E-Bike and Scooter Battery Fires: Product Liability Comes to DC Apartments
Lithium-ion battery fires from e-bikes and scooters are injuring riders and neighbors alike. How DC product liability law treats battery fire claims.
Blog, page 3
Plain-English articles on the court decisions and rules that shape injury cases in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
Why Getting Medical Attention After an Accident Is Critical
Feeling fine after a crash doesn’t mean you are, and a gap in treatment is the first thing an insurer will use against you. Why prompt medical care protects your health and your claim.
Understanding Contributory Negligence in Virginia: What It Means for Your Personal Injury Claim
Virginia is one of a handful of places where being even slightly at fault can bar your recovery entirely. What contributory negligence means for your claim, and how insurers try to use it against you.
Steps to Take Immediately After a Car Accident in the D.C. Metro Area
What you do in the minutes and days after a D.C.-area car accident can make or break your claim. A step-by-step guide from our trial lawyers.
The Child Victims Act Survives: Maryland's Highest Court Upholds Survivors' Right to Sue
Maryland's Supreme Court held 4-3 that the Child Victims Act's revival of time-barred abuse claims is constitutional. What the ruling means for survivors.
The $7 Million Verdict That Came Back: Al-Saray v. Furr and the Power of Circumstantial Evidence
Virginia's Supreme Court reinstated a $7M brain-injury verdict, holding circumstantial evidence of causation need not rule out every other possibility.
A $2 Million Verdict Stands: Virginia's Dead Man's Statute Tamed in Bon Secours-DePaul v. Rogakos-Russell
The Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed a $2M wrongful death verdict, holding the Dead Man's Statute did not silence the patient's own account of his fall.
Baltimore's Rental Scooters and City Liability: Where Claims Stand
Baltimore renewed its dockless scooter program in 2024 with Spin and Lime. Who pays when a rider is hurt: the company, a driver, or the city?
Misdiagnosed in the ER: Emergency Medicine Claims in the District of Columbia
Federal research estimates 1 in 18 ER patients is misdiagnosed. How DC law handles emergency-room diagnostic-error claims, and the 90-day notice trap.
School Bus Crashes in Virginia: Sovereign Immunity, Insurance, and Your Child's Rights
When a Virginia school bus crash injures a child, sovereign immunity is waived up to the school board's insurance. How these claims actually work.
Maryland Wrongful Death Damages in 2024: Caps, Apportionment, and the Cap-Date Rule
Maryland's 2024 wrongful death numbers: the $935,000 cap, the 150% multiplier for families, the lower med-mal cap, and why the date of injury controls.
Page v. PRHA: Housing Authorities Can't Hide Behind Sovereign Immunity
The Supreme Court of Virginia held a housing authority acts like any private landowner when maintaining its property: no sovereign immunity.
Porter v. Howard University Hospital: The Bankruptcy Trap That Almost Ate a Med-Mal Case
The DC Court of Appeals reversed dismissal of a med-mal case the plaintiff forgot to list in bankruptcy, and gave lawyers the playbook to save such claims.
Vision Zero, Real Numbers: DC Pedestrian Deaths and Civil Accountability
DC traffic deaths hit a 16-year high in 2023, the year before Vision Zero's target date. What civil accountability looks like for victims' families.
The Crash Data in Your Car: EDR "Black Box" Evidence in Virginia
Most cars record crash data. What Virginia's EDR privacy statute and federal rule 49 CFR Part 563 mean for proving your crash case.
The Key Bridge Collapse and the 1851 Law That Could Cap the Families' Recovery
The Dali's owners have invoked an 1851 law to cap all Key Bridge claims at about $43.7 million. What the Limitation of Liability Act means for the families.
E-Bikes and Kids: Maryland Injury Liability in the Battery Age
Maryland's e-bike classes, age and helmet rules, and what happens legally when a child is hurt riding, or hit by, an electric bike.
Rodrigue v. Butts-Franklin: $1.18 Million Malpractice Verdict Affirmed, Mitigation Is Not a Backdoor to Contributory Negligence
Virginia's Court of Appeals affirmed a $1.18M med-mal verdict, holding a failure-to-mitigate instruction can't smuggle in contributory negligence.
Whiteru Returns: D.C. Circuit Sends the "Trespasser Question" to DC's Highest Court
The D.C. Circuit has certified the Whiteru v. WMATA trespasser question to the D.C. Court of Appeals. What's at stake for injured Metro riders.
Injured by Construction in DC: Bystander and Passerby Claims
Hit by debris, tripped at a torn-up sidewalk, hurt near a DC construction site? How bystander claims work: who owes duties, notice traps, and evidence.