Malpractice attorneys representing doctors famously prefer to elevate form over substance and tactics over strategy. This is not partisan. It is fact. The doctors’ malpractice attorneys really don’t disagree. They would call it taking advantage of the grab bag of opportunities to fight the details that the law and inexperienced…
Maryland Injury Law Center
Amanda Knox: Impact on Personal Injury Lawyers Explaining Risk to Clients
The Georgia Criminal Appellate Blog writes about the concern that his clients will “over-learn” the lesson of Amanda Knox’s successful appeal: For the criminal trial lawyer, the Casey Anthony verdict was the result that made it difficult to counsel clients on whether to accept a negotiated plea rather than risk…
Baltimore Law Firm Loses Medical Records
Twitter is giddy about a Baltimore Sun report that a medical malpractice defense law firm lost a portable hard drive containing medical records for 161 stent patients in the lawsuit against cardiologist Dr. Mark G. Midei for alleged malpractice at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson. Apparently, an employee of…
Four Personal Injury Opinions From Last Week You Should Read
I read four personal injury-related appellate opinions published last week that I think are worth reading: Thibodeaux v. Trahan: Like most personal injury lawyers, I have been hit with post-trial remitter motions from defense attorneys claiming that the jury’s verdict was unreasonably high. But no plaintiff’s lawyer is silly enough…
Truck Accident Claim Tactics: How Much Does the Truck Weigh?
A defense lawyer who regularly defends truck accident cases was telling me recently how many plaintiffs’ lawyers rarely ask the questions that really scare him in deposition or in discovery. Car accident lawyers figure, “Hey, it is a truck accident. A truck accident is just a big car, right? It…
New Maryland Accident Law: Useful Change for Personal Injury Lawyers
Every plaintiffs’ attorney in Maryland has at some point become frustrated with an insurance company over the gameplay regarding their client’s insurance policy. Under current Maryland law, an insurance company is not required to disclose its policy limits although such information is readily available in discovery after a lawsuit is…
Is Voir Dire in Maryland About to Radically Change?
As I have written many times, I’m a big fan of David Ball’s book “Damages 3.” I’ve read the entire book more than once. I’m ready to take a quiz on the contents. But I would fail the portions of that quiz on voir dire. It is hard for Maryland…
Truck Accidents: Finding Coverage and Bad Conduct
It is easier to file a lawsuit against a trucking company than a truck driver. This is true because human beings are likely to feel more comfortable placing blame on a big business than pinning it on one, possibly sympathetic, truck driver. We humans are folksy like that. Juries are…
Sequence of Witnesses
Who Should You Call as Your First Witness? You give your opening statement. The defendant gives her opening. Who do you call as your first witness? Too many plaintiffs’ lawyers – particularly in car accident cases – spend too little time on this question, because scheduling conveniences dictate the order…
Weehoo Bike Trailers Recall
Weehoo will recall approximately 2011 Weehoo iGo bicycle trailers the company made between April 2011 and July 2011. The problem is a parents worse nightmare with these things: that their child becomes unhitched and goes into traffic or somewhere else that is unsafe. Apparently, the receiver on the trailer’s seat…