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Personal Injury Law

Insurance Defense Blog

Civil litigation defense in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
By Dave Stratton

Post Frequency: 0.2/day

Last Entry: September 05, 2009 at 22:08:55

On personnel evaluations

Posted on September 05, 2009
A fitness report doesn't need to be flowery or verbose to be effective, as this one by George S. Patton shows: Download Omar Bradley fitrep

Reviewing your law firm network security - a framework

Posted on August 25, 2009
I was asked by our managing partner to outline possible steps to enhance our network security, and I thought I would share them more widely. I. At the individual work station level 1. Use stronger passwords for system login, and...

Failure to order complete trial transcript results in dismissal of Virginia appeal of $8.3 million verdict

Posted on April 21, 2009
A simple clerical error -- failing to order the complete trial transcript -- resulted in the dismissal of the Virginia appeal of a $8.3 million verdict and also spawned two other lawsuits. These events and their consequences are worth reviewing,...

Defamation per se in Virginia arising from summary of a judicial opinion

Posted on April 11, 2009
In Vaile v. Willick, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53619 (W.D. Va. July 14, 2008), a law student's defamation action against two lawyers survived the defendants' motion for summary judgment. The defendants practiced family law in Nevada, and represented the plaintiff...

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Recent legal malpractice cases

Posted on April 08, 2009
I have blogged about a bunch of recent legal malpractice cases here.

Protective Order to allow ex parte communications by defense counsel with treating physicians

Posted on March 17, 2009
As the attached order shows, in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, it is possible to obtain such an order. This one was obtained by Farrell & Gunderson. .Download Retchin - Order Permitting Ex Parte Communications

Medical research on the internet

Posted on September 25, 2008
Thanks to Bespacific.com for the link to a fine up-to-date article about medical research on the internet. The article itself is here. My only criticism of it is that I don't think it covers the British medical sites. However, in...

Selected law school websites

Posted on September 21, 2008
Regional Law School Sites Description Georgetown University Law Center Wide array of internet links, attractively organized, but takes some time to drill down. American University Catholic University Useful links for internet research. George Washington University Most notably, at this site...

Employment Law

Posted on September 21, 2008
Resource Description EEOC site New regulations, etc. U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board Recent decisions and searchable database of decisions Findlaw Law Journal Extra See the employment page National Employment Lawyers Association ABA Law and Employment Law Section Disability and the...

Insurance websites

Posted on September 21, 2008
The following are insurance-related links of interest to us. Site What's There Reinsurance Association of America You can order their directory of arbitrators National Association of Insurance Commissioners Keep abreast of regulatory developments. Captive Insurers Organization for captive insurers and...

Regional government websites

Posted on September 21, 2008
District of Columbia Sites What's There D.C. Government's Home Page Links to online agencies; contact information for all government agencies Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs Where one can apply and pay for, and receive, 18 different business licenses, and...

Weather

Posted on September 21, 2008
Resource Description Weather.com Weather forecasts NOAA Historical Weather Data Find out if it was snowing the day the plaintiff said it was Accuweather.com another weather site

Medical research

Posted on September 21, 2008
Medical Research Sites Description American Medical Association Collection of scientific and educational resources. Searchable database of virtually every U.S. physician Other Physician Directories Links to other physician directories Medical Schools Links to medical schools Medical texts and treatises Links to...

Links to courts

Posted on September 21, 2008
District of Columbia Courts-- Superior Court of the District of Columbia United States District Court for the District of Columbia District of Columbia Court of Appeals Unites States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Virginia Courts --...

4th Circuit adopts mandatory electronic filing

Posted on August 02, 2008
The Fourth Circuit has adopted mandatory electronic filing as of June 1, 2008. Register here. I wonder how this is going to change the appellate process, and how it is going to affect the business of the printing companies who...

Graves Amendment reviewed

Posted on July 27, 2008
The Graves Amendment is a federal statute that essentially abolished vicarious liability of rental car companies for the negligent driving of renters. The Graves Amendment stated, in pertinent part, as follows: "a) In general. An owner of a motor vehicle...

