Maryland Injury Lawyers Blog

I have good news to report. Traffic fatalities in Virginia were down over the recent holiday weekend (Memorial Day). Five people died on VA Highways over the holiday weekend. This is the lowest number of Virginia deaths on the highways over Memorial Day Weekend in ten years according to the Virginia State Police. Last year 18 people died in fourteen car crashes, and this was the highest number of fatalities since 1998. The average number of deaths on Virginia highways over Memorial Day Weekend is 14. This year the deaths occurred in Loudoun County, Clarke County, VA, Bland County Virgnia, Pittsylvania County, VA and Tazewell County, VA.

If you have a friend, relative or loved one killed in a car accident in Virginia you should seek legal representation right away. The statute of limitations for wrongful death claims in VA is 2 years from the date of the accident. The claims need to be brought by the Personal Representative of the Estate of the deceased. The lawyers at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester are experienced at handling Virginia car accident cases and Virgnia wrongful death cases. For more information about Virgnia Wrongful death law see our website www.gfmlawllc.com or call us at 888-213-8140.

On Friday May 22, 2009 there was a serious accident on I-66 in Virginia involving two tour busses. The busses were charter busses (aka "tour bus") transporting children from a school field trip to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The crash occurred in Fairfax County, VA near Nutley Street. One tour bus struck the other tour bus in the rear causing injuries to at least 32 people who were taken to the hospital. This bus crash caused severe traffic jams for commuters in Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia. Lanes were closed for about 3 hours. The Virginia State Police charged the striking bus with following too closely.

Accidents involving tour busses need to be taken seriously and approached aggressively. When there are serious injuries, the problem of limited insurance coverage often arises. The bus will have liability insurance of only a limited amount. Because there are often numerous passengers making claims, the limits can easily be exhausted if there are catastrophic injuries. In that case, those injured will typically need to make claims on their own auto insurance policies as an Uninsured Motorist Claim (aka "Underinsured Motorist Claim"). In the case of school age children, claims can often be made on the automobile insurance policies of any resident relative. When injured on a bus, tour bus or charter bus, it is important to act promptly to seek legal representation. The Virginia and Maryland Bus Accident Lawyers at Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester are experienced in handling bus accident cases. Call 888-213-8140 or visit our Website at www.gfmlawllc.com for more information.

Well, yesterday the Montgomery County Council approved the budget. Impacted by the recession, the County Budget includes steep cuts in programs for young children including teenagers, it eliminated cost of living raises for Montgomery County employees, and it eliminated programs that helped the elderly. The County Council rejected County Executive Ike Leggett's recommendation that they impose an ambulance fee to make up for budget shortfalls. I think the ambulance fee is a really bad idea because it will cause those suffering from accidents and emergency medical conditions to decide not to call 911 because they do not want to incur the silly ambulance fee. The ambulance transport fee would have raised about $14 million dollars if passed. The Council restored Montgomery County Bus Service on Ride-On Busses for 18 routes that had previously been closed. To accomplish this, parking prices will be increased in Bethesda, MD from ..75 per hour to $1.00 per hour, and monthly car parking stickers will increase from $95.00 per month to $120.00 per month. The County Council rejected the police department's labor agreement that would have allowed police officers who live outside of Montgomery County, Maryland to drive their cars and automobiles home each night. If you are involved in a car accident with a Montgomery County Police Officer or County Employee, you need to be sure to put the County on notice properly (and this should be done by an attorney). The total amount of the budget for Montgomery County is $4.4 Billion. The vote in the County Council was 7-1 in favor of the new budget. The Prince George's County, MD Council is still struggling with their budget. They plan to cut county jobs by either 55 or 307 depending on which version of their budget passes. The PG County Budget is $2.6 Billion (less than Montgomery County').

Kent Chambers of Washington, D.C. was driving on the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495) in Prince Georges County Maryland when a P.G. County Sheriff started following him. After the law enforcement officer activated his lights, the driver veered off the roadway and struck a guardrail near Route 214, the car overturned and came to rest in the median. The Sergeant in the police cruiser was Shawn Davenport. Unfortunately, Mr. Chambers was ejected from the motor vehicle and suffered serious injuries. His passenger died as a result of this Maryland car crash. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the passenger who died as a result of this incident. The family of those injured and killed in this terrible car accident should be sure that a proper investigation is conducted. It is a good idea for them to hire their own investigative team and possibly even their own accident reconstructionist to determine if proper police procedures were followed in this pursuit. The Washington Post reports that Sergeant Davenport activated his lights and siren but that he did not initiate a pursuit. Frankly, this explanation does not make sense and is a bit troubling. Legal claims against the police and State authorities can be tricky and complicated in Maryland because of the doctrine of Sovereign Immunity. The proper officials need to be put on statutory notice within a short period of time or else the legal claims will be barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. These issues can get complicated--especially when it is not clear at the outset whether the proper entity to get notice is the State of Maryland, or a County or an Municipality. The Maryland Tort Claims Act and the Local Government Tort Claims Act come into play. Families of those injured by State Officials need to hire an attorney to assist them shortly after a crash occurs to be sure that the proper authorities are put on notice in a timely fashion. The March 31, 12009 case of Halloran v. Montgomery County Department of Public Works provides an example of the difficulties that can arise in handling cases against government officials. The Court of Special Appeals basically held that despite the fact that the claimant tried to notify the proper officials within 6 days of the accident (without an attorney), she did not do it properly as the law requires, and therefore, her claim was thrown out. In affirming the dismissal of her legal case, The Court of Special Appeals (Judge Woodward who is from Montgomery County, Maryland) explained that:

