janitor** got the name of a patient and gave it to a lawyer, the hospital would STILL be liable under HIPAA. Considering the sheer amount of work it takes to be HIPAA compliant (this can include anything down to keeping a fax machine which may receive faxes with patient information out of view and reach of anyone but office staff) I would be surprised if someone NOT in the employ of the hospital were getting this information, unless there’s a much bigger conspiracy than either of us can imagine. Corrvin ---
**Author:** ![smartguysmile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@smartguysmile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smartguysmile)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/7 "2005-10-07T11:58:23Z")
New York lawyers charge with bribing hospital workers [http://www.manhattanda.org/whatsnew/press/2003-02-26.htm](http://www.manhattanda.org/whatsnew/press/2003-02-26.htm) ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/8 "2005-10-07T13:54:43Z")
Debate? Is there a precedent for a thread being sent back from whence it came? My sister-in-law was looking over her bank paperwork as she exited the bank. She fell on the uneven sidewalk, breaking her ankle. While she laid there awaiting the ambulance, an attorney knelt by her and tried to convince her to sue the bank. She tried to explain to him that she was at fault. He was very insistent, explaining that it would cost her nothing. She is a good person and held on to her right to not sue. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/9 "2005-10-07T14:06:14Z")
What \*\*Random \*\*said. I have worked with some sleazy lawyers in my day, and the worst of them see the rules \*\*Random \*\*quoted as mere technicalities. They do all they can to circumvent them. For instance, one lawyer that I worked for briefly had his father-in-law in the office contacting accident victims of a bus crash in a jurisdiction in which this lawyer was not even licensed. Here is the Michigan Rule on the subject of soliciting potential clients: > [@](#): > > (a) A lawyer shall not solicit professional employment from a prospective client with whom the lawyer has no family or prior professional relationship when a significant motive for the lawyer’s doing so is the lawyer’s pecuniary gain. The term “solicit” includes contact in person, by telephone or telegraph, by letter or other writing, or by other communication directed to a specific recipient, but does not include letters addressed or advertising circulars distributed generally to persons not known to need legal services of the kind provided by the lawyer in a particular matter, but who are so situated that they might in general find such services useful, nor does the term “solicit” include “sending truthful and nondeceptive letters to potential clients known to face particular legal problems” as elucidated in Shapero v Kentucky Bar Ass’n, 486 US 466; 108 SCt 1916; 100 LEd2d 475 (1988). > > (b) A lawyer shall not solicit professional employment from a prospective client by written or recorded communication or by in-person or telephone contact even when not otherwise prohibited by paragraph (a), if: > > (1) the prospective client has made known to the lawyer a desire not to be solicited by the lawyer; or > > (2) the solicitation involves coercion, duress or harassment. How did he escape the rule (at least in his own mind)? He was retained by distant relatives of some of the crash victims. Therefore, he was contacting these people as “potential witnesses,” and not as potential clients. Unfortunately: 1. None of the people he represented were legally entitled to sue. 2. Father-in-law did not ask the witnesses questions about what they saw. Instead he asked them about whether they had a lawyer and whether they wanted the lawyer to represent them. Again, even though he wasn’t licensed in the jurisdiction. 3. It would have been easy to convince a fact finder that the pretextual reason for calling (to interview witnesses) still left him with a significant profit motive, which is all the rule requires. Note that under the rule, even if one knows that the victim might benefit from the lawyer’s services, the proper method of contact is by letter–not phone call. ---
**Author:** ![OslerKnew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/58f4c7/32.png) [@OslerKnew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OslerKnew)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/10 "2005-10-07T16:13:38Z")
> [@Balle\_M](#): > > It appears to me that hospital personnel are informing lawyers of potential clients without the patient’s permission or knowledge. Is this legal? If it is, does the legal community consider it ethical? Legal - Absolutely not. Public Law 104-191, widely known as HIPAA, protects your privacy by prohibiting any and all release of medical information without the patient’s specific permission. [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 | ASPE](http://aspe.hhs.gov/admnsimp/pl104191.htm) Huge fines and jail time possible for convictions. Anyone can file a complaint. [http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacyhowtofile.htm](http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacyhowtofile.htm) Legality aside, as a physician, the ethical boundaries at stake here are what I find to be most worthy of debate. Ethical foundations, or the rules and principles which govern right conduct, are subject to the moral beliefs of a society at any given time. Our US society, or at least an appreciable segment of it, seems to consider payment for damages a moral imperative (that is, always right). In my view, the unquestioned morality of this leads to a pseudo-ethical framework adopted by many personal injury lawyers - if payment for damages is always the right thing to pursue, a code of conduct that embraces the relentless pursuit of that is therefore ethical. The curious thing, though, is that our society also considers privacy to be a moral imperative as well. In a proper ethical framework, the primacy of one governing ethic (preserving privacy) easily trumps a secondary one (payment for damages) when the two are competing. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/11 "2005-10-07T17:37:22Z")
