Pre-trial Statement Maryland Personal Injury Lawyer

In every personal injury case in Maryland that has been filed in the Circuit Court or subsequently transferred to the Circuit Court on a defendant's request for jury trial there will be a requirement that both parties file a pretrial statement. The content for a pretrial statement has already been predetermined by the Maryland rules. I have outlined below the rules affecting the filing of a pretrial statement.
Rule 2-504.2. Pretrial conference.

(a) Generally.- The court, on motion or on its own initiative, may direct all parties to appear before it for a conference before trial. If the court directs, each party shall file not later than five days before the conference a written statement addressing the matters listed in section (b) of this Rule.

(b) Matters to be considered.- The following matters may be considered at a pretrial conference:


(1) A brief statement by each plaintiff of the facts to be relied on in support of a claim;


(2) A brief statement by each defendant of the facts to be relied on as a defense to a claim;


(3) Similar statements as to any counterclaims, cross-claim, or third-party claim;


(4) Any amendments required of the pleadings;


(5) Simplification or limitation of issues;


(6) Stipulations of fact or, if unable to agree, a statement of matters of which any party requests an admission;


(7) The details of the damage claimed or any other relief sought as of the date of the pretrial conference;

(8) A listing of the documents and records to be offered in evidence by each party at the trial, other than those expected to be used solely for impeachment, indicating which documents the parties agree may be offered in evidence without the usual authentication and separately identifying those that the party may offer only if the need arises;

(9) A listing by each party of the name, address, and telephone number of each non-expert whom the party expects to call as a witness at trial (other than those expected to be used solely for impeachment) separately identifying those whom the party may call only if the need arises;


(10) A listing by each party of those witnesses whose testimony is expected to be presented by means of a deposition (other than those expected to be used solely for impeachment) and a transcript of the pertinent portions of any deposition testimony that was not taken stenographically;

(11) A listing by each party of the names and specialties of experts the party proposes to call as witnesses;

(12) Any other matter that the party wishes to raise at the conference.


If you have questions regarding the filing of a pretrial statement please feel free to call me 1-888-760-7339

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Methods to Prove Facts in Maryland Personal Injury

I receive several calls each weeks from people who visit my web site. asking how they can prove their cases. What is evidence and what do they need to do. There are many ways to prove the facts necessary to establish your claim or your defense. Facts can be proven by eyewitnesses, who can be either or both friendly and/or adversarial/adverse witnesses. Facts may be proven through real and demonstrative evidence, tangible articles, photographs, models, maps, drawings, documents, or opinions of experts. Under certain circumstances facts may be established thru the opinions of non -experts and by the use of out of court statement. These out of court statements must qualify as hearsay exceptions. In some instances a fact may be admitted in pleadings or even in situations where an adverse party admits the fact in discovery by deposition testimony or admission or failure to deny in a request for admission under Maryland Rule 2-424. Facts may be proven by circumstantial evidence provided the evidence to establish the facts is not conjecture or speculation. The ability to see the relevant facts of a case coupled with the knowledge of how to secure the introduction of the facts into evidence is essential to proof of any case in court. Many attorney's create a formula for presentation. It consist of pre outlined time schedules for issuing subpoenas, securing witnesses under subpoena, issuance of discovery, seeking stipulations and identifying and securing expert witness testimony.

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Experts in Maryland Injury Cases

For an expert to be permitted to testify first they must qualify as an expert. Then the experts opinions will be permitted only when

1). The opinions assist a jury in understanding questions that inexperienced people are not likely to decide correctly without the assistance of an expert. In circumstances where knowledge, training, and experience enable the expert witness to form an opinion that is going to aid the jury then an expert witness will be permitted to offer his testimony.

2). When the opinions are based on facts in evidence. The facts upon which the opinion of an expert witness is predicated must be stated. The jury must be informed of the facts or the assumed facts upon which the expert's opinion is based. An expert witness may not deliver his opinions in a factual vacuum. Furthermore, there must be evidence to support these facts. Beyond that it is for the jury to determine whether the facts exist or not. It has been the practice in Maryland for some years to permit an expert to express his opinion upon the facts in evidence which he has heard or read on the assumption that these facts are true. Twombley v. Fuller Brush Co., 221 Md. 476, 158 A.2d 110 (1960). Although expert opinion that assumes the truthfulness of disputed testimony is generally admissible, the expert opinion that asserts that the disputed testimony is true is not admissible. Hall v. State, 107 Md. App. 684, 670 A.2d 962 (1996. Md. Rule 5-703 If the jury's finding on controverted questions of fact is contra to the premise upon which the expert bases his opinion, his opinion falls with the premise. Mehlman v. Powell, 281 Md. 269, 378 A.2d 1121 (1977).

