Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog

Jury Verdict Research conducted a study of its database of verdicts and found that the average jury award in a bicycle accident case is $279,970. Underscoring how high jury verdicts distort the average verdict, the overall median money awarded in bike accident cases is $50,000. Moreover, Plaintiff's only prevail in 41% of the cases that go to trial.

I think the relatively low success rate of bicycle accident cases at trial is a general bias against bikes that may be even stronger than the bias against motorcycles. Many jurors, who typically drive cars, simply think bicycles shouldn't be on the road.

Obviously, the big problem with bicycle accidents as opposed to car and truck accidents is the lack of a strong steel foundation designed to withstand an impact. But the low hanging fruit to reduce the extent of injuries in bicycle accidents is simply wearing a helmet. The most serious bicycle injuries - and there were 630 fatal bike accidents in this country last year - usually involve a head injury. Wearing a bike helmet is estimated to reduce head injury risk by 85 percent. Maryland has a bike helmet law for those under 16 years-old but no law for adults.

I think there should be a mandatory bike helmet law in Maryland. To make my point, I'm going to slide down what libertarians call the slippery slope of paternalism. I really do appreciate their concern about creating (or furthering, as they would argue) a nanny state. But... that said... we already have helmet laws for motorcycles and seat belt laws in Maryland. A bike helmet law on public roads just makes sense because it would save lives at the cost of such a minor imposition.

Fans of the Maryland cap on non-economic damages scored a landslide win in front of the Maryland high court today. The court affirmed the constitutionality of the cap in DRD v. Freed, calling it "embedded in the bedrock of Maryland law" during its 17 year run.

There is lots more to say about this opinion but I do not think it is going to happen first thing Monday morning.

• More on the underlying facts
• Maryland Non-economic damage cap (in non-malpractice cases)
• Connor Cares Foundation

WJZ reports that Maryland state health regulators are investigating another hospital suspected of performing unnecessary procedures. I think the assumption is that this involoves stents but little detail has been provided.

"We've asked the Office of Health Care Quality to do an on-site review, a utilization review of another hospital. If I wanted to name the hospital, I would have named it in the report. That's an ongoing investigation and at this point, we are maintaining that confidentiality," said Maryland Health Department Secretary John Colmers.

In other words, I have a secret and I won't tell you what it is. I hate it when people do that. But it should be more than a little annoying to the patient who is getting ready to undergo the unnecessary procedure at Hospital A. I realize you don't want to slander the hospital if your investigation turns up no solid evidence. But why bring it up in the first place? I'm no insider and there could be a very good reason why the health department is approaching it this way. But I can't figure out what it could be.

There is comedy, there is good comedy, and then there is this first posted comment to the WJZ article:

I have a lot of sympathy for doctors-our culture of 'jackpot justice' has put them in an untenable position. They are forced to perform every test in the book to guard against malpractice suits, and then are sued for performing the tests. The best thing this country could do is limit the number of JD's granted each year.

Setting aside the merits of the position, is this really the best time to make the "jackpot justice" argument? After missing a deadline on a key assignment, it is probably not the best time to ask for a raise. But, sometimes, the man with the hammer sees everything as a nail.

We now have 700 Facebook Fans on our Miller & Zois facebook page. If you are not yet a fan, click on the preceding link.

There is a verdict in Metro Verdicts Monthly in Prince George’s County that I’m amazed has received no media coverage. The Plaintiff, a 17 year old baseball pitcher, received a $52,703 verdict for the right arm fracture he suffered while throwing a pitch in a baseball game.

Two questions come to mind: who would you sue and what would be the cause of action? Apparently, Plaintiff’s lawyer found answers to both of these questions. The jury found that the tournament organizer, Baseball Players Association, built the pitcher’s mound too big and too deep.

Defendants argued what you would expect them to argue: the mound was fine, the plaintiff just threw the ball really hard and these things happen. Defendant’s lawyer apparently also argued that there was no proof that Plaintiff had, as he claimed, a scholarship offer at Delaware Tech and that he failed to follow his doctor's orders for rehabilitation.

Continue reading "Pitcher Gets Verdict for Bad Pitcher's Mound" »

On our website, we break down virtually every jurisdiction in Maryland and analyze virtually all of the insurance companies our accident lawyers deal with on a regular basis in Maryland car accident cases.

If you have anything you think we should add or subtract from our analysis, let us know.

Medical malpractice lawyers are just looking for a deep pocket to sue. Every time something bad happens to anyone, a lawsuit is filed. It is always only about the money.

Largely, these generalizations are just plain false. Usually, in a malpractice case, the doctor has insurance so the pockets are deep enough. Here in Maryland where we have caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases, the pockets are almost always deep enough. Study after study has shown that only a very small percentage of malpractice that results in a wrongful death leads to a lawsuit or settlement. (I think I saw a study that said 4% but don’t hold me to that. Both sides of the tort reform issue argue that true victims don’t receive adequate compensation.) And, while there is no question that medical malpractice lawsuits are about money, cynics would be amazed at how often the desire to appropriately assign liability is more important to the client than how much money they recover from the lawsuit.

