The latest edition of Metro Verdicts Monthly provides numbers on false arrest/imprisonment cases. The median legal false arrest/imprisonment verdict or settlement in Washington D.C. was $25,000.00. Virginia and Maryland have slightly higher median settlements/verdicts of $26,000.00 and $29,000.00, respectively. I’m surprised the median verdict/settlement is this high because I would…
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled yesterday in Peyton-Henderson v. Evans that Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge George L. Russell, III did not err in transferring a lawsuit from Baltimore City to Baltimore County because of the May 2004 shooting at Randallstown High School. The ruling covers no new…
I read over the weekend an interesting decision from the Connecticut Supreme Court that came out last week. The case, Monti v. Wenkert, is an awful medical malpractice case involving a seventeen-year-old girl who presented with significant but subjective symptomology that her GP, physician’s assistant, and the hospital’s emergency room…
I wrote recently about what I thought was the primary fuel to the tort reform engine: people do not expect to be the victims of an accident that results from the negligence of someone else, and they do not expect to be victims of malpractice. Statistically, they are right. The…
I saw today an interesting blog post by a Massachusetts law firm advocating that Massachusetts ban finance companies that offer loans to people using their personal injury cases as collateral. The post (and comment on the post) argues that by making the loans non-recourse loans contingent on the settlement, these…
The FDA said yesterday it is looking into an association between Merck’s allergy and asthma drug Singulair and suicide. The FDA has received reports of mood changes, suicidal ideation, and suicide in patients who have taken Singulair. Trying to get out on the front of the curve with its package…
Our lawyers have long believed that professional expert witnesses’ financial information, including their tax returns, may be discoverable and admissible for the purpose of showing potential bias. Yesterday, the Alaska Supreme Court joined the list of jurisdictions, including now Maryland, that agree with us. Noffke v. Perez Noffke v. Perez…
The biggest intangible dealt with by personal injury lawyers in settling or trying a personal injury case is noneconomic pain and suffering damages. These damages defy ready conceptualization and the law provides little in the way of help to jurors who make the final call. Talking to Juries About Valuing…
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals decided the Titan v. Advance case yesterday. Titan is a case where the Plaintiff alleged negligent repair of a roof that led to the clogging of a roof drain, which then resulted in the Plaintiff’s premises to flood. It is located on Eastern Avenue…
Last month, retired Howard County Judge Dennis M. Sweeney wrote an article in a series of articles he is writing for the Daily Record. The latest article discusses voir dire. One point Judge Sweeney makes is that judges have an aversion to proposed voir dire questions that seem to be…