Resource Center

Although the Pennsylvania Fair Share Act (the “Act”), 42 Pa.C.S. § 7102, has been the law since 2011, a number of questions remain about its application.  After the recent decision from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Roverano v. John Crane, Inc., 190 A.3d 591 (2018) we now have an answer to the question of whether the Act requires a factfinder to apportion liability on […]

In May 2015, MSZL&M client Superior Fire Protection, a New Hampshire Corporation, performed an inspection and test of a dry pipe fire sprinkler system installed in a Holiday Inn Express in Rochester, New Hampshire. In February 2016, water remaining in the fire sprinkler system froze causing the system to crack and discharge water throughout the Holiday Inn Property.  It was alleged that improper installation, […]

Although the general issue of spoliation of evidence and its ramifications have been established in Pennsylvania jurisprudence for years, a recent appellate court decision has applied these principles to the amount of day-of-accident video surveillance to be retained. In Marshall v. Brown’s IA, LLC (“Shop Rite”)i the Pennsylvania Superior Court vacated a defense verdict in favor of the operator of a store because the […]

In our April 2, 2019 article, “New Jersey Supreme Court Rules Claimant Cannot Recover Economic Loss For Difference in Coverage When Electing Lower PIP Coverage,” we reported on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s March 26, 2019 ruling in Haines v. Taft, 237 NJ 271, that plaintiffs were barred from recovering against a tortfeasor the amount of unpaid medical bills in excess of their PIP […]

There is no Presumptive Rule that Materials Collected Prior to the Commencement of Litigation are Not Protected by New Jersey’s Work Product Doctrine The New Jersey Appellate Division recently held in the matter of Paladino v. Auletto Enter., Inc. (No. A-0232-18T1, June 6, 2019) that there is no per se rule that materials collected before the commencement of litigation are not prepared in anticipation […]

In New Jersey, a common carrier is a bus, train, taxicab, and/or other vehicle similarly engaged in public transportation.  When determining whether a common carrier is negligent, the standard is higher than the typical negligence standard in New Jersey.  Generally, negligence is found when a party has failed to exercise the degree of care for the safety of others which a person of ordinary […]

The New Jersey Supreme Court in the matter of Joshua Haines v. Jacob W. Taft (A-13/14-17) (079600, March 26, 2019) decided that a plaintiff in a motor vehicle suit with the limited $15,000 PIP election on their auto policy cannot seek economic loss for the difference between their limited $15,000 PIP coverage and the amount of their excess/unpaid medical bills totaled up to the […]

Ela M. Hernandez, Associate at the firm’s Southern Florida office, was sworn in as President of Hispanic National Bar Association’s Young Lawyers’ Division (YLD) during its 43rd annual convention held in Philadelphia, PA from September 5 – 8, 2018. The HNBA is an incorporated, not-for-profit, national membership association that represents the interests of Hispanic attorneys, judges, law professors, legal assistants, law students and legal […]

Prior to September 4, 2018 and the enactment by the Delaware Legislature of a law requiring insurance companies to disclose bodily injury limits in auto policies, insurance companies were not required in Delaware to disclose coverage limits prior to litigation, to third-parties, claimants, or their attorneys.  The practice of nondisclosure predates the 1930s, and is a remnant from a time when insurance contracts and their […]

The New Jersey Supreme Court recently clarified that liability under the Comparative Negligence Act (“CNA”) can be apportioned to “phantom defendants,” those whom are known to have been involved in the accident but are unidentified. Krzylakski Decision In Krzylakski v. Tindall No. A-55-16 (N.J. April 17, 2018) Plaintiff Mark Kryzykalski was driving a car in the left lane of a road in Florence Township, New Jersey. Defendant […]