Category Archives: Personal Injury
What does a Jury Verdict Slip Look Like in a Case Involving Negligence?
People are surprised to learn that in personal injury cases the jury is given a special verdict form. The first two questions in that document must be answered “yes” if the person suing is to recover. Those questions are: Was the defendant negligent? Was the defendant’s negligence a […]
Is an Employer Liable for the Act of an Employee Which Causes an Accident?
Is an Employer Liable for the Act of an Employee Which Causes an Accident? If you are driving along the road and another auto that is driven by an employee of a company causes an accident, what is your recourse? In the above scenario, you will want to know a few things immediately: Was the […]
What is the Effect of a Release in a Personal Injury Settlement?
When a defendant settles a case, the plaintiff’s attorney is presented with a release. It is a document that ends the case against the settling defendant. It “releases” and “holds harmless” the opposing party from liability for a particular claim or set of claims being brought against it. In Massachusetts, as in most states, releases […]
What Does the Law and Sports Have in Common?
If you are a sports fan, you often find that various rulings on the field are actually quite legalistic. For a Boston sports fan this came to mind twice in the last several months. The first was during the World Series. The play that ended Game 3 was controversial and involved the umpire calling obstruction […]
What is the Legal Standard for an Accident on Property?
In accidents on premises, the doctrine as put forth in Oliveri v. MBTA, 363 Mass. 165 (1973) has controlled. It has meant that slip and fall cases involving a foreign substance, whether in a supermarket or otherwise, typically require facts to come within at least one of three categories in order to demonstrate defendant’s lack […]
What are the Numbers of Civil Cases Filed in Massachusetts?
At the end of Fiscal Year 2002, there was 37,700 total civil cases pending in the Superior Court of Massachusetts. In 2012, there were 26,631 pending. This difference of 11,069 cases represents roughly a 29.4% decline in the number of cases pending at the Superior Court in that 10-year period. There are possibly several explanations […]
Can I Change Lawyers in a Personal Injury Case?
The Rules of Professional Responsibility require that a contingent fee agreement “be in writing and signed in duplicate by both the lawyer and the client…” S.J.C. Rule 3:07, Rule 1.5(c). The rule sets out the cases in which a contingent fee is permissible—there must be a res, Latin for a thing or object, and in […]
How Has the Legal Profession Changed?
When I started practicing law in the 1980s, it is hard for me to fathom that many of the already practicing lawyers were just beginning to interact with women lawyers. Actually, that should not be a major surprise since some law schools didn’t accept women until the 1950s (Harvard) and others had so few women […]
Of the Library and the Law
The cross-section between academics and the actual practice of law clashed somewhat humorously for me thirty years ago. I was telling two very experienced trial lawyers that one of my law school’s evidence professors was working on an article regarding Congress’ 1934 Rules Enabling Act. They laughed loudly. These trial lawyers must have felt that […]
Law Through a Lens
Cameras are not used in the federal system. See Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, which states, “Except as otherwise provided by a statue or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.” There has, of course, […]