Legal Live with Eddie & Chuck Farah
For more than three decades, the Farah brothers have worked to protect victims injured physically from another’s negligent actions. They do so because Jacksonville is home. Clients are friends and neighbors. Because of their willingness to fight for clients, unafraid to go toe-to-toe with even the biggest insurance companies and many a time even spending their own money to do so, they have earned a reputation as being by, and for, the people of Jacksonville. The work ethic built into the practice from the very beginning has allowed the firm to grow from humble beginnings into prominence, with offices throughout Florida and Georgia.
Send your legal questions to doihaveacase@farahandfarah.com to be answered on the show.
Listen to our Show
Listen live on Saturdays in Jacksonville on WOKV 104.5 at 12pm or listen to past episodes below. New episodes are uploaded weekly!
Why Host a Weekly Radio Show?
Even with all of the firm’s success, Eddie and Chuck wanted to stay true to their Jacksonville roots. One way they do this is by hosting a weekly radio talk show aired on News 104.5 WOKV. The show, Legal Live, presents a variety of legal topics each week, broken down with easy-to-follow examples and keen insights so that the average listener can have greater accessibility to the law. Eddie and Chuck also answer a myriad of questions from listeners calling in, keeping the show entertaining, and at times, quite lively, with the diversity of questions being presented. But Eddie and Chuck do this because they truly love what they do – simply being a help to people when they need an advocate.
A Few Fun Moments on the Show
Main Topics: Gun Violence and e-Cigarettes, Original Air Date: 6/9/18
Topic: Gun Violence
Practice Area: Personal Injury
Recap from Show: Citing the CDC’s reports, Eddie lamented over the sheer number of deaths in the U.S. each year from gun violence. According to the CDC, 35,000 people die each year in this country from gun violence. With the recent mass shooting in Texas, California, and Ohio fresh on the public’s mind, many citizens are looking towards lawmakers to do something drastic to help curb the violence.
Topic: e-Cigarettes/Vaping
Practice Area: Product Liability
Recap from Show: Looking at the meteoric rise in the popularity of vaping, there was a case down in St. Petersburg, FL where a vaping pen blew up and burned the victim’s house down, also leading to the victim’s death. The autopsy report found the vape pen to be the cause of death when fragments of the pen were found in the victim’s skull.
Topic: Age of Tires
Practice Area: Product Liability
Recap from Show: Citing safety reports, Eddie explains the tires on your vehicle should never be more than six years old. Even if the tires have been sitting on the dealers’ shelf for six years, they still aren’t generally considered safe to drive. It’s vitally important to check the date of the tire and especially whenever you buy a new tire, make sure to check the date which is printed on the tire at the end of the DOT number. A caller reported nearly being in an accident when they bought a tire that was already five years old when purchased.
Topic: Liability for Homeowner/Landowners for People Entering Property for Recreation
Practice Area: Personal Injury
Recap from Show: Being summer, Eddie discusses the liability for property owners that allow others to enter their property for recreational activities like hunting, fishing, or swimming. Citing Florida Statute 375.251, Eddie explained the limitation of liability on persons that make their property available. The important distinction “without charge” means a property owner has virtual immunity on their property as long as they are not collecting an entrance fee. Under the statute, the landowner doesn’t have to keep the property safe or give warning. There’s no duty to warn if were a risk for alligators, for example, and no duty to change a hazardous condition. Those entering the property do so at their own risk.
Topic: Getting Sick/Injured While on a Cruise
Practice Area: Personal Injury
Recap from Show: Summertime means cruise time to a lot of vacationers worldwide. But many cruise-goers will experience bumps and bruises or even food-born illness while sailing the seas and have to visit the ship’s medical facilities. If malpractice occurs many would want to seek recompense from the cruise line, but Eddie explains, they are often not liable. Cruise doctors are usually a foreign national and employed as an independent contractor. This means they generally do not have malpractice insurance. If you wanted to go after the doctor personally, you’d have to find where they are registered and go after them there. As an independent contractor, the doctor’s actions are usually not the cruise lines’ liability. Going further, the ship can bar your re-entry if you’re injured or sick while onshore. It’s important to remember that, once aboard, passengers give up many of their constitutional rights including for search and seizure. Security personnel have every right to search and seize any part of the cabin they deem necessary.
Main Topics: NFL, Contract Law, and Freedom of Speech, Original Air Date: 8/11/18
Topic: Employment Law
Practice Area: NA
Recap from Show: Supreme Court Epic Systems vs. Lewis is important because with employment contracts with arbitration provisions employees are thereby waiving their ability to go to court or to participate in a class-action suit. The Supreme Court says employers are free to use them, they are not unconstitutional, do not block right to due process. Class action allows a large number of like-cases to be sought together. For example, a bunch of employees are all cheated out of $100 so they could band together to have one suit brought against the employer. With arbitration provisions, each employee would have to go after the stolen $100 alone through arbitration, which can be expensive in itself.
Topic: Labor Law
Practice Area: NA
Recap from Show: Jacksonville is a military-centric town. With the NFL protests during the national anthem, critics on both sides of the aisle are clamoring for action. The NFL owners have said the players have a right under the first amendment to freedom of speech. Eddie explains the issue with NFL players not standing during the anthem is not a first amendment issue. These players are employees of the NFL. Employers have wide precedence in the courts for the ability to limit free speech at work. Instead of being a first amendment debate, this issue actually falls under labor laws. If the owner of the team wants to limit a type of speech, like political, they have the ability to do so. Therefore, owners are within their right to tell players if they want to protest the anthem, they have to stay in the locker room.
As you can see, each episode covers an incredible array of legal issues. Eddie and Chuck do everything they can to answer a caller’s questions but sometimes the questions asked are far more complicated than the show has time for. If you are ever in need of an advocate, no matter what area of law it is, the knowledgeable intake specialists at Farah and Farah can help. If the practice area isn’t with our firm, we’ll point you in the right direction for you to get the help you need.
