I always believe that there is a grand conspiracy, intentional or otherwise, to slow things down for the summer. Lawyers and judges vacation, clients are less interested in stressful depositions, and generally, the practice of law slows down for the summer. It has always been this way as long as I can remember. It is a good time to work on more time intensive cases or re-assess how the year has gone and what cases are getting ready for trials and need extra attention.
“COMBAT TACTICS, MR. RYAN” from The Hunt For Red October starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin:
Jones (VO): Torpedo in the water. High speed screws. Bearing zero-two-zero. I estimate range at eight thousand yards.
Mancuso: You’re heading straight into that torpedo.
Ramius: I know.
The torpedo hits the sub, but it does not explode. Instead, it breaks-up on the hull without a detonation.
Mancuso: I’ll be damned.
Ryan: What happened?
Mancuso: Combat tactics, Mr. Ryan. By turning into the torpedo, Ramius closed the distance before it could arm itself.
So, intelligent tactical use of all available options is the moral of the story.
As a general rule, Plaintiffs’ lawyers do not want to be in federal court because the consensus is that state court is better for our clients. Why? Well, federal judges are far more likely to grant summary judgment or take seriously the myriad speculative or scattershot defense arguments why evidence should be inadmissible or generally take the insurance industry’s claims as legitimate, when they are normally hackneyed boilerplate attempts that are routinely dismissed in state courts. Forgive me my prejudice in this. Nevertheless, there are exceptions to every rule and knowing the playing field is critical.
One of the fascinating outgrowths of the Trump presidency was the realization that much of what we take for granted as lawyers and citizens was based upon abiding by long-established norms. So, for example, the president would not bash his own civil servants or judges would be policed by their brethren or superiors. Even judges have bosses. But, post-Trump, things have plainly changed. What do I mean? How does this affect us?
Take Judge Cannon for example. Traditionally, if a judge, even a federal judge with a lifetime appointment, got spanked by her appellate court for legally baseless decisions, she would avoid future interactions with that case or with tail between legs return to a more proper course of conduct. That norm is now gone. So, Judge Cannon will likely continue to act in a really curious manner throughout the Trump case. Traditionally, the Chief Judge of her Court would sit her down and say you should recuse from this case or you are not up to the spotlight or you are making this District look bad. That plainly did not happen or did not get through to her. Is there a check on her? Probably not, other than the appellate court looking askance at any decision of hers that is appealed.
If you are not following Joey Whispers on tik tok, you should take a look. It appeals to me because I handle a lot of car accidents. In just about every case I take, liability or negligence is already admitted. It doesn’t make sense to take cases where liability is in question.
Joey Whispers drives a dump truck in South Jersey. He videos his days driving and posts the comically negligent actions of the everyday Jersey drivers. Now, we all know that Jersey drivers are terrible, but it is refreshing to see Joey document the incredibly poor decision-making on offer if you dare to drive in the area.
Left turns from the right lane? Right turns from the left? No blinker? Failure to merge properly or alternate feed in a lane drop. Wandering around the lanes will get you a pac man noise for eating up all the dotted lines.
Basically, Joey is documenting all of our frustrations these days with drivers who do not pay attention. Mostly, it looks to me like a lot of people on their phones. However, there is a serious amount of ignorance that there is a guy in a huge truck who cannot stop on a dime right behind you.
I have a new case where a client called in looking to sue the City of Philadelphia. While I am always happy to fight with the City, most falls on sidewalks are actually primarily the responsibility of the landowner and not the City. So, this new client fell outside a building owned by the Durst organization and just underneath a surveillance camera. Does Durst not ring a bell? One of the scions of the Durst family murdered several of his partners and eventually died in jail. Anyway, I am pretty sure that’s not admissible, but it would be fun deposition testimony.
So, the landowner or the Dursts are responsible for the condition of the sidewalk. The City is secondarily liable, but really only becomes a factor when the landowner does not have insurance. The City is there to backstop injured people in the case of no insurance. In this case, there is a video camera right over the site of the fall and there is a really dangerous block of concrete that probably was a sign stanchion that was not removed during renovation of the space. That block caused the client to crash his bike and fall.
