The Injury Litigation Blog

Facts and Opinions.
Feel free to disregard the opinions.

If It Ever Happened, It Always Happened

By Byron Warnken

That’s sometimes what I say about the Internet and our recorded life.  It’s not exactly poetic, and I’m not sure it defines what I want to say all that well.  I’m simply trying to say: you cannot unwrite the past.  You never could, completely, as we all live in a world we cannot control.  But now, in this digital life, the past is right there.  On a screen.

I’ve wondered how courts would rule on cases in which Internet sites publish things which courts later deem expunged.  In Martin v. Hearst, we now know.

The publisher of arrest records, even if later deemed expunged or even if the arrest was deemed improper, is not liable for simply publishing the information.

Why?  Because it happened.  It happened.  If it ever happened, it always happened.

Does it make damages for wrongful arrest more?  Maybe.

InjuryLawyerDatabase publishes statistics on lawyers.  If a lawyer is really a divorce lawyer, yet tells a potential client he is a personal injury lawyer, statistics will reveal otherwise. It’s about the statistics.  Please note: simply because a profile appears on InjuryLawyerDatabase does not mean the lawyer holds him or herself out to be a personal injury lawyer.  Attorneys did not control what profiles go on InjuryLawyerDatabase.  ILD can be used to search statistics, however.

This is a new paradigm.  Your history comes with you.  It always did, but now it’s digital.

 

More Medical Malpractice Studies

By Byron Warnken

The public perception, mostly fueled by the American Medical Industrial Complex, is that medical malpractice suits are unjustified and out of control. As statistics and facts become more available all the time, perhaps this is changing to some degree. The truth is the exact opposite. It’s difficult for victims of medical negligence to get just […]

Med Mal Lawyers Shouldn’t Have to Do All the Heavy Lifting

By Byron Warnken

CMS Stops, then Starts Again Last month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which offers health insurance to 100 million people, quietly announced it was going to stop tracking and publicly reporting 8 medicals errors detrimental to patient’s wellbeing. These 8 included when foreign objects are left in patient’s bodies after surgery and […]

Who Owns the Law?

By Byron Warnken

That’s the question put forth by the ABA Journal, a publication of the American Bar Association (see story here).  Author Victor Li asks this important question at the right time.  It’s always been a good and relevant question.  However, never before were there so many implications to the answer. For example, this site, InjuryLawyerDatabase.com was literally […]

The Baltimore Sun’s Coverage of Workers’ Compensation

By Byron Warnken

The Baltimore Sun has upped its game.  Luke Broadwater and Scott Calvert are doing some impressive work.  They are doing real journalism in an age where real journalism does not abound.  Kudos. In an extensive series about workers’ compensation and it’s impact on Baltimore, Broadwater and Calvert have spotlighted important issues.  The issues were there […]

The Biggest Problem with Medical Malpractice

By Byron Warnken

What is the biggest problem with medical malpractice? The plainitffs and their lawyers would have you believe the real problem is too much medical negligence and a lack of accountability from doctors. The doctors, their insurance companies, and their lawyers would have you believe the real problem is frivolous lawsuits.  “If only we could get […]

Legal Publishing is Changing

By Byron Warnken

Oklahoma’s Supreme Court is now the publisher of its own opinions.  The official publisher. For someone without some knowledge of the industry, this statement may seem pedestrian.  But for people who know the role that companies like West and Lexis play in the legal world, it’s revolutionary.  It’s now no longer difficult to see a […]

How to Find the Best Lawyers in Maryland when You’re Out of State

By Byron Warnken

Besides using online services like InjuryLawyerDatabase.com, there is one excellent way to find the best injury lawyers in Maryland (or the best lawyers in any practice area anywhere).  As always, the term “best” is very subjective and slightly misleading.  In this instance, the below method may or may not lead to the best actual lawyer, […]