After agreeing to a defense medical exam, we received a letter from defense counsel with a draft agreed upon order to be filed with the court agreeing to the DME. This is the first time I have seen a defense lawyer try to do this. While it is all rather…
Maryland Injury Law Center
Maryland Local Government Tort Claims Act: Another Injustice Passes Without Notice
Local Government Tort Claims and the Maryland Tort Claims Act Our law firm does not handle police brutality cases. We have some experience handling the claims – not me but other lawyers here – and the injuries can be horrific. But the criminally insane Maryland Local Government Tort Claims Act…
Defendant Was a Drunk Driver: Should That Be Admissible
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…
Risk/Utility in Strict Liability Design Defect Claims
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court stuck down a $5 million verdict in an Ethicon endocutter design defect case last week, finding that the trial court was not restricted to considering only one use of the device and that it correctly applied a risk-utility analysis. The case talks about product liability risk-utility…
Maryland Tanning Bed Law July 2022 Update
Tanning beds cause cancer. Cancer kills. Tanning beds also make you look old before your time. This matters little to the Maryland Senate who crushed the bill in committee. Which committee? The Finance Committee. Because, you know, that makes sense. The bill, sponsored by Montgomery County Democrat Jamie Raskin, would…
University of Baltimore Law School Dean Candidates
There are five finalists for the dean of University of Baltimore School of Law that will visit campus beginning March 26. I will review these candidates for you and make my selection. To be fair, I have never met or even heard of any of these people. I’ve limited my…
New Maryland High Court Ruling on Res Ipsa in Car Accident Cases
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…
Uninsured Motorist Bill Up for Committee Vote Today
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…
How to Try More Cases
Forbes, via Overlawyered, has an interesting article on Houston lawyer, Steve Susman’s efforts to cover lawyers on both sides of the aisle to try more jury trials… and make cases easier to try. How? Buy reaching stipulations on all the dumb things lawyers argue about. Great idea that will never…
Underinsured Motorist Coverage Maze: A New Bill to Clean Up (a Little)
There is a bill pending in the Maryland Senate to overturn the Maryland Court of Appeals opinion in Maurer v. Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance six years ago. This bill allows car insurance companies who have underinsured exposure because the at-fault driver has insufficient insurance coverage, to consent to settlements…