Plain-English articles on the court decisions and rules that shape injury cases in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
A Virginia appeals court upheld a wrongful death verdict against an assisted living facility whose resident died of an infected bedsore, and confirmed that grandchildren can share in the award.
When a Maryland business's own worker creates the hazard, like a freshly mopped floor, the business can't escape a fall claim by saying it had no time to warn you. What the new ruling means.
A Virginia surgery went wrong when a nurse fired a cutting device too early. A new appeals ruling shows who answers for a surgical team’s mistake, and what can shrink the recovery.
In D.C., the city usually can’t be sued for failing to protect someone, but there are real exceptions. A 2025 ruling on a stillborn baby shows where the line falls.
Maryland’s Supreme Court ruled that a household member sickened by asbestos carried home on a worker’s clothes does not have to prove a separate duty of care. Here is what that changes.
In Virginia, settling with one of several