The Maryland Court of Appeals delivered its opinion in Barclay vs. Briscoe v. Ports America, a car accident case where the plaintiff was seriously injured by a man who had just finished a twenty-two hour shift at a job at the Port of Baltimore. Liability was not at issue here,…
The perils of handling an accident claim that implicates law outside of the lawyer’s home state was underscored once again in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals opinion this month, in Bryan v. State Farm. A family – Mom, Dad, and two kids – were injured in a car accident…
If you cannot make progress with an insurance adjuster, and the problem is something other than the valuation of the case, I’d ask to speak to the adjuster’s supervisor. (If the problem is the valuation of the case, whining about the offer is useless. File suit. Get on with it.)…
Dr. Louis Halikman is an orthopedic doctor that many insurance companies in Maryland – most notably State Farm – frequently used to defend car accident cases. “Frequently” is probably charitable; by his own admission, he makes somewhere between $30,000 and $35,000 a month providing expert services for insurance companies. Am…
We sent Progressive Insurance a demand letter in a case where the client had some pretty serious injuries, including 50 staples in her head to close a scalp laceration. Progressive faxed us a letter stating it cannot conclude its investigation until we obtain different bills from the medical providers that…
The Governor signed yesterday a bill that allows auto insurance companies in cases where the at-fault driver has insufficient insurance coverage to consent to settlements against the at-fault driver without (1) limiting their right to raise any issue relating to liability or damages in an action against the insurer; and…
State Farm recorded another win in a family use exclusion case this week in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, in Stickley v. State Farm. Sad Facts of Stickely v. State Farm This is an awful case. The plaintiff was a passenger in a car accident in Montgomery County in…
Last week, in Hendrix v. Burns, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals dealt with the question of what plaintiffs’ lawyers can admit into evidence in a car accident case when the defendant stipulates to liability. In car accident cases, many defense lawyers loathe admitting responsibility. There is always a chance…
I was planning to take the week off of blogging this week. The Maryland Court of Appeals rejected this plan by publishing its opinion in District of Columbia v. Singleton. In a quiet but meaningful protest, I will make this post a little rambling and disjointed. Just know this is…
The Maryland House Economic Matters Committee will vote today on House Bill 715, from the insurance lobby, to reverse the rule in Maurer v. Pennsylvania National Mutual, that waiving subrogation in underinsured motorist cases is conclusive of the at-fault drivers liability for causing the accident. I wrote about this bill…