Maryland Appellate Court Examines Statute of Limitations Defenses Applicable to a Petition to Compel Arbitration
In Park Plus, Inc. v. Palisades of Towson, LLC and Encore Development Corp., No. 7, Sept. Term, 2021, ___A.3d ___, 2022 WL 883679, available here, the Court of Appeals of Maryland held that, without language in an arbitration agreement providing otherwise, a petition to compel arbitration filed under the Maryland Uniform Arbitration Act (“MUAA”), Md.…
Read MoreAn Overview of Snap Removal
Removal is the procedure for a party in a state-court action to move the lawsuit to federal court. For removal to be proper, a federal district court must possess subject matter jurisdiction over the case. Primarily, federal district courts possess subject-matter jurisdiction over claims where a plaintiff alleges a cause of action arising under federal law, and claims where the matter in controversy exceeds $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs and is between citizens of different states.
Read MoreMedical expenses are recoverable from a negligent third party only when those expenses are causally related to the third party’s negligence.
The Maryland Court of Special Appeals upheld the decision of the Maryland Worker’s Compensation Commission finding that an Employer in a Workers’ Compensation Claim cannot recover medical expenses it paid from the proceeds of a related medical malpractice settlement where the medical treatment provided was not causally related to the alleged malpractice.
Read MoreWhat’s the risk? – Testimony regarding risk factors inherent to the nature of employment sufficient to prove compensability of degenerative condition.
Employers and Insurers should be aware that risk factors are inherent to specific roles and job functions can be used to prove the compensability of a degenerative condition as an occupational disease.
Read MoreElimination of Wholly Groundless Exception to Arbitrability
In deciding whether the court or an arbitrator should decide questions of arbitrability, the Supreme Court held that the decision is left only for arbitrators. Lower courts may no longer recognize a “wholly groundless” exception to stop frivolous lawsuits from going to arbitration, when an argument for arbitration is wholly groundless.
Read MoreUnclear docket entries, and the countdown to file an appeal
A docket entry on the court’s electronic case management system must be clearly marked with the date a judgment is entered. Unless the date is clear to both litigants and the public, the judgment cannot be treated as entered. Any appeal filed before the entry is corrected must be treated as being timely filed, regardless of the length of time between the original docket entry, and the docket’s correction.
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