Posted on June 23, 2008 in Maryland State Crimes

As one of the largest and most experienced criminal defense firms in the State of Maryland, Baltimore based Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White is experienced in handling state criminal cases throughout Maryland. The majority of criminal cases we handle are in the District and Circuit Courts of Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel County, Howard County, Harford County, Carroll County, Montgomery County and Prince Georges County. We also regularly handle cases in Frederick and Washington Counties.

The criminal defense lawyers at Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White always provide a free consultation. Please contact us for an appointment.

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 Posted on June 23, 2008 in Automobile Accident

As an experienced Maryland personal injury lawyer, I see many injured victims in automobile accidents who are afraid to seek recovery for damages because they either are driving uninsured or their driver’s license is suspended.

Maryland law does not discriminate against victims of other people’s negligence because they are uninsured or their driver’s license is suspended. Maryland accident or negligence law only recognizes contributory negligence. Driving without insurance or a valid Maryland driver’s license is not recognized as contributory negligence in Maryland. Accident victims in Maryland can proceed to recover damages despite these perceived problems. To learn more about victim’s rights in Maryland, please contact the personal injury lawyers at Silverman, Thompson , Slutkin & White for a free consultation.

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 Posted on June 23, 2008 in Personal Injury

In personal injury cases, damage to personal property may be a component of an injured victim’s overall damages. How do you prove this component of your case? In Maryland, it is well-established that an owner of personal property may express an opinion as to the value of that property without qualification as an expert. See Maryland Casualty Co. v. Therm-O-Disc, Inc. 137 F.3d 780,786 (1998). The experienced personal injury trial lawyer should be well-armed with this authority whenever proving his or her client’s total economic damages in a personal injury case. The experienced trial lawyer will not let defense counsel convince the court that an expert is needed to opine as to the value of personal property. Maryland law contains no such requirement.

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 Posted on June 23, 2008 in Personal Injury

There are several strategies that the best and most successful Maryland trial lawyers do to increase their chances of obtaining significantly higher damages awards at trial. Intense preparation is, naturally, first and foremost among that list. Too many inexperienced personal injury lawyers leave the damages component as an afterthought, focusing all their energy on proving the liability component — i.e., proving who was at fault, who was negligent, who breached a duty owed to the injured victim, and who was at fault for causing the injury. To be sure, proving liability is absolutely critical to prosecuting a personal injury case. Without proving liability, there is no recovery at all. But it is a shame to win a hard fought jury verdict in favor of your client, only to have the jury return a damages award that is too low and does not account for the full extent of pain and suffering that a client has endured, which by the time you get to trial, is usually measured in years.

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 Posted on June 20, 2008 in Personal Injury

Experienced Maryland personal injury lawyers are well aware of the benefit to their personal injury clients who use their health insurance to pay for their medical expenses. Whether injured in an automobile accident, trucking accident or the victim of some other type of personal injury, victims who are advised by their attorney to use their health insurance will significantly increase their financial recovery.

Maryland personal injury law requires that health insurance companies reduce their lien on a case when the insured uses a lawyer to obtain a recovery from a third party. Experienced Maryland personal injury lawyers may be able to save the their client tens of thousands of dollars by maximizing the benefits of health insurance in personal injury cases. For more information on how to maximize recovery in Maryland personal injury cases involving health insurance liens, please contact us for a free consultation.

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 Posted on June 20, 2008 in Automobile Accident

Persons injured in automobile accidents in Maryland may be eligible for Personal Injury Protection (PIP). Personal Injury Protection is a common no-fault insurance provision which benefits persons injured in automobile accidents to collect money as reimbursement for medical bills and lost wages. Most Maryland automobile insurance policies are written to allow up to $2500.00 in PIP benefits. Some Maryland insurers will allow for up to $10,000.00 in PIP benefits for injured persons.

Eligible injured parties may include both drivers or passengers in automobile or truck accidents. A person may be excluded from recovering PIP benefits for personal injury or lost wages if they previously waived PIP on their own automobile policy. For injured persons who do not have a Maryland automobile insurance policy, they are normally eligible for PIP benefits as long as they do not live in the same household with someone who has a Maryland automobile insurance policy and has waived PIP benefits.

Experienced Maryland personal injury lawyers advise their clients never to waive PIP. The public also needs to know that normally, Maryland personal injury lawyers are not permitted to take a typical contingency fee for the recovery of PIP benefits. On rare occasions, Maryland allows personal injury lawyers to charge a reasonable fee in the rare instance the lawyer is forced to file suit to obtain these benefits. PIP suits normally are considered breach of contract causes of action. For more information on how PIP benefits injured parties in Maryland please contact us for a free consultation.

