Update: this case was still going on in 2018 which is insane. I don’t like State Farm as much as the next plaintiffs’ lawyer. But I understand State Farm’s larger point on this issue, which I explain below. In State Farm v. Cavoto, a Pennsylvania appellate court decided a battle between…
Awful story. Young and handsome 17-year-old boy is killed in a car accident. Inexplicably, the city morgue displays the child’s brain. Sure enough, the boy’s classmates go on a field trip to the morgue and see the boy’s brain floating in formaldehyde. How did they know it was his? The…
News and thoughts from this week: Baltimore moves closer to settling a claim brought by a man who was injured while doing sanitation work as his court-mandated community service. The Maryland Daily Record has a big Monday law story on a woman was suing her medical malpractice lawyer. I can’t…
In the NBA labor dispute, the NBA owners say they have put their best and last offer on the table. It is one of the oldest stunts in negotiating. Take this offer or we will take it off the table. I think he’s bluffing, but I’m not 100% certain. [2017:…
In a new opinion by the Maryland Court of Appeals, the court answers whether Maryland’s Health Claims Arbitration requirements should apply to cases filed in federal court where the malpractice occurred outside of Maryland. Certainly an important issue to address. Lewis v. Waletzky involves a claim that a psychiatrist in…
This blog post summarizes Mattison v. Gelber, a new Maryland Court of Appeals opinion in a medical malpractice case with a unique issue regarding whether there was an entry of final judgment without an award of costs. You can go to the jump at the bottom of the post. I…
I love when someone does a study confirming one of my pet theories. My theory: juror skepticism towards plaintiffs is fueled by unwarranted perceptions in the media as to whether jurors are reaching fair verdicts. The Center for Justice & Democracy has published a study showing that the media distorts…
Social media is all the rage for defendants’ personal injury lawyers. In the olden days, the only really fun Perry Mason moments from discovery for defense lawyers was surveillance video. Out of the 10,000 times the insurance company would do surveillance, someone would hit a “guy who claims he is…
Three years ago, after the Maryland Court of Appeals denied certiorari in Allen v. Marriott Worldwide, our law firm stopped taking snow and ice slip and falls. Maryland appellate courts had been battering bad weather slip and fall plaintiffs over the head with the assumption of the risk doctrine. We…
The Maryland Court of Appeals issued a game-changing lead paint decision today, declaring unconstitutional an awful Maryland law that immunizes most Maryland landlords who rent properties that cause children brain injuries from lead paint. A Brief History of Lead Paint Lawsuit in Baltimore Before I get to that, a little…