Publications
PA Supreme Court reverses Superior Court, holds that trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying motion for mistrial based on single, unanswered question proposed to expert witness.
This medical malpractice case involved allegations of failure to diagnose a complete tear of the plaintiff’s adductor tendon.
Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, Apri
PA Superior Court rules that issue of whether medical providers provided medical care and owed duty to minor plaintiff was question for the jury.
The case involves a medical malpractice action by the parents of a minor plaintiff. Specifically, the plaintiffs filed suit against the defendant after their child died in the ER at a co-defendant hospital.
Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, Apri
A plaintiff has no obligation to choose one theory of liability, thereby excluding other theories.
The plaintiff alleged an anesthesiologist, during a surgical procedure, incorrectly inserted into the carotid artery the central line, which allegedly caused the plaintiff to sustain a stroke.
Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, Apri
Courts will not give the benefit of doubt, even in the face of a pandemic, to excuse lack of good faith effort to serve a complaint.
The plaintiff alleged that the defendant’s nursing staff failed to adequately treat his pressure wounds. The plaintiff filed a complaint on September 23, 2020, and failed to serve the defendant within 30 days after filing the complaint.
Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, Apri
PA Supreme Court rules that doctrine of in pari delicto bars claims brought against pharmacy on behalf of decedent who overdosed.
The plaintiff’s decedent and the decedent’s friend jointly attempted to obtain opiates. The decedent’s friend obtained them by picking up his mother’s Fentanyl prescription from the defendant-pharmacy under false pretenses.
Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, Apri
The adequacy of monitoring procedures are irrelevant and insufficient to defeat motion for summary judgment when there is no evidence that defendant had notice of hazardous condition.
The plaintiff, a business invitee, slipped and fell on a wet substance while she ascended stairs in the lobby of the defendant-hotel.
Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, Apri
PA Superior Court again affirms a waiver contained within gym member agreement is enforceable.
The plaintiff, a member of the defendant-gym, slipped and fell while descending stairs from the pool to the locker room of the gym during a power outage. The plaintiff raised negligence claims against the defendant-gym.
Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, Apri
CT Superior Court sets relevant baseline for pain and suffering from head and back symptoms absent any traumatic brain injury diagnosis or surgical intervention.
The District Court, acting as the finder of fact, was tasked with assessing the value of the plaintiff’s alleged injuries in an uninsured motorist action by the plaintiff against her insurer where liability was conceded.
Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, Apri
DE Superior Court denies motion for summary judgment seeking relief based on emergency doctrine when evidence showed driver had been awake/operating vehicle for 27 hours.
Transportation companies are often successful in utilizing emergency doctrine defenses, and this matter involved an actual “State of Emergency” due to winter weather.
Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, Apri
Federal District Court grants series of Daubert motions in trucking accident case, severely impairing plaintiffs’ damages case.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys often create pyramids of expert testimony wherein each expert essentially “piggybacks” off other experts, although no expert actually establishes a true foundation for their opinions, while also relying on treating physicians
Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, Apri