May 2, 2012 in Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Trucking Accidents are not only Deadly but the Victim may be Intimidated by the Trucking Company’s Lawyers

If you have been in an accident involving a big rig, you will be swarmed by lawyers for the trucking company. Do not settle or sign anything until you speak to an Austin personal injury lawyer.

Big rig accidents are possibly the worst types of wrecks, largely because of the devastation they cause. Very few people survive a crash, and those that do are never the same again. Many face living the rest of their lives in pain, disabled and in some instances, not even cognizant of their circumstances, requiring 24/7 care. This is one of the main reasons you need to speak to an Austin personal injury lawyer about obtaining sufficient damages to care for yourself for the rest of your life.

When accidents like this happen, it is crucial to conduct a post-crash investigation. Seeing the scene, examining the debris, searching for skid marks or defective parts is a large part of mounting an effective personal injury case. You need your attorney to get to the scene as fast as possible. This is because the insurance carrier for the trucking company will already have someone on the way to the crash scene; sometimes within an hour.

They have someone on the scene that fast because truckers who have been in an accident know to call their employers immediately. The employer in turn calls their insurance company, who dispatches an agent quickly. Sometimes they arrive so fast, the victims wonder how on earth they could have done that, and not only that, they usually bring an accident reconstructionist with them.

On scene, the lawyer immediately tells the trucker to keep his mouth shut and say absolutely nothing. In the background, the accident specialist starts measuring the site and constructing a back story. This typically happens before the seriously injured victim has a chance to get a grip on what happened to them. They may not even have come to grips with having been involved in an 18-wheeler wreck and are stunned into shock with their injuries. They usually don’t think about the fact they will need a lawyer to defend their rights, and obtain compensation for their injuries.

Obviously, in the above scenario, the defense has an enormous jump start on the case. When your own Austin personal injury lawyer asks for an account of what happened, they get a well rehearsed story. When they demand the log books for the truck, or the onboard black box, it has sometimes magically gone missing. All of these things are serious disadvantages for the plaintiff. The injured needs protection because the trucking company, their lawyers and its insurance company will not help them, even if they were in the wrong.

While it is true that there are rules and regulations in place for truckers to follow that does not mean that they do follow the rules. It’s well known that many will bend the rules to get their load to their destination fast, even if that means driving overtime. Trucking companies often look the other way when this happens, or conversely, quietly encourage it to be done. Why? It affects their bottom line, and money is what makes the world go around. Thus, they will fight any lawsuit that has the potential to cost them money.

An Austin personal injury lawyer knows where to look for the information they need to prove the trucker and/or the trucking company was negligent. That may involve the driver being on the road too many hours, driving while distracted or driving a poorly maintained vehicle. No matter what the reason for the accident, your lawyer will find a way to ensure justice is done in your case.

Robert W. Lee is an Austin personal injury lawyer for The Lee Law Firm. If you need an Austin personal injury lawyer, contact an Austin personal injury attorney from The Lee Law Firm. Visit RWLeelaw.com.

May 1, 2012 in Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Drowning Wrongful Death Occurred While Trained Medical Personnel Were Prevented from Assisting Boat Racer

This bizarre case ended in the needless death of a powerboat racer. The wrongful death suit alleges gross negligence.

This case happened during a world championship for powerboats, and resulted in the drowning death of a well known, long time racer, who was experienced when it came to this kind of sport. The man was at the helm of his race boat with the boat’s owner when it overturned during the final lap of the second race. The owner was able to climb through an escape hatch in the cockpit, but the race driver was trapped in his seat.

The driver was alive and not injured immediately after the accident, and tried desperately to free himself from his safety harness. He was able to breathe using an emergency air tank. Overhead, there was a crew of certified dive paramedics waiting to deploy. However, for some strange reason they were not given the okay signal to go ahead. Instead, the Association’s president designated two other untrained individuals as rescuers. He evidently wanted to save money and not use the trained rescue team.

The delay in appointing two other inexperienced people to perform a rescue resulted in the boat starting to ship and sink, shutting the hatch. The race driver ran out of air and drowned. The wrongful death lawsuit filed stated if the defendants had followed the specified rules, regulations and protocols for a situation like this, the driver would have still been alive. The suit further suggests that the president would not allow rescue personnel to perform pre-race safety checks to get to know the features on the race boats.

