Trial Practice

Call Your Next Witness – Bob Cosgrove and Matt Care Discuss last week’s Defense Verdict

“Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.”    What does this Ginger Rogers quote have to do with litigation and trial practice? Good question.   Bob Cosgrove and Matt Care just tried a case to a unanimous defense verdict, in front of of a real live jury in Pennsylvania.  You can read up on the details of the case here. Putting aside the odd...Read More

Call Your Next Witness – Shari Belitz on Litigation Consultation

On episode 6 of Call Your Next Witness, the Wade Clark Mulcahy LLP podcast, Brian Gibbons & Georgia Coats interview litigation consultant, author, attorney, Yankee fan (nobody’s perfect!) and absolute force of nature Shari E. Belitz, Esq. As risk managers all know, knowledge is power — Shari and her team offer unique knowledge and foresight to risk managers looking to prepare...Read More

Call Your Next Witness Podcast – Brian Gibbons Interviews Dan Solinsky of Edelman Krasin & Jaye PLLC

Check out the newest episode of the Call Your Next Witness podcast, where Brian Gibbons interviews plaintiff’s attorney extraordinaire, fellow Bronx County District Attorney’s Office & St. John’s University School of Law alum, and all around good guy, Dan Solinsky of Edelman, Krasin & Jaye PLLC. Dan and I discuss our career paths, which began as prosecutors in the...Read More

Kings County Suit Dismissed During Jury Selection Due to Mask Protocols (NY)

Just yesterday in Kings County Supreme Court, a plaintiff’s attorney expressed an inability to proceed with jury selection, while masked, due to inability to breathe.  Counsel asked for an adjournment of trial until June.   Not only did the Court deny the request, but dismissed the lawsuit outright due to counsel’s inability to proceed.   The transcript of the argument which lead...Read More

Jury Trials in the Age of COVID. An Insider’s View of What Courts Will Look Like.

Subject to approval from the City of Philadelphia – the Court is a tenant of the City in Philadelphia City Hall — civil jury trials are set to resume in Philadelphia this week.  On Friday, as a defense lawyer representative, I had the chance to attend a walkthrough hosted by Presiding Civil Judge Anders and get a sense of what the physical setup will be.  Here is a quick overview and...Read More

Suffolk County (NY) Operating Protocols – Effective February 22, 2021

As COVID-19 numbers seem to be at least be trending in the right direction, NY courts are preparing to resume in-person proceedings.  (For the time being, remote appearances will remain the norm, but it makes sense to be prepared for in-person litigation.)   Suffolk County has issued new protocols, which you can review here.  Effective February 22, 2021, the new protocols include the...Read More

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Refuses to Implement Bright Line Rule on Defective Jury Awards

Last week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Mader v. Duquesne Light Company, refused to implement a bright line rule with respect to mandating a trial court’s options when a jury returns an inconsistent, favorable plaintiff verdict with an inconsistent damages award. Instead, the Court indicated that trial courts largely have broad discretion in terms of requiring new trials for damages. As...Read More

Facebook Discovery Leads to Adverse Inference (NY)

In Safer v. Hudson Hotel, the Civil Court of the City of New York addressed whether an adverse inference charge was proper as part of the trial court’s jury charge. The plaintiff alleged that she stepped on a broken glass in the defendant’s hotel bar which caused serious personal injuries to her mind and body. As such, the defendants served plaintiff with a discovery demand for “color...Read More

Default is not a Total Loss (NY)

In a personal injury action, plaintiff Castaldini claims personal injury when a propane tank exploded at the home of defendant Walsh. Upon defendant’s failure to answer, plaintiff’s motion to enter default judgment was granted by the trial court, and the case was sent to inquest for a trial on damages. At the inquest trial, plaintiff testified as to his injury and submitted a written sworn...Read More

Importance of “Backing Up” Claims in MVA Case (PA)

In Ruffin v. Desh United Corporation et al. plaintiff learned a lesson fit for an evidence course lecture after he appealed the trial court’s decision in his personal injury case. According to plaintiff, he was injured while crossing the street when defendant driver backed into Ruffin with his car. The other defendants in the matter are defendant’s employers. After defendants appealed an...Read More