By Robert I. Feinberg | Published October 31, 2013 | Posted in Auto Accidents | Tagged Tags: civil litigation | Leave a comment
During the jury empanelment stage of both civil and criminal trials, there are inevitably some prospective jurors who raise their hands when asked whether service would impose an extreme and unusual hardship. Generally, those jurors are excused. Other prospective juror may feel that there is a reason that they cannot be impartial and, in that Read More
Read MoreWhen I started practicing law in the 1980s, it is hard for me to fathom that many of the already practicing lawyers were just beginning to interact with women lawyers. Actually, that should not be a major surprise since some law schools didn’t accept women until the 1950s (Harvard) and others had so few women Read More
Read MorePlaintiff lawyers often lament how the Supreme Judicial Court has authored opinions that restrict the rights of plaintiff litigants. But, in truth, there have been many instances where the court has been sensitive to the rights of victims. One such case is Rhodes v. AIG Domestic Claims Inc. 461 Mass. 486 (2012) which gave liberal Read More
Read MoreBoston Red Sox backup catcher, David Ross, has just been activated after being on the disabled list for two concussions, each suffered when he was struck by foul tips. It’s amazing to me that I have followed baseball for more than 50 years and this is the first time I recall any catcher being put Read More
Read MoreThe cross-section between academics and the actual practice of law clashed somewhat humorously for me thirty years ago. I was telling two very experienced trial lawyers that one of my law school’s evidence professors was working on an article regarding Congress’ 1934 Rules Enabling Act. They laughed loudly. These trial lawyers must have felt that Read More
Read MoreCameras are not used in the federal system. See Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, which states, “Except as otherwise provided by a statue or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.” There has, of course, Read More
Read MoreA recent Boston Globe article described a plaintiff in a significant lawsuit who was awarded $580,000 but netted virtually nothing after the deduction of fees, medical expenses and medical liens. Years ago, I blogged about a “lien” being not necessarily “lean”. There is no question but that liens can lead to very unfortunate results. Liens, Read More
Read MoreI have encountered several clients who apologize for suing. They make a special attempt to distinguish themselves from others who they see as greedy or “gaming” the system. Why is this so? Why has a stigma been attached to the idea that we should be able to vindicate our rights? On some level, these clients Read More
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