"We construe this argument to be that Halloran demonstrated good cause based on the factor of "excusable neglect or mistake" under Wilbon. We see no merit in this argument.Within a few days of her injury Halloran identified the County agency responsible for roadway repairs (DPWT) and wrote to that entity demanding that they repair the roadway.Halloran made no tort claim in her October 22 letter to DPWT. When DPWT responded thatit had repaired the roadway, and made no mention of a potential claim, Halloran made nofurther efforts to indicate that she had a claim against the County. Instead, Halloran sent notice of her tort claim to the State and had her counsel send a similar notice to WashingtonGas, both within the 180 day notice period. A similar notice, however, was not sent to theCounty until almost three months after the expiration of the notice period. Halloran failed to articulate before the circuit court or this Court any basis for failing to send proper noticeto the County within the requisite time period. The circuit court clearly demonstrated that it understood the law and properly applied the law to the facts of this case. Therefore, we conclude that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion."

If you or a loved one is injured or killed in an car accident, our Maryland auto accident attorneys can help. We charge no fee if there is no recovery and we advance the costs to investigate the car accident. Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester can be reached at 301-589-2999 x102 and our Website is at www.gfmlawllc.com.

Installation for Silver Spring Attorney Kevin I. Goldberg Set for Friday Evening, May 8, at Baltimore's Tremont Grand

Press Release:

Kevin I. Goldberg, a partner at Silver Spring-based law firm Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC, has been named incoming President of the Maryland Association for Justice for 2009-2010. The Maryland Association for Justice was previously named the Maryland Trial Lawyer's Association.

Just 38 years old, Goldberg, will be the second-youngest serving president of the Columbia, MD-based organization, formerly known as the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association. His formal installation takes place this Friday evening, May 8, at the Tremont Grand, 225 N. Charles Street, in Baltimore. Festivities begin at 7:00 p.m., with Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley serving as keynote speaker. The youngest president of the Maryland Trial Lawyer's Association was John Sellinger who was age 36 and President in 1989.

According to Goldberg, his selection marks a milestone in his young career. "I look forward to working with my fellow trial lawyers to ensure that citizens throughout the state continue to enjoy unfettered access to both the courts and a civil justice system that provides a viable framework to allow 'the little guy' to stand up to big corporations and insurance companies," Goldberg says. "This concept forms the basic foundation upon which the Maryland Association for Justice is built; and our firm wholly subscribes to the association's overall mission and philosophy."

The Association is also extremely active in numerous public service projects, on which Goldberg expects to play both an active and creative role. "As an organization, we buy and distribute bike helmets to children; purchase and distribute educational supplies for disadvantaged schools; we buy, distribute and install smoke detectors in low income neighborhoods in conjunction with the Baltimore City Fire Department; and we buy turkeys for the hungry at Thanksgiving time," he says. "It's an organization that does a ton of good in the community, and I'm excited about putting my stamp on some of those programs." The Maryland Association for Justice won the Best Public Service Award in 2008 for its Public Awareness Schools Program, which is a program that was spearheaded by Louise Locke, an Officer of the Association.

In previous years, Goldberg founded the Association's New Lawyer's Section, served as Fundraising Chair, served on the Trial Reporter Committee and served as Parliamentarian, Secretary, Treasurer and Vice President.

From 2007 through 2009, he was profiled by Super Lawyers Magazine for his selection among the top five percent of practicing attorneys in a peer review and evaluation process conducted by Law & Politics. He also served as an Associate Editor of The Catholic University Law Review, from where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1996. In 1993, Goldberg received the American Jurisprudence Award for Constitutional Law and Civil Procedure.

In his practice, Goldberg represents seriously injured children and adults in automobile collisions, medical negligence, premises liability, negligent security and general tort litigation.

About Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC: Goldberg, Finnegan & Mester, LLC handles medical malpractice and catastrophic injury cases throughout Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia. All three name partners (Kevin Goldberg, Kevin Finnegan and Christian Mester) were selected by their peers for inclusion in Maryland Super Lawyers and Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers in 2009. For additional information, visit www.gfmlawllc.com.

About the Maryland Association for Justice: Founded in 1954, The Maryland Association for Justice is dedicated to keeping families safe. The Association helps individuals harmed by the unsafe behavior of others obtain meaningful redress through the civil justice system. The Association zealously guards the right to trial by jury, vigorously advocates on behalf of consumers' legal rights, seeks to advance excellence in trial advocacy through continuing legal education and member services, and is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity. For additional information, visit www.marylandassociationforjustice.com

An investigation is ongoing into a series of fires in Riverdale, Maryland. The arson probe is looking into whether fires in Prince George's County Maryland were set by the Riverdale Volunteer Fire Department. The fires under investigation include those on East West Highway in Riverdale, K Street in Chapel Oaks, Riverdale and Livingston Road in Fort Washington, Maryland. The fires were set between 2/14/09 and March 29, 2009.

Riverdale Mayor Vernon Archer said, "We need to make sure if guys are doing wrong we need to find out but we also need to be confident in the results."

Fox 5 News reports that two firefighters have been suspended as a result of the probe. If you or a family member is injured as a result of a fire in Prince George's County Maryland or Upper Marlboro, Maryland, the lawyers at our law firm can help. We typically hire a cause and origin expert to determine how the fire started and if it was the result of negligence or arson, we can bring a lawsuit in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County or in Federal Court in Greenbelt. Fire cases are often challenging because it is expensive to hire the required experts to prove the cause of the fire. Experts are also used to determine whether the Fire Code, Life Safety Code or other local ordinances were violated. In Maryland, the violation of a statute is evidence of negligence. If you or a loved one is injured in a fire, call our Maryland personal injury law firm so that we can fight to protect your rights.