The Maryland Accident Lawyer has a blog post on locating witnesses and defendants in one place they may be hiding: jail.
Recently in Discovery and Trial Tactics Category
I have written and read a good bit about spoliation in truck accident cases. A common case cited nationally in truck accident spoliation cases is J.B. Hunt Transp. Inc. v. Bentley, 207 Ga. App. 250, 427 S.E.2d 499 (1992). In this truck accident case, the defendant trucking company did what many trucking companies do after an accident: destroy the logbook. There was no conspiracy: this was a destruction in the normal course of business. Plaintiff's truck accident lawyer filed a lawsuit alleging that the accident was caused because of driver fatigue.
Plaintiff's lawyers screamed that the defendant should have - given the notice of a potential claim - preserved the trucking logs. The trial court agreed, telling the jury that they should presume that the trucking logbook would have shown that the driver did not have sufficient rest.
The court relied I'm sure in no small part on the fact that the trucking company was clearly a bad seed. It was a "habitual violator" of the hours-in-service requirements of the Georgia Public Service Commission for its vehicles. One-third of the company's logbook violations which were penalized were because of driver excessive driving. Incredibly, and this is over-the-top even for poorly run trucking companies, it operated a "forced dispatch" system, under which drivers could be terminated for not driving a load upon demand.
That said, destruction of trucking logs after an accident is common, even when the company knows that a potential claim may follow. Good truck accident lawyers use this lack of evidence to their advantage and seek an instruction that the destroyed evidence would have helped plaintiff's case.
Social Security liens seems to be a difficult beast to beast for Maryland car accident lawyers to get their mind around. They can be tricky and you can't screw it up: the client's rights to benefits are at risk.
A starting point is the Social Security Release of Information form, which if completed and sent in, SSA will provide the types and amounts of benefits the client receives, which will make identifying potential lien holders easier. Here is a link to the form.
This is one Social Security subrogation lien fact that I think a lot of accident lawyers do not fully appreciate in wrongful death cases: there is no right of subrogation from Social Security for survivor's benefits.
Sometimes, I think lawyers are too reluctant to challenge doctors on the medicine. So many "independent medical exam" doctors in Maryland perform tests and draw conclusions that are not based in science, particularly "frequent flyer" independent medical exam doctors who are on auto pilot and don't match the patient with the medicine. Maryland car accident lawyers are often reluctant to challenge doctors on the medicine. The lawyer does not need to know more about being a doctor than the doctor. But good accident lawyers can get a better handle that many IME doctors on the medicine that matters in a specific case.
How long does the insurance company have to respond to my car accident claim? The reality is that the insurance company has no obligation in third party claims (claims against the defendant driver's insurance company) to respond at all.
Of course, insurance companies are obligated to respond to lawsuits. That is the one arrow in plaintiff's quiver that the must respond to in accident claims. And the threat of a potential lawsuit or trial is what makes insurance companies respond with meaningful offers in accident claims.
- Maryland accident claims: an overview that includes analysis of each insurance company and jurisdiction in Maryland
- Maryland accident lawyer help: information for the accident lawyer in Maryland handling car accident claims
- Maryland Accident Lawyer Blog: more on Maryland accident cases for Maryland attorneys
When a deponent in an auto accident case is outside of Maryland, the Maryland Rules provide that the deposition may be held in a foreign jurisdiction in accordance. This makes depositions far more complicated for Maryland accident lawyers, often requiring the retention of local counsel to enforce the subpoena; determining the date, time, and place and feasible location to hold the deposition.
This 2001 Utah Bar Journal article continues to be a good resource for lawyers trying to depose out-of-state witnesses.
- Sample depositions
- Sample trial transcripts
- Sample Discovery
