Adobe Acrobat

Since purchasing Adobe Acrobat two years ago, it has gradually become more and more important to my everyday work. As our office moves towards more of a paperless system, I am constantly finding new ways to use it to do my job more efficiently. One site that has helped me tremendously is the Acrobat for Legal Professionals Blog. If you are an Acrobat user, I highly recommend checking it out.



Melanie Stuckey Paralegal to Jennifer L. Donaldson www.donaldsonlaw.com - A Denver Personal Injury Attorney

Colorado Hospital Incident Reports

We've recently had several cases involving falls at hospitals. During the course of one investigation, we discovered that hospitals are required to report certain incidents to the state for further investigation. Per the Colorado Department of Health website:


"All healthcare facilities licensed by the department are required to report occurrences to the Health Facilities and Emergency Medical Services Division. Statutory citations for this can be found at 25-1-124 (CRS) and 25-3-109 (1),(3),(7),(8) and the regulations can be found in 6 CCR 1011-1, Chapter II, Licensing: 3.2 Occurrence Reporting.

Reportable occurrences include unexplained deaths, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, life-threatening complications of anesthesia, life-threatening transfusion errors/reactions, severe burns, missing persons, physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, misappropriation of property, diverted drugs and malfunction/misuse of equipment.

Facilities must report these occurrences within one business day. The division will investigate the occurrence and determine if appropriate facility action has been taken, and then write a summary of the occurrence for public viewing. The summaries respect confidentiality and do not reflect the names of the persons involved. 

If necessary, following the investigation of the occurrence, the division will cite a deficiency if it finds that state or federal regulations have been violated. As well, division staff review occurrence reports prior to conducting annual surveys in facilities and prior to reissuing a facility's license. Occurrence reports may also be reviewed as part of a complaint investigation."

To start your search for a particular facility, follow this link to the search page at the Colorado Department of Health and locate the facility in question. Once you click through to your hospital of choice, you can view occurrence and complaint reports against that facility. 

Melanie Stuckey
Paralegal to Jennifer L. Donaldson
www.donaldsonlaw.com - A Denver Personal Injury Attorney

Pending Supreme Court Cases

If you are interested in following cases currently pending before the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of the United States Blog is a great resource. It provides up to date information on what cases the court is currently reviewing including detailed information on where each case is in the process.

Melanie Stuckey Paralegal to Jennifer L. Donaldson www.donaldsonlaw.com - A Denver Personal Injury Attorney

Subrogation Law - Passion for Subro

In a personal injury practice, we constantly have to deal with subrogation issues. Recently, I was searching for information on the laws of another state when I came across Passion for Subro. I found it to be extremely informative about the issue I was researching and several other areas of subrogation and ERISA law as well. If you are researching recent news in subrogation, this is a great place to start.


Melanie Stuckey
Paralegal to Jennifer L. Donaldson
www.donaldsonlaw.com - A Denver Personal Injury Attorney