Appellate Watch by Walter E. Laake


Walter E. Laake, Jr. is a partner in the firm Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, P.A. of Greenbelt. He received his J. D. from the Univ. of Maryland School of Law. Mr. Laake is a member of MTLA’s Board of Governors and a member of its President’s Club as a Founder. He serves as Vice-Chair of the Membership Committee and is a member of the Amicus and Unfair Insurance Claim Practices Committees. Mr. Laake is a Past President of the Prince George’s County Bar and serves on its Trial Courts Judicial Nominating Commission. He is also a member of the Attorney Grievance Commission’s Inquiry Panel, the TLPJ, and a Lifetime member of ATLA. His practice includes professional negligence, product liability, and employment law.


This column serves to advise you, our members, of issues of


importance currently before our appellate courts. If you would be interested in dedicating an hour or two to assist us in review- ing these cases, please give my office a call at 301-220-2200. MTLA is very grateful to our volunteer members who have thus far contributed their time and effort in helping to make this sec- tion of Trial Reporter a success.


Case # Case Name 01-869


Counsel for Appellant Area of Law


Paul Weiss v. Nationwide Paul M. Weiss 410-539-0909 Mutual Automobile Insurance Company


02-298 Timothy Lloyd, et al. v. General Motors Corporation, et al.


03-751 Town of Cheverly


04-2352 Georgia-Pacific Corporation v. Lisa Pransky


05-403 06-546


Ralph T. Byrd v. First Union Direct Bank, N.A.


Stuart Alison v. Steven Ring 301-838-9060


Uninsured Motorist Coverage and Civil Procedure


MTLA’s Volunteer Attorneys Reviewing Court Of Special Appeals Appellant Briefs


C. Christopher Brown Samuel M. Paavola Wayne M.Willoughby Evelyn Pisegna-Cook Douglas Clark Hollmann David G. Whitworth, Jr. Keith R. Siskind


Judge


Jurisdiction Friedman/


Baltimore City Rupp/


Class Action/Product Liability Montgomery County


Police Department, et al. Employment Law/ v. Michelle Carlson


Richard Colaresi 301-262-6000 Nichols/ Administrative Procedures


Steven J. Nolan 410-823-7800 Asbestos/Civil Procedure


Ralph T. Byrd


Contracts/Credit Card Debt/Procedure


Stuart Alison 410-838-1550 Abdellatif Zakhnini, et al. Subrogation/Set Off


Attorneys Fees/Vacating Enrolled Judgments


07-2539 Leo G. Mollock, Sr. v. Dorcester County Family YMCA, Inc.


08-179 Prince George’s County Jonathan C. Daley 202-944-9880 Saunders/ Civil Procedure/Loco Parentis Dorchester County Steven Ornstein 301-772-4778 Platt/Prince


Police Department v. Officer’s Bill of Rights Marcus Zarragoitia


30 George’s County Beard/


Montgomery County


Rupp/


Montgomery County


Smith/Baltimore County


Prince George’s County


Issues


Where a motion to revise a judgment was filed late and there was no fraud, mistake or irregularity demonstrated, did the trial court err in revising a UM judgment against Nationwide because the defendant’s carrier had previously paid $200,000?


Did the trial court err in dismissing plaintiff’s class action against General Motors, et al. (alleging uncrashworthy front seats in every passenger vehicle) holding that the economic loss doctrine would not support the cause of action, and that the claim was not recognized in Maryland?


Did the circuit court err in ordering Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights (LEOBR) procedures prior to employer’s termination of plaintiff?


Did the trial court err in failing to grant defendant’s mo- tion for summary judgment and/or JNOV, failing to apply the cap to the $9 million verdict, and in permitting recov- ery by a spouse who married the plaintiff after exposure to asbestos?


Where the plaintiff bank had no documentary evidence of any written agreement with the cardholder to pay a par- ticular rate of interest, did the trial court err in granting judgment in favor of the plaintiff Bank?


Did the trial court err in applying CJ § 11-112 retroac- tively and applying the lien reduction provisions to medical expenditures made by third party administrators?


Vicki Wolfson Thomas McCarthy, Jr. Philip A. Dales, III Jack Jay Schmerling Joseph A. Miklasz Diane M. Littlepage Michael L. Wilsman


Did the trial court err in failing to instruct the jury that the YMCA stands in loco parentis (just as in the case of a school and pupil) with a special duty to exercise reasonable care to protect a youngster from being injured?


Did the trial court err in ruling that the LEOBR 1-year limitation provision is calculated not when charges are filed, but when the Commander of Internal Affairs signs a Disci- plinary Action Recommendation six months later?


Trial Reporter Spring 2001


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