Maryland Injury Law Center

February 16, 2007

Lawyers Using Handwriting Analysis in Jury Selection

The National Law Journal reports that a few personal injury lawyers are relying on handwriting experts to help the lawyers in selecting juries. Handwriting analysis uses various clues, including the amount of pressure used, the size and angles of the letters, and spaces between words to paint a picture of a potential juror.

Attorneys have no opportunity to see the handwriting of prospective jurors. But personal injury lawyers in other jurisdictions review juror questionnaires that would provide a handwriting analysis. I remember reading somewhere that handwriting that is flamboyant and flowery would be preferable than tight and concise. (I’m not sure what someone would make of mine because it is illegible!) But if I practiced in a jurisdiction where I saw the jurors’ handwriting, I would want to see a study on point before spending a lot of resources analyzing their handwriting.

February 15, 2007

New University of Baltimore Law School Dean

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Phillip J. Closius was named as the new dean of the University of Baltimore School of Law today. Dean Closius is the former dean of the University of Toledo College of Law. He is a former practicing attorney who teaches and conducts scholarship in the areas of Constitutional, First Amendment and Sports Law.

Dean Holmes made a lot of progress in his tenure at the University of Baltimore. Hopefully, Dean Closius can build off Dean Holmes’ work to take the University of Baltimore School of Law to the next level. I started on the adjunct facility at UB in 1998 and now teach at the University every semester. I have seen a lot of progress in recent years in the quality of students and the resources we have, and I hope that the new dean can keep this ball rolling.

February 6, 2007

$8 Million Verdict in Prince George’s County

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Yesterday my partner, Laura G. Zois, tried a wrongful death auto accident case in Prince George’s County against Allstate. The jury awarded our client $8 million. Allstate made no offer to resolve the case.

We cannot collect the entire amount not only because of Maryland’s cap on pain and suffering damages but also because there is no first-party bad faith on uninsured motorist claims in Maryland. I understand that the Maryland General Assembly introduced a bill to bring the first party bad faith to Maryland.

I try very hard to keep the “insurance companies are pure evil” sentiment out of the Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer Blog because I think simplistic generalizations defeat real discussion of the issues. I teach Insurance Law at the University of Baltimore Law School and try even harder there to remain balanced in my approach to the class.

February 5, 2007

Will Maryland Drop Contributory Negligence

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The Maryland legislature is considering joining the rest of the civilized world – okay, I’ll kill the hyperbole – the vast majority of jurisdictions by adopting a comparative negligence standard in Maryland. The contributory negligence standard we have in Maryland is harsh to injury victims and creates genuine challenges for Maryland personal injury lawyers seeking justice for their clients. Under contributory negligence, the accident or medical malpractice victim’s failure to exercise due care which contributes even in the slightest way to the plaintiff’s injuries is an absolute bar to recovery. Under this rule, even if the jury believed the plaintiff was only 1% at fault for his/her injuries, the plaintiff would be completely barred from recovering for those injuries.

All but 5 states have moved into the modern era and adopted contributory negligence. It would be a blessing for injury victims in Maryland if Maryland dropped that number down to 4.

The Maryland Gazette posted an interesting – albeit pro-business – article on Friday on this issue of Maryland reconsidering contributory negligence.

January 31, 2007

Prince George’s County Pedestrian and Bicycle Accidents

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

prince george's county pedestrian bicycle accidents

Click to enlarge

Prince George’s County recorded 285 bicycle and pedestrian deaths between 1994 and 2003, far more than Montgomery County, Fairfax County, or the District of Columbia, according to a report by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. More pedestrians and bikers are killed Prince George’s County than in any other jurisdiction in the region.

Every year approximately 5,000 pedestrians are killed in motor vehicle collisions in the United States. There are many causes for bicycle and pedestrian deaths but we see a lot of these cases in P.G. County.

January 28, 2007

Lucentis May Increase Risk of Stroke

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The New York Times reported on Saturday that Genentech posted a letter on its website warning eye specialists of its new eye drug Lucentis, which may increase the risk of stroke for those on Lucentis. Genentech found that patients taking their marketed dose of Lucentis were much more likely to suffer a stroke than patients taking a lower dose.

