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Attendance at Defense Medical Examinations – An Update in New Jersey

By: Paul J. Smyth, Esquire

In the course of personal injury matters filed in the State of New Jersey, it is common practice for defense counsel to retain medical professionals to conduct examinations of plaintiffs to investigate the veracity and extent of the claimed injuries.  The scope of claimed injuries is obviously vast and specific to any particular case and may include medical and/or psychological components. 

Plaintiffs’ counsel may have concerns over the method with which a professional retained by defense counsel conducts his or her examination.  In such instances, plaintiffs have sought to record the examinations, either with audio or video.  As expected, defense counsel has at times objected to the examinations being recorded.  Defense counsel concerns included the potentially obtrusive nature of such a recording and the proprietary information of the examiner for the manner in which he or she conducts the examinations.  Also at issue is the proprietary nature in which an examiner conducts the examination and the desire to protect same. 

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Education Legal Articles Litigation | admin |   Smyth

Planning for the future

With Carrie A.S. Kennedy Esq.
Please Join us Via Zoom on January 18th at 6pm

Carrie is the head of the Estate and Trust department in the CWO Paoli Law office. Carrie focuses her practice on these areas, and will cover topics including:

POA vs. Guardianship

Estate Planning

Special Needs Trusts

CWO News | admin |   Kennedy

Maria Iuanow joins Connor, Weber & Oberlies

Maria Iuanow joined Connor, Weber & Oberlies in 2022. Prior to joining Connor, Weber & Oberlies, Maria practiced medical malpractice defense litigation, defending individual doctors and nurses along with hospitals at Westermann, Sheehy, Keenan, Samaan & Aydelott in White Plains, New York and Martin, Clearwater & Bell, in New York City, New York.

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The “Sudden Medical Emergency” Defense in New Jersey: Suggested Approaches

By: Paul J. Smyth, Esquire

Your client is involved in a motor vehicle accident in the State of New Jersey.  He claims to have suffered a loss of consciousness due to a medical condition that he never experienced before or was otherwise diagnosed with any condition that may have led to his losing consciousness.  Surely New Jersey case law has addressed this issue before, right?  Not so fast.

As of October 2022, New Jersey case law has yet to address the sudden medical emergency issue.  There is, however, established case law addressing the “sudden emergency” doctrine.  In
Harpell v. Public Service Coordinated Transport, 20 N.J. 309 (1956), the New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed the Appellate Court’s ruling affirming the trial court’s judgment entering a verdict in favor of plaintiff, Albert E. Harpell.  Mr. Harpell was a passenger on an electric trolley who was struck by a piece of concrete that had been thrown by a 15-year-old boy from a spot outside the fenced-in area that bordered the trolley route.  Plaintiff was seated by a trolley window that was equipped with a metal screen that extended half-way up the window.  The screen was designed to prevent injuries to passengers’ arms.

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Legal Articles Litigation | admin |   Smyth

Liability in the Age of Covid-19

By: Noelle Connor, Esquire

There is no doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the landscape of life as we know it. In March 2020, when the pandemic lockdown occurred, the term Covid-19 was new to most of us. For many people, uncertainty and worry became part of daily life. In the legal arena, the Covid-19 pandemic has raised some important questions.  One question was the extent to which healthcare professionals could be held liable for Covid deaths. Another by extension, is what the standard of care is for treatment of any rare disease.

At the beginning of the pandemic, hospitals were understaffed and overflowing with patients. There were hospital bed shortages, and the medical field was working quickly to understand Covid-19 and how to slow the spread. Retired nurses and doctors were asked to return to work to help alleviate the burden on overworked staff. Because of the possible implications of a Covid diagnosis, and the threat (medically and legally) to health care workers who were on the front lines, many states, including NJ, implemented a law that immunized health care workers, acting in good faith to save lives, from negligence lawsuits related to the treatment of Covid-19.

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Education Legal Articles | admin |   NConnor

Spencer v. Johnson and the Potential Consequences of the Pennsylvania Superior Court’s Dicta on the Fair Share Act.

By: Robert E. Lavoie

Since the inception of the Fair Share Act over a decade ago, the act has been applied in Pennsylvania without much controversy. Then, in dicta found in the Pennsylvania Superior Court’s decision from last year in the case of Spencer v. Johnson, 249 A.3d 529 (Pa. Super. 2021), that court raised, on a seemingly sua sponte basis, the proposition that the Fair Share Act should not apply in cases involving innocent victim plaintiffs.

Examples of cases where a plaintiff may be an innocent victim include cases where a plaintiff is a guest passenger in a vehicle involved in an accident, or cases where a plaintiff struck while walking in the crosswalk with the pedestrian light in his favor, or in claims involving plaintiffs who are the victims of negligent medical care while under anesthesia. As such, this dicta could come into play in a number of scenarios going forward.

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Education Legal Articles | admin |   Lavoie

Special Needs Requires Special Estate Planning

By Carrie A.S. Kennedy, Esquire

When your loved one, for example a child or grandchild, has special needs and receives government funding, it is especially important to create an estate plan that doesn’t jeopardize that person’s receipt of governmental benefits (such as Supplemental Social Security Income and Medicaid). Your Will should be carefully drafted to prevent that person from inheriting assets directly.  Additionally, a carefully drafted Third Party Special Needs Trust can allow for the use of funds as provided in the trust for the benefit of your loved one while preserving much needed governmental benefits.  This type of trust gives the grantor (creator of the trust) the ability to direct the ultimate beneficiaries of any funds remaining upon the passing to the special needs person.  The trust can be funded through inheritance as directed in a Will, by beneficiary designation on an account or policy or by direct gift to the Trust from a third party.  It may not be funded with the special needs person’s own funds.

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Estate Planning Legal Articles | admin |   Kennedy

Noelle Connor joins Connor, Weber & Oberlies

Noelle Connor joined Connor, Weber & Oberlies this year, and works out of the Moorestown, NJ office. Noelle focuses her practice in the areas of insurance defense, general negligence, school law, personal injury, and premises liability. Noelle is licensed to practice in the State of New Jersey, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

CWO News | admin |   NConnor