Mealey's Personal Injury

  • March 14, 2024

    Judge Grants Nursing Home’s Motion To Compel Arbitration In Wrongful Death Action

    ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A Pennsylvania federal judge on March 13 granted in part a motion to compel arbitration in a wrongful death, negligence and survival suit against a skilled nursing facility (SNF) and related entities after a former SNF resident died, finding that the claims for survival and professional negligence against the facility and its named affiliate will proceed to arbitration because a valid arbitration agreement existed between those entities and the estate.

  • March 12, 2024

    Ohio Panel Affirms Ruling Dismissing Wrongful Death Action Against Nursing Home

    CINCINNATI — An Ohio appeals court affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a wrongful death action filed against a nursing home by the adult children of a former nursing home resident who asphyxiated and died, finding that the plaintiffs’ allegations failed to “satisfy the governing legal standard to survive dismissal.”

  • March 11, 2024

    Judge: Causation, Life Care Expert Admissible In Accident Injury Case

    PHILADELPHIA — Experts retained to testify for a man who alleges that he was injured in a motor vehicle accident clear the “low bar for admissibility,” a Pennsylvania federal judge found, denying a motion to exclude under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • March 11, 2024

    Alabama High Court:  Lower Court Must Dismiss Wrongful Death Suit Against Care Home

    MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Supreme Court on March 8 granted a skilled nursing facility’s petition for writ of mandamus in a wrongful death suit against it, finding that because the court-appointed administrator was “not a proper party to bring suit,” the petition must be granted and the lower court must dismiss the complaint.

  • March 08, 2024

    Mistrial Declared After Florida Jury Hangs In Ovarian Cancer Talc Trial

    MIAMI — A Florida asbestos trial ended in a hung jury after the jury twice told the judge that it could not reach a decision despite a day and a half of deliberations about Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) liability for the death of an anesthesiologist from ovarian cancer.

  • March 08, 2024

    Smoker’s Estate’s Claims Against Tobacco Company, Retailers Rejected By Jury

    SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico state court jury returned a defense verdict on wrongful death claims brought by the estate of a decades-long Marlboro Red smoker who was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer before catching COVID-19 and dying in 2020, ruling in favor of cigarette manufacturer R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (RJR) and two local retailers.

  • March 07, 2024

    Smoker’s Daughter Properly Allowed To Pursue Punitives, Florida Panel Told

    WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A dead smoker’s daughter filed an appellee brief urging a Florida appellate panel to affirm a trial judge’s order allowing her to add a claim for punitive damages to her wrongful death complaint against two tobacco companies, while the companies argue that the claim is barred by Florida’s punitive damages statute because they have already been ordered to pay punitive damages for “the same act or single course of conduct.”

  • March 06, 2024

    Judge Dismisses Smoker’s Widow’s Wrongful Death Suit For Failure To Prosecute

    LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A New Mexico federal judge granted several tobacco companies’ motions to dismiss a wrongful death suit brought against them by the widow of a dead smoker after finding that the plaintiff failed to appear for, respond to or prosecute her suit after the companies removed the case to federal court.

  • March 06, 2024

    Notice Of Order On Brief Filed After Octogenarian’s $2.3M Elder Abuse Verdict

    LOS ANGELES — An 87-year-old woman filed a notice in a California court of a judge’s ruling allowing her to file a brief of up to 20 pages regarding her motion for attorney fees after a jury awarded her $2,342,800 in a suit alleging that a rehabilitation facility where she previously resided, its owner and related entities acted negligently and committed elder abuse by failing to provide adequate care, resulting in injuries from falls that caused permanent shoulder damage.

  • March 06, 2024

    Settlement Reached In Malpractice Suit After Expert Testimony Is Limited

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A federal judge in Puerto Rico dismissed a medical malpractice suit with prejudice when parties alerted the court that they had reached a confidential settlement, days after the judge agreed to exclude testimony from an expert on standard of care but allowed testimony from a life-care planning expert.

  • February 29, 2024

    Judgment Entered After Jury Rejects Dead Smoker’s Estate’s Defective Design Claims

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida state court judge entered final judgment rejecting wrongful death claims brought against a tobacco company and a retailer that sold its products by the estate of a smoker who died after being diagnosed with laryngeal cancer.  A jury previously rejected the estate’s claims that filtered cigarettes smoked by the decedent were defective.

  • February 28, 2024

    Attorney Fee Award Affirmed In PIP Dispute Involving Estate Of Man Killed By Car

    TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appellate court affirmed a lower court’s award of attorney fees and costs to a medical center that intervened in a personal injury protection (PIP) suit filed by the estate of a man against multiple parties, including an insurer seeking to void a policy for material misrepresentations, finding that the lower court did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney fees and costs “commensurate” with what the medical center paid under its retainer agreement.

  • February 27, 2024

    $13.7M Settlement Between Protesters, City For Arrests, Use Of Force Approved

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted final approval of a $13,731,000 settlement between the city of New York and a class of approximately 1,380 individuals who were arrested or arrested and subjected to force by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) during protests in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd.

