Maryland Lawyer Blog

One more silly Facebook lawsuit before you go to bed.

No big shock: State Senator Ulysses Currie, chairman of a legislative committee that steers $32 billion in spending for Maryland, was indicted of illegally using his influence to benefit Shoppers Food Warehouse.

A lawsuit has been filed against a video game developer by a man who became "addicted" to one of the company's video games. Plaintiff alleges that he spent 20,000 hours over five years playing the game "Lineage II" and "continues to this day to have a 'compulsive urge and need' to play the game." Plaintiff can no longer "function independently in usual daily activities" due to his addiction. Plaintiff is seeking unspecified damages.

I really want to try this game.

The Maryland Court of Appeals recently answered the following question in Ameriquest Mortgage v. Paramount Mortgage Services:

In light of Maryland’s statutory requirement that a challenge to a recorded deed of trust based on an allegedly improper affidavit of consideration and disbursement must be brought within six months of recordation, may a lienholder challenge an earlier-recorded deed of trust on the basis of an allegedly defective affidavit of consideration and disbursement, if such challenge is not filed until 18 months after recordation?

I would provide an analysis of the answer but I don't even understand the question. Of course, there are a lot of personal injury related questions the court addresses that Maryland property lawyers could not begin to understand. The amazing thing to me is the appellate courts have to be able to get their minds fully around both areas of law and many, many more. Judges are basically general practice lawyers. There are not too many general practice lawyers out there anymore because there is just too much to know. Which underscores how hard it is to be a judge.

No, not for you. But North Carolina has already graded the bar exams from the July 2010 seating. Maryland results come out usually in November. Which begs the question: does North Carolina actually read the exam answers? I'm sure they do. Above the Law suggests that it is the small number of applicants to the North Carolina bar: 1,046 applicants for the July bar this year. But that is traditionally around the number of applicants for the Maryland bar. So why does Maryland take three times as long? Less examiners? I have no clue.

There is a new 6-1 opinion by the Maryland Court of Appeals on a workers' comp case in Montgomery County that was filed by an injured police officer.

You can find the opinion here.

Judge Harrell starts out another opinion with a pop culture reference in a criminal case involving a drug deal in Prince George’s County:

Our house is a very, very, very fine house, With two [cops] in the yard; Life used to be so hard, Now everything is [seized] ’cause of you.

In a footnote, Judge Harrell apologizes to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young "for tinkering with the lyrics" from their song, “Our House,” from their 1970 album, Deja Vu.

The Maryland Court of Appeals reversed the trial court that threw out erroneously seized evidence from an improper search, finding that the evidence recovered would be admissible under the good faith exception to the Fourth Amendment’s exclusionary rule.

I really should not be spending my time reviewing criminal cases. I try to take a quick glance at all new opinions, including criminal opinions, just to see if there is anything of interest to my practice. The lead-in to this case got my attention and I kept reading.

You can find the opinion in Marshall v. State here.

A grand jury has indicted will indict Roger Clemens on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, according to the New York Times reported, citing two sources briefed on the case. ESPN has a copy of the indictment. I think you will be able to figure out who "Strength Coach #1" is.

This may cause the congressman who had their picture taken with him before Clemens testified some chagrin.

I had a hard time believing that Clemens would be so bold as lie after he said he wanted to testify after Congress was apparently willing to let him off the mat and not require him to testify. Obviously, federal prosecutors think he is just that bold. I do not think it is huge news that the grand jury chose to indict Clemens because it is not hard for a federal prosecutor to get an indictment. But it clearly shows the prosecutors believe they can get a conviction.

I'm all for prosecuting those who lie to Congress although I think it was inane that Roger Clemens was testifying before Congress in the first place.

Now the best pitcher and the best hitter of in the last 20 years are both under indictment.

Brian McNamee has a defamation lawsuit pending in New York. What is the value of that claim now? The vast, vast majority of defamation claims have two fatal flaws: (1) the defendant has no money, and (2) the defamation is not that widespread to cause significant harm. In this case, the world only knows who Brian McNamee is because of the alleged defamation. Neither of these circumstances are present here.

• Clemens loses appeal in civil case
• New York Times article

MSNBC reports on a new law in some Miami Beach playground areas that allows for fines for adults that come to the playground unaccompanied by a minor. Apparently, and this is the first I'm hearing of it, there are already laws on the books in New York City and San Francisco.

I have a hard time figuring out why anyone would oppose this and I really can't figure out what the theoretical constitutional basis would be for striking this statute.

Roger Clemens lost his appeal to the 5th Circuit in New Orleans to revive his defamation lawsuit against Brian McNamee for the allegations made that he provided performance enhancing drugs to Clemens. The 2-1 decision upheld U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison’s ruling that there is not jurisdiction in federal court in Texas for the lawsuit because the alleged defamation was in New York.

Clemens is certainly welcome to refile his case in New York. I'm betting that with the FBI investigation, he will be smart enough to leave well enough alone.

I wrote last week about the insanity I experienced in my drive-by the world of collections. Here is an appropriate story: a utility company demanding payment on a bill of $0.00 with a threat of sending the outstanding balance to collections.

John Bratt writes about one judge's approach to dealing with a lawyer incapable of acting appropriately in a deposition.