> [@OslerKnew](#): > > In a proper ethical framework, the primacy of one governing ethic (preserving privacy) easily trumps a secondary one (payment for damages) when the two are competing. Indeed, the two values hardly conflict in this case. Nobody is saying that the injured person can’t get compensation for his injuries. The question is whether he ought to be contacted by someone trying to sell him the service of assisting him in obtaining compensation. Ethical rules like the ones quoted are designed to prevent lawyers from speaking to those who haven’t contacted them first (_Shapero_ says that they can write them). Suppose, for example, that the lawyer has monitors a scanner and then searches on the addresses, or sits in the emergency room. The lawyer still cannot solicit business from these people, except in writing. I think most of us would agree in this case that privacy requires that the patient’s medical and non-public personal information not be disclosed to anyone who does not need it. Most would also agree that the patient’s privacy is violated if a lawyer (no matter how well-meaning and no matter where the lawyer got the information) contacts the patient in order to solicit the patient to hire the lawyer. The patient or a representative can certainly pursue compensation on their own initiative, or decide not to. ---
**Author:** ![PBear42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PBear42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PBear42)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/12 "2005-10-08T07:44:45Z")
Agree with all prior posters: not permitted conduct, for the lawyer or the medical staff. Posting myself only to add a suggestion of what your friend can do about it. There are several possibilities. To me, the simplest and best would be to send a letter to the WV state bar disciplinary board (address probably available on the Internet), including a copy of the solicatiation. Send a “cc:” of the letter to the lawyer and the hospital. This might indeed result in disciplinary action against lawyer (at least a warning), but more importantly has a good chance of inspiring hospital to “do something” to prevent a recurrence. No guaranties on either front, but risk-free to your friend and, well, the right thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![CantUseMyRealName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@CantUseMyRealName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CantUseMyRealName)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/13 "2005-10-08T14:52:50Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > Debate? > > My sister-in-law was looking over her bank paperwork as she exited the bank. She fell on the uneven sidewalk, breaking her ankle. While she laid there awaiting the ambulance, an attorney knelt by her and tried to convince her to sue the bank. She tried to explain to him that she was at fault. He was very insistent, explaining that it would cost her nothing. She is a good person and held on to her right to not sue. she of course has every right to choose not to sue, but choosing not to sue does not make her a “good person”. your sister-in-laws inattentiveness certainly played a role in her injury, but that in no way absolves the municipality or business or whomever had the responsibility of making sure that the sidewalk was reasonably safe. would a little old lady who was paying complete attention but still tripped and fell, breaking her ankle on the exact same uneven portion of sidewalk be a “bad person” for suing? if it’s unsafe, it should be fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/14 "2005-10-08T22:08:12Z")
> [@CantUseMyRealName](#): > > she of course has every right to choose not to sue, but choosing not to sue does not make her a “good person”. > > your sister-in-laws inattentiveness certainly played a role in her injury, but that in no way absolves the municipality or business or whomever had the responsibility of making sure that the sidewalk was reasonably safe. > > would a little old lady who was paying complete attention but still tripped and fell, breaking her ankle on the exact same uneven portion of sidewalk be a “bad person” for suing? > > if it’s unsafe, it should be fixed. Depending on where the bank was located, wouldn’t the sidewalk fall under the city’s control? ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/15 "2005-10-09T12:58:59Z")
I have a hypothetical: Lawyer A pays (under the table) an person we’ll call Ambulance Chaser to listen to a police scanner in his/her car and follow patients/potential clients to the hospital, and then overhear their situation or alternatively lend a sympathetic ear and pass on a business card. Lets assume Ambulance Chaser comes up with an excuse for waiting in the ER waiting room. Could Ambulance Chaser pass on the lawyers card after having a “friendly chat” with the patient/potential client? What about if Ambulance chaser just listened to the patient describe the incident and give their telephone number to the ER staff? Would Lawyer A still be breaking the law, and what about Ambulance Chaser is doing? ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/16 "2005-10-09T14:22:09Z")
