Auto Accidents

August 6, 2008

Hung Jury in Prince George’s County

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I’m back from a jury trial in Prince George’s County that “resolved” yesterday. It was a bifurcated liability only case. My client suffered a leg amputation. Easily one of the best clients and best families we have ever represented. After almost six hours of deliberation, the jury was deadlocked on all four questions presented to them at 3-3. From talking to the jury afterward—all nice people—we could have kept them together for a week and they would not have been able to resolve it.

(How often do we have hung juries? I’ve never had one before. So I asked Google. Apparently, a study by the National Center for State Courts and National Institute of Justice found the overall average hung jury rate was 6.2 percent. I suspect the rate is lower for civil trials because the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard ties up a lot of jurors and many states have more jurors in criminal cases than in civil cases which probably increases the likelihood of a holdout.)

July 16, 2008

Montana Supreme Court Reverses Itself in Car-Pedestrian Accident Case

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

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The Supreme Court of Montana rendered an interesting decision last week for an emotional injury claim in Allstate Ins. Co. v. Wagner-Ellsworth.

The case involves a car-pedestrian collision. Two brothers were crossing the street in front of their elementary school and one was seriously injured. Allstate settled this claim for the per-person policy limit of $50,000.

July 8, 2008

There Was an Accident Last Night at I-70 and the Baltimore Beltway in Maryland…

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

There was an auto accident last night at I-70 and the Baltimore Beltway in Maryland last night at 3:54 a.m.

Are you a lawyer who has started a blog this way? If so, stop it because you are driving me crazy. No, seriously, stop it. The Baltimore Sun can and will report these stories just fine without your repeating them, thank you very much.

The Internet is such an amazing resource for personal injury lawyers to gather information about the handling of their cases. But to use this resource, you will wade through so much junk. If you are just rewriting stories from newspapers with no thought or commentary, you are useless to the rest of us.

June 16, 2008

Average Verdict Value In Head-on Collisions

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Jury Verdict Research provides median award data and verdict probabilities in head-on auto, truck and motorcycle accident cases nationally. Plaintiffs prevail and recover damages in 64% of these cases. The median award in these head-on collision personal injury cases is only $31,875.00. This number reflects the fact that 24% of the head-on collision claims in the study were for “back strains” where the average award is only $9,312.00. These are probably not the injuries we think of when we think of a head-on collision.

But here is a genuine shocker: the median head injury verdict in head-on collision accidents is only $25,000.00. If you have a head injury, typically you have a serious accident. So this data is not what I think most attorneys would suspect. If I had to guess at the head-on collision national median, I would have predicted the number would be at least six figures. I would suspect that the average – as opposed to the median – exceeds $200,000 but I could not find any data to support my hypothesis.

Why Settlement Numbers Are Likely Much Higher

December 26, 2007

Videotaping Independent Medical Exams

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

In March, I wrote a blog post discussing whether it makes sense for to videotape medical exams by the defendant’s lawyer’s doctor. Last week, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that a plaintiff who is required to submit to an “independent medical examination” (hereinafter the more honest “defense medical exam”) may videotape the exam.

Here, the doctor had refused a plaintiff’s request to videotape the DME because (1) it would invade the privacy of others in the office; (2) it would be “annoying and distracting” to the DME doctor and his staff; and (3) it would interfere with the doctor’s examination.

Actually, these are not the doctor’s objections. These are the defense lawyer’s objections. The doctor was more than happy to allow the recording of the DME as long as the defendant’s lawyer did not object. These objections are silly. First, obviously, the video should only consist of doctor’s examination of the plaintiff. Second, for $500 an hour, or whatever the doctor is charging, he should be able to bear a minor annoyance and distraction. Finally, there is no reason to believe that videotaping at the DME would interfere with the examination.

November 2, 2006

Spinal Fusion Surgery with Implanted Hardware

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The journal Spine has published an article questioning implanted hardware use in spinal fusion surgeries for back problems. The Spine study found that the implantation of hardware does not improve results. The authors also determined that the hardware carries a higher risk of complications, including infections which can occur more readily and can also be harder to see because the hardware can block a clear radiological view of the spine.

Decisions about surgery are tough on any patient

The hardware surviving over time is another problem. When screws, plates, or rods break, the results can push right on a nerve and cause significant pain.

October 9, 2006

Independent Medical Examinations

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

More and more personal injury lawyers in Maryland accident cases are doing battle over the ‘independent’ medical examination. Attorneys argue over everything from who should conduct the examination, how far the plaintiff should have a drive for the examination, to more substantive issues such as the examining doctor’s financial records. However, one thing that plaintiff personal injury lawyers sometimes overlook is the fact that their client may have already had such a medical examination before they even became involved in the case if the case involves an uninsured motorist or used PIP coverage.

Most insurance policies have a provision whereby the insurance company can ask for the policyholder to attend a medical examination with a physician of its choosing before the insured receives payments. This is can be used as a condition precedent to any insured receiving PIP benefits or uninsured motorist benefits. Does Maryland law allow it? No one really knows for sure.

The Maryland accident lawyer must be careful where PIP has already been paid or where uninsured motorist coverage applies. Often, the insurance claims adjuster has a copy of the report compiled by the insurance company’s doctor months or even years before it must be disclosed to the plaintiff’s lawyer (for example, before a suit has been filed or before discovery answers are due).

June 6, 2006

State Farm Settlement Day

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Today, for the first time in ten years, State Farm’s Baltimore office conducted a “Settlement Day” hosting eight Maryland law firms at their offices to settle State Farm auto and truck accident cases. The day was a success for our office; we settled 70% of the cases up for discussion. Other personal injury attorneys that I spoke to who attended also reported substantial success. One Maryland accident lawyer told me he settled all but one of his law firm’s car accident cases.

The day was also a success because it is productive for attorneys to meet the adjusters they deal with regularly. Even if we had settled none of our cases, it would have been worthwhile just to meet the adjusters. Everyone I met was very courteous and hospitable, even in those cases where we could not agree (the larger cases were the most difficult). The adjusters also tolerated my “evil empire” jokes well.

When I was doing pharmaceutical defense work, I would often fly across the country for an hour meeting with an expert. Other attorneys would also ask why a phone call would not suffice. But I always thought you can establish a much higher quality relationship and understanding with a person who you can see in person.