What Is Lucentis?

Lucentis is a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody. What it does is that binds to and inactivates vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) which is considered the dominant inducer to the growth of blood vessels. Lucentis is a fragment derived from the same antibody.

Lucentis treats age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, macular edema, and other serious eye conditions.

January 27, 2007

$1.5 Million Prempro Verdict

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

A Philadelphia jury found that Wyeth’s hormone replacement therapy Prempro caused an Arkansas woman’s breast cancer and awarded the victim’s family $1.5 million. The jury found that Wyeth was negligent in failing to provide adequate warnings about the risk of breast cancer associated with the use of Prempro.

We expect the jury to return this week with a decision on punitive damages. In Maryland, under Owens-Illinois, Inc. v. Zenobia, 325 Md. 420 (1992), a landmark Maryland Court of Appeals’ opinion, punitive damages in this case against Wyeth for failing to warn about the risks of Prempro would have to be supported by a showing that the conduct of Wyeth was malicious, or the result of evil motive, or ill will. There are no such allegations in the Prempro litigation.

Background on Prempro

January 26, 2007

Prince George’s County Courthouse Fire

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

A fire broke out at the Prince George’s County courthouse on Wednesday, destroying a large section of the 126-year-old building. It damaged two floors of the courthouse. The old courthouse is connected to a modern wing by a series of corridors.

This is the second time the courthouse has been on fire in a little over two years. The P.G. Courthouse was gutted by fire in November 2004, just months before they scheduled the courthouse to open after a $25 million renovation. It is amazing this happened again. No word yet on the cause of the fire.

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January 24, 2007

Virtual Mock Juries and Online Focus Groups

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Evan Schaeffer’s Illinois Trial Practice Weblog has a link to a company that provides online mock juries. I find the idea fascinating. Evan correctly points out that a virtual mock jury does not give the lawyers the benefit of the give-and-take argument among jurors meaningful to the process. I also think you lose something using jurors with different demographics. If a lawyer will try a case in Baltimore City, the opinion of a woman in Omaha might not be helpful. In fact, that all the jurors are “Internet savvy” might make them unrepresentative of certain jury pools. Still, for the $1500 cost (goodness this is a lot more in 2019), I can see where some lawyers looking for information on how jurors might respond to certain issues might gain some enjoy this process.

One thing is for sure: the Internet will continue to change the practice of personal injury lawyers in ways that we cannot contemplate.

2019 Update: We used an online focus group for an upcoming trial. You just present the sterile information to them and see where they run with the evidence. I can’t remember the cost, but I thought it was ridiculous. But the process made sense for this case. It provides meaningful insights into how jurors in that same jurisdiction are likely to approach the key issues in your cases, which gives you usable information about your strengths and vulnerabilities. Jury focus groups are also good at spitting out the statistical data that I love. Do men like the case more than women? Is the ideal juror older or younger? There are is just a ton of summary type data that can give you a real insight into not only the issues that matter but who you want on your jury panel.

January 19, 2007

Consumer Reports Retracts Article on “Failed” Car Seats

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Last week, I wrote about the Consumer Reports article on failed infant car seats. As I wrote the post, my wife was spending a few hundred dollars on new car seats for our 3-month-old twins. Sure enough, Consumer Reports retracted the article this week after receiving data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration who reported the car seats did well at the correct impact speed.

In their tests, Consumer Reports simulated impacts at over 70 miles an hour instead of simulating impacts at 38 miles an hour. I thought it was probably silly to buy new car seats, particularly given the data offered on the side impact risk to infants. But how can you argue against taking the safest course for your kids? You can’t. Now, if you are a lawyer out there considering a class action against Consumer Reports, you have your first client. I’m kidding, that would be a frivolous lawsuit. But do not be surprised to see one.

Speaking of frivolous lawsuits, a personal injury attorney announced in a news conference in California that he was filing a wrongful death case on behalf of the family of a 28-year-old woman who died in a water-drinking contest on a radio show. The attorney said the wrongful death suit would name the radio station as the defendant, presumably for holding the contest. I do not think this is a meritorious case nor do I think it helps the cause of personal injury lawyers and their clients. I will offer more thoughts on this case this weekend.