Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

A County jury has awarded $6.2 million to a former musician who, after drinking at a private party, was paralyzed when he dove into an under filled apartment complex pool in 2005. Jurors determined that the man, was 49 percent responsible for his injuries and the owner of the Apartments was 51 percent liable for failing to close a dangerous pool or warn swimmers that water levels had fallen about 1 1/2 feet.

The division of liability means the plaintiff, left a quadriplegic with limited use of his arms, would receive 51 percent of the $12.4 million in damages if the judgment stands. Jurors returned the verdict Monday night after two days of deliberations and a nine-day trial. "We never, ever contested responsibility for him," said his lawyer. "He admitted he made a mistake -- a momentary, thoughtless mistake."

But swimmers also should be able to expect that an open pool is safe to use and the managers of the apartment complex failed to close the pool even though employees noticed that water levels had dropped and even though state and city laws require under filled public pools to be closed.

In addition, testimony showed that the Management company -- which owned the apartment complex when the plaintiff was injured but sold it in October -- did not have appropriate safety procedures in place,the attorney said. The plaintiff was a guitarist, singer and songwriter for a now-defunct band who had moved with band mates two years before the accident. A videotape, shot by a friend and played for jurors, showed a group roughhousing around the pool at 2 a.m. before the plaintiff, then 23, dove into an area that should have been 4 to 41/2 feet deep but instead was 21/2 to 3 feet deep.

Defendant arguedthe plaintiff was solely responsible for his injury because the pool's depth was obvious, signs prohibited diving at the pool and his judgment was impaired by alcohol. Blood tests after the accident showed his blood alcohol level was 0.09, he said. The legal limit to drive in the state is 0.08. The plaintiff's attorney argued that the apartment complex, marketed to college-age residents, condoned pool parties where alcohol was consumed, yet neglected to plan for associated risks.

But the apartment complex attorneys noted that jurors, answering a separate question, also found the plaintiff to be 51 percent responsible for negligence in causing his injury. "If a plaintiff is more responsible for causing the accident, the plaintiff receives nothing," he said. "So we believe there is a conflicting jury finding that we will appeal." He also will ask District Judge to dismiss or reduce the award before he enters a final judgment, which typically takes about a month. Since the accident,the plaintiff has been living in New York, where Medicaid benefits are more generous, but hopes the jury award will let him return to his home.

If you or a loved one has been injured at a playground or at a swimming pool please call me at 1-800-320-08080 for a free consultation or make an appointment at one of my offices located in Baltimore or Rockville.

Two doctors and a medical assistant have filed a workplace discrimination lawsuit against a Medical Center, claiming that more than one patient has died there as a result of "substandard care" and that they were ignored or embarrassed, and in one case, terminated, for speaking out. The County Executive said several outside and internal inspectors found "absolutely no evidence'' that the patients in question died because of negligence. But he acknowledged that the hospital's cardiology department is "dysfunctional" because of the many "personality conflicts" and "plethora of he-said, she-said arguments."

Lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court offers a rare glimpse into the mostly private goings-on in the county-run hospital hallways. Seventy-four pages of allegations paint a one-sided picture of death, backbiting and sexism. The suit was brought by a medical administrative assistant in the cardiology department; a cardiologist; and a chief of cardiothoracic surgery. "This was a last resort,'' said the attorney "But the plaintiffs felt this was a moral imperative that they come forward. We have to tell the community what is going on here, that people are dying, and the administration will not change."

Named as defendants are a chief of cardiology; a chief medical officer; a medical director; and a cardiologist. Among other things, the suit alleges retaliation, discrimination, a hostile work environment, invasion of privacy, slander and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
One of the most serious allegations stems from the death of an unnamed patient in February 2009. The doctor said she advised the patient not to get a stress test on his heart because of his fragile health and history of family heart attacks. she said she recommended a "cardiac catheterization" instead. But other cardiologists ignored the patient's wishes and her advice, the lawsuit alleges, and gave the patient a stress test anyway. The patient suffered cardiac arrest and died.

