Maryland Lawyer Blog

Hysterically, the Princeton Review has ranked how much out of class time law students at different schools spend studying. The hardest school to get into in the country might be Yale. Its students ranked last. Apparently, lazy pills are given at orientation.

Top ranked? Villanova. As Above the Law points out, its students cannot possibly average 7.5 hours of studying a day unless they are (a) skipping class or (b) really dumb.

These rankings are so useless I think even printing them is going to mislead the impressionable.

The lawsuit against Jon Gosselin is pending here in Montgomery County, Maryland!!

The lawsuit alleges breach of the contract governing his participation in the reality television show “Jon & Kate + Eight.”

According to the Maryland Daily Record, Discovery Talent Services LLC filed the lawsuit Friday in Montgomery County Circuit Court. Why does Discovery have personal jurisdiction over the besieged Gosselin? Discovery has a choice of venue clause. In Jon Gosselin's rush to fame, he may have looked over the fine print.

I couldn't possibility be more excited. The Maryland Lawyer Blog will provide gavel-to-gavel coverage of this trial. Later today, I'll breakdown the Complaint and compare and contrast John Gosselin with Balloon Boy's dad. Tomorrow, I'll redraft the Complaint in lambic pentameter.

I'm estimating about 10,000 people will now subscribe to the Maryland Lawyer Blog and two-thirds of those will just hit the refresh button.

The ABA provides a summary of different ethics opinions in a number of states, including Maryland, on the use of metadata.

As expected, Exxon Mobil Corp. is appealing $150 million verdict awarded to group to Baltimore County whose groundwater was contaminated by a 26,000-gallon gasoline leak. Exxon believes the award is excessive given the damages caused and I'm sure they have lots of other potential legal theories for appeal that are invariable in a case that went on as long as this one did.

• Exxon jury verdict
• Trial tactics in the Exxon case.
• Punitive damages in Maryland (are they available in the Exxon trial in Baltimore County?)

Dr. Phil is the subject of a lawsuit. The alleged victim filed suit - acting as her own lawyer - on Wednesday, alleging that Dr. Phil touched her breast and forced her to stay in his office with a naked man in 2007.

Let's take a look at the Vegas odds on this:

Chances of These Charges Being True: 200-1

Chances Plaintiff Prevails at Trial: 10,000-1

Chances the Case Gets Dismissed on Motion: 1-20

You can find a copy of the lawsuit here. I'd be lying if I said I read it.

The Maryland Daily Record reports that the state courts’ Rules Committee has rejected a proposed ban on cell phones in Maryland courthouses. I wrote about this proposed rule last week.

Good call. Not having cell phones at trial would have been a logistical disaster for trial lawyers.

This is the proposed rule that got shot down.

• Cell phone usage in Maryland courtrooms (current list of Maryland courts where you can bring your cell phone into court)


• United States District Court for Southern District of California (cell phone rules)


• Mistrial for juror tweets


• Follow the Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog on Twitter

An article that John Bratt and I wrote has been accepted for publication in December in Trial, the flagship publication for the American Association of Justice. The article is about mediations in catastrophic personal injury cases. We finished what I hope is the final draft today.

The Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog summarizes Abrishamian v. Barbely, a new pedestrian accident Maryland Court of Special Appeals decision stemming a bad plaintiff's verdict in Montgomery County.

• Legal malpractice case before Maryland Court of Appeals.
• Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler goes to the Supreme Court looking to scale back Miranda. He's got my support. Everyone knows Miranda anyway because we studied so hard in social studies in the 7th grade. Oh, yeah, and we all watch TV.
• Speed camera are making people in Maryland slow down. This has to be a good thing.
• Erin Andrews' stalker works for an insurance company. Shocking, just shocking. (I'm kidding here people!)
• Attention people text messaging and driving: You are breaking the law.

The Maryland Court of Special Appeals issued its opinion in Giant v. Taylor, a race and sex discrimination case about a female truck driver for Giant whose problems with her employer began because she was late to work due to gynecological problems. The jury bought her case, awarding her $644,750 after a trial that took over a week.

It is a case worth reading for Maryland employment lawyers but I did not see much of interest for personal injury lawyers.