When terror strikes in the comfort of your own car…
Does this happen? Periodically. Can you make a claim for it? Absolutely. I have settled two cases like this for a total of $600,000 in the past few years in just this scenario. Most people only look at their bodily injury coverage as protection for when you injure someone else with your car. But, the insurance also covers you when you are a passenger. When does this happen? Recently, a client was injured when he was teaching a family member how to drive. The client was sitting in the front passenger seat in an empty suburban parking lot on a weekend. A police cruiser happened to drive into the complex on a routine patrol and the novice driver panicked and hit the gas instead of the brake. The car shot forward and crashed into a light pole’s concrete base. The client’s leg was broken and he underwent surgery. I made a claim for him for his limits of coverage, which was not enough to cover his injury. The insurer did not respond immediately.
Should You Drop Collision Coverage on An Old Car That You Still Use?
The short answer is No, don’t drop collision coverage if you will struggle to buy a new or even a used car after a crash. A lot of people, me included, drop collision coverage on older cars. Collision requires the insurer to repair your vehicle, no matter how old, unless the cost of repairs is larger than the book value of the car. But, if you are going to have financial problems that don’t allow you to quickly replace your damaged older car, then you should keep collision on your car. For example, let’s say your teen is driving a 2000 Rav 4. You drop collision because it’s older and it seems like a waste of money. The collision coverage probably costs you $750 per year. If the car sustains $3300 in damage but is worth $9000, the insurer will not total it and will not repair it. So, what are you going to do if your family needs to have the teen driving? Well, you could have kept collision on it for about $750 per year and the insurer would repair the car. Now, without collision you are out of luck. So, keep that in mind.
UPDATE: Tonight is the Rescheduled June Race in the Midsummer Night Racing Series. Come on out and run, mingle, and have a great time with me. (on my birthday)!
Previously:
I am now the newest sponsor of the MidSummer Night Racing Series on the Main Line. The series is a 5k race every month on a Thursday night. The first one is this Thursday, June 8, 2023. The others are July 13, 2023 and August 10, 2023. Come out and run if you like. I will be running a sponsor booth and giving away bags with my logo on them. My wife and children and many friends have run the race series over the years. Every year there is one really rainy night, a really hot night, and something in between.
Midsummer Night 5K Series
So, there is a lot of bellyaching about Judge Cannon being assigned to Trump’s case about hiding classified documents. If she was assigned as most cases are by random computer assignment, then it si just bad luck. But, that is why we have trials. You have to prove your case. Innocent till proven guildty and all that, no matter how you feel about the defendant. First, the case seems rather strong. Often, the obstruction or lie is worse than the underlying misdeed. That certainly seems to be what Trump is facing up to here.
Why are lawyers concerned about the Judge? Well, while a jury will ultimately have its say and I would guess the odds are 75% or higher for conviction, Judges can exercise a lot of control over cases and evidence. These are things that are rarely aired in public. The stark examples are when a criminal is freed because evidence was improperly obtained by investigating officers. So, if a gun is seized improperly, then the judge decides the gun cannot come into evidence, then you have no case. Did the Judge make the ultimate ruling? Yes, but the investigators broke the law in the first place, so the judge was ultimately the check on the police.
In personal injury cases, it is unusual that a lawsuit turns solely on a judge deciding a motion to dismiss or motion for summary judgment. It happens, but is unusual. More often, the Court’s failure to decide a procedural motion like Preliminary Objections, just slows things down a little. However, periodically, Judges delay acting on critical motions that affect how the case will turn out. I know that for my non-personal injury lawyer litigators, most of their cases turn on what we call dispositive motions. These can be motions to dismiss at the beginning of the case or motions for summary judgment etc.
Anyway, so the problem posed above is one that we deal with from time to time. What do you as a lawyer do when you would like a judge to act on a dispositive motion but they are taking their time doing so? Well, first, Judges are busy just like the rest of us are and some cases may be a priority over others. Also, when Judges are on trial, those cases will take up a lot of hours in the work day. There is no benefit to the Judge deciding something faster or slower. It has no bearing on them or their job as far as I can tell.
Getting your life back together after a serious injury can feel like an impossible mountain to climb. Neuwirth Law Office, LLC is here to help shoulder the burden and fight for full payment on your behalf. We are available 24/7, and we offer complimentary consultations to discuss your case in detail before deciding on legal action.
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