Participants in most sports face some risk of injury. Such injuries as a baseball player being struck by a bat or ball would not be unexpected. However, the law has seen many cases where participants (or spectators) sue for injuries that occur at sporting events. Maryland’s highest court this week addressed such a case in American Powerlifting Association v. Cotillo. …
Surviving Small Claims Court
There is an old saying that a lawyer who represents himself in court has a fool for a client, and lawyers themselves expand that thought to include non-lawyers who go to court without an attorney. Judges and trial lawyers suggest that in any serious criminal, traffic or civil matter it is a bad idea to act as one’s own attorney, …
Liability for the Drunken Brawl
In this day and age, it is not unusual to hear about lawsuits where the victim of a crime attempts to sue someone other than the criminal to be compensated for an injury. A classic example is the drunken brawl, in a tavern or other establishment. Usually there is no point in suing the assailant, who probably has no money …
Tobacco Litigation in Maryland
The tobacco settlement that has been much in the news in recent years resolved only claims by the States against tobacco companies to seek recovery for funds expended by state governments to care for persons ill from smoking. Claims by individual smokers against tobacco manufacturers and retailers continue throughout the country, and Maryland is no different. An effort was made …