The plaintiff in a motor-vehicle-accident case appealed from an order of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas that sustained the defendant’s preliminary objections because the venue should have been in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas. In Matthews v. Erie Ins. Grp., the Superior Court agreed. The plaintiff sued because the defendant insurance company, … Read more
In Adams v. Rising Sun Med. Ctr., the Superior Court dealt with cross appeals from a wrongful death and survival jury trial. The administratrix of the decedent’s estate wanted to testify that she was present when the decedent told a doctor about her family’s medical history. According to the plaintiff, this evidence was admissible as … Read more
In Leight v. Univ. of Pittsburgh Physicians, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court dealt with third-party liability under the Mental Health Procedure Act, 50 P.S. § 7101et seq., in the context of preliminary objections. The case arose when a mentally-ill man went into a hospital and shot several people, including the plaintiff. The plaintiff survived and filed … Read more
In Graham v. Check, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court did its best to settle the question of what evidence must be presented at trial to merit a “sudden emergency” jury instruction. Here, the defendant was driving and struck the plaintiff, a pedestrian. The sudden emergency doctrine allows for an affirmative defense where an individual will not … Read more
In February 2013, the plaintiffs purchased a snow tubing season pass from the defendant mountain resort. The reverse side of the season pass contained a release agreement, which provided that the signatory both assumed all the risks of snow tubing and released the resort from liability. Plaintiff skimmed the release agreement and signed it. The … Read more
In Glassman v. Friedel, the plaintiff sued the restaurant and property owner of the site where his deceased wife fell and fractured her ankle. In an amended complaint, the plaintiff added the Medical Defendants, alleging their negligence during surgery led to postoperative complications and injuries to her right leg, resulting in a fatal embolism. Plaintiff … Read more
In Pannucci v. Edgewood Park Senior Housing, the New Jersey Appellate Division was asked to alter the state’s res ipsa loquitur test. As set forth most recently by the New Jersey Supreme Court in McDaid v. Aztec W. Condo. Ass’n, 234 N.J. 130 (2018), the third and final element a plaintiff must prove to establish … Read more
In Matthews v. Prospect Crozer, LLC, a personal injury suit wherein Appellant sued after a tree fell on him, the Superior Court affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment. The Court held that Appellant failed to adduce sufficient facts in discovery to prove that the defendants owed him a legal duty under Restatement (Second) … Read more
In Mader v. Duquesne Light Co., the Pennsylvania Supreme Court considered the limits on a trial court’s discretion to order a new trial on all damages where a jury’s award on certain damages was based on stipulations or was otherwise unimpeachable. The Court held that a jury’s award of certain types of damages may be … Read more
In Dobransky v. EQT Production, the Superior Court ruled that a person who merely drives a truck to deliver a single raw material to a well site is not a person whose work consists of “the removal, excavation, or drilling of soil, rock, or minerals” within Section 302(a) of the Workers’ Compensation Act.