Trial Lawyers

Judge Robert E. Cadigan Sr., a retired Baltimore County Circuit judge who was a student of the Civil War, died Thursday of cancer at his home in the Pinehurst neighborhood of Baltimore County. He was 75. "He was one of my very best friends," James T. Smith Jr., Baltimore County executive, said Monday. "He was an outstanding lawyer and loved being appointed to the bench. He considered it the pinnacle of his career, and he appreciated the opportunity. " Retired Baltimore County Circuit Judge J. Norris Byrnes was a longtime friend and shared chambers with Judge Cadigan for years.

After a political duel that pitted trial lawyers against insurance companies, the legislature moved Wednesday to increase the minimum amount of insurance vehicle owners must carry, changing the requirements for the first time in 38 years and making higher premiums likely for as many as 200,000 Marylanders . The Senate voted 27-20 to send the measure raising liability insurance limits to Gov. Martin O'Malley, who has signaled that he will...

The Maryland Senate voted this morning to raise the minimum liability limits for vehicle owners' auto insurance for the first time in 38 years. The final vote was 27-20, sending the bill to Gov. Martin O'Malley for his signature. The bill was approved after a stiff fight led by the Senate's Republicans, joined by a handful of Democrats. The measure pitted the state's trial lawyers, and some of their clients, against insurance companies and advocates for the poor -- a point repeatedly made by GOP senators.

Maryland's trial lawyers and insurers are squaring off in a politically charged duel over a bill that would increase, for the first time in almost 40 years, the amount of insurance a vehicle owner must carry to protect others in case of an accident. The bill, which has passed the House of Delegates and is headed to the Senate, would almost certainly lead to higher premiums for tens of thousands of Marylanders who carry the minimum liability insurance required by law. Policyholders could see increases ranging from $60 for vehicles on the lower Eastern Shore to $300 in Baltimore, state officials say. Those potential increases - and the possibility that many of those policyholders would drop coverage and drive without insurance as a result - have spurred the insurance industry to oppose the measure.

Leo A. Hughes Jr., a retired trial attorney and legal mentor recalled for a commanding courtroom presence, died of a heart attack Feb. 16 at his Catonsville home. He was 72. Born in Baltimore and raised on Woodhaven Avenue, he was a 1953 graduate of Forest Park High School, where he played basketball, football and baseball. Family members said he was a pitcher and once struck out a young Al Kaline, who then played for Southern High School and went on to play for the Detroit Tigers. Mr. Hughes attended the Johns Hopkins University and received a degree from the old Mount Vernon School of Law in 1959.

Malpractice rollback a windfall for lawyers At a time when the nation's economy is slumping and the governor is proposing to mandate that Maryland hospitals and physicians provide more free care to lower-income families, it's ironic that the state House Judiciary Committee, led by trial lawyer Joseph F. Vallario Jr., is proposing legislation to roll back the reforms in the state's medical malpractice insurance policies enacted in 2004 ("Attack of the...

Just because medical malpractice insurance rates have stabilized - and even gone down a bit for many doctors - doesn't mean it's time for Maryland to roll back hard-fought caps on noneconomic damages. But that's exactly what a group of lawmakers is attempting to do. After all, it was just five years ago that rising malpractice costs were thought to be a crisis for the state, forcing doctors out of business and limiting access to quality medical care, especially in rural areas. Late in 2004, the General Assembly approved a package of reforms that included limiting how much plaintiffs and their lawyers could receive for what is often referred to as pain and suffering.

The e-mail message was written in February 2007, a year after an underground leak at an Exxon gas station in northern Baltimore County fouled wells and hammered property values. After cleanup efforts are completed, "no one will remember Phoenix," the message said, referring to the address of the Jacksonville area where the spill occurred. "Just another notch in the tree of life. " Written by an Exxon Mobil Corp. project manager to a colleague, the text was enlarged and projected onto a screen in a Towson courtroom yesterday by Stephen L. Snyder, a lawyer for 309 residents who are suing the oil company for at least $1 billion in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

The e-mail message was written in February 2007, a year after an underground leak at an Exxon gas station in northern Baltimore County fouled wells and hammered property values. After cleanup efforts are completed, "no one will remember Phoenix," the message said, referring to the address of the Jacksonville area where the spill occurred. "Just another notch in the tree of life." Written by an Exxon Mobil Corp. project manager to a colleague, the text was enlarged and projected onto a screen in a Towson courtroom yesterday by Stephen L. Snyder, a lawyer for 309 residents who are suing the oil company for at least $1 billion in Baltimore County Circuit Court.