The Maryland Daily Record reports that a personal injury settlement is not subject to garnishment for child support, according to the Maryland Court of Special Appeals opinion in Rosemann vs. Salsbury, Clements, Bekman, Marder and Adkins, LLC. This action stems from an effort by a father to get child support…
Time Magazine has an interesting article on auto tort cases. The article has the usual stuff: insurance company complaints about high verdicts, people faking injuries, jackpot justice, the backlog in the courts, and that most personal injury victims only receive small settlements. Here are a few quotes: The automobile accounts…
I enjoy picking up the Outlook section of The Washington Post on Sunday’s to read George Will. I rarely agree with him. But I’m always impressed with his writing and analysis. Sunday’s article offers thoughts on a topic that is obviously near and dear to my heart: litigation. George Will…
The Internet tells two stories this morning. First, the Maryland Daily Record tells the story of an applicant to the Maryland bar who has been practicing law, apparently without incident, in New York for 25 years. This New York lawyer apparently wanted to move to Maryland and took and passed…
The Daily Herald in Chicago published an editorial yesterday that urges the Illinois Supreme Court to overturn the Illinois cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. The article, written by the President on the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (I guess they have not gotten the Association for Justice memo),…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently published a report analyzing approximately 16,000 nursing homes in this country and assigned each a rating—from one star to five stars—based on such criteria as health inspections and staffing. In a less prolific blow than the other shots to the head delivered…
Baltimore is “teetering along the edge of a hellhole” because of its hospitable climate for personal injury lawsuits, according to a recent study from the American Tort Reform Foundation. If you are a lawyer handling medical malpractice, accident, or products liability cases in the city, this comes a little out…
I recently read a closing argument in another lawyers’ medical malpractice case. In his final thoughts to the jury, he reminded the jurors of what I always remind jurors of when I’m delivering a closing: the memories of the victim will fade for you and for me, but this person…
Wisconsin Lawyer (link since removed) has an interesting article on the impact a juror’s political bent has on the amount of damages awarded in personal injury cases. The study contained 476 mock jurors who identified themselves as either Democrats or Republicans. The jurors took part in mock trials for cases…
The federal judges got their own financial bailout package. Congress has tucked a judicial pay raise into the proposed $14 billion bailout for U.S. automakers. This pay raise puts judicial salaries on a par with members of Congress. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid apparently insisted that the judicial pay raise…