Posted on June 24, 2008 in Personal Injury

Metro has agreed to pay $2.3 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by a man whose wife was killed when she was struck by a Metrobus last year. The man who brought the lawsuit wanted to hold Metro accountable when it struck and killed his wife and his wife’s friend, both of whom were walking in a crosswalk at the time of the incident.

In Maryland, every year numerous individuals are injured by the negligence of the drivers and operators of various methods of mass transportation, whether it’s an MTA bus, the Lightrail or the Metro. When mass transit operators have caused injury, through error or negligence, it is important that they be held accountable. This level of accountability is a profound way to bring about changes that may be advantageous to, and further protect, the health and welfare of the public in general. This level of accountability is also a means to redress whatever wrong or violation may have occurred.

When an individual is seriously injured in a collision involving a bus, metro train, Lightrail or other means of mass transportation, it is important to consult an experienced trial lawyer to determine whether a lawsuit is warranted and necessary. Such cases are extremely important to pursue so that adequate compensation can be obtained for an injured victim so that he or she can get the best medical and other care under the circumstances.

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 Posted on June 23, 2008 in Medical Malpractice

A Delaware jury has awarded a family $1.6 million in a medical malpractice case in which the wrong prescription medicine was allegedly prescribed by a doctor. In this particular case, the woman was given too much of a heart medication for her kidneys to handle. Since she was on dialysis, her body couldn’t process the amount of the drug that they gave her and she died.

These days, with more and more prescription drugs on the market, it is all to easy for doctors to make a mistake and prescribe the wrong medicine, or the wrong dose. Sometimes a doctor’s handwriting is so bad that the pharmacy can’t read the writing, and the pharmacy doesn’t call the doctor to clarify the handwriting, leading to serious and sometimes fatal prescription / medication errors.

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 Posted on June 23, 2008 in Criminal Defense

Maryland Criminal Attorney – Maryland Criminal Lawyer – Baltimore Criminal Attorney – Baltimore Criminal Lawyer In all criminal cases there are basically two types of defenses: legal defenses and factual defenses. Legal defenses are common in possession with the intent to distribute narcotics cases, rape, robbery, murder and burglary cases, as well as driving under the influence (DUI) and domestic violence cases. To determine whether a legal defense exists in a particular case an aggressive criminal attorney will typically ask several questions of the defendant such as: Were you read your Miranda Rights prior to giving the police a statement? Did the police show you a search warrant and leave you a copy of same? Did you consent to the search of your home, car or person? These questions will help an aggressive criminal attorney begin his investigation into whether the police violated the client’s rights either by conducting an illegal search or illegally obtaining a statement.

If the attorney believes that a Constitutional violation has occurred he will file a motion to suppress the evidence and follow up that motion with a memorandum of law to support it. The first questions an aggressive criminal attorney will ask are questions such as: I am currently representing a client who had a large amount of narcotics seized from his apartment pursuant to a warrant that I believe was both stale (that is the events making up the probable cause happened too long ago to support the warrant) and lacked a nexus to his apartment where the police recovered the cocaine.

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 Posted on June 23, 2008 in Federal Crimes & White Collar Crimes

The United States Supreme Court decision of United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005) restored the Federal Disstrict Judge’s ability to fashion a sentence tailored to the unique circumstances of each case and each criminal defendant by requiring courts to consider factors other than the sentencing range prescribed by the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Thus, although the trial courts still must take the Sentencing Guidelines into account, Booker rendered the Sentencing Guidelines advisory.

Now in federal criminal cases in Maryland and across the country, the sentencing guideline range is no longer binding on the Court, but is only one of several factors to be considered in determining the sentence. The other factors the Court is directed to consider are: (1) the nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics of the defendant; (2) the need for the sentence imposed to reflect the seriousness of the offense, to afford adequate deterrence, to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant, and to provide the defendant with needed educational or vocational training, medical care or other correctional treatment; (3) the kinds of sentence available; (4) the need to avoid unwarranted sentencing disparity; and (5) the need to provide restitution.

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 Posted on June 23, 2008 in Criminal Defense

As one of the largest and most experienced criminal defense firms in the State of Maryland, Baltimore based Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White is experienced in handling state criminal cases throughout Maryland. The majority of criminal cases we handle are in the District and Circuit Courts of Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel County, Howard County, Harford County, Carroll County, Montgomery County and Prince Georges County. We also regularly handle cases in Frederick and Washington Counties.

