Articles Posted in Trial

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Prince-Georges-County-Circuit-CourtWe had a pre-trial conference in Cecil County earlier this week.  As I was discussing with my clients what to expect, I was reminded that, as “old hat” as these pre-trial conferences are for me, most people have never been through the process.  This is a good place to describe what they are all about.

One caveat before we start–there is some variation between the counties, and sometimes even between judges in the same county.  Your lawyer should know (either by experience or by asking other lawyers with experience) exactly what to expect in your case.  Here is a sample scheduling order for Baltimore City Circuit Court, which sets the pre-trial conference: Scheduling Order (02-24-18)

Some frequently asked questions:

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Exhibit-Sticker-02-24-18-300x300Immediately after an injury, it is important to collect and preserve all the evidence you will need to prove your case.  Trials can be lost because of a lack of evidence.  Sometimes, a judge deciding liability may need to know where the cars came to rest, what the property damage looked like, or what the dashcam footage revealed.  Sometimes that evidence is in the hands of another person, corporation, or governmental entity.

Enter the spoliation letter.  This is the singularly most important step in evidence preservation.  Without it, it is possible, even likely, that the evidence you need will be destroyed, often in the normal course of business.  Security tapes are routinely recorded over every day, week, or month.  Documents and photographs may be destroyed when they serve no further use.  But a proper spoliation letter can not only help to ensure that evidence remains available, but when sent to a future defendant, it can help you in other ways if the evidence is destroyed.  For example, a judge may rule that if evidence destroyed after the receipt of a proper spoliation letter, the jury can infer that the evidence was harmful to the destroyer’s case.

So, make sure that your spoliation letter (or your lawyer’s spoliation letter) is sent by some mechanism to ensure you can prove it was sent–a fax, an email, hand-delivery with a date-stamped copy, or a certified letter with return receipt requested is usually a good start.

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Get-of-Jail-Card-02-28-18-300x176It’s one of those things that most lawyers have had to deal with at one time or another in personal injury cases.  The client (plaintiff or defendant), or an important witness, might be, as we call it, a “resident of the State.”  That is, they may be in jail.

If the testimony is important for your case, you have the burden to get it.  A judge may not be very forgiving if you did not do the legwork to arrange for the prisoner’s testimony.  You don’t want to have to ask for a postponement unless it is absolutely necessary.

You’d think it would be a simple matter to get someone transferred from a jail to courthouse (after all, they probably took the reverse trip at some time in the past).  Sometimes it is easy, sometimes it is not.  How do you get them out of jail (however briefly)?  File a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum.  A writ is a written command.   Habeas corpus is a Latin phrase that means “that you have the body.”  Ad testificandum is another Latin phrase which refers to oral testimony, usually before a court.  Put it all together, and it is essentially a command that a person be released from jail for testimony at court.

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District-Court-LogoOur district court clients often have questions about how long it will take for their cases to conclude.  The real answer is always “it depends.”  It depends on whether the insurance company offers a reasonable settlement and when; it depends on how congested the court’s docket is; it depends on the schedule of the parties, the lawyers, and the witnesses; it depends on how easy (or difficult) it is to locate and serve the defendants.

However, we can give some general guidance.  Your case may vary, of course, but the process is usually this:

The first date at which to calculate the time to get to trial is from the time that we decide to file a complaint in the courthouse.  We might file a number of reasons:

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District-Court-LogoI had a district court trial—it was complicated liability dispute before Judge John Green in Baltimore City District Court.  In this auto accident collision we sued the other driver, and the other driver sued us.  This was a classic red light/green light case, which boils down to he-said/she-said when there are no independent witnesses.

An independent witness is a person who is unaffiliated with either party who sees the auto accident.  Independent is important—friends and relatives are more likely to lie to help their friends and relatives, so they have a bias, an incentive, to lie (even while under oath).

In our case, there were no independent witnesses.  However, there was a police officer who talked to the parties immediately after the collision.  In a trial, that police officer could testify about what the parties said, even if one of them hypothetically told the police officer that he “didn’t know what color his light was.”

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For nearly as long as there has been lawyer advertising (not too long—it was roundly prohibited in many states until about 1977), lawyers have compared themselves to animals.  Pit bulls, sharks, and other ferocious animals.  The reason is simple—it’s what the market wants.

I’ve had this conversation with many potential automobile accident clients:

“You seem too nice.”