Injuries to Fetus Pose Challenge in Virginia’s Legal System

By Cory Bilton Is a fetus a “patient”?  Normally, a question like this would signal the opening salvo of a discussion about abortion.  But here it’s leading to a discussion about what happens when a fetus is negligently injured by a Virginia doctor.   You might naturally find yourself falling into one of two schools of thought on the issue.  Either, …

Traffic Fatalities and Poverty in DC, Maryland, and Virginia

By Cory Bilton Last night after I got home from work I stumbled across a Washington Post article about the human toll of worldwide traffic accidents.  The article is actually part of the Roads Kill project by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, spearheaded by journalists Tom Hundley and Dan McCarey.  The series focuses on the huge number of lives …

Discovering Insurance Policy Limits without Filing a Lawsuit in the Washington, DC Area

By Cory Bilton In handling personal injury claims, there are many cases where justice and efficiency are best served when we know the amount of insurance coverage available.  This is especially true in cases when a person is seriously injured.   If an injured person’s medical expenses, out-of-pocket costs, and pain and suffering vastly exceed the amount of available insurance, the …

To Shovel or Not to Shovel: Snow Clearing Laws in DC, Maryland, and Virginia

By Cory Bilton The flakes began falling last night before we had left the office.  All evening and through most of the night, snow fell across DC, Maryland, and Virginia.  Today, we are all enduring an uncomfortable mix of frigid temperatures, strong winds, and snow and ice accumulations.  Since I have safely made it to the office today, this is …

Comparisons, Conjecture, and Confusion Over Data Used by Testifying Experts

By Cory Bilton This has been an exciting year for data both big and small.  We’ve seen frequent news stories on data released by the government, secretly collected by the government, and stolen from private businesses.  On our blog this year, we’ve written about healthcare claims data from Medicare, highlighted reports of bicycle collision data in DC and data about …

Bicycling After Dark

By Cory Bilton If you are like me and still trying to commute to and from work on your bicycle this time of year, it’s almost impossible to avoid riding in the dark.  The official sunset time in DC today is 4:46 pm.  So you’d have to leave work pretty early to ride home with sunlight.  Riding a bicycle in …

Too Many Judges in Virginia? Report says, “Too few.”

By Cory Bilton In 2011, Virginia Delegate Bill Janis wrote, “In too many courthouses we have, as my old chief would say, ‘too much glass for the job.’”  He was referring to having too many judges in Virginia.  That year, Janis introduced HB 1990, which intended to reduce the number of judges in Virginia from 403 to 384.  An identical …

Potential Uses of Telematics Data in Personal Injury Cases

By Cory Bilton Drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians often disagree about how an accident happened.  The damage to a bicycle or vehicle says something about the effect of a collision, but the events that precede a collision often need to be retold by the people involved or the witnesses nearby.  In preparing a case, personal injury lawyers have to nail down …

DC’s Police Complaint Board Issues MPD Report Card on Bicycle Accidents

By Cory Bilton In working with injured cyclists, we see a number of recurring scenarios in bicycle accidents in the DC area.  When a bicycle-motor vehicle collision occurs, at least one person involved usually does not know how the rules of the road (e.g. the law) apply to cyclists.  This ignorance of the law often manifests itself in a presumption …

Pre-litigation Medical Exams by UIM Insurers in Maryland and Virginia

By Cory Bilton In most personal injury cases, the plaintiff is going to be examined by a defense medical expert during the course of the litigation.  Most courts have discovery rules or rules of evidence regarding the defendant’s right to physically examine the injured plaintiff.  But prior to filing suit, the tortfeasor has no legal right to require the plaintiff …