It is generally true that the opinion of an expert may not be based in whole or in part on the conclusions and opinions of other witnesses. Jackson v. Jackson, 249 Md. 170, 238 A.2d 852 (1968); nor on reports of others if they contain only opinions, inferences or conclusions. Pennsylvania Threshermen and Farmers' Mut. Cas. Co. v. Messenger, 181 Md. 295, 29 A.2d 653 (1943), Experts may rely on opinion evidence, based in part on reports of others which are not in evidence, but which the expert customarily relies on in the practice of his profession. Cohen v. Rubin, 55 Md. App. 83, 460 A.2d 1046 (1983).Where an expert relies on reports of others, he must demonstrate to the court not only that the reports were made in a reliable manner, but that they are reliable sources of information for the purposes to which the expert puts them. Madden v. Mercantile-Safe Deposit & Trust Co., 27Md. App. 17, 339 A.2d 340(1975).

In many personal injury case in Maryland I encounter situations where defense counsel seeks to introduce an expert for the sake of having an expert impress the jury. It is worth the fling of a Motion in Limine to challenge the use of experts that add nothing to the jury's need to understand and are no more then window dressing.

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Minimal Property Damage and Personal Injury In Maryland

The defendants are always making the argument that minimal property damages equals no personal injury. For example how can the person inside the car be hurt when the car is hardly hurt. The argue has some persuasive value in spite of the fact that it ignores the human factor that people are not cars. I use the example in trial of going to the play ground and seeing children pushing children at play. The child falls get back up and the game continues. Well if you push an elderly person the force of the push would break the person in half. The same is true of people not in shape or turned in an odd way at the point of impact, or susceptible to injury due to pre-existing conditions. The list goes on depending upon the facts of your case. In any event the Maryland Court of Appeals addressed the issue of whether property damage photographs can be offered into evidence with out expert testimony to establish the relationship, if any, between property damage and personal injury. The Court in the matter of MASON v. LYNCH. 388 Md. 37, 878 A.2d 588 held "Courts have generally held that photographs and testimony, showing or describing vehicular damage or the nature of the impact, are relevant with respect to the personal injuries suffered in a motor vehicle accident and, in the trial judge's discretion, are admissible." In this matter Plaintiff argued because greater vehicular damage does not result in greater personal injuries, and lesser vehicular damage does not result in lesser personal injuries, in every accident, there can be no correlation between vehicular damage and personal injuries; therefore, vehicular damage evidence is not relevant. However, the Court determined this is not the test for relevancy. Maryland Rule 5-401 defines “ relevant evidence” as follows: ‘Relevant evidence’ means evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.”
Courts, almost uniformly, have taken the position that there is in motor vehicle accident cases, as a matter of probability, a correlation between the nature of the vehicular impact and the severity of the personal injuries. As the plaintiff herself acknowledges in Morgan, “[t]here apparently exists among laypersons a belief ... that significant injuries are unlikely in the absence of substantial property damage.” Courts have generally taken the position that this belief is rooted in common sense. Moreover, in personal injury actions based on motor vehicle accidents, evidence, including photographs, of the accident scene and of the damage to the vehicles, is, within the trial court's discretion, admissible under Maryland law.
In sum, the trial court in the instant case did not abuse its discretion in admitting the photographs showing the damage to the plaintiff's automobile.

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Maryland Medical Malpractice the Twenty Percent Rule

Maryland medical malpractice law places a limitation on who can testify in the cases to certify and/or testify to the standard of care to those medical providers who devote no more then 20% of their professional time to testifying in personal injury cases. Specifically, MD Code, Courts and Judicial Proceedings, § 3-2A-04 b(4)

A health care provider who attests in a certificate of a qualified expert or who testifies in relation to a proceeding before an arbitration panel or a court concerning compliance with or departure from standards of care may not devote annually more than 20 percent of the expert's professional activities to activities that directly involve testimony in personal injury claims.

