Maryland Injury Law Center

September 27, 2006

Truck Accident Verdict Statistics

I provide data from Jury Verdict Research frequently on this blog because I think it is helpful for personal injury lawyers to see the national prevalence of specific classes of cases. Below is a list of recovery percentages in truck accident cases that go to trial:

Broadside Collisions	61%
Head-On Collisions	$71%
Intersection Collisions	58%
Multiple Vehicle Collisions	73%
No Contact Accidents	52%
Truck, Overall	60%

Jury Verdict Research also offers statistics on the median compensatory awards for a few different categories of truck accidents:

Head-On Collisions	$532,034
Intersection Collisions	$85,000
Truck Accidents Overall	$90,000

I suspect that most truck crash attorneys would agree that both the likelihood of recovery and the amount of recovery is higher in Maryland, but I have seen no state-specific data on truck accident cases. If anyone knows of any data in Maryland or in any other state, please let me know.

September 21, 2006

Maryland Trial Lawyers Association Auto Negligence Section

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The Maryland Trial Lawyers Auto Negligence Seminar will be held on Friday, November 10, 2006 (the courts are closed that day in observance of Veterans’ Day) at the Comfort Inn Conference Center, 4500 Crain Highway (Route 301) Bowie, Maryland 20716 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm. For registration forms, click here. This should be a great seminar for Maryland personal injury lawyers trying auto accident cases. The topics and speakers are:

Panel 1: Trying an Auto Case Before a Jury

Speakers: Circuit Court Judges

September 20, 2006

Maryland Negligent Security Appellate Opinion and Case Law

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

This is a 14-year-old post, but it was updated on May 3, 2020, to give the current state of negligent security law in Maryland.

the Maryland Court of Special Appeals decided the case of Veytsman z. New York Palace, Inc. The issue in Veytsman was whether a nightclub had a duty to protect its patrons from being attacked by fellow patrons.

The court found that the nightclub had no such duty, affirming Baltimore City Circuit Judge Evelyn Omega Cannon’s ruling. The opinion underscores how difficult it is to hold nightclubs responsible for altercations that invariably occur in nightclubs, bars, and restaurants. But I also want to explain how to bring a negligent security case in Maryland.

September 19, 2006

How Much Is a Baltimore Nursing Case Worth?

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

We have seen an increasing number of recent client calls questioning the quality of the care that a family member or friend is receiving in a nursing home. Over 1.5 million Americans are in nursing homes with 30,000 of them in Maryland. That number is rising fast as America continues to age. Baltimore County alone has 49 nursing homes and 299 assisted-living facilities.

How Much Are Baltimore Nursing Home Cases Worth?

According to Jury Verdict Research, 60 percent of personal injury trials involving nursing home abuse or neglect result in plaintiff verdicts. The median verdict is $192,977. The median verdict alleging malpractice in the treatment of a nursing home patient is $275,000.

September 12, 2006

What Kind of Malpractice Cases Can You Win?

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals today decided the informed consent medical malpractice case of Mahler v. Johns Hopkins University. The court overturned a Baltimore judge’s decision to grant a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict to Johns Hopkins and a defendant doctor.

Here, the Plaintiff underwent plastic surgery to improve the cosmetic appearance of his chin in 1993. The surgery was performed at Johns Hopkins Hospital by the Defendant surgeon. Because of that surgery, he suffered permanent disfigurement. Plaintiff argued that there was no informed consent because the Defendant surgeon did not disclose the material risks of the surgery to him. Plaintiff hired a Baltimore medical malpractice attorney, who sued the surgeon and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

This case was tried twice. The first trial ended in a verdict for the Plaintiff and an award of $50,000 in economic damages and $500,000 in non-economic damages. Interestingly, the trial judge, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Allen Schwait, believed that he had erred in allowing certain evidence at trial (and because he found it excessive as well). To remedy his error, he reduced the malpractice verdict to $112,500 ($100,000 in non-economic damages and $12,500 in economic damages).

September 11, 2006

Food Lion v. McNeill and Discovery Objection Timing

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Last month, the Maryland Court of Appeals decided Food Lion v. McNeill. The issue in McNeill is whether the testimony of an expert may be excluded at trial based on a disclosure made during discovery in response to interrogatories, that has neither been claimed nor determined to be a discovery violation, but that is challenged at trial as deficient for failing to provide information as required by Maryland Rule 2-402(f)(1)(A).

2022 Update: This case ended up being more often cited than I thought.

Facts of Food Lion v. McNeill

August 25, 2006

Settlement Value of Surgical Negligence and Improper Medication Lawsuits

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Medical malpractice plaintiffs receive a median award of $934,487 for medical malpractice claims involving surgical negligence and improper medication, according to a recent Jury Verdict Research study that looked at malpractice cases nationally in the last seven years. Plaintiffs have a 36% chance of prevailing in these cases. The following statistics are the likelihood of a successful verdict:

Failed Sterilization 35%

Catheterization 39%

August 21, 2006

Medical Malpractice Cases in Maryland: What You Must Do Before Filing Suit

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

In Maryland, to bring a medical malpractice complaint against a doctor, you must get a certificate of merit by a medical doctor that the negligent doctor breached the standard of care and caused injury to the injured plaintiff. The qualifications of the medical doctor depend on the subject of the particular claim.

But this there is no getting around this statute. The certificate of a qualified expert is a required step in pushing a malpractice case forward. If it does not follow the certificate requirement, the court will dismiss a circuit court action.

Certificate of Merit Hurdle in Maryland

August 15, 2006

Prince George’s County Judge Missouri Leads National Judicial Organization

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge William D. Missouri has been elected chair of the National Conference of State Trial Judges, which is the most prestigious organization of general jurisdiction state trial judges in the country. Judge Missouri, a former Prince George’s County prosecutor, has been on the bench in P.G. County since 1988.

August 14, 2006

New Maryland Insurance Coverage Case

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Last month, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals issued its opinion in Maryland Casualty Co. v. Hanson. The issue in the case involved whether multiple exposures to lead-based paint over multiple years constituted multiple occurrences such that the insurance policies would stack or whether the policy’s “limitation of liability” provision defining continuous exposure as one occurrence, thus limiting the amount of insurance coverage. This is a classic long-term toxic exposure case involving many insurance policies. The question is which insurance carrier(s) is/are on the risk and whether the policies stack.

The issue, in this case, is whether the continuous trigger theory applies. The continuous trigger is a relatively recent idea in the law that deals with the problem of repeated injury. Under this theory, a loss occurs for insurance coverage during any time of exposure. It is sometimes called the triple trigger because coverage is invoked in one of three ways: initial exposure, continuing exposure, or by a manifestation of loss.

In the underlying case in Maryland Casualty v. Hanson, the plaintiffs were children exposed to lead paint at a property owned by the defendant on North Central Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland. The exposure to lead-based paint was over six years, spanning several insurance policies.