In the case of Grau v. Carroll, No. C-48-CV-2017-09424 (C.P. Northampton Co. March 28, 2019 Roscioli, J.), the court granted the Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment in a case where the Plaintiff alleges that she was caused to fall when she was startled by the Defendants’ dog, a golden retriever.  The Plaintiff alleged that the dog ran up to the edge of an invisible/electric fence which caused the Plaintiff to back away from the dog,…

District Finals  of the  Mock Trial Competition Wednesday, February 26, 2020 6:00 pm VOLUNTEERS NEED TO  SERVE AS JURORS Please contact  Katie Nealon, Esq. knealon@munley.com or Ryan Campbell, Esq. hrlaw04@gmail.com…

Have seen this tip a few times so far this year and thought it a good one to pass along.  It is recommended that you write out “2020” whenever writing the date out on important documents, checks, or any legal documents or filings, so as to prevent anyone from changing it, i.e., changing 2/19/20 to 2/19/2018.…

In his decision in the case of Wolff v. Taylor, No. 19-CV-4988 (C.P. Lacka. Co. Feb. 12, 2020 Nealon, J.), Judge Terrence R. Nealon, relying upon the Pennsylvania Superior Court case of Archibald v. Kemble, 971 A.2d 513 (Pa. Super. 2009), continued the trend of decisions in Lackawanna County allowing Plaintiffs in that county to generally plead allegations of recklessness in any personal injury case. The Wolff case involved an intersectional motor vehicle accident involving personal vehicles in…

Just when you think you’ve heard all, along comes an argument that a new trial should be granted because a trial court judge improperly used hand gestures during jury instructions to explain a point. In the case of Antonio v. Progressive Insurance Co., No. 19-1074 (3d Cir. Jan. 8, 2020 Fuentes, J., Scirica, J., Shwartz, J.), the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed various evidentiary rulings by a lower court judge in a post-verdict appeal…

In the case of Speight v. Schlacter, No. C-48-CV-2019-6973 (C.P. Northampton Co. Jan. 28, 2020 Murray, J.), the court addressed Preliminary Objections filed by a Defendant in a motor vehicle accident case relative to allegations of recklessness in a motor vehicle accident Complaint. According to the Opinion, the Plaintiff alleged in her Complaint that the Defendant failed to stop at a stop sign and crashed into the Plaintiff’s vehicle. On one issue, the defense contested…

In the case of Berklovich v. Quarrick, No. 2567-CV-2018 (C.P. Westmoreland Co. 2020 Scherer, J.), the court granted a defendant’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and dismissed a Plaintiff’s claim for punitive damages based upon allegations of excessive speed and cell phone use by the defendant during a motor vehicle accident. According to the Opinion, the Plaintiff was rear ended and, as a result, her vehicle was propelled forward across two lanes of traffic. After…