This is likely to be a complex case, fraught with he said/they said moments. In situations like this, that is virtually inevitable when so many people are involved and have so much at stake. Will this case win? It may. That will, in large part, depend on the kind of proof there is relating to the president choosing to use inexperienced people to attempt a rescue. This is where there may be a credibility issue that the court will have to weigh.

If you have lost someone you cared about and need information about filing a wrongful death lawsuit, do not hesitate to call an Austin personal injury lawyer. It is their job to assess the case and explain how a wrongful death lawsuit differs from criminal charges, and what to expect should a case go to court. For justice and equity, hire an Austin personal injury lawyer. It’s the best investment you could make.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

May 1, 2012 in Immigration, Legal, Legal Articles by jferris

Visa Exit System Could Prove to be Vital for National Security and Visa Control

Immigration reform is not just about Mexicans. It encompasses those from other countries as well.

It’s no secret that there are other immigrants living in the U.S., and some of them are here even after their B2 tourism visa expires. Does anyone recall the latest story about a Moroccan immigrant plotting to bomb the Capitol? The 29-year-old man was living in Virginia, where he had been since 1999, and where he supposedly devised a plan to blow up the White House.

For those of you wondering how this could possibly happen, the bad news is the U.S. does not have any kind of a reliable system that confirms visitors here on visas have left the country. The very thought of a mass of illegal immigrants, and possibly terrorists, still living in the U.S. once their visas have expired, makes one tense.

And to be honest, it makes many Americans very uneasy in the still bitter wake of 9/11. We all know that those with less than honest intentions have been known to take advantage of serious weaknesses in the immigration system. Unless something is done about issues like this one, history may repeat itself in yet another devastating way.

Is it time for a visa exit system? Some would argue it is. Some would argue there is no money to implement one. Both of those arguments are right, which makes this issue yet another conundrum involving the reality of what needs to be done, mixed with the reality that there are no funds (or political will) to make it happen. There is talk of biometric scanners or mandatory follow-up inspections. Who would conduct those? Most people are losing their jobs and few are hiring because of the economy, and that includes the government.

Homeland Security is making noises that they are working on an exit system, but funding is an issue and it is nowhere near being ready to deploy. This is a bit like a car sitting in mud and gravel, spinning its tires to get out and getting nowhere. A tow truck is needed to provide some oomph to move it. In this case, the government needs money to move the issue forward. Obviously it isn’t going anywhere, given the state of their finances. And so, the issue dangles, or does it?

Homeland Security says they have, in lieu of an exit system, created a biographic system that tracks visa holders through multiple databases, providing immigration officials with a picture of where people are. Sounds nice, but we all know that a data system is only as good as the input and those who run it. This kind of a system does not work the same as a biometric one, but Homeland Security says it gives them some kind of control. One wonders if they had enough money to develop the biographic system, why didn’t they sink those funds into a biometric system instead?

Standing back and taking a look at the whole picture, one is struck by the mayhem and mismanagement going on all over the world. We did not used to live in fear of airplanes hitting buildings, of people packing body bombs to take out buildings and kill people. We had a fairly normal life, where peace and tranquility were the norm, not the exception. What happened? Somewhere along the line religion and politics got mixed together and a flash point was born; a reason to kill.

Will immigration reform deal with the way the world is now? Will immigration reform take care of border security issues when drug cartels want nothing more than revenge and money? Will immigration reform turn our nation into a bunker? Will immigration reform affect our constitutional rights? Food for thought. The 21^st century isn’t shaping up to be what we’d all hoped it might be.

Sally Odell – Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, PA is an immigration lawyer in Miami with immigration law offices in Orlando and Miami Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.rifkinandfoxisicoff.com.

May 1, 2012 in Criminal Defense, Legal, Legal Articles by jferris

Landmark Victory of $31 Million for Medical Malpractice Victims

It took 14 years for justice to prevail in this case. However, the victim will receive a just payout.

This case revealed some highly distressing information about the medical health system in the county where the 14-year-old boy was born. He is confined to a wheelchair and cannot speak, but he can think clearly and understand what is being said to him. Nonetheless, he requires around the clock care that is currently provided by his mom.

