Maryland Injury Law Center

December 4, 2013

What Does Allstate Pay Lawyers Defending Auto Cases?

The answer in Maryland appears to be around $135 an hour for a senior lawyer.

Here’s how I know. One of my colleagues here was in court yesterday and saw a motions hearing. This issue was unbelievably petty if I say so myself. Plaintiff’s lawyer failed to show for a deposition because he overslept, forgot, or something. Totally innocent. He said he was sorry. Allstate’s counsel – outside counsel, not in-house – wanted $500 in sanctions for having to appear at the deposition. Why so petty? I can’t tell you. But I know that while there are a lot of insurance defense lawyers that are wonderful people, it is fair to say that they blow past all other professions in the number of people per capita who would say, “I’ve enjoyed this dinner with you; now let’s go through this check line by line and figure out who owes what” after dinner with the neighbors.

December 4, 2013

Religion and Personal Injury Trials

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Three years ago when Reptile came out – the book that has revolutionized how many plaintiffs’ attorneys approach a tort case – I wrote what I thought was an interesting post about the use of religion at trial based on the research provided in the book. The premise was that the rules of Scripture are power rules that guide the thinking not only of the pious but command authority as the “ultimate rules” for not only the faithful but the agnostic and even atheists.

December 3, 2013

Can a Maryland Insurance Company Raise Your Rates for Making a PIP Claim?

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Does a PIP Claim Increase Your Insurance Premiums?

Many of us fear – some irrationally – our car insurance rising. Most people assume that making a PIP claim will lead to an increase in your insurance premiums. In Maryland, they no longer can. This article explains our law.
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December 2, 2013

Baltimore City Lead Paint Case Revived by Maryland High Court

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The Maryland Court of Appeals issued an important opinion helpful for plaintiffs’ lawyers, albeit attorneys who are not on top of their game for getting their case ready for trial. I just got back from vacation last week and found it interesting enough to put down the 1,000 things that I have to do and read it.
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November 21, 2013

New Maryland Court of Special Appeals Opinion: Business Organizations

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

appellate opinion business organizations

New Maryland Intermediate Court Opinion

Business organization law is not my wheelhouse. It is not something I blog about often. But the Court of Special Appeals just issued a new opinion regarding personal liability for directors of unincorporated businesses that I think has implications for tort lawyers (although probably not my firm).

This breach of contract case involves the PRC (Pikesville Recreation Council), an unincorporated, nonprofit organization. From what I can gather, PRC provided recreational and educational programs to residents in the Pikesville area and was funded mostly by the registration fees that the organization charged (think community-wide soccer tournaments, among other things). PRC also ran a number of preschool programs and employed teachers contractually to teach the children who registered.
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November 5, 2013

Frivolous Lawsuit Sanctions | New Maryland Opinion

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The Court of Appeals has issued an opinion regarding sanctions for bad faith claims that has a lot of lawyers on both sides of the “v” talking.

The case’s background is just plain goofy. Mr. W and Mr. G are neighbors who live in Montgomery County. Sometime in February 2000, Mr. W is shoveling snow in his driveway when a man comes up with a video camera and starts videotaping him as he shovels snow. The man with the camera is actually Mr. G, but because there’s a large camera in his face and he’s wrapped in winter clothing, Mr. W doesn’t recognize him. Mr. W says to the man with the camera, “Can I help you?” but he gets no response. Mr. W then sets down his shovel, walks toward the man, and tells him to stop videotaping. After that, Mr. W realizes the man with the camera is his neighbor, Mr. G, and at that point, Mr. W allegedly pushes the video camera out of Mr. G’s face. Obviously, these are neighbors with a history of bad blood.

Sanctions for scheduling and cancelling — repeatedly — depositions
Rule 11 sanctions for not conducting competent legal research

October 22, 2013

Apparent Agency in Medical Malpractice | New Maryland Opinion

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Hollander issued an interesting ruling today in Lopez-Krist v. Salvagno that deals with the actual and apparent agency in the independent contractor doctor at the hospital.

This is a tragic case where a 14-year-old boy suffered a broken leg. There were concerns about the blood supply to the leg. They called in an orthopedic doctor who did not identify himself as an independent contractor.

