How to Make the News — Sue Somebody Considered Newsworthy.
No. 909 Two very mundane lawsuits received more TV news attention recently than the cases deserved. A suit by someone who broke a tooth on a Primanti’s Sandwich received tease after tease on the evening newscast recently. ”You’ll never believe …” In the end (of the newscast), the foreign object in the sandwich was not [...]
Still Crazy After All These Years: the Continuing Saga of the Duke/ Nifong Debacle.
No. 905 Remember in 2006 when members of the Duke Lacrosse team found themselves in a very compromising situation over allegations of rape made by an escort who was performing at a party? Sure you do. The administration and faculty of Duke turned into a lynch mob overnight and none of them bothered to ask [...]
Pennsylvania Civil Procedure Rule Changes effective August 1, 2012 Regarding Electronically Stored Information.
No. 896 FYI, new Rules of Civil Procedure 4009.1, 4009.11, 4009.12, 4009.21, 4009.23, and 4011have been adopted by Pennsylvania effective August 1, 2012. Here are the Comments, followed by the Rules.
Commonwealth Court Ruling on Act 13 Oil and Gas Regulation is Not the Last Word.
No. 894 On July 26, 2012, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court decided a Constitutional challenge to Act 13, the latest legislative attempt to regulate the booming oil and gas industry. By a 4-3 vote it found certain provisions of the statute unconstitutional. See Robinson Township et al. v. Commonwealth, No. 248 MD 2012, not yet found [...]
Accusations Against Justice Baldwin While Acting as GC at Penn State Should Not Be Taken As Fact.
Justice Baldwin has had a distinguished career of service that can be matched by few others in this Commonwealth. She is entitled to the presumption that she represented Penn State in a prudent and effective manner.
Supreme Court Accepts Appeal on Wal-Mart Case
In case you may be interested, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently granted the petition for allocatur in the case of Braun v. Walmart Stores. The initial appeal was decided by the Superior Court last June and is reported at 24 A.3d 875 (2011). This was a class action involving employee wage and hour claims which was tried in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in 2009. Wal-Mart had appealed from a judgment in the amount of $187,648,589.11.
Default Judgment — The Postman Cometh But Once.
No. 824 Many mortgage foreclosure defendants fall into this trap. The Complaint is filed and no response is filed. After twenty days have elapsed, a ten-day notice is served, but the borrowers are seeking a modification, so nothing happens. Time goes by, perhaps a year. Then one day, without further notice, default judgment is taken, [...]
Don’t Post Anything on Facebook that You Wouldn’t Want To See as Exhibit A In Court.
Bloggers say this all of the time. Plenty of people don’t listen. Here’s A Pennsylvania Common Pleas case that illustrates what can happen. The judge ordered discovery of the entries on the Facebook page of a plaintiff in an auto accident. It included entries about a supposedly seriously injured person going to the gym, etc. The Court stated that no court has ever held that there is an expectation of privacy on Facebook. On the contrary, the court noted, Facebook is for sharing.
Thank You Real Estate Agents
No. 731 Thanks to the great group of real estate agents that took the continuing professional education class I gave at CCAC North this past week. They asked plenty of great questions and added a great deal to the discussion. I will be giving the class at least four more times in the Spring at [...]
The Art of the Objection.
Like so many things that lawyers do, stating objections in court requires preparation, experience and skill. If you don’t state your grounds quickly, the damage may be done, even if the objection is sustained.
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