During the process of bearing her child in 1997, the young mother was given drugs to stimulate her labor. However, she was given far too much of the drug, which virtually starved the baby of oxygen. The hospital did not initiate prompt corrective action either, and as a result of the difficult birth and oxygen starvation, the baby boy was diagnosed with severe cerebral palsy.

Fast forward to 2012 and the Florida House panel approving the boy’s $31 million claim. In a 12 – 1 vote, the Civil Justice Committee passed the claims bill. HB 965 will be the largest claim paid out in the history of the state, and will mandate the publically run health system and hospital where they lived to pay the award to the family.

The defendants in this case are not happy, as they state they did not cause the boy’s condition. But the information that angered many is that the hospital system involved in this case does not have insurance. Does not have insurance, what a shocking revelation. What hospital in their right mind operates without liability insurance?

In fact, a spokesperson for the system without insurance suggested the state should pay between $2 and $6 million, and the system would contribute the same amount towards children’s health care. Asking the state to pay for their screw up was, without a doubt, an audaciously dumb move.

Hopefully this kind of disturbing revelation isn’t just the tip of the iceberg. The very thought of other hospitals in other states not having liability insurance is a deeply frightening thing to contemplate. What that says about hospital administration, medical malpractice liability issues and patient’s rights is even more distressing.

In order to pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit, you would need the assistance of a qualified Cleveland medical malpractice lawyer. These cases are often time consuming, convoluted, fraught with setbacks and filled with anxiety for the plaintiffs. With the compassionate assistance of a Cleveland medical malpractice lawyer, the process is not as difficult to handle.

Christopher Mellino is a Cleveland Malpractice Lawyer specializing in Cleveland Medical Malpractice cases in Ohio. To learn more, visit Christophermellino.com.

May 1, 2012 in Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Sorry Does Not Cut it After the Fact in the Wake of a Drunk Driving Death

The drunk driver in this case was very sorry for his actions. Sorry does not even begin to make reparations for a death.

This case is disturbing as the drunk that killed another person was a 32-year-old son of a cop. He was totally drunk and driving his Jeep Cherokee down the highway at 73 miles per hour. Inevitably, he lost control, swerved across several lanes of traffic, careened off a guardrail and rammed into a 1996 Dodge Ram pickup. The force of the impact flipped the pickup over the guardrail, where it burst into flames. The driver was partially ejected and killed instantly.

As it happened, there was a police car on patrol in the vicinity of the wreck, and it made it to the scene within minutes. The police captain driving the cruiser was stunned to see the Cherokee driver trying to yank the truck driver out of his vehicle. The man was a family friend. His father was a cop too. On closer inspection of the scene, the captain noticed the Cherokee driver had difficulty talking, his eyes were bloodshot and he could not keep his balance.

The man failed a field sobriety test with a blood-alcohol content of .197, just about 2.5 times the state’s legal limit. The man admitted he had been drinking beer before he got behind the wheel of his Cherokee and killed someone. The driver eventually pled guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, and was handed a four year sentence along with a license suspension for three years to life. In court, the man offered sincere apologies to the dead man’s family.

While this was a gesture of contrition, it does not bring back the dead man to his family. His death will always leave a gaping hole in their lives. But for the stupidity of drinking enough beers to be 2 .5 times over the legal drinking limit, the deceased would still be alive. If the man could not talk, walk or see very well, what on earth possessed him to drive? Many others in the same condition think they are invincible and invulnerable, when in reality they are mobile accidents, looking for a place to happen.

If you have been involved in a collision with a drunk driver, do not second guess what your legal rights are. Find out by immediately calling an Austin personal injury lawyer that is trained in dealing with egregious accidents like this one. They know how to get you justice. An Austin personal injury lawyer will protect your rights.

Robert W. Lee is an Austin personal injury lawyer for The Lee Law Firm. If you need an Austin personal injury lawyer, contact an Austin personal injury attorney from The Lee Law Firm. Visit RWLeelaw.com.

April 30, 2012 in Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Wrongful Death Lawsuits are Often Filed as a Result of a Crash involving a Negligent Driver

Big rigs do an enormous amount of damage when they hit another vehicle. This accident killed four.

