Maryland Accident Lawyer Blog

To maximize the value of our cases, we try to get inside the minds of car accident insurance claims adjusters. The Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog has some thoughts on this.

Barron Hilton got hit with a $4.9 million verdict after he hit a gas station attendant while he was driving drunk.

The news media identifies Barron Hilton as "the brother of Paris Hilton." Crazy, right? His great grandfather builds an empire to the point where everyone knows the name Hilton yet he is identified as "Paris' brother."

Anyway, Barron did something he shouldn't do, namely get drunk and hurt someone really bad. His blood-alcohol level registered .14%. He was 18 at the time. You deserve a pass for almost anything at 18. But someone is permanently disabled because he went out and got wasted. So senseless. His driver couldn't take him home?

Not mentioned: how much insurance coverage there was. Obviously, there are assets behind the claim but I wonder if the insurance company tendered the limits. Even the ultra rich rarely have car insurance policies that exceed $2 million.

The game show "Cash Cab" is a cute game show. I used to watch it back when I watched "Blind Date." The show's premise revolves around the driver playing a quiz show host to his passengers. By definition, that guy is a distracted driver.

CNN now reports that the "Cash Cab" struck and killed an elderly pedestrian in Vancouver. (Apparently, the show has a Canadian version.) The driver, a producer of the show, was returning the car to a storage facility after filming finished for the day when he hit the 61-year-old who died at a local hospital from the injuries suffered in the car/pedestrian accident.

I guess more details about this accidental death will come out. It sounds like my narrative may be false: it might not have been during filming when you would think the driver would be most distracted. But, ultimately, doesn't "Cash Cab" have an "oh, when we were so young and naive" vibe to it? Now we know with greater lucidity in the cell phone/text messaging era that distracted driving kills. "Cash Cab" really should change to a safer premise - the driver of the cash cab is just the driver - or they should kill the show.

In accident cases, our lawyers make sure we know what expert testimony defendants are will see at trial. One weapon in our discovery arsenal is a good expert interrogatory:

Identify any and all experts you intend to call as witnesses, and whose reports you intend to mention and/or introduce at trial or in any Motion, including his/her area of expertise, and identify and attach to your Answers any and all written reports prepared by said experts, and indicate the content of any and all opinions reached by said experts and the factual basis for each such opinion and the amount of compensation paid to each such expert.

In its response, State Farm says, "Hey, cool your jets, we will produce experts pursuant to the discovery order." Technically, State Farm's answer is not satisfactory. This interrogatory, served with the Complaint, is due within 30 days of service. But there is the rule and there is the way things are done. Filing a motion to compel to answer an expert interrogatory before the scheduling order requires expert designations would be just too ticky-tacky. It is a tell to State Farm and the judge hearing the motion that you are more interested in fighting for the sake of fighting than really trying to engage in legitimate discovery.

So, we wait for the expert deadline. Well, here is what we get from State Farm.

Seriously? First, anyone who has ever cut and pasted a document knows that this is a cut and paste document. The chance that any of these experts know anything about the Plaintiff approaches zero.

Continue reading " State Farm's Expert Designations " »

A critical component of damages in wrongful death car accident cases is loss of services of the survivors from the victim. Loss of services is a dumb legal expression we would do best to get rid of. Solatium damages is an awful phrase, too. But at least it does not imply in the definition that the loss is pretty much someone doing less for you. (Noneconomic pain and suffering damages is a little better, I guess. We will use that.)

In Maryland, we describe these wrongful death damages to a jury as "mental anguish, emotional pain and suffering, loss of society, companionship, comfort, protection, marital care, parental care, filial care, attention, advice, counsel, training, guidance, or education where applicable." Most states use similar strange language but the gist of it is: what has really been lost - calculating everything - from the death of this person?

Here are the statistics nationally on noneconomic pain and suffering jury awards:

Continue reading " Calculating Pain and Suffering Damages " »

I wrote a blog post this morning on the Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog about the Maryland Court of Special Appeals' opinion in Tollenger v. State. Plaintiff's got a reversal of a summary judgment entry to the State of Maryland in a wrongful death claim that involved the failure to erect a Jersey Wall on a bridge in Harford County.

So at some point, Plaintiff will get a trial date. The wheels of justice can churn slowly: this accident happened 9 years ago.

Last October, a little known new law with a catchy name - the “Move Over Law" - went into effect in Maryland. The law tries to deal with a problem that won't go away: the safety risk in emergency situations to police, fire, emergency medical services personnel, and, not insignificantly, at least to me - the rest of us.

This new Maryland law requires drivers approaching from the rear of an emergency vehicle using visual signals while stopped on a highway to, if possible, “move over” one or more lanes. If moving to another lane away from the stopped emergency vehicle is not possible, the law requires drivers to ‘slow to a reasonable and prudent speed that is safe for existing weather, road, and vehicular or pedestrian traffic conditions.'

I don't see a ton of tickets being generated from this new law. But, theoretically, violation of the “move over law" is a primary offense with a fine of $110 and one point. If the violation contributes to a traffic crash, the fine is $150 and three points.

Like most of us, I panic a bit when an emergency vehicle with a siren comes zooming past. But the key, clearly, is to get out of the way.

• Several Baltimore police officers were steering drivers who had been in accidents to a towing company from which they got kickbacks.
• SCOTUS term not so good for consumers and accident victims. Gasp.

Should traffic ticket guilty pleas be admissible in a civil case? Most courts, including Maryland, believe that it is unfair to defendants in civil cases to allow traffic ticket guilty pleas to hover over an accident case because tickets are - for better or worse - not a big deal to most people. Maybe the defendant pled guilty because he didn't feel like presenting a defense or taking the day off work. Or maybe the pain of sitting through all of the idiotic arguments of silly people in traffic court was just not their cup of tea. (Has anyone actually seen a decent argument made in traffic court? Does such footage even exist?)

Continue reading " Are Traffic Ticket Guilty Pleas Admissible in Accident Cases? " »