• Superior Court of New Jersey Affirms Decision Refusing to Allocate Proceeds Following Settlement after Non-Binding Arbitration Award
• Allegheny County Court Of Common Pleas Limits The Scope of “Hindsight” Testimony
• District Court Issues Opinion Pertaining to Punitive Damages and Discovery
• Superior Court Of Pennsylvania Overturns Order For Summary Judgment On Appeal, Nullifying Reservation Of Rights Clause Contained In Release Signed By Appellant
• Superior Court Of Pennsylvania Reinforces Liberal Standard For Qualification Of An Expert Witness
• Superior Court Denies Appeal After Applying Elements Of 'Res Ipsa Loquitur' To Case
• Superior Court Affirms Lower Court’s Decision That Medicaid Regulations Relate Primarily To “A Procedure For Payment For Medical Services”
• Superior Court Holds That Beneficiary Of Medical Expenses Paid By DPW For Care And Treatment Of Minor Child Is Parents Of Minor Child

Commercial Litigation

• Pennsylvania Superior Court Holds that Commercial Landlord May Not Amend Complaint to Recover Full Balance of Lease When Landlord Miscalculates Amount Due in a Confession of Judgment
• Superior Court Permits Contractor to Recover Post-Judgment Interest, Penalties, Attorney’s Fees and Expenses Under the Contractor and Subcontractor Payment Act
• Court Rejects Oral Modification to Written Agreement of Sale
• Supreme Court Of Pennsylvania Determines That Arbitration Clause Favoring Lender Is Not Presumptively Unconscionable
• Superior Court Interprets Standard Language Contained In Inspection Contingency Of Agreement Of Sale
• Purely Public Purpose Exemptions from Liens
• District Court Finds That Bank Violated The Deficiency Judgment Act When It Collected On Other Collateral
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Holds That Plaintiffs to Contract Actions Are Not Entitled to Delay Damages

Corporate Law

• New Jersey Supreme Court Holds Against Majority-Rule Settlement Agreements
• The Peer Review Act Does Not Shield an Insurance Company’s Credentialing Committee
• Nullification Of Overbroad Noncompete Agreement Held Insufficient Consideration For More Narrow Policy
• Restrictive Covenant In Physician’s Employment Agreement Unenforceable When Employer Does Not Compete In The Area In Which The Physician Later Practices
• Montgomery County Judge Finds No Conflict of Interest Regarding the Defense of an Insured Between the Insurance Company and its Hired Attorney
• Restrictive Covenant Deemed Non-Assignable

General Liability and Casualty

• PA Superior Court Rules Pre-Accident Mental Health Records are Discoverable When Anxiety Claimed as Result of Accident
• Wrongful Death Proceeds May Be Recovered By Adult Emancipated Child If There Is A Reasonable Expectation That Sufficiently Frequent Gifts Will Continue In The Future
• Challenge to Improper Venue May Only Be Made In Preliminary Objections--Recourse Is Challenge To Inconvenient Forum
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Finds That The Bankruptcy Code Preempts State Law Dragonetti Claims
• Supreme Court Makes Pennsylvania an “Any-Majority Rule” State
• Common Pleas Court Holds That Attorney-Client Privilege Protects Communications Between Co-Defendants Engaged in Joint Defense
• Venue Against a Corporation Cannot Be Based Upon Incidental Advertising
• Attorney-Expert Witness Contact Permitted During Break in Trial
• Employer Can Request That An Employee Undergo A Medical Examination in Certain Circumstances
• Treating Physician’s Opinion Admissible in Workers' Compensation Hearings
• Subcontractor Prohibited From Filing Mechanics’ Lien
• Non-Owned, Regularly-Used Car Exclusion Allowed in Insurance Contracts
• Certificate of Merit Requirement Extended to Federal Cases in Pennsylvania

Health Care Law

• Internal Revenue Service Simplifies Determination of Whether A Health Care Worker is an Employee or Independent Contractor

Legal Malpractice

• Venue In Legal Malpractice Case Found Appropriate In County In Which Law Firm Conducts 3% Of Its Business
• New Jersey Fee Shifting
• Negligence Of Client Is Affirmative Defense In Legal Malpractice Case; Client May Sue Lawyer For Breach of Contract For Implied Commitment To Provide Legal Services In A Professional Manner