This case did not have to happen, but for a trucker who ran a red light because he was in a hurry. That decision cost four women their lives. They were on their way home from a birthday party, when they were broadsided in the middle of an intersection – despite the fact they had the right of way and the green light. Four families were left in shock. Relatives of one of the deceased women chose to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the trucker and his employer.

The statement of claim alleged that the trucker showed a wanton and willful disregard for the safety of others on the road. But more than that, the lawsuit outlines the trucking company had a history of leaky brakes on their rigs and a whole host of other mechanical issues that indicated poor and slipshod maintenance. In fact, the trucking company’s record for unsafe driving was cited as being far worse than 64.1 percent of all federally authorized trucking companies between 2009 and 2011, and its vehicle maintenance violations were worse than 71.4 percent.

The rig being driven that day was an accident looking for a place to happen. Whether or not the trucker did not stop because he wanted to get to where he was going sooner, or whether he elected not to stop because his brakes were not working, is a moot point. The decision to run the red light was negligent. The lawsuit seeks damages for pain and suffering, medical bills, loss of guidance, affection, support and companionship.

Will this case be successful? Chances are it will. The evidence is clear and compelling. The man ran a red light and was driving a poorly maintained truck with questionable brakes. He knew the rig was in poor shape, yet still drove it. His employer was also aware their semis were not properly maintained, and yet let them out on the road. It doesn’t much matter what the reasons were for why the trucker ran the red light. The fact is he did and that the resulting crash killed four innocent people.

Cases like this one are as near as one can get to being open and shut. The evidence speaks for itself and the Austin personal injury lawyer that handles this case knows precisely how to ensure the family gets justice. They have lost someone they loved and they don’t need to lose anything more, or be left in economic desperation by that loss. If you have been in a similar situation, do not hesitate to call a veteran Austin personal injury lawyer. That is their job, to help victims find some sense of closure and justice.

Brooks Schuelke is an Austin personal injury attorney with Perlmutter & Schuelke LLP. Contact an Austin injury lawyer at Civtrial.com or (512) 476-4944.

April 30, 2012 in Immigration, Legal, Legal Articles by jferris

An Agricultural Uprising Might Result in Immigration Reform

One wonders just what will get immigration reform done; it might take an agricultural uprising.

Last year was dismal for farmers thanks to a significant shortage of workers. This year doesn’t look to be much better, which is prompting many U.S. farmers to check out the federal foreign guest worker program. Ironically, this labor shortage is quite a concern for Washington farmers. So much so, that Washington’s agriculture director has been heard to say an uprising, like the civil rights agitation in the 60s, would likely get immigration reform on track and in place.

Like many others involved in agriculture in the U.S., the belief is that comprehensive immigration reform would solve the labor shortage in their sector. However, like others, the industry seems to realize that reform is more smoke and mirrors than genuine substance. Without a major upheaval, or major reform, agriculture goes into decline, and the whole nation, not to mention other countries that import U.S. goods, start to have food shortages and price increases. Immigration reform is not just about the U.S. It impacts the world in other ways.

Farm interests are ramping up to insist that reform needs to include some type of guest worker program that will let non-residents come to the U.S. legally and work in agriculture. The truth behind this story is that without itinerant workers to perform seasonal work, it does not get done. Americans, despite saying they need jobs, will not work in the fields for the current wages. Who else will do the work? Non-residents, and yet there is resistance to this type of solution.

Frankly, immigration reform has become a war of words, a heap of hopes and a dismal pile of broken promises and dreams. Political gurus are indicating it is highly unlikely any kind of reform will be attempted in this election. What is even more disappointing is that these same government watchers don’t see any movement in 2013 either. So where will that leave the nation? Who knows, other than in the same boat it is in right now?

Part of the prevailing problem with a worker shortage in the agricultural sector is that people do not understand that without workers, the whole industry founders. The other side of that issue is people focus on wanting secure borders, no more illegal aliens and for the illegal trafficking in drugs and guns to stop. It’s rather short-sighted to only focus on one part of the immigration problem, say border security, when the spin offs are far greater than just securing the border.

