- Wrongful DeathIn 2017 the Estate of Richard Pifer (the “Estate”) brought a wrongful death and product liability suit against Irwin Industrial Tool Company (“Irwin”) in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City. The Estate claimed that Mr. Pifer’s mesothelioma diagnosis and sudden death soon after, were a direct result of Mr. Pifer using asbestos contaminated Strait-Line marking chalk that was manufactured and sold by the defendant, Irwin Industrial Tool Company (“Irwin”).”
- MurderIn 2017 police responded to a 911 call and found two bodies. Ballistics evidence indicated that the shooter used a 12-gauge shotgun, but the murder weapon was never recovered. According to the State, Kirk Matthews (hereinafter “Defendant”) got into an argument with the two victims and the controversy led to their deaths. Video footage from two security cameras showed one of the victims chasing the other victim. Shortly after the shooting, one camera recorded an individual walking across a yard, a “significant” distance from where the camera was situated. That individual appeared to be carrying a shotgun, but his facial features and race were indiscernible.
- HomicideState v. Matthews provided the first opportunity for the Maryland Court of Appeals to address whether a trial court erred in deciding the admissibility of expert testimony in a double homicide case after
- Corporate LawSocietas Europaea, abbreviated “SE”) – a relatively-new type of entity established under the corporate law of the European Union, with the core legal framework in EU Council Regulation No. 2157/2001 (adopted by Member States in 2001) – for purposes of federal diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332.
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Workers CompensationMaryland Court of Special Appeals Declines to Interpret “Definite Proof” as a Higher Standard of Proof for a Hernia Related Workers Compensation Action
- Construction LitigationIn an article for the Legal Intelligencer titled “Navigating Risk: Advising Clients on Construction Defect Coverage and CGL Policies,” Matthew provides an overview of the various types of insurance policies available to offset the risks involved in construction and discusses the coverage available under each. He also discusses various types of Commercial General Litigation (CGL) policy exclusions and what each bar from compensability.
- Eminent Domain
- Property DamageLittle case law specifically allows for an award of damages for both the cost of repairs and diminution in value damages in the construction defect context. Some jurisdictions, in the context of damage to automobiles, have allowed the recovery of post-repair diminution in value damages, but those damages are limited by the extent to which the sum of the diminution in value plus the repair costs is less than the difference between the property’s pre-accident value and its post-accident salvage value. In other words, the outside limit of what one is entitled to recover in a property damage case is always the value of the property pre-accident vs. post accident salvage value. See
- Personal Injury“[A]n employer shall provide compensation...for a hernia caused by an accidental personal injury or by strain arising out of and in the course of employment if... [the] employee provides definite proof that...(1) the hernia did not exist before the accidental personal injury or strain occurred; or (2) as a result of the accidental personal injury or strain, a preexisting hernia has become so aggravated, incarcerated, or strangulated that an immediate operation is needed...”
- Medical MalpracticeThe plaintiff sued: her local Maryland dentist; a consulting dentist in New York; and the New York dentist’s limited liability company. The case was pursued as a claim for medical malpractice in Maryland state court.
- Estate PlanningSemmes is pleased to welcome Elizabeth Fitch to the firm’s Baltimore office as counsel in the Estate Planning, Probate & Trusts Practice.
- WillsPrior to joining Semmes, Elizabeth was an associate attorney with a Baltimore firm, focusing on complex civil litigation and arbitration. She has litigated business, trust, and land issues in Maryland as well as fiduciary disputes, including will contests and trust disputes, in high-stakes cases outside of Maryland.
- Probate
- Bankruptcy
- Tax LawWhile in law school, Elizabeth was a rule 19-217 student attorney at the University of Baltimore Tax Law Clinic, where she represented taxpayers in federal and state tax disputes involving administrative controversies before the IRS and the Comptroller’s Office of Maryland. She received her B.A. in government and politics from the University of Maryland.