Yet, a significant percentage of people in the country would agree with the first paragraph of this post instead of the second. I really believe that a big reason for this is the inferences people draw from what happens when something happens to someone famous.

Why is it that every time something happens to a celebrity there is a lawyer ready and willing to file a lawsuit no matter how ridiculous the circumstances are? I know exactly why. Lawyers enjoy the status and notoriety they get when they represent a celebrity.

How do I know this? I’ve fallen prey to it myself. Ten years ago, when I was just starting a plaintiffs’ personal injury practice after being a defense lawyer, I filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the New England Patriots. The claim against the Patriots settled and I believe it was a meritorious claim. Did I enjoy it when ESPN and CNN picked up the story? I can tell you I’m far past that point in my life now, but then? Yeah, I did. After that, I handled other high profile media cases that brought attention to myself that, I have to admit, I would never have gotten involved in if I was not (1) flattered to have been asked and (2) the plaintiff was not famous or the case was not high profile.

Like I said, I’m far past that now. I just want to be the best lawyer I can be and get the best results possible for our clients and I certainly don’t want attention for the mere filing of a lawsuit which is the ultimate Paris Hilton/Kim Kardashian “get notoriety for doing absolutely nothing” without the consolation prize of at least being very attractive while doing it.

Continue reading "Malpractice Lawsuits of the Rich and Famous" »

The election result in the Anne Arundel County judicial race is still apparently too close to call. In this goofy process, all three candidates are on the ballot for both parties in the primary with the top two advancing from each party. So, theoretically, all three can advance to the general election. Here is what we do know:

Let's assume that Judge Jarashow can advance and the candidates are merged together for the election in November. The merged vote count from the primary:

Kiessling: 44,263

Asti: 35,172

Jarashow: 30,197

Continue reading "Anne Arundel Race for Judge: Election Results" »

Hometown Annapolis has a good editorial on the details of the upcoming election between judges Ronald Jarashow and Laura Kiessling and Alison Asti. The editorial voices a similar sentiment to the one I expressed here last week, endorsing Jarashow and Kiessling. The editorial also underscores the insanity of the process we employ to elect trial judges. Even if you believe trial judges should be elected, you simply cannot believe that the primary/general election system we have in Maryland for judicial elections makes any logical sense.

The Centers for Disease Control released a study that provides a wealth of information that puts the risks and costs of car, truck and motorcycle accidents in this country in context, particularly with respect to teenage drivers:

• Vehicle accidents cost $100 billion in medical care and productivity losses every year. Almost 4% of the economic losses involve children.
• Every 10 seconds, a victim of a car accident is treated in an emergency room for accident related injuries. Almost 40,000 people die in accidents every year.
• Not surprisingly, motorcycle accidents cause the most significant injuries. Motorcycle accidents comprise 6% of the total but 12% of the overall costs. Pedestrians and bicyclists are in a similar boat, causing 5% of the motor vehicle-related deaths and injuries and 10% of the economic costs.
• Teenagers are four times more likely to be involved in auto accidents. New rules such as driving curfews and other restrictions are helping reduce the number of car accidents involving teenagers. But a few smart rules don't flip a number like "4 times as many." The only answer is to change the law that gives teenagers their licenses. But there is no real inertia for that because (1) it has always been this way, (2) it is more convenient for parents than having to continue to chauffer their kids, and (3) teenagers have jobs and their inability to get to their jobs would have economic repercussions. Oh, and yes, changing the law to not allow teenagers to drive could and would probably start an armed revolution. But the fact that nine teenagers a day die in car accidents - most of which are the teen driver's fault - is a bitter price to pay. I don't know of a single reasonable person who supports raising the driving age to 20. But still. It is a bitter price we pay. (And, yes, I know I just said that twice.)
• Male teenage drivers are twice as likely to be killed in crashes as females. This is another "what do you do about this?" statistic. We allow for insurance companies to charge higher premiums for teenage boys. Why can't we make different driving ages for boys and girls? Oh, forget it, I guess I know why we can't.
• One in every three teenage deaths is the result of a motor vehicle crash.

Continue reading "Car Accident Statistics from the CDC" »

We have started a moot court resources section of our website to help student mock trial competitors get ready for competitions. My wife coached a moot court team at Severna Park High School a few years ago that made it to the state semifinals. She has some good ideas on items we can add to make the site more useful. We will be posting additional information in the coming weeks. If there is anything you believe we should add, let us know.

There is a Maryland Daily Record article out on our $1.1 million dollar verdict in the malpractice verdict in Baltimore City a few weeks ago.

Howard County traffic accident police reports where the injuries are not fatal are now available on-line. Only motor vehicle accident police reports will be made available on-line. To get the report, you have to pay $5 and certify that you were involved in the accident or you are an accident attorney or insurance company representing someone involved.

You can get more information here.