  • February 26, 2024

    Texas Appeals Court: Fatal Crash Suit Jury Should Have Heard Expert Testimony

    BEAUMONT, Texas — A Texas appeals court overturned a $10 million jury verdict in a wrongful death suit after finding that the trial court improperly excluded expert testimony that a woman who was killed in the crash had alcohol in her system, which might have influenced the jury’s assignment of fault.

  • February 26, 2024

    City Seeks Judgment As Matter Of Law After $4.5M Excessive Force Jury Verdict

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In response to an Alabama federal jury’s award of $4.45 million in compensatory and punitive damages to the estate of a deceased motorist and an injured passenger stemming from a vehicle chase that culminated in a police officer shooting into the plaintiffs’ vehicle after it crashed, an Alabama city and police officer moved for judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, a new trial or remittitur of the jury award.

  • February 22, 2024

    Medical Condition Not Widely Recognized, Testimony Barred In Toxic Exposure Case

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge granted in large part three motions to exclude expert testimony in a case in which a woman claims medical injuries from toxic mold exposure, finding that one expert was unqualified to opine on a medical condition and that the testimony from the other witnesses was connected to that expert’s conclusions.

  • February 21, 2024

    New York Panel: Equitable Subrogation Applies In Retrocessional Insurer’s Case

    NEW YORK — Saying it had not previously addressed the issue, an appellate panel in New York ruled that a retrocessional insurer that paid a big chunk of the settlement in a personal injury case has standing to assert a legal malpractice claim as an equitable subrogee.

  • February 21, 2024

    Tenn. High Court: Arbitration Agreement With Care Home Not ‘Health Care Decision’

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed and remanded an appellate court ruling affirming an order declining to compel arbitration in a son’s wrongful death suit against a nursing home where his deceased father lived, finding that the durable power of attorney (POA) naming the decedent’s daughter as his attorney-in-fact gave her the authority to act for her father in legal matters, including an optional arbitration agreement, even though the POA did not specifically give her the authority to make a “health care decision.”

  • February 20, 2024

    Petition By Wrestlers’ Attorney Challenging Sanctions Denied By U.S. High Court

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by an attorney and his firm who represent allegedly injured wrestlers in a class tort complaint and a mass action against World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. and Vincent K. McMahon (together, WWE) and asking the justices to consider the appropriateness of attorney fees and costs as sanctions that they have been ordered to pay.

  • February 16, 2024

    No Abuse Of Discretion In Finding Experts Unqualified In Railcar Injury Case

    PORTLAND, Ore. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 15 found that experts retained by a man who was injured while working on a railcar were properly excluded and affirmed summary judgment awarded to the manufacturer of the railcar and its parent company.

  • February 14, 2024

    Panel: Wrongful Death Claim Not Subject To Arbitration In Suit Against Care Home

    SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — An Illinois appellate court on Feb. 13 reversed and remanded a lower court order compelling arbitration in a wrongful death and negligence suit filed by the estate of a former resident against a nursing home, finding that because the decedent signed an arbitration agreement, the wrongful death claim is not subject to arbitration and the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act invalidates the signed agreement.

  • February 13, 2024

    Amended Master Personal Injury Complaint Filed Under Seal In CPAP MDL

    PITTSBURGH — Plaintiffs in the multidistrict litigation involving the recall of approximately 10.8 million Philips continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) sleep apnea devices and respirators on Feb. 12 filed under seal a second amended master long-form complaint for personal injuries after the Pennsylvania federal judge overseeing the case in January adopted in part recommendations from the special master and dismissed certain claims with leave to amend.

  • February 13, 2024

    Panel Vacates Order Dismissing Nursing Home Act Claims In Row With LTC Facility

    TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appellate court on Feb. 12 vacated a lower court’s dismissal of claims related to violations of the New Jersey Nursing Home Responsibilities and Residents’ Rights Act (NHA) in an estate’s wrongful death and negligence suit against a long-term care (LTC) facility after a former resident died, finding that additional discovery is needed to determine whether the facility “falls within the definition of the NHA.”

  • February 13, 2024

    Alabama Jury Awards $4.5M For Excessive Force By Police In Post-Chase Shooting

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A federal jury in Alabama awarded $4.45 million in compensatory and punitive damages to the estate of a deceased motorist and an injured passenger, who sued a Birmingham police officer and the city alleging that the officer used excessive force in shooting the motorist and passenger after their vehicle crashed as a result of being struck by the officer’s car during a pursuit.

  • February 12, 2024

    Order Compelling Arbitration Reversed For COVID Death Claims Against Care Home

    SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — An Illinois appellate court reversed in part and remanded a lower court’s order compelling arbitration in an estate administrator’s suit against a nursing home after a former resident contracted COVID-19 and died, finding that the claims under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act cannot be arbitrated because the beneficiaries of the estate did not consent to arbitration.