Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog

January 12, 2021

States with Extended Statutes of Limitations for Child Sex Abuse Lawsuits

Over the last few years, victims of child sexual abuse at the hands of clergy members in Maryland have been coming forward to hold their abusers (and the church) accountable. Our lawyers handle these cases in Maryland and throughout the country.

A groundswell of public support has developed around these victims, and for obvious reasons. The sexual abuse of young children is universally reviled by all cultures. Just the thought of a child being sexually abused by a priest or pastor can send chills down the spine. The victims of childhood sexual abuse are left permanently scarred and damaged in a very real way.

The wave of abuse allegations and public attention has prompted a movement in favor of holding the clergy abusers and their churches accountable. For the individual clergy members who committed the abuse, accountability often means criminal charges. For the church institutions that allow the abuse to happen, however, accountability has come in the form of civil lawsuits and monetary damages. Over the last decade, religious organizations have paid out over $3 billion in clergy sexual abuse lawsuits.

January 12, 2021

Does a Manufacturer Has a Nondelegable Duty to Design a Safe Product?

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Does a product manufacturer has a nondelegable duty to design a safe product or can they kick that can down to the end-user?

Said differently, can a product manufacturer shift the responsibility for making safety choices to the end-user of that product?

Okay, this is looking a little bit like a push poll, right? I’m trying to lead you to the answer that I want. So maybe the question, phrased least generously to the plaintiff, is does a manufacturer have an obligation to install optional safety equipment?

December 16, 2020

How Truck Insurance Works for Truck Accident Injury and Death Claims

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Tractor-trailers are typically the heaviest vehicles on the road. This makes big rig trucks very dangerous. Serious injuries and fatalities are more likely in truck-related collisions than in accidents involving standard passenger vehicles only. This is why large commercial trucks are required to carry “high-limit” liability insurance coverage. But the limits are not high enough to give truck accident victims in many cases.

Common Causes for Big Rig Truck Accidents

Accidents with big trucks can happen for all the same reasons as any other auto accident. But the unique nature of big trucks and the commercial trucking industry make certain types of accidents more common. Common accident causes that are unique to the trucking industry include:

December 10, 2020

3 Important Facts About Wrongful Death Lawsuits in Maryland

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The untimely death of a family member or someone you love can be devastating, both emotionally and economically. This type of loss can be even harder to accept when it was caused by someone else’s negligence. Fortunately, our civil legal system gives you the ability to do something about this by filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

The Maryland wrongful death lawyers at Miller & Zois help the survivors hold people accountable for the death of their family member and get financial compensation for their loss. Wrongful death lawsuits are often misunderstood, and our office gets a lot of questions about this topic. In this post, we will go over three key facts that you need to know about Maryland wrongful death lawsuits.

Definition of “Wrongful Death” Under Maryland Law

December 8, 2020

Zantac Cancer Lawsuits — New January 2021 Update

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Our lawyers are now investigating Zantac lawsuits in all 50 states. The evidence seems clear to our attorneys that Zantac is causing many types of cancer. Zantac lawsuits are now consolidated in a class-action federal court in Florida. So, if you file a Zantac claim in federal court, your lawsuit will wind up in Florida. There is a widespread belief among mass tort attorneys that these MDL class action claims could be worth billions of dollars.

Zantac is a hugely popular drug that millions of people in the U.S. use to treat heartburn, acid reflux, and similar conditions. In September 2019, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announcing that dangerously high levels of a human carcinogen called NDMA have been found in Zantac.

This means that millions of people who have been taking Zantac may have been regularly ingesting a chemical notorious for causing cancer. Moreover, drug manufacturers may have known about this risk. And said nothing.

December 2, 2020

St. Luke Institute v. Jones: New Maryland Mental Health Discovery Opinion

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

Defense lawyers are often obsessed with getting the victim’s mental health records. They rarely bear the juicy fruit they seek. But this does not deter them.

In St. Luke Institute Inc. v. Jones (No. 62, Sept. Term 2019), the Maryland Court of Appeals laid out a step-by-step roadmap for when and how litigants can get confidential mental health records in civil discovery.

The process for getting confidential mental health records in civil discovery are now as follows:

December 2, 2020

Top 5 Most Common Personal Injury Cases

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

My law firm limits its law practice to personal injury cases on behalf of victims. We started our firm in 2002, on a shoestring, a wing, and a prayer, we had potentially lucrative opportunities to jump out to handle other types of case.

Was I tempted? I was tempted. But personal injury is our true wheelhouse and we stayed there. But over the last 18 years, we have handled many different types of personal injury cases.

What is personal injury? The term “personal injury case” is sort of an umbrella phrase that refers to any type of tort lawsuit in which a plaintiff has been physically injured and is suing someone for compensation. There are many different types or categories of personal injury claims under this umbrella. They range from very simple slip and fall cases to extremely complex medical malpractice cases.

November 30, 2020

Wearing the Wrong Footwear While Driving May Cause an Accident

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

here is no law in Maryland requiring shoes or prohibiting certain types of footwear while driving. However, driving while barefoot or wearing shoes such as high heels or flip-flops can be unsafe. Improper footwear affects your ability to apply pressure to your pedals or pivot between them. They can even cause you to hit both pedals at once.

Shoes to Avoid While Driving

You should avoid wearing the following types of shoes while driving. These shoes can impair your ability to control your vehicle’s pedals.

November 30, 2020

Retaliation After Sexual Harassment Claims in Maryland

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

The reason women do not report sexual harassment is their fear of retaliation from the harasser and her employer. This is particularly true when the harasser has a position of power within the organization.

Juries are made up mostly of people in the workplace. So they get it. Jurors often side with the victim in discrimination cases where there is evidence of retaliation for reporting sexual harassment and the organization did nothing to stop it.

There are two types of workplace harassment under federal law: sexual harassment and retaliatory harassment. This post focus on retaliation.

October 13, 2020

New Opinion: Baltimore Police Brutality Within the Scope of Employment

by Ronald V. Miller, Jr.

States are split on whether tort liability may be imposed on local governments for police brutality/excessive force/misconduct cases. Some states permit the imposition of tort liability for their police officers’ intentional actions while on the job. Some refuse to impose tort liability, arguing that such conduct is not within the scope of employment. The Maryland Court of Appeals issued a new opinion that stakes out Maryland’s position on this issue with newfound clarity.

At issue in Baltimore City Police Dept. v. Potts, 468 Md. 265 (2020) was criminal misconduct by Baltimore City police officers could be considered actions within the scope of their employment under the Local Government Tort Claims Act (“LGTCA”). The misconduct here was next level. Stopping suspects without probable cause, assaulting them, and planting handguns on suspects to give them grounds for arrest.

Maryland’s Court of Appeals held that these actions were within the scope of the officer’s employment because they were done in furtherance of police business and incidental to authorized police conduct. Therefore, the Police Department could be held liable under the LGTCA.