Overall, the only solution is the political will to just get immigration reform done. That is obviously lacking and in the meantime, a sluggish economy is also impeding the implementation of government programs. Two strikes and people are looking for the third, in the skeptical manner of those who have been there, done that and don’t believe or trust a thing the government says. This hardly bodes well for immigration reform being achieved.

The revolving door of immigration reform will continue to flounder until someone, somehow figures a way to pull the economy out of the toilet. Given what is going on right now, it seems unlikely these issues will be addressed anytime soon.

Sally Odell – Rifkin & Fox-Isicoff, PA is an immigration lawyer in Miami with immigration law offices in Orlando and Miami, Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.rifkinandfoxisicoff.com.

April 30, 2012 in Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Children with Birth Injuries May Not Show Symptoms Immediately

It is difficult to know what to do when a parent suspects something went wrong in the delivery room, but a good first step is to understand the causes and symptoms of birth injuries.

Birth injury symptoms often do not appear in the delivery room and sometimes they do not show up for weeks or months. Late-showing symptoms include delays in reaching milestones of child development like sitting up, standing and walking.

Spotting birth injury symptoms often is a result of knowing what is not happening in the child’s development. Each developmental stage has its own milestones that a growing baby should be meeting for movement, visual cues, and hearing.

A one-month old should be able to bring its hands up to its mouth, for example, and turn toward familiar sounds and voices. A three-month-old, on the other hand, should be able to follow moving objects with its eyes and support its upper-body with its arms when lying on its stomach. There are more milestones for seven-month old children and still more for children at 12 months. Keeping an eye on where children are in their movement, visual and hearing milestones can be an important part of understanding whether a child may have a birth injury.

The next step is to understand the causes of birth injury. There are many natural movements that happen in a woman’s body when she delivers a baby and occasionally the contortions and contractions can be hard on an infant. Other times an infant can be injured during birth because of an error or negligence by the doctor, nurse or midwife in charge.

There are several factors that can potentially contribute to an injury to the infant in the delivery room:
• Negligence or improper care
• Lack of oxygen to a baby’s brain during delivery or labor
• Baby’s shoulders get stuck behind mother’s pubic bone and proper techniques are not used during delivery to free the shoulder
• High birth weight babies can be injured during a vaginal birth
• A fetus with a large head can prolong delivery
• Exposure to dangerous birthplace chemicals
• Incorrect use of surgical instruments
• Baby presents in a way other than headfirst

Any of these problems can occur in a delivery room. Oftentimes a parent will not even know that anything went wrong during the delivery. Since it may be months before the baby shows any symptoms, parents need to get legal advice when they are concerned about birth injuries

Paul Greenberg is a Chicago birth injury lawyer and Chicago birth injury attorney with Briskman Briskman & Greenberg. To learn more call 1.877.595.4878 or visit BriskmanandBriskman.com/.

April 30, 2012 in Criminal Defense, Legal, Legal Articles, Personal Injury by jferris

Beware Florida Medical Malpractice Legislation that Skewers Innocent Patients

For some reason, politicians in Florida want to stick it to medical malpractice patients. They want to pass a bill limiting doctor liability.

If you have ever been the victim of medical malpractice, you will know how passionate you have become about making sure the medical professionals who harmed you are held responsible. It becomes a quest for many patients that have been victims of medical malpractice, and they hope what happened to them will never happen to someone else.

If the Florida Legislature gets its way, holding doctors accountable for medical malpractice will become a virtual impossibility. This is not good news for any state, not just Florida, for what passes there, may well be passed in other jurisdictions like Ohio. As a Cleveland medical malpractice lawyer, this type of Draconian legislation makes the blood run cold.

The Florida Bill is supposed to reduce the medical malpractice liability of medical professionals in that state. It is deeply disturbing for many reasons. It acts as a shield for doctors from liability for harming a patient. For example, if a physician is negligent in not ordering necessary tests, the result could seriously harm or kill a patient. If there is a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, a patient may not survive. This bill states the patient needs to show clear and convincing evidence that the doctor was negligent in not performing other tests.

Most patients are not doctors. Putting them in the position of having to clearly prove the doctor was negligent is like handing a stick of dynamite to a toddler and telling them not to play with the matches sitting on the table in plain sight. No one in their right mind would risk a child’s life like that, but the state of Florida is willing to risk an innocent patient’s life to continue to let a negligent doctor practice. What is wrong with that picture?

