When it comes to making long-term decisions for elderly loved ones, their quality of life and well-being is of the upmost importance.

If you have a family member who may need extended care in the next few years, go ahead and begin educating yourself on the process and researching optional facilities. Being familiar with the options and having a portion of the research complete ahead of time will help reduce the chance of making a poor decision when the need becomes immediate. Your research should include a combination of referrals, state inspection reports, online reviews, scheduled and unscheduled facility tours and personal interviews with individuals utilizing extended care services for their family member. Below are several things to consider during an onsite visit.

Location

Frequent visits from family members help maintain a level of security, as well as the mental and emotional well-being for an elderly resident.  Choose a location that is convenient for family members so that your loved one will be able to enjoy visits from family throughout the week or be transported by relatives to family events. This will help your loved one feel connected to their children, grand-children and great grand-children. If needed, this also allows family members to address any care issues while on site and ensure a happy and healthy resident.

With school back in session this month, the roads will be busy with both parent and teenage drivers. For those parents with teenagers getting behind the wheel, and some for the first time, this is the perfect time of the year to discuss your expectations and the responsibilities that go along with driving, to set boundaries and relay consequences of violating them, and to remind your teen of some simple yet crucial rules of the road.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, automobile crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens. Six teens ages 16 to 19 die every day from motor vehicle injuries. Per mile driven, teen drivers ages 16 to 19 are nearly three times more likely than drivers aged 20 and older to be in a fatal crash.

Summer Sandlot participants and family members enjoy a movie at Junior Deputy to end the season.

Math Woods P.A. proudly sponsored Junior Deputy Baseball’s annual Summer Sandlot program that ran throughout the months of June and July.  The program, open to all JD players, friends, and first-time players, taught the 7-12 year-old participants new techniques and hosted a classic game of baseball without umpires each night. Players and their families gathered on the field for a movie night to end the Summer Sandlot season. Each player received a Summer Sandlot t-shirt sponsored by McMath Woods.  Registration is now open through August 24 for Junior Deputy fall league baseball.

How much is your life worth? In November, Arkansans will have the opportunity to cast a vote that will determine whether an arbitrary price tag is placed on the value of their lives.

Issue 1, which will appear on statewide ballots in Arkansas on November 6^th, is an amendment which proposes to cap Arkansans’ loss of life damages at $500,000, regardless of the wrongdoer’s conduct.  If Issue 1 passes, citizen juries would not be allowed to enter a verdict of more than $500,000 for the loss of life damages of a child, a stay at home mother, or an elderly nursing home resident.

 All life is precious.  All lives are valuable.  All lives are worth more than $500,000. Protect the value of your life and the right for local juries to make their own decisions. Vote No on Issue 1.

Super Lawyers announced their annual list of Mid-South Super Lawyers that will appear in the 2018 Super Lawyers Magazine.  Six partners from McMath Woods P.A. have again been selected to appear on the list, Will Bond, Neil Chamberlin, John D. Coulter, Samuel E. Ledbetter, Bruce McMath and Carter C. Stein.

Super Lawyers is a rating service of lawyers from more than various practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.

Super Lawyers Magazine features the list and profiles of selected attorneys and is distributed to attorneys in the state or region and the ABA-accredited law school libraries. Super Lawyers is also published as a special section in leading city and regional magazines across the country.

Members of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association (ATLA) recently voted the organization’s 2018-2019 Board of Governors into leadership. Carter C. Stein, McMath Managing Partner, was elected Secretary-Treasurer. Stein will serve in the Secretary-Treasurer position for one year, and support the Board’s goal of strengthening the civil justice system through education and disclosure of information critical to public health and safety, and specifically to preserve the right to trial by jury. ATLA, incorporated in 1963, is a statewide voice for consumers. The organization’s 750 members are committed to improving the quality of legal representation for Arkansas families by providing high quality legal education and by keeping abreast of legislative and judicial activities.

Stein’s litigation practice focuses on injury and wrongful death. Stein has been an active member of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association since joining the bar. He has served on the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association Board of Governors since 2008 and was named the 2010 Outstanding Member of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association Young Lawyers Division. Stein graduated from the University of Arkansas in 2000 with a B.A. in History. He earned his J.D. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law in 2003.

Carter C. Stein, Managing Partner of McMath Woods, PA, was featured in the July 1 edition of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette for his dedication and active roles within Little Rock’s Junior Deputy Baseball program. The article, Volunteer Throws Support Behind Junior Deputy Ball, highlights Stein’s history with the program from his childhood to his involvement now as a board member, coach and parent. Junior Deputy Baseball serves more than 1,000 children, ranging in age from 4 to 15, and multiple leagues.

Stein’s litigation practice focuses on injury and wrongful death. Stein has been an active member of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association since joining the bar. He has served on the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association Board of Governors since 2008 and was named the 2010 Outstanding Member of the Arkansas Trial Lawyers Association Young Lawyers Division. Stein graduated from the University of Arkansas in 2000 with a B.A. in History. He earned his J.D. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law in 2003.

MidCon Gathering LLC, represented by McMath Woods PA’s John D. Coulter and Preston T. Kamin of Gray Reed & McGraw LLP, received a defense verdict in a suit after Stephen Carleson and his company, Producers Credit Protection Group, Inc., alleged he developed a credit facility for the company but wasn’t paid $1.6 million he was owed. U.S. District Judge Brian S. Miller, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Western Division ruled that he didn’t have the necessary insurance license to carry out the deal.

It was ruled that the “credit facility” Carleson and his company, helped develop acted as a “credit insurance policy” issued by a third party for MidCon’s benefit. However, Carleson does not have a license to sell insurance in Arkansas. This resulted in a fatal problem.

On Friday, June 15, 2018, approximately 200 children within the Little Rock community graduated from Safety Town, a fun five-day safety awareness program designed for rising kindergartners. Through the use of music, crafts, movies, books, community speakers and a child-sized town, the curriculum focuses on basic safety lessons that the children use for the rest of their lives.  McMath Woods P.A. was again a proud lead sponsor of this vital community program.  In addition to providing volunteers throughout the week, McMath Woods P.A. took an active role in adding a distracted driving component to the curriculum, and for each graduate, donated a CD of 22 safety songs written and produced by Brian Kinder.

“We are grateful to Mayor Wendy Saer for her dedication to this outstanding program and for creatively incorporating distracted driving into the week’s curriculum. Now with technology at everyone’s fingertips and the number of automobile catastrophes due to cell phone usage drastically increasing, it’s imperative that children understand the concept of distracted driving. Our hope is that if they are aware, then they can remind parents that a phone call or text isn’t more important than their safety. And, of course, one day when they are old enough to drive, we hope they remember the valuable lessons learned at Safety Town,” says Carter Stein, McMath Woods Managing Partner.

Safety Town has been an annual program in Central Arkansas and operated solely by volunteers since 1984.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette opinion columnist John Brummett spoke to McMath Woods partner and Arkansas Senator Will Bond.  To see what Will said, click on John Brummett’s column here.