Both doctors allege that they were retaliated against by being ignored, verbally abused and embarrassed in e-mails, among other things, as a result of filing complaints with the Joint Commission of Accreditation Health Organizational regarding what they felt was "substandard" patient care. This allegation does not surprise the D.A. who was well aware of this complaint, and many others that the three plaintiffs have filed with county, state and federal officials. He said the negligence allegations have been thoroughly investigated internally and by outside experts, and they found "absolutely no evidence of poor or detrimental care."

The third plaintiff states that in April 2008 he had wanted to perform surgery on a heart patient sooner rather than later, but "administrators denied him that possibility," and the patient died, the suit alleges.He said after he spoke out about this, he was slandered in public and that his contract wasn't renewed because of it. His last day of work will be in June, his lawyer said. The county executive insisted that none of the "three individuals" have been retaliated against, although he acknowledged that from their point of view, they probably would have liked to see more done on their behalf. Smith said the decision not to retain the Dr. was a cost-cutting move since the number of cardiac surgeries has been declining.

"This lawsuit is the last forum available to them," he said. "I'm not surprised, I'm disappointed." As with all lawsuits lawsuits and appearance in court is the last recourse for any litigant and you must make it count. If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of professional negligence or anothers conducts' ccontact my offices conveniently located in Rockville or Baltimore for a free initial consultation or call me at 1-800-320-0080.

A major energy co. has been hit with a $7.8 million jury verdict in a County Court of Common Pleas civil case involving two subcontractors who were injured when a metal stairway collapsed.

One of the injured men, 58, and his wife, were awarded $5 million, according to a press release sent out by the plaintiffs' attorneys today. The other man,51, and his wife, were awarded $2.8 million. Attorneys for the company could not immediately be reached for comment, and the company has the right to appeal.

The case stemmed from a 2007 accident at a company-owned building.Attorney representing the plaintiffs, said in an interview that the stairway was bolted to a wall with four bolts, and they did not hold when the two men stepped onto it.The plaintiff suffered a permanently frozen right shoulder that was not improved by rotators cuff surgery. The other plaintiff suffered a severely fractured left hip and leg.

The case hinged on whether the energy company had adequately inspected and maintained the staircase over the four decades prior to its collapse, he said. "The jury was insulted that the company failed to accept responsibility for their failure to inspect and maintain this stairwell," the attorney said said.

Premises liability cases are very fact sensetive and as such immediate investigation needs to be conducted to preserve evidence and the premises inspected to avoid spoilation of evidence. If you or a loved one has been injured to due negligence of a company through no fault of your own call my offices in Rockville or Baltimore for a free intial consultation at 1-800-320-0080.

In a lawsuit filed 14 years ago, a Floyd County jury has awarded $23.5 million to a New Albany family for severe illnesses to two children caused by a pesticide that was sprayed in their apartments unit in the mid-1990s. The award came after following years of motions and delays. It is expected to be appealed. The attorney for the apartment did not return a call to his office. The plaintiffs and their children, a daughter, then 2 years old, and son, then 6 months old, moved into the apartment in February 1994. Soon, both children began to suffer seizures and other neurological problems. According to their attorney the children's problems were caused by exposure to Creal-O, a chemical based on the pesticide Diazinon. The Environmental Protection Agency banned the pesticide from residential use in 2004. The attorney who filed the suit for the plaintiffs said the chemical was applied in the wrong way, even though it was legal for residential use at the time. "There was more applied than should have been applied, and it was applied in a careless manner," he said. He said a "crack and crevice" application of the pesticide should have been made. Instead, he said, it was applied "on the baseboards, ran down onto the carpeting (and) splashed up on the wall coverings. That's a misapplication." The daughter now 20, is developmentally no more than a 2-year-old, her mother said during an interview. "She can feed herself, but that's about it," she said. "She can't dress herself, undress herself, brush her teeth, brush her hair, shower herself--basically everything but feeding has to be done by somebody else."
The son, now 17 and a student in the 11th grade, has athletic physical ability but is delayed academically and socially, his parents said. "He's a big follower and really doesn't know how to distrust anybody or doesn't know how to judge somebody whether they're good or bad," said his father. The plaintiffs divorced during the years it took to bring the case to trial, and they now share the care of their children. "It's been devastating," the mother said of the effect on her and her ex-husband. "Our lives will never be the same." She said their son and daughter "haven't been the same since the first seizure." Her daughter slept on a metal daybed when they moved into the apartment, her mother said, and it would start to squeak at night. "That would wake us up, the squeaking," her mother said. "She would wake up moaning and she would convulse." At the same time, their son was also showing symptoms, his parents said. Still, they said, it took months before doctors diagnosed the problem and experts traced it to the chemical. They moved out of the apartment in January 1995 before their lease ended. The Superior Court jury that heard the case, and, awarded $500,000 each to the parents and $16 million to their daughter and $6.5 million to their son. Projected future medical costs for the daughter are about $14 million,attorneys said. But they said it would likely be a long time before any money changes hands because of anticipated appeals. The apartments still operates under the same ownership as when the plaintiffs lived there, the couple's lawyers said. "I just hope that this is a wake-up call for some people and that nobody ever should have to go through this," the plaintiff said.
Iy you or a relative has been subjected to health hazards at your home caused by another persons' negligence do not hesitate to contact me at my offices located in Rockville or Baltimore at 1-800-320-0080.

