Lawyer blogs are boring and jury trials are good. #7A

Lawyer blogs are boring. I chalk this problem up to an understandable but flawed perception of the two privileges that lawyers are taught to honor: 1) attorney-client privilege and 2) work-product privilege. The attorney-client privilege protects private communications between a client and a lawyer. This sensible rule promotes a full and frank discussion so that […]

What is Project 7A?

Early America adopted English common law and a long history of cherished rights, including the right to trial by jury – which dates back to 1215. In that year, Pope Innocent III issued an order validating a person’s right to a trial by peers. That same year, at Runnymede in England, King John was forced […]

This Kind of Courthouse Reporting Reveals a Bias Against Plaintiffs

As reported in Law 360 … The Florida Supreme Court’s recent decision not to reinstate a nearly $31 million jury award against a bar that served alcohol to an underage person who later crashed into a pedestrian was the right call, experts said, and provided much needed clarity on the state’s dram shop statute. Read […]

Law Students Are Learning To Be Trial Lawyers In A “Flight Simulator”

Law students who would traditionally experience only a few courtroom scenarios over a semester have begun working with programs that can provide an entire array of courtroom curveballs, thanks to large language model artificial intelligence technology. Read more at: https://www.law360.com/personal-injury-medical-malpractice/articles/1804884?nl_pk=029cff45-637f-44e3-babf-75563f8e0bfd&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=personal-injury-medical-malpractice&utm_content=2024-02-21&read_main=1&nlsidx=0&nlaidx=1?copied=1 Based on real-life experiences, I have suggestions for “curveball” fact patterns to throw at these […]

Pitards and Hoisting Come to Mind

Insurance companies often use service deadlines to avoid responsibility when plaintiffs have trouble with service of process. I don’t remember seeing an insurance company’s lawyers have the same problem. An insurance company that wanted to avoid defending a company that inspected and certified an amusement park drop tower ride that fatally ejected a 14-year-old boy […]

Florida Homeowner Insurance Claims Hoops That You May Have To Jump Through

But not this notice to DFS if your policy was issued before the date of this statute. The Sixth District Court of Appeal on Wednesday reversed a Collier County Circuit Court judge’s order granting Universal Property and Casualty Insurance Co.’s motion to dismiss a suit brought by its policyholder Rebecca Hughes, and remanded the case for […]

A major victory for Maya’s family, their lawyers, and patients everywhere. I cannot overstate how impressive this work is under difficult circumstances.

A Florida jury tacked on $50 million in punitive damages to a roughly $211 million award to the family of Maya Kowalski, the child at the center of the Netflix documentary “Take Care of Maya,” against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital for mistreating Maya to the point that her mother took her own life. Read […]

The Impact Rule

In many states, including Florida, a physical impact is required for a plaintiff to recover mental and emotional damages for most torts. There are exceptions for the most egregious misconduct – when some people without any physical impact can recover mental and emotional damages. I have litigated that question successfully on appeal. You can read […]