Discovery of electronically stored information (ESI)

Posted on July 21, 2008
I. Victor Stanley, Inc. v. Creative Pipe, Inc ., 2008 U.S. Dist. Lexis 42025 (D. Md. May 29, 2008) Held: That assertions of a/c privilege and work product immunity regarding 165 electronic documents were waived by the voluntary production of...

The Changing Legal Profession

Posted on July 20, 2008
A couple of good articles have come to my attention about the changing legal profession. First, there is a good retrospective paper available as part of the "Virtual Law Library" on the D.C. Bar website: The Changing Legal Profession, by...

Impact of Medicare liens on settlements

Posted on May 01, 2008
An article on Medicare Reimbursement Problems was recently published in For the Defense. One of the authors has a copy of the article posted on his firm website. The article details the issues, but unfortunately no easy solution is offered....

DC Superior Court to fast track auto cases

Posted on September 19, 2007
The DC Superior Court is implementing new fast track Scheduling Orders this fall for car accident cases only. The fast track is identified as "V" for "vehicle." Key changes: 1. For all car accident cases, the Pretrial Date and the Mediation Date will be set at the Initial Status Conference...

Recent changes to D.C. Superior Court Rules 5 and 16

Posted on September 05, 2007
SCR 5 has been changed with regard to when a Certificate Regarding Discovery is to be filed. Now, it is only to be filed when a motion relating to discovery is filed, and the certificate is to detail all the discovery to date as of that time. SCR 16 has been changed to make mandatory the attendance at pretrial conferences any persons whose presence is necessary to settle a case, unless excused...

Bell Atlantic v Twombly -- the death of notice pleading?

Posted on July 27, 2007
Ted Frank at Point of Law was early to recognize the import of the May 21, 2007 decision in Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (2007). A longer look at the decision was taken in Dodson, Pleading Standards After Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 93 Va...

Checklist for E-Filings in DC Superior Court

Posted on May 10, 2007
Tips recently provided from the DC Superior Court for successful e-filing: � I have the proper full case number and judge having checked at www.dccourts.gov/pa � If I am filing in response to opposing counsel?s filing, I have checked my eService Inbox to make sure the court clerk accepted the opposing counsel?s filing before I eFile � I have typed ?/s/? and the filing attorney?s name, applied an imaged signature, or printed the document, had it signed and scanned � I have named my documents appropriately on my computer (i...

Liability of DC Halfway House For Acts of Former Resident

Posted on May 06, 2007
In Smith v. Hope Village, Inc., No. 05-633 (RBW)(D.D.C. Apr. 12, 2007), the district court denied the defendant's motion for summary judgment, in which the defendant had argued in part that, as a matter of law, a halfway house owes no duty to unknown parties with whom it has no relationship for harm caused by an offender previously housed at the halfway house approximately five months prior to the offender's harmful act...

DC Bar's Virtual Law Library - Law of Lawyering

Posted on May 06, 2007
The DC Bar's website is sporting a "Virtual Library" these days. Most significantly, it includes a lengthy treatise on the Law of Lawyering, courtesy of the law firm of Covington & Burling, described as follows:This publication, written by D...

The 30 day period for judicial review of a MD WCC award is not extended by three days for mailing

Posted on April 06, 2007
In Chance v. WMATA, No. 240 (In the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, April 4, 2007), the Court held that the 30 day period to file a petition for judicial review under LE Section 9-737 starts running from the date of the mailing of the Commission's order, and that the 30 day period is NOT extended by Md...

Settlements and the Medicare Secondary Payer Act

Posted on March 08, 2007
In this very confusing area, the best overview I have read so far is Dampf, Mediations & Settlements: Applicability of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act, Louisiana Bar J., Vol. 54, No. 3 (Nov. 2006). It is available online. Click here for the current CMS guidelines on Workers Comp Medicare Set Aside Arrangements...

City of New Orleans files $77 billion claim against Army Corps of Engineers

Posted on March 01, 2007
I was wondering whether any insurers would file huge subrogation claims against the Army Corps of Engineers, but I never expected the City of New Orleans to file a $77 billion claim itself.

Welcome to the Blog of the Legal Times

Posted on March 01, 2007
Welcome to the Blog of the Legal Times (BLT). It should be good, with that many contributors. But, will the BLT be allowed to scoop The Legal Times?

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