Patients went to the doctor because they trusted them, needed care and expected, because of the doctor’s higher standard of training, that they would be helped. If they are seriously harmed or killed by the very person they trusted, they would be hung out to dry by this proposed bill. Patients just do not, and in most cases never will, have enough evidence to satisfy such a high legal burden.

If this bill passes, they will not be able to receive the compensation they would deserve if they were harmed by their medical doctor. That means patients may face catastrophic injuries, at the hands of a doctor, that they have to pay for, for the rest of their lives. How is this fair?

A serious warning note is being sounded by another provision in this same bill; the drive to discourage doctors from ordering tests that would pinpoint grave illnesses before they got to the point of no return. If doctors are being encouraged to not order tests that could prevent a needless death, more people will die for no good reason. It makes you wonder what legislators regard as good medical care and if they needed tests, would they expect them? Likely they would, but they don’t want you to have them.

If it isn’t bad enough that the bill wants to rip away patient’s protection against medical malpractice, it also invades their privacy. It proposes letting a doctor’s lawyer interview the patient’s other doctors without the patient or the patient’s lawyer being there at the same time. This is a clear violation of patient rights. It gives defense unfettered access to health information that is not relevant to a lawsuit, and provides defense attorneys with an unfair advantage. It is the patient, harmed by the doctor that is to be protected, not the doctor who negligently committed medical malpractice. Attacking tort victims as if they were the enemy makes no sense. Hopefully Florida comes to its senses before passing something that will set patient’s rights and protections back to the Dark Ages.

Christopher Mellino is a <a href=”http://www.christophermellino.com/”>Cleveland Malpractice Lawyer</a> specializing in <a href=”http://www.christophermellino.com/”>Cleveland Medical Malpractice</a> cases in Ohio. To learn more, visit Christophermellino.com

April 30, 2012 in Bankruptcy, Legal, Legal Articles by jferris

Art Collections Deserve Special Attention When Estate Planning

As the market has abused those with substantial real estate holdings or stock portfolios over the past several years, many who hold their wealth in art find that their collection has become a substantial part of their estate.

Sometimes, children want pieces of a collection, but many times they do not or they want pieces that have significantly different values.

Putting children in charge of selling an art collection that they did not collect and do not know much about can create problems for the estate. The children parsing a valuable art collection could be forced to spend time and money understanding the value of a collection that the collector should have documented and settled long before passing it along.

A conversation with an estate’s beneficiaries needs to be open and honest. Children and grandchildren who are not in a similar financial place as their parents may fear that inheriting a $2 million art collection will affect the amount of cash they inherit.

An important first step is to determine whether the beneficiaries want the collection at all. If the pieces are large or require extra insurance, they may be more of a burden on children or grandchildren. If each of the beneficiaries wants a smaller, less valuable piece, then the rest can be donated or sold upon the owner’s death. All of this can be arranged beforehand so that the beneficiaries understand what will happen and will be less likely to squabble over the details. They also will not be saddled with the financial responsibility of determining the value of the pieces and finding a company to auction them off.

Children also may be naturally drawn to art with drastically different values. Managing the difference is something that should happen early in the estate planning process.

It is almost always a bad idea to allow children to try and “share” a piece of art. Whether it is a valuable musical instrument or a statue or a painting, sharing valuables usually ends with strained relationships.

Collections that should stay together can be tricky to handle if there are multiple beneficiaries to consider. If it makes sense to keep the collection intact, then selling it intact may be the best option unless there is a beneficiary who wants to keep it and the rest of the estate can be balanced to make up for it.

Putting the art in a trust can be considered just like people do with real estate as long as everyone stars on the right side of the IRS.

Art can be a beautiful thing to pass from generation to generation. It can be a more contentious piece of the estate because there are values combines with emotions. People will get every bit as emotional about artwork that they will about a piece of property or a vintage automobile.

O. Reginald (“Reggie”) Osenton is the Owner and President of Osenton Law Offices, P.A. If you need a Brandon estate planning lawyer, call 813.654.5777 or visit Brandonlawoffice.com.