The issue was addressed in in Witte v. Azarian where the court addressed what kind of activities “directly involve testimony in personal injury claims,” within the meaning of CJ section 3-2A-04(b)(4), so as to constitute the numerator in the 20 Percent Rule. The court reasoned that the operative statutory phrase at issue (“activities that directly involve testimony in personal injury claims”), was ambiguous, as its meaning could not be ascertained from its plain language, and that, in light of the legislative history of the Act as amended, including the amendments establishing the certificate of qualified expert requirement, that language had to be read narrowly, so as to avoid “creat[ing] an unreasonable impediment to the pursuit, or defense, of a common law right of action” for medical negligence. The Court determined a standard to determine the issue as follows:

A more reasonable approach, we think, is to regard the statute as including only (1) the time the doctor spends in, or traveling to or from, court or deposition for the purpose of testifying, waiting to testify, or observing events in preparation for testifying, (2) the time spent assisting an attorney or other member of a litigation team in developing or responding to interrogatories and other forms of discovery, (3) the time spent in reviewing notes and other materials, preparing reports, and conferring with attorneys, insurance adjusters, other members of a litigation team, the patient, or others after being informed that the doctor will likely be called upon to sign an affidavit or otherwise testify, and (4) the time spent on any similar activity that has a clear and direct relationship to testimony to be given by the doctor or the doctor's preparation to give testimony.

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How To get Your Medical Records Into Evidence

GETTING YOUR DOCUMENTS INTO EVIDENCE http://www.marylandinjuryattorney.net/Evid%20Documents.htm

It is important in your proof to get your documents into evidence. This can be accomplished in multiple ways and the procedures for doing so vary depending whether you are in the district court or the circuit court.
District Court Procedure: Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article 10-104 provides in pertinent part as follows: 60 days before trial you must serve pursuant to MD Rule 1-321a notice of intent to offer medical records and billing statements and provide a list to identify each record and the actual report/bill. Also you must then file with the court a Notice of Service which list and identifies each record. Upon completion of this task it is no longer necessary for you to bring in an expert to testify on causation or that the medical cost were fair reasonable and necessary. Also, it is no longer necessary to subpoena records custodians to court to have the records entered into evidence as business records. it is important to note that you can use this same procedure in the event your case is moved to the circuit court on the defendant's request for jury trial. Provided you do not seek damages in excess of the district court limit of $25,000.00.
Circuit Court Procedure: In the circuit court I use each of the following methods:
1. Stipulation by Letter. I simply forward a letter to defendant's counsel enclosing the medical records and bills and ask that they agree that the records and bills are authentic and admissible. the stipulation makes clear that the defendant's counsel is not agreeing the injury is casually connected or that the cost are fair, reasonable, and necessary. Only that the records are what they purport to be.
2. Request for Admission of Fact: I do not generally find that procedure functional. I mention it because it is available. However, generally in my experience defendant's counsel simply deny the allegations. While I recognize a failure to deny is an admission, I have not yet seen a situation where defendant's counsel fell asleep at the wheel and failed to deny. The rule has no teeth as an unreasonable denial is not subject to sanction. However you can try to recover cost later.
3. Stipulation by Pre-trial Statement. You will eventually appear before the court for a settlement conference. This is a good time to get a stipulation to your documents. Defendant's counsel are in my experience very professional attorneys. They have no reason not to agree the records are authentic. Additionally, they have no interest in appearing unreasonable to the court. You simply list your documents in the pre-trial statement and request the court to inquire if defendant's counsel has any objection to the admissibility.
4. Expert Testimony. When you review further into the web sight you will find a section on expert testimony. You can also use the expert as a way to get your records into evidence. I will mention the records will come into evidence however using this method the records do not come in as proof of injury, they come in only as the basis for the expert's opinion. It is necessary to have the expert testify that he reviewed the records, he relied upon their content in reaching his opinion and that it is customary in his profession to rely upon such information.
5. MD Rules 5-803(6) and 5-902(11) . This is my favorite means of having records entered into evidence. It requires advanced planning as the records properly must be support by the affidavit of the records custodian. To proceed in this manner order your records; secure the custodian certificates; forward the medical records and bills to defendant's counsel; and file a notice of service to the court. As an extra measure of safety I also include with filing a list of the records by date and service and cost incurred.
6. Subpoena. Simply subpoena the records custodians to appear in court with the records.
7. Defendant's Counsel Records Deposition. Once defendant's counsel issues the records deposition I forward a letter requesting a copy of the records produced. You can follow receipt of the documents with the Request for Admission of Fact, but again in practical terms simply a call the defendant's counsel should be sufficient to get a stipulation. Again in my experience the defendant bar has always been very professional in these situation.

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