By Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog.

It seems like Lawyer 101 advice: if you are making an agreement with the opposing lawyer, get it in writing.

Few lawyers do it. There are two reasons for this. The first is laziness. If this is your problem, this blog post will not help.

But I think another reason personal injury lawyers sometimes do not send letters memorializing agreements is that they feel like it is almost a breach of the trust between counsel. We all know some defense lawyers who would shoot their own mother in the head for the slightest of advantages. It is easy to send a confirmation letter to that lawyer. (You should not even be talking to that guy on the phone.) But what about when you like and trust the other lawyer? You feel a little like a jerk sending out an "I'm writing to summarize our agreement today" letter, don't you?

Do it anyway. First, people just forget. Defense lawyers are often juggling a lot of different cases. They don't remember half of the agreements they made so the lawyer might honestly not remember. Also, even good people have selective memories sometimes. The selective memory comes out in the heat of competition and the heat of battle, particularly during or before trial when the adjuster and/or in-house lawyer supervising the case begin to take a closer look at the file.

You should practice as if any agreement not in writing will only be enforced if it hurts your case.

Originally posted at Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog. Please visit http://www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com/.

By Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog.

Paul Luvera writes a blog post about cross examining experts based on a presentation he heard in New Orleans from a Florida lawyer named Dorothy Clay Sims.

The post is worth reading if you are a personal injury lawyer cross examining an expert. I also like the whole idea of this post. First, it is a lawyer reporting on what he learned from another lawyer. This is what good lawyers and good professionals do: use ideas and techniques learned from other people.

The other neat thing about this post is that it is Paul Luvera writing the post sharing perspectives from another lawyer. Luvera has had more than his fair share of million dollar verdicts. A lot of lawyers with track records that pale in comparison to Luvera take their ball and go home when it comes to opening their minds to learning from other lawyers (or witnesses, focus groups, juries or anyone else). Of course, the whole thing is circular: lawyers that are willing to keep their minds open to learning from other lawyers are far more likely to get successful outcomes for their clients.

Originally posted at Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog. Please visit http://www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com/.

By Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog.

I mentioned as an aside in a blog post last week that I monitored the conviction of the at-fault driver in a wrongful death car accident case that I have. The case was in District Court in Essex. Judge Martha Russell presided over the case. She's a new judge and a good one who was obviously very experienced in dealing with criminal cases. Judge Russell was very patient with unrepresented defendants. She displayed not an ounce of superiority or contempt in dealing with defendants who offered stories that were sometimes a bit worthy of contempt. If you are a judge out there and you are trying to impress me (oh, it is a long line, I'm sure), treat the parties and, if you don't mind, the lawyers, the same way you would if you did not have all of the power in the room. They say you can learn a lot about people by the way they handle adversity. I think you can learn more about someone by how handle power.

Okay, now let's move on to the actual purpose of this post. I noticed that the defendants at the criminal cases I watched were generally dressed very poorly, wearing clothes you should not wear to something that matters. Maybe just as important as wearing the appropriate clothing is wearing it appropriately. Quick tip: it is probably not a sign of respect if you are wearing your pants four inches south of your waist. (Note: this was originally written as north which is obviously a typo! A reader corrected me!) If you are trying to show respect, that you are repentant, or even that you are not guilty, it makes sense to dress like you have respect for the court and respect for the process.

Keene Trial Consulting has a post on this subject: Tattoos: When Should You Clean Up Your Witness? Douglas Keene writes that the goal of a trial lawyer in presenting their client is to "help the jury see the witness as 'kind of like me' or 'someone I can trust.'"

Originally posted at Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog. Please visit http://www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com/.

By Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog.

One of the highest praises you can give to a baseball player is to call him a "professional hitter." Tony Gwynn was a professional hitter. It is another way of saying, "That guy is a pro."

I was watching an old CNN rerun of Parker-Spitzer this morning on the treadmill. (Note: I'm lying here. I was watching Jon Stewart.) Spitzer was interviewing Senator-elect Rand Paul who was pushing for budget cuts but will only discuss items he won't cut. Say what you will about Spitzer's personal life. (I'm pausing waiting for you to finish. You done? Okay.) But that guy is good and you can see how he got to where he did. After watching what was essentially Spitzer's cross examination of Paul, I turned to my wife and said, "Eliot Spitzer is a professional lawyer."

You can watch the interview here.

Originally posted at Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog. Please visit http://www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com/.

By Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog.

An Illinois court awarded $2.5 million in a lawsuit against a truck driver who admittedly (1) crossed the median strip and hit the Plaintiff and (2) had been driving for 19 hours that day.

Obviously, and the result underscores this point, this is a tough case to defend on liability. If you are Defendants' truck accident lawyer, what kind of defense do you muster in a case like this? Oh, they always have something it seems. In this case, they went for the "everything and the kitchen sink" defense. First, they claimed his vision was impaired due to diabetes. This is a lot better defense in a passenger car case than it is in a truck accident case. If you are a truck driver driving a big rig truck, we expect you to have your diabetes under control or don't get behind the wheel of the dangerous weapon that is a truck. Second, and even more improbable, the defendants' truck accident lawyer also argued that the accident occurred because the truck driver's tire exploded.

Originally posted at Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog. Please visit http://www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com/.

By Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog.

The Drug and Device Law Blog writes a good post on a recent Facebook discovery opinion, arguing in favor of making Facebook posts, ostensibly intended only for your "friends", discoverable:

We might have responded: C’mon, Dude, everyone knows that what you tell or write your friends may come out some day. You knew that when your best bro told everybody about that problem in your nether regions. And when your teacher intercepted the note you passed in class, you never would have thought to object on privilege grounds before she read it to the class. Nor could you do anything when the cops squeezed your roommate and he told them where you said your stash was. So why should what you tell your friends in Facebook posts be protected from disclosure when what you tell your friends in other ways is not?