The criminal defense lawyers at Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White always provide a free consultation. Please contact us for an appointment.

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 Posted on June 23, 2008 in Personal Injury

As an experienced Maryland personal injury lawyer, I see many injured victims in automobile accidents who are afraid to seek recovery for damages because they either are driving uninsured or their driver’s license is suspended.

Maryland law does not discriminate against victims of other people’s negligence because they are uninsured or their driver’s license is suspended. Maryland accident or negligence law only recognizes contributory negligence. Driving without insurance or a valid Maryland driver’s license is not recognized as contributory negligence in Maryland. Accident victims in Maryland can proceed to recover damages despite these perceived problems. To learn more about victim’s rights in Maryland, please contact the personal injury lawyers at Silverman, Thompson , Slutkin & White for a free consultation.

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 Posted on June 23, 2008 in Personal Injury

In personal injury cases, damage to personal property may be a component of an injured victim’s overall damages. How do you prove this component of your case? In Maryland, it is well-established that an owner of personal property may express an opinion as to the value of that property without qualification as an expert. See Maryland Casualty Co. v. Therm-O-Disc, Inc. 137 F.3d 780,786 (1998). The experienced personal injury trial lawyer should be well-armed with this authority whenever proving his or her client’s total economic damages in a personal injury case. The experienced trial lawyer will not let defense counsel convince the court that an expert is needed to opine as to the value of personal property. Maryland law contains no such requirement.

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 Posted on June 23, 2008 in Personal Injury

There are several strategies that the best and most successful Maryland trial lawyers do to increase their chances of obtaining significantly higher damages awards at trial. Intense preparation is, naturally, first and foremost among that list. Too many inexperienced personal injury lawyers leave the damages component as an afterthought, focusing all their energy on proving the liability component — i.e., proving who was at fault, who was negligent, who breached a duty owed to the injured victim, and who was at fault for causing the injury. To be sure, proving liability is absolutely critical to prosecuting a personal injury case. Without proving liability, there is no recovery at all. But it is a shame to win a hard fought jury verdict in favor of your client, only to have the jury return a damages award that is too low and does not account for the full extent of pain and suffering that a client has endured, which by the time you get to trial, is usually measured in years.

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 Posted on June 20, 2008 in Personal Injury

Experienced Maryland personal injury lawyers are well aware of the benefit to their personal injury clients who use their health insurance to pay for their medical expenses. Whether injured in an automobile accident, trucking accident or the victim of some other type of personal injury, victims who are advised by their attorney to use their health insurance will significantly increase their financial recovery.

Maryland personal injury law requires that health insurance companies reduce their lien on a case when the insured uses a lawyer to obtain a recovery from a third party. Experienced Maryland personal injury lawyers may be able to save the their client tens of thousands of dollars by maximizing the benefits of health insurance in personal injury cases. For more information on how to maximize recovery in Maryland personal injury cases involving health insurance liens, please contact us for a free consultation.

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 Posted on June 20, 2008 in Personal Injury

Persons injured in automobile accidents in Maryland may be eligible for Personal Injury Protection (PIP). Personal Injury Protection is a common no-fault insurance provision which benefits persons injured in automobile accidents to collect money as reimbursement for medical bills and lost wages. Most Maryland automobile insurance policies are written to allow up to $2500.00 in PIP benefits. Some Maryland insurers will allow for up to $10,000.00 in PIP benefits for injured persons.

Eligible injured parties may include both drivers or passengers in automobile or truck accidents. A person may be excluded from recovering PIP benefits for personal injury or lost wages if they previously waived PIP on their own automobile policy. For injured persons who do not have a Maryland automobile insurance policy, they are normally eligible for PIP benefits as long as they do not live in the same household with someone who has a Maryland automobile insurance policy and has waived PIP benefits.

Experienced Maryland personal injury lawyers advise their clients never to waive PIP. The public also needs to know that normally, Maryland personal injury lawyers are not permitted to take a typical contingency fee for the recovery of PIP benefits. On rare occasions, Maryland allows personal injury lawyers to charge a reasonable fee in the rare instance the lawyer is forced to file suit to obtain these benefits. PIP suits normally are considered breach of contract causes of action. For more information on how PIP benefits injured parties in Maryland please contact us for a free consultation.

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