A man paralyzed in a tubing accident sued a ski resort for 25 million dollars.His lawye said the man zipped headfirst down the tubing course through the rubber mats intended to slowhim down and crashed headfirst into a cement wall. The man is now paralyzed from the waist down.
According to the association 39 skiers and snowboarders suffered fatal injuries during the 2008-09 season in which 10 million people skied. But lawsuits for ski resorts are not unusual. This lawsuit argues that the resort was negligent in setting up and operating the snow tube runs and accuses the resort of "failure to design a barrier wall with sufficient safety protection". The lawyer further states that more advanced technology was available but wasnt in place and the existing barier had some pading but lacked sufficient give to save his client.
The lawsuit asks for 25 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages.The 55 year old victim will need a lifetime of care and medical bills and needs a full time aid also.

If you or a loved one has been a victim of negligence resulting in injury please call my office at 1 800 320-0080 for a free consultation.

The parents of two 18-year-old cousins are suing a hotel owner and employee for wrongful death after their daughters were killed in a fire. The suit alleges that a maintenance man, who worked and lived at the hotel even though his work visa was expired, left his room with incense burning for about 30 minutes. When he returned the room was on fire. The employee tried to extinguish the flames with a small fire extinguisher that didn't work and then went to look for another extinguisher. By the time he returned the fire was too big to extinguish. The girls were trapped in their room and died in the fire.

The parents allege that the employee and motel management failed to properly respond to the fire, failed to maintain fire extinguishers at the motel, failed to notify authorities of the fire fast enough and failed to warn guests. The suit also is against other defendants, whose identities were unknown to the plaintiff, including the motel's insurance company, any entity that did maintenance or repair work at the motel and the manufacturer and/or distributor of the fire extinguisher that failed to work.

These types of lawsuits require extensive research and investigation and require the assistance of many experts to determine the causes of the injury and negligence. We regularly employ experts and investigators to fully and appropriately evaluate cases that we take in our office before any action is taken to determine the best and most economically viable avenue to prosecute cases similar to this or yours. If you or a loved one has been injured by negligence of another call for a free consultation.

For all your legal needs or inquiries call my offices located in Baltimore and Rockville, Maryland at (800)320-0080 for an appointment and immdeiate answers.

A national retail store settled a lawsuit for $7 million for an injury resulting from a faulty automatic door. A senior citizen, was walking into the retail store in Illinois when the automatic door malfunctioned knocking her to the floor. When she fell, she hit her head and then was struck again by the door as it continued opening and closing. The victim argued that the retailer had failed to inspect and maintain the doors and didn't follow the safety guidelines provided by the manufacturer. They also argued that the door did not have any way to turn off the system's fail-safe system and wasn't designed to make and noise or alert employees that it was malfunctioning.

Due to the accident, the victim received brain injuries that resulted in cognitive defects and deficits. She was required to move into a nursing home due to her injuries. Prior to the accident, the victim had been caring for her 59-year-old daughter, who has special needs. Since the accident, she was unable to continue caring for her daughter.

If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of another persons negligence contact my office in Rockville or Baltimore for a free initial consultation and case evaluation.