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 Posted on June 20, 2008 in Maryland DUI Penalties

Maryland DUI Attorney – Maryland DWI Attorney – Baltimore DUI Lawyer – Baltimore DWI Lawyer
As a former Assistant State’s Attorney for Baltimore County I prosecuted hundreds of repeat offenders for driving under the influence or driving while impaired. Although the maximum penalty for driving under the influence is one year in prison, prosecutors can and very often do seek enhanced penalties for repeat offenders. Second offenders for DUI face up to two years in prison and third offenders face up to three years in prison. As a prosecutor I routinely filed enhanced penalties against repeat offenders and often convinced a court to impose sentences longer than the one year.

This experience has allowed me to successfully defend hundreds of repeat offenders over the last decade as a defense attorney. Of course the first line of defense in a DUI, DWI or any other criminal case for that matter is to gain an outright acquittal for the client. In DUI/DWI cases this can be done one of two ways. The first option is to pursue a Constitutional defense usually arguing that the police lacked probable cause or reasonable articulable suspicion to stop the defendant. I have a current case in which the police stopped my client for having a air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror. The claim is that the air freshener impairs the driver’s view out of the windshield, which of course it does not.
I have successfully suppressed evidence in both DUI cases and drug cases where the probable cause for the stop was that the driver had a hanging air freshener and expect to prevail in this case. Another common example that I have prevailed on many times is when a police officer pulls someone over based on a cellular call from another driver complaining about aggressive or dangerous driving by the client. Often the police make the mistake of relying solely on this anonymous tip as the probable cause to pull someone over which will result in suppression of the evidence every time. If it appears that the police did have probable cause to pull the client over the only other defense is to argue that the client was not under the influence. This defense is near impossible if the client took the breathalyzer and scored a reading of .08 or greater, as such a reading constitutes Per Se driving under the influence under Maryland Law. An aggressive attorney will always subpoena the maintenance and testing records of the breathalyzer which sometimes results in the suppression of the test results. If the client does not take the test then the judge’s decision will be based upon the observation of the client by the police officer as well as the officer’s testimony concerning the client’s performance on the standard field sobriety tests which are the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the walk and turn and the one leg stand.

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 Posted on June 19, 2008 in Child Pornography

Recent reporting is a good example of both the increasing severity of federal sentences as well as an increased emphasis on federal prosecutions for those who are caught possessing and/or trading in child pornography. As a former Assistant United State’s Attorney for the District of Maryland I have both prosecuted as well as defended hundreds of cases involving child pornography.

In this case a 23 year old Frederick man was caught in a sting operation attempting to buy a video of child pornography from an undercover web site set up by federal law enforcement agents. He is now facing a minimum mandatory sentence of five years and a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison when he is sentenced in August. Over the past several years the Congress has increased the penalties not only for those who manufacture child pornography, which now carries a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years, but also for those who possess or trade child pornography, usually on the Internet. There has also been an increased emphasis on child pornography investigations and prosecutions by federal authorities in Maryland as well as throughout the country. Under Maryland State Law there are no mandatory sentences for either possessing or manufacturing child pornography but there has been an increased emphasis on these prosecutions in State Courts as well as increases in the sentences by State Judges.

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 Posted on June 14, 2008 in Nursing Home Malpractice

As an attorney who is well known for being successful in handling many medical malpractice (medical negligence / medical mistake / medical error) cases in the Baltimore, Maryland and Washington areas, I am commonly asked by colleagues and friends whether I have ever had a case against a nursing home which a loved one is considering. Unfortunatley, I have handled medical malpractice / negligence cases involving almost a number of nurisng homes in the Baltimore-Washington area, including Genesis, Manor Care and Lorien. While the medical care at these nursing homes is generally good, there have been and still are instances of major medical mistakes that cause severe and permanent damages and injuries. I usually tell my colleagues and friends that, while the care generally is good at these nursing homes, they need to watch out for loved ones when they are in a nursing home. That means establishing a relationship with the aides, nurses and doctors who will be taking care of the patient, asking questions and visiting as frequently as possible to see what is going on.

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 Posted on June 14, 2008 in Birth Trauma Malpractice / Cerebral Palsy Malpractice

A Fort Lauderdale, Florida jury Friday awarded a family $35 million in a medical malpractice case alleging that Broward General Medical Center caused permanent brain damage to their child during his delivery. As a result of the malpractice, the child is profoundly mentally disabled, can’t walk, can’t engage in routine activities of daily living and requires a lifetime of care. A copy of the article regarding the case can be found here.

As I have repeatedly said before, birth trauma cases like this are some of the most difficult cases that Maryland medical malpractice attorneys pursue because they usually involve multiple expert witnesses, such as obstetricians, neonatologists, pediatric neurologists, placental pathologists, life care planners and economists. This makes them extremely time-consuming and expensive to pursue. Nevertheless, these cases are extremely important to pursue, so that compensation can be obtained for the parents and child, in order to provide the child with best medical and other care that the child can have, so as to maximize the child’s abilities and comfort. Nothing is more important.

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