From the Listserv Edited by Louise A. Lock
Louise A. Lock, of the firm of Barry L. Steelman, P.A., received her law degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law. She is a member of the MTLA’s Trial Reporter and Legislative Committees. Ms. Lock practices in the areas of plaintiff’s medical malpractice, product liability and personal injury.
How to Deal With a Stuffed Mailbox Members’ feedback about being over- whelmed by too many messages on any given day has prompted us to remind you about other options available on how mes- sages may be received. To customize your personal settings, you must access the list home page at http://lyris.
depoconnect.com/scripts/lyris. pl?enter=mtlamember. To enter this home page, you must first type in your email address and your password (which is a random number), which was sent to you in a welcome message when you were ini- tially added to the list. If you no longer have that “Welcome to the MTLA Listserv” message, you may email MTLA requesting your password, and it will be forwarded to you. Write to:
mtla@erols.com Once you have gotten past the home page security, click on “Your Settings” where you will discover how to tailor the way messages are received by your inbox. For example, instead of receiving all mes- sages as they are contributed, you may receive the messages from each day as one message which, when opened, contains all of that day’s chatter. Or, you may have a daily digest with one message that lists only the subject title for each message, and you can pick and choose the ones you want to review. Finally, if you plan to be away for an extended period and do not want to re- turn to find 598 unread messages in your mailbox, you may opt to receive “no mail” for a period of time and, upon your re- turn, reactivate your receipt of messages. You can also catch up on all the messages you missed by doing a search by date or by subject. To conduct a search, simply access the list home page as above for changing options and follow the prompts for your search options. If you are not already part of this free member benefit, just send an email to
Winter 2000
mtla@erols.com and request to be added to “the list.”
The following list exchange was notewor- thy: From: W. James Nicoll <
W._J._Nicoll@teamjba.com> Dear Listmates - I am currently work- ing on negotiating a settlement in a suit involving where insurance is limited to $40K.␣ None of the tortfeasors has any assets.␣ My client is a minor child (15 yrs of age) who sustained a broken back.␣ No applicable policy in her household.␣ Health insurance is medical assistance as her mother is on SSI.␣ Medical Bills to date are greater than $50K.␣ After I spend the next month or so negotiating the liens and open bills, I believe that I will be able to work out a settlement.␣ My question is - Should I file a friendly suit in circuit court in order to get court approval of the settlement?␣ My inclination is ”yes”, how- ever, I have not been presented with this situation in the past. Anyone who may have done this who would be willing to offer me some advice, please call me at 410-243-9100 ext 601.␣ If anyone could fax me a sample copy of a complaint for a friendly suit that, too, would be greatly appreciated.
From: Burt Kahn <
BurtKahn@netscape.net>
The purpose of the friendly suit is to get court approval since a minor cannot be bound by a signed release which in the circumstances you pose would be a good idea for your protection, especially in light of the new cases against plaintiff’s attor- neys on negligent settlements. For the latest on “friendly suits” see Chapman v. Kamara 356 Md. 426, 739 A2d 387 (10/ 25/99)
From: George W. Shadoan <
shadoangw@aol.com> The attorney’s potential liability for in- adequately protecting the interest of the minor client is significant.␣ This poten- tial liability arises from the inherent conflict between the child and the parent who usually shares in the award.␣ A judi- cial approval of the division of the funds may help defend the decision as to who got how much and why.␣ Potential liabil- ity also attends mismanagement of the recovered funds.␣ The attorney’s fiduciary duty is broad.␣ Attempts to limit the po- tential liability include obtaining judicial approval of everything that is done.␣ A friendly suit may be the best vehicle for attorney protection. This is an extensive and tricky subject.␣ Don’t treat it lightly.
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