The Baltimore Sun reports today that Maryland Insurance Commissioner Ralph S. Tyler ordered nine premium finance companies – companies that finance the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund premiums, which consumers are still required to pay in full – to stop charging ridiculously high finance charges. Two of these finance companies also…
Interesting data from Jury Verdict Research on the median and average values of wrongful death cases where the decedent is female. The overall average compensatory award for wrongful death of an adult female over the last eight years in the United States is $2,990,032 ($1,102,976 is the median). Age is…
The Missouri Supreme Court found last week that a truck driver not involved in a truck accident with another driver can sue for the emotional damages suffered when he saw the dead victim in the other car. I’m not sure the decision is legally wrong. But it would not fly…
Last week, I received a call from an insurance company (Progressive) asking how many occupants were in our clients’ vehicle in a car accident case our lawyers are handling. Sadly, it appears someone saw our clients get in what was a serious accident, noted the vehicle information, and then pretended…
A Washington jury awarded $15.5M last week in a 2004 truck accident case. The injuries, as the verdict suggests, were catastrophic. The auto accident caused the Plaintiff’s blindness. She continues to undergo surgical procedures to reconstruct her facial structure and is still in therapy to aid in her recovery from…
I read a study this weekend (my wife was at a jewelry party and my kids were asleep on Friday night) published last year by the Cornell University Industrial & Labor Relations Review, that looked at the correlation between truck driver compensation and safety outcomes. I am sure the Teamsters…
The New York Times reports on recent rules set up by chief administrator Nicole R. Nason at National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, prohibiting officials at the agency from going on the record with reporters. Without special permission, the NHTSA only allows agency officials to only speak with reporters to provide…
A recent Jury Verdict Research study revealed some interesting settlement and verdict data regarding truck accident cases. The most frequently cited injury in truck accident cases, which is probably true for auto accident cases, is the back strain. Back strains, according to the study, drew a median verdict of $15,000.00.…
According to The Federal Motor Carry Safety Administration’s 2006 report, there are approximately 141,000 truck crashes every year. In 77,000 of these truck accidents – more than half – the fault was attributed to the truck driver. This is interesting because we have been getting data from the American Trucking…
I have encountered yet another spoliation issue in a truck accident case where the defendant cannot produce their trucking log that was requested within six months of the incident. Federal regulations require commercial truck drivers to maintain their log for at least six months. Unlike New Jersey and California, Maryland…