Medical Malpractice

• Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Holds Medical Oncologist is Qualified to Render Standard of Care Opinions Against Otolaryngologist and Radiation Oncologist Under MCARE Act
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Reinforces Public Policy Favoring Voluntary Compromise of Claims
• Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Holds That Department of Public Welfare Can Obtain Reimbursement of Medicaid Benefits on Behalf of Disabled Minor
• Supreme Court Holds That Nurse’s Competency To Provide Expert Opinion on Issue of Causation Should be Determined by Common Law Regarding Expert Qualifications and Applicable Statutes
• Commonwealth Court Of Pennsylvania Opines on Structure of MCARE Fund Payments
• Superior Court Upholds Trial Court’s Denial Of Post-Trial Motions To Have Name Of Co-Defendant Doctor Who Settled Prior To Trial Included On Verdict Sheet
• Superior Court affirms that Plaintiff’s Expert, a Radiation Oncologist, is qualified to offer opinion as to Defendant Urologist’s breach of applicable Standard Of Care, as care in question fell outside of Defendant’s Specialty
• Superior Court Rules That A Motion To Extend Tolls The Time Period Within Which A Certificate Of Merit Must Be Filed
• Superior Court holds Certificate of Merit is Unnecessary in Suit against Hospital Without Allegation of Professional Negligence
• Supreme Court Issues Opinion Pertaining to Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error (MCARE) Act
• Superior Court Holds That A Cause Of Action For Breach Of Physician-Patient Confidentiality Is A Cognizable Cause Of Action In The Commonwealth
• Superior Court affirms Court of Common Pleas order dismissing, with prejudice, Plaintiffs medical malpractice action against defendants for failure to take out letters of administration within year of filing suggestion of death.
• Superior Court affirms decision of Court of Common Pleas denying plaintiffs’ motion to open or strike a judgment of non pros for failure to file Certificates of Merit.
• Superior Court Overturns Order Granting Doctor An Injunction Against Patient’s Website Containing Alleged Defamatory Statements
• Physician Cannot Face Third Party Liability
• Joint And Several Liability Judgment Claimant Is Not Required To Seek Payment From Solvent Insurer Before Seeking Payment From PPCIGA
• Claims for Lack of Informed Consent Require Certificate of Merit
• Supreme Court Deciding Issue of Whether Extrapolation Without Scientific Research Is A Valid Method of Reaching Conclusions
• Fall During Transfer Of A Stroke Patient Is A Claim For Medical Negligence And Requires Certificate Of Merit
• Philadelphia Judge Upholds Jury Verdict In Retained Sponge Case
• Physician Who Is On Probation By A Medical Board May Not Testify As An Expert
• MCARE Act’s Expert Requirements Reaffirmed To Be Retroactive; Canadian Experts Do Not Qualify
• Supreme Court Says Res Ipsa Loquitor Is Proper Jury Instruction In Case Of A Fall From An Examining Table
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Holds That Production of Expert Reports During Discovery Does Not Substantially Comply with the Certificate of Merit Requirements
• Presence of Non-Medical Personnel at Peer Review Meeting Does Not Nullify Protection of Pennsylvania’s Peer Review Protection Act
• Superior Court Holds That Nurse May Provide Expert Testimony Regarding the Cause of Pressure Wounds
• Medical Malpractice Plaintiffs May Immediately Appeal After Rejection of Remittitur
• Commonwealth Court Holds That Denial of Coverage by MCARE Was Appropriate in Indemnification Action
• Substance of Complaint Determines Need for Certificate of Merit
• Superior Court Holds That Prospective Jurors May Be Questioned Regarding Their Knowledge of Issues Surrounding Medical Malpractice “Crisis”
• Certificate of Merit Rule Survives “Retroactive” Application Challenge
• Licensee Bears Full Responsibility For MCARE Reporting
• Treating Physicians Serving As Experts May Provide Differential Diagnosis Testimony In New Jersey
• Client’s Opinion Of His Own Liability And The Opinion Of His Attorney Are Not Discoverable In A Dragonetti Action
• Malpractice Suits Against Dentists Require Filing of Certificates of Merit
• Timeliness Necessary in Certificate of Merit Filings
• Medical Malpractice Limits on Experts
• Discovery of Data Bank and Credentialing Document
• Pennsylvania Superior Court Orders New Trial of the Medical Malpractice Case Due to the Defense’s In-depth Cross Examination of Plaintiff’s Expert Physician
• PA Supreme Court Amends Rule of Civil Procedure Pertaining to Actions Against Licenced Professionals
• Failure to Obtain Mother's Informed Consent Gives Rise to Infant's Cause of Action at Majority in New Jersey
• Superior Court rules that Pennsylvania’s New Venue Rules Permit the Dismissal of a Medical Malpractice Action that Arose in New Jersey
• Superior Court Issues An Opinion Regarding The Timeliness of Production of Plaintiffs' Expert Reports
• MCare Held Responsible to Cover Doctor's Stipulation of Negligence Involving Sexual Assault
• Montgomery County Court Issues an Opinion Regarding the Two Schools of Thought Doctrine
• Countering Late Claims for Punitive Damages
• Mediation Programs Provide an Alternative Venue for Medical Malpractice Cases
• Pennsylvania Superior Court Reaffirms Its Stance on Frye
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Limits the Application of Res Ipsa Loquitur
• Medical Providers Must Exercise Reasonable Care When Conducting Drug Testing for Employers
• Defense Verdict Overturned Because Superior Court Says Doctor's Testimony "Shocked the Conscience"
• Informed Consent - Method and Manner of Surgery Need Not Be Disclosed
• Informed Consent - Hospital Liability - Pennsylvania Supreme Court Says No Vicarious Liability

Nursing Home Litigation

• Court Says Skilled Nursing Care Centers Not “Purely Public Charities”; Upholds Decision Revoking Their Tax Exempt Status
• Paul Peel receives favorable ruling from the Superior Court of Pennsylvania
• Discovery Rule in New Jersey Does Not Toll the Statute of Limitations Pending Review of the Medical Records, NJ Law Journal 1/31/05
• Developing Issues in Nursing Home Litigation

Prescription Drug Litigation

• Pennsylvania Superior Court Denies Venue Transfer in Suit Against Drug Manufacturer
• Vioxx National Class Action Ruled Out
• Vioxx
• HRT
• Antidepressants
• Bextra
• Celebrex

Silicone Breast Implant Litigation

• FDA Approves Use of Silicone Gel-Filled Breast Implants
• Background
• Current Breast Implant News