An injury caused by a collapsed soccer goal has led the Maryland Supreme Court to reconsider the state’s longstanding doctrine of contributory negligence. Four states and the District of Columbia still follow this doctrine, which holds that plaintiffs may not recover damages in a lawsuit if their own negligence contributed…
After pleading guilty to charges of drunk driving, a Vermont man received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence in late August. One passenger died in the automobile accident that led to the criminal charges, in which the man was allegedly driving with more than twice the legal blood alcohol level. The accident…
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the derailment of a freight train, which occurred in Ellicott City, Maryland on the night of Monday, August 20, 2012. Two teenagers who were sitting near the tracks died as a result of the derailment. The accident left train cars and coal…
A trial court dismissed a man’s medical malpractice suit against three doctors, ruling that he did not file a certificate of qualified expert (“Certificate”) that comported with state law. The plaintiff in Hinebaugh v. Garrett County Memorial Hospital, et al appealed on both the substance of the dismissal and on…
In a suit brought by a professional football team and its insurer challenging a decision by the Maryland Workers’ Compensation Commission (the “Commission”), the Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of a former football player who sustained career-ending injuries during a game. The court ruled in Pro-Football, Inc.…
Interstate 97 stretches just under eighteen miles between Annapolis and Baltimore. Exit 10B on the northbound side of the highway feeds onto Veterans Highway in Millersville. It is also the point where a driver entered the wrong side of the highway in January 2012, resulting in a head-on collision that…
A federal lawsuit claims that multiple Pennsylvania State Police officers physically and verbally assaulted a man, both during a traffic stop and while he was in police custody. Video from a police cruiser dashboard camera reportedly shows both verbal and physical abuse by troopers, and the man says that police…
A woman in Minnesota is suing several registered nurses (RNs) over the death of her son, who died while in the custody of the Minnesota Department of Corrections (MDOC). The lawsuit alleges that a nurse employed by the prison withheld emergency medical care from her son, who had a history…
A U.S. District Judge in Pittsburgh has denied a plaintiff’s motion to certify a class in a products liability lawsuit. In Haggart v. Endogastric Solutions, Inc., the plaintiff claimed that a medical device manufacturer failed to warn of certain risks associated with a device used to treat his gastroesophageal condition.…
A standoff involving a suspected criminal, his hostage, and a police officer in March 2012 ended with the suspect dead, the hostage rescued, and the officer hailed as a hero. In an unusual twist, the woman who was held hostage that evening has indicated that she plans to sue the…