First, I wonder if the Drug and Device Law Blog is suggesting discovery should just be produced or reviewed in camera by the court. The blog has argued forcefully for liberal designation of confidentiality for discovery documents. But Facebook posts that could cause embarrassment and humiliation and be used completely out of context? Let's all look at those. We should be sensitive to huge multinational drug companies but let's just rifle through the little man's private life. Somewhere, Michele Bachmann is smiling and she does not know why.

Originally posted at Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog. Please visit http://www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com/.

By Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog.

On our website, we have sample depositions in car and truck accident, medical malpractice and product liability cases.

As a young lawyer, I learned how to take a deposition like a young quarterback with a clipboard, second chairing depositions where I had the opportunity to watch some of the best plaintiff and defense lawyers in the country. I was able to see what I liked, what I didn't like, and what would work for me.

Most Maryland personal injury lawyers are not afforded this kind of opportunity. For those who have not had the opportunity, I think reading sample depositions is the next best thing. None of these depositions are intended to be held out as "How to Take a Deposition 101." In fact, honestly, these sample depositions were largely pulled out at random. But reading depositions of others gives accident and malpractice lawyers a chance to see how another lawyer approaches the task under a given fact pattern, giving you the idea of what you should (or should not) do.

Originally posted at Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog. Please visit http://www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com/.

By Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog.

Sometimes, I think personal injury lawyers - myself included - subconsciously tend to think we know better than the client in terms of what damages they have that really matter to a jury. But we often get it wrong. More often than not, what is in the client's heart is also going to be what has the most impact on a jury. Paul Luvera offers a tip that he picked up in Paris of all places on how to get clients to open up about what their real injuries are and how to present those injuries to a jury.

Early in my career as a plaintiffs' lawyer, we tried a case where I spent a great deal of time preparing the witness to testify. Literally 20 minutes before she testified, she told me in a whisper what really bugged her about her injuries. She had lots of nieces and she went from being the fun aunt to the aunt who always complained of being in pain. That translates okay in this blog post. But you had to be there and you had to listen to the way she told the story. It took me two seconds to realize it was very real to her. I brought out the story on direct and it became one of the themes of our case and one of the reasons, the jury told me later, they arrived at the verdict they did.

Every professional thinks they know what is best for their clients and they are often right and the client is dead wrong. An exception to that rule is pain and suffering damages where the client typically knows in their heart exactly what damages matter the most. This post from Paul Luvera gives trial lawyers another method in getting to that sometimes elusive "what really matters."

Originally posted at Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog. Please visit http://www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com/.

By Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog.

In addition to Kearney v. Berger, there was another interesting opinion that came down from Maryland's appellate courts yesterday. The Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled on an interesting discovery issue in a landlord-tenant case that has implications for Maryland personal injury lawyers.

The underlying case is a dispute between Checkers - I'm assuming it is the fast food chain Checkers we are talking about - and its landlord. Checkers claimed it exercised an option to extend its lease. The case involved an estoppel certificate and a bunch of other things that I did not fully understand. Checkers sought documents from Gallagher Evelius & Jones (GEJ), a Baltimore law firm that represented the landlord. GEJ claimed a bunch of exceptions to the attorney-client privilege that were quite interesting. But the trial court never got to the merits of the argument because GEJ did not present its opposition to the motion to compel in the proper “set-up format.”

At first, I did a double take when I saw proper "set-up format." There is a proper set-up format? But without knowing it, I think everyone here does file their motions to compel in what the trial court saw as the proper set up format: setting up the controversy in the pleadings with the request, the response to the request, and the argument so the court is not required to flip back and forth between documents. I never thought it was a requirement and I'm still not sure that it is. But it seems like a good idea to avoid further annoying the trial court - usually rightfully so - that you have already annoyed with a discovery dispute in the first place.

Originally posted at Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog. Please visit http://www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com/.

By Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog.

It is amazing how many plaintiffs' accident lawyers file suit, name experts, and then give a key expert like a treating doctor a call to find out the expert's opinion on the case. It is equally amazing how often insurance company lawyers wait until after the discovery deadline passes before having a substantive conversation with their experts about the case.

Some attorneys just don't want to spend the time to be proactive because, hey, the case might settle. Why spend the time on the front end lining up the treating doctor? In some cases, the economics of the case demand this approach. I would not line up experts in a garden variety soft tissue injury case before trial. Because your proactivity (a word I just made up) might not be in the client's long term interest.

But assuming you have a very serious injury car or truck accident case and you need an expert, get the experts on board early. How do you know you need one? Do you have a problem with speed, with drinking, with highway design, with a “dangerous condition?” Well, you won’t know if you have any of those things if you don’t investigate your claims properly.

But when you discover these issues, here is why you need that expert early. If the issue is speed, you need your accident reconstructionist involved early even if you never intend to call an accident reconstructionist at trial - it is the evidence that is key. Skid marks fade or wash away, and vehicle damage is repaired. Photos are not always enough, if the depth of a dent, the gear a car locked into at impact, or the length of a skid is at issue. Dents get fixed, cars are sold for salvage, and you can’t measure a photograph. The design of the road could be changed, or lights and lane markings can be moved. Once the truck with the improperly secured load is taken away without being photographed, you can’t get that evidence back. After this happens, you can’t undo the damage to your case. But once you lock the important facts in with an early expert investigation, there isn’t anything the other side can do to make that evidence go away.

Originally posted at Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog. Please visit http://www.marylandinjurylawyerblog.com/.