You really can’t fault the doctor for this, right? He is talking to a parent of an injured boy. They don’t want to hear about the nuances of who the doctor works for. Just get my boy better.

The doctor recommends trying to reduce the fracture and realign the bone. Parent signs informed consent form with the hospital’s name and logo on it that makes agency unclear. After the surgery, the boy returned to the hospital, and the doctor did not order a CT or an angiogram or seek a vascular consult. There’s more, but you know by now what matters. The boy ends up losing his leg.

Both parties filed summary judgment motions on agency.

Interrogatory Goof Up

The hospital argued plaintiffs’ response to agency interrogatory provided nothing to support their contention of a clear or actual master-servant relationship between the hospital and the orthopedic doctor. Yet plaintiffs came armed with all sort of affidavits and other evidence for time for the summary judgment motion.

October 7, 2013

Attorney Ignores Liens, Maryland High Court Takes His License

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The Maryland high court last week suspended an attorney indefinitely for failure to honor a lien against his client’s case. He has a right to reapply to the bar after 6 months.

Two clients had small injury cases that collectively settled for a little over $25,000. The Food Employees’ Labor Relations Association and United Food and Commercial Workers’ Health and Welfare Fund had a lien on the case. Unlike almost every other non-military lien holder, this union demands full payment of its lien with no reduction for attorneys’ fees.

It is a great strategy by the union to get all of its money back. It is a terrible strategy for helping its workers get compensation for their injuries. Because when most lawyers see these agreements, they run for the hills unless it is a catastrophic injury case. Why? Because it is hard for both the lawyer and the client to get paid. No one wants to take a case where no one walks away happy.

When I first started doing plaintiffs’ work, I couldn’t believe the union could do this. But there is a case square on point.

Anyway, the rest of the story writes itself. He does not pay the liens nor does he interplead the funds. He ignores request after request for payment of the lien for years. He finally puts his own money into it when I guess he realized it just would not go away.

September 24, 2013

New Opinion: Mold Plaintiff Flunks Frye-Reed

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The Maryland Court of Appeals decided this morning Chesson v. Montgomery Mutual, a mold exposure workers’ compensation case. I don’t handle mold or workers’ comp cases. But this case has implications for any tort cases involving the question of what opinions an expert can render at trial. Experts almost always come into play in personal injury cases, but as with anything in law, there are certain rules governing their use.

Facts of the Case

The claimant sought compensation for exposure to mold that caused neurocognitive and musculoskeletal problems. The trial court in Howard County allowed testimony from plaintiffs’ expert that this mold exposure caused an injury. The expert based his opinion on a differential diagnosis, which means the process of elimination. The Claimant won at trial and the defendant insurance company appealed.

September 10, 2013

$5.5 Million Miller & Zois Verdict Last Week

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

A Prince George’s County jury on Friday awarded our client $5.5 million dollars for the wrongful death of her mother because of medical malpractice. The offer to settle before trial: zero.

Here’s what happens. A woman goes in for a cardiac bypass surgery. Her surgeon and two surgical technicians successfully bypass the problematic areas of her heart with vein grafts taken from one of her legs. Right before they close her up, someone (more on that later) places pacing wires on the surface of her heart. The surgeon and techs finish everything up, and the patient goes to recovery.

Keep in mind the pacing wires are a precautionary measure. When a patient’s chest is closed, the opposite ends of the wires are left outside the body. If a doctor needs to regulate a patient’s heart rate after surgery, the ends of the pacing wires are hooked up to a little machine that stimulates the heart just enough to get it to beat regularly. When the wires are no longer needed, they are gently pulled out of the body or clipped at the skin level and left in.

So, after the surgery, everything goes according to plan. Soon, our client’s mother is out of the ICU and in a regular hospital room. She and her daughter spent Saturday evening watching a TV program with Barbara Walters about open-heart surgery, and the entire family makes plans to watch the Super Bowl together in the hospital room the next day.

Our client and her mother reflect on the past few days as they watch TV, feeling like the worst was behind them. That’s the worst feeling. You think you have made it over the hill only to find out you have not even seen the hill yet. The daughter leaves the hospital to get some much-needed rest, not knowing that she had spoken with her mother for the last time.