Lawyer A is guilty of ethical violations in all of cases where Ambulance Chaser recommends Lawyer A or hands out Lawyer A’s card, at the very minimum, lawyer A has given something > [@Random](#): > > of value to a person for recommending or having recommended the lawyer’s services, except that a lawyer may pay the reasonable cost of advertising or written communication permitted by Rules 7.1 and 7.2 Obviously, Lawyer A is also guilty of soliciting any state or federal crimes committed by AC in eavesdropping on patients. But a crime is a bit harder to find. One possible source of criminal liability for AC is HIPAA. But HIPAA only covers “Covered Entity and Specified Individuals.” [http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/11805.html](http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/11805.html) So the hospital might be in trouble under HIPAA for failing to adequately safeguard patient privacy, but AC’s liability is less clear. Then there is 28 U.S.C. section 2511, which subjects to criminal liability anyone who: > [@](#): > > intentionally intercepts, endeavors to intercept, or procures any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept, any wire, oral, or electronic communication; But this probably doesn’t cover simply listening in on a conversation–it requires the use of a device to listen in. [404 - Page Not Found](http://www.mobar.org/press/medhnb14.htm#N_49_) (listening to telephone conversation not covered by statute). I’m still looking for a statute prohibitting AC’s conduct. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/17 "2005-10-09T16:26:47Z")
Is it possible that the insurance companies are in play here? Perhaps your friend’s neighbor called his insurance company to ask if his homeowner’s insurance covered your friend’s bills, and someone from the company passed the info on? Or someone at your friend’s medical insurance company, not really wanting to pay the bill, passed the info on as a way to get out of paying? Not to say that there aren’t unscrupulous doctors/nurses/etc, but there may be other factors we’re not looking at… ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/18 "2005-10-09T17:14:19Z")
I had a medical school classmate who made extra money during his fourth year working for his brother, a lawyer with a major local personal injury firm. He would go through the trauma ward and occasionally the ER to find good potential cases for him, and pass along addresses and phone numbers. It was clear that neither my classmate nor his brother was weighed down with a sense of ethics. He claimed that his brother was exploiting some loophole that made it technically legal, but he could still get in trouble with the bar. I doubt it, personally, but this was just before HIPAA went into effect. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/19 "2005-10-09T18:54:48Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Depending on where the bank was located, wouldn’t the sidewalk fall under the city’s control? Generally speaking, sidewalks are easements, for which the property owner (in this case, the bank) is responsible to keep in good repair. There may be local laws that change this, or it is possible in some places that the sidewalk is part of the right-of-way and therefore belongs to the city, but the common law approach is as I stated above. Sua ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138/20 "2005-10-09T19:34:02Z")
> [@SuaSponte](#): > > Generally speaking, sidewalks are easements, for which the property owner (in this case, the bank) is responsible to keep in good repair. It really depends a lot on the jurisdiction. _E.g.,_ > [@](#): > > Generally, liability for injuries sustained as a result of negligent maintenance of or the existence of dangerous and defective conditions to public sidewalks is placed on the municipality and not the abutting landowner ( City of Rochester v Campbell , 123 NY 405; Roark v Hunting , 24 NY2d 470, 475). There are, however, circumstances under which this general rule is inapplicable and the abutting landowner will be held liable. Liability to abutting landowners will generally be imposed where the sidewalk was constructed in a special manner for the benefit of the abutting owner ( Clifford v Dam , 81 NY 52), where the abutting owner affirmatively caused the defect ( Colson v Wood Realty Co. , 39 AD2d 511, 512), where the abutting landowner negligently constructed or repaired the sidewalk (id.) and where a local ordinance or statute specifically charges an abutting landowner with a duty to maintain and repair the sidewalks and imposes liability for injuries resulting from the breach of that duty ( Willis v Parker , 225 NY 159). > **[FindLaw's WA case and opinions.](https://caselaw.findlaw.com/courts/Washington)** > > FindLaw's searchable database of WA decisions since > [@](#): > > Cities can be held liable in private actions for failing to repair and maintain its streets and sidewalks in violation of the statute. > **[FindLaw's WV case and opinions.](https://caselaw.findlaw.com/courts/West%20Virginia)** > > FindLaw's searchable database of WV decisions since [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=nh&vol=0410\richa128&invol=1](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=nh&vol=0410%5Cricha128&invol=1) (government not liable for injuries on sidewalk unless sidewalk was insufficient and government had notice of insufficiency). [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=135&invol=492](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=135&invol=492) (city has power and duty to maintain sidewalks, but is not liable for their condition). [http://cobar.org/opinions/opinion.cfm?OpinionID=4890](http://cobar.org/opinions/opinion.cfm?OpinionID=4890) (noting common law no duty rule in sidewalk injury cases that "property owners owe no duty to pedestrians to keep the sidewalks abutting their property reasonably clear of naturally accumulating snow and ice) [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=or&vol=A110037&invol=1](http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=or&vol=A110037&invol=1) (city was not liable in this case, but owner of abutting property was) > [@](#): > > Generally, the owner of property abutting a public sidewalk in a municipality, is not liable to a member of the public for injuries resulting from a defect in such sidewalk which was not caused or created by the abutting owner, as the law places upon the municipality the duty of keeping the sidewalks safe for travel in the ordinary manner. [http://www.lawskills.com/case/ga/id/45018/](http://www.lawskills.com/case/ga/id/45018/) (discussing exceptions to the rule). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/medical-legal-question/325138.md?page=2)