I spend a lot of time responding to random questions from other lawyers. I will publish some responses to the extent they are helpful to anyone else. The topic for today is the practical ramifications of requests for admission deemed to be admitted at trial. I will think of others…
Religion and Scripture is the subject of one of the most compelling chapters in Reptile, a book offering a guide for plaintiffs’ lawyers on trying personal injury cases. The lessons offered in the book have made a meteoric rise from novel theories to conventional wisdom by most experienced personal injury…
Yesterday, the Maryland Daily Record published the first of a three-part series I wrote with retired Judge Clifton J. Gordy (now a mediator and arbitrator) on mediation in serious personal injury and wrongful death claims. The article is for both plaintiff and defense lawyers looking to make mediations as productive…
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals addressed last week an issue that our personal injury clients in malpractice and accident cases have occasionally expressed: is my settlement or verdict my money or marital money I have to share with my spouse? In Murray v. Murray, the court was faced with,…
I’m now joining the rest of America in finally reading Malcolm Gladwell’s “Blink.” Gladwell’s theory is essentially that sometimes, split-second decisions are more accurate than drawn-out analysis with lots of different variables to consider. I wondered how this best relates to personal injury lawyers. I think the “Blink” thesis that…
Whenever I prepare for giving an opening statement, as I am today, my head is filled with more advice that I have heard or read over the years than expletives Bill Belichick threw out last night. I am writing today about two issues: what you should wear to trial and…
There is a split of opinion among personal injury lawyers whether plaintiffs should propound interrogatories before or after taking depositions, particularly in a case where there is a significant dispute as to liability. When looking at this question, it is important to acknowledge that defense lawyers in personal injury cases…
Nice Stock Photo of a Mediation One of the most important things to do to prepare for mediation is to get the client ready for mediation. If you are prepping a client for mediation in a personal injury case, don’t forget to prepare the client for what may come in…
The Indiana Supreme Court issued a troubling opinion last week in Stanley v. Walker, ruling that the discounted price paid for medical care by insurance is admissible as evidence. Ah, what about the collateral source rule? Well, the Indiana Supreme Court thinks they have us covered. The court says we…
I read a series of articles in Trial Magazine on cross-examining experts at trial. One article revolved around a joke the lawyer made and how everyone laughed, except for the expert. The moral of the article is that the expert’s failure to laugh at the joke “showed the witness’s pomposity”…