Judge Gets Suspended for Having Secretary Run Real Estate Business

By Ronald V. Miller, Jr on July 16, 2009 8:44 AM | No Comments
A Philadelphia judge who used his secretary to run his real estate business will be suspended for four months without pay following a state Court of Judicial Discipline sanctions hearing yesterday.

I'm fine with the judge's sentence and I appreciate that people make mistakes.  The notion that he didn't stop to think about the fact that his secretary was doing his personal business is ridiculous.

The incredible thing is I'm amazed anyone actually called him out on this.  

There ought to be perks of power.  But the question is a matter of degree.  Certainly, it sounds like line was well crossed here. 

National Juries?

By Ronald V. Miller, Jr on June 18, 2009 11:15 AM | No Comments

Laura Dooley has posted an article titled National Juries for National Cases: Preserving Citizen Participation in Large Scale Litigation suggesting that we can save juries and deal with the problem of complex litigation at the same time by impaneling national juries.  

Defendants would love national juries because it would help in jurisdiction with bad venues.  But I'm sure folks in Kansas are going to love to come to Maryland to be part of a jury.

Lawsuit for Unnecessary Operations

By Ronald V. Miller, Jr on May 19, 2009 4:36 PM | No Comments
Two Long Island, New York doctors have been named in a medical malpractice lawsuit for performing unneeded spinal cord and brain operations on one of their patients. According to the lawsuit filed Monday, the doctors operated on the patient for conditions she did not have, leaving her in constant pain and unable to work. Both doctors named in the malpractice lawsuit have been disciplined in earlier this year.  One failed to appear for a surgery.  The other refused to stand-in in his colleague's absence.

Infection Lawsuit Settled in Orlando

By Ronald V. Miller, Jr on May 19, 2009 4:27 PM | No Comments
A Florida woman who contracted flesh-eating bacteria after giving birth in an Orlando maternity ward has settled her lawsuit against the hospital. According to the medical malpractice lawsuit, doctors tried to discharge Plaintiff despite evidence of a rash, fever, chills and other symptoms. Doctors later determined that Plaintiff had a Group A Streptococcal infection. Both of  Plaintiff's  arms and legs were amputated in order to control the infection.   Just an awful case.

Interesting fact in this case that had to help drive settlement: the nurse caring for Plaintiff refused to answer questions in deposition as to whether she know Plaintiff had an infection and if she knew how to recognize symptoms of flesh-eating bacterial infection.  How do you refuse to answer that question in a case like this?

Medical malpractice lawyers are beginning to pay more attention to staph infection cases.  A jury in Dallas awarded $17 million last month in a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) case.  MRSA is a strain of staph that is resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics that are used to treat infections. 

Lawsuit Filed in Indiana Helicopter Crash

By Ronald V. Miller, Jr on May 19, 2009 4:14 PM | No Comments
Injury lawyers on behalf of the family of a flight nurse killed in a helicopter crash in Decatur County, Indiana filed a lawsuit in Indianapolis last week.   The lawsuit seeks damages against Rolls-Royce, the helicopter's engine maker and Decatur County REMC, the utility responsible for maintaining power lines in the area, among others.   

I'm not sure exactly what the liability argument the family's injury lawyers are making.  But, apparently, maintenance records indicated the helicopter was inspected 10 days before the helicopter accident, the same day a low rumble and vibration from the rear of the helicopter had been detected. The lawsuit also claims that that Decatur County (Indiana) REMC failed to properly mark the overhead power lines for air traffic. Plaintiff's injury lawyer speculates that contact with the power lines could have caused the rotor to break.

Baltimore Lead Paint Verdict

By Ronald V. Miller, Jr on May 18, 2009 12:48 PM | No Comments
The lead paint verdicts continue to come in Baltimore City in a case almost 20 years old.   A Baltimore jury awarded $2 million to a lead-poisoning victim and her mother after finding their former landlord negligently failed to remover remove flaking and peeling lead based paint from the home.  The $1.5 million award will be reduced to $350,000 under the Maryland law capping non-economic damages in personal-injury cases. After the cap, the total award will be $850,000, according to the plaintiffs' injury attorneys. 

Plaintiff was first tested for lead poisoning when she was 19 months old in September 1992.  Her lead level was found to be 28 micrograms per deciliter, nearly three times the 10mcg/dl that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deems to be a level of concern for lead poisoning, according to the plaintiffs' injury lawyers.

Still, the verdict is impressive because even Plaintiff's experts will say you can get a lead level of 15 just by living in Baltimore City.  Of course, the Plaintiff will only get one-third of what the what the jury wanted her to get.

Chimp Attack Lawsuit

By Ronald V. Miller, Jr on May 13, 2009 3:57 PM | No Comments
A $50 million dollar lawsuit was filed against the owner of a chimpanzee.  The Plaintiff's lawsuit says the owner was 'negligent and reckless for lacking the ability to control "a wild animal with violent propensities."  The chimp starred in TV commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola,  and made an appearance on the Maury Povich Show on an "Who is the Daddy?" episode.  I made the last part up, of course. 

The accident was awful, there no question the injuries were substantial and the plaintiff may have brain damage.  I think there is some question about assumption of the risk.  Reportedly, the Plaintiff was holding a stuffed toy in front of her face to get the chops attention' attention.

Former Palm Springs Mayor Loses Lawsuit

By Ronald V. Miller, Jr on May 1, 2009 1:29 PM | No Comments

Former Palm Springs, California mayor Ron Oden lost what sounds like a minor soft tissue injury auto accident case yesterday.  The rear end car accident at issue occurred three years ago when then Mayor Oden was rear-ended in a taxi insured by Mercury Insurance Group.  

Plaintiff's injury lawyer was apparently surprised when the insurance company brought in a doctor to testify which is, of course, a completely bizarre thing to be surprised by in a trial with an insurance company.   Plaintiff's lawyer said, ""What they (the defense) did was brought out an A-bomb to swat a fly."  

Okay.  That's true.  But are you really surprised an insurance company would overdefend a personal injury jury trial?   This is worse than the frog's surprise when the scorpion bit him.

Casey Aldridge Car Accident

By Ronald V. Miller, Jr on April 29, 2009 8:02 AM | No Comments

Casey Aldridge, the father of Jamie Lynn Spears's infant daughter, was injured in a car accident early Sunday morning.  No one has offered any information on how the car accident occured.  Mr. Aldridge hospitalized at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, according to sources. There are mixed reports on the extent and the scope of the injuries. One report was that Mr. Aldridge had a "cracked skull" but his injuries are not as serious as originally believed.

It is easy to get annoyed at reading the news of celebrity (okay, not really) car accidents.  But the reality is people feel close to people the read about in People magazine so hopefully Mr. Aldridge is okay but it serves as a reminder to everyone to drive a little safer.

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