A jury awarded more than $5 million to a man who suffered severe injuries when the ceiling of a rented storage unit collapsed on top of him, trapping him inside. The plaintiff in Wolkoff v. Sunshine Storage, Inc., et al, No. CACE09014543 (Fla. 17th Cir.), claimed that the defendants failed…
A group of households in Baltimore County, Maryland recently settled their lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp. for property damage and other injuries allegedly resulting from a massive gasoline leak near their homes in 2006. Jury verdicts against the oil company totaled more than $1.6 billion, but the Maryland Court of…
A lawsuit alleges that sheriff’s deputies negligently placed a locksmith in an unreasonably dangerous situation by bringing him along on an eviction without warning him of specific known risks, resulting in his death. Engert, et al v. Stanislaus County, et al, No. 1:13-cv-00126, 2nd am. complaint (E.D. Ca., Oct. 23,…
Maryland state law imposes a cap on noneconomic damages in all personal injury and wrongful death cases. This applies to “nonpecuniary” damages like pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, physical impairment, and loss of consortium. MD Cts & Jud Pro Code §§ 3-2A-01(h), 11-108(a)(2). Advocates of damage caps, commonly known…
A series of two separate occasions of death by carbon monoxide poisoning in a hotel room provides an overview of a complicated web of potential liability. While it appears as though lawsuits have yet to be filed on behalf of an older couple and young boy who both died on…
The U.S. United States District Court, W.D. Virginia, Danville Division reached a decision this year in a personal injury lawsuit arising out of the Federal Tort Claims Act, which involved a U.S. Postal Service employee allegedly running over a woman’s foot. In the case, Pannell v. US, Dist. Ct., WD…
A recent District of Columbia federal district court case, Bell v. BUILDERS, Dist. Ct., Dist. Col. (2013), gives a helpful overview of the concept of Assumption of Risk as it relates to personal injury claims. Construction had begun in February of 2009, and plaintiff elected to remain in her house…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit recently made a decision that, while technically routine, has a substantial impact on the individual plaintiff. The case, LITTLEPAIGE v. U.S., Ct. App. 4th Cir. (2013), was based on the alleged negligence in the care the plaintiff’s husband received at a…
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled earlier this year on a products liability case that attempted to exclude expert testimony regarding defective product design, and implicate the defense of “assumption of risk” in a personal injury case. The decision, Wilson Sporting Goods Co. v. Hickox, 59 A. 3d…
Two lawsuits were filed in recent months alleging that a Texas neurosurgeon caused two patients to suffer serious injuries following the surgeries that he performed on them. The first lawsuit, which was filed in June, stated that the doctor was supposed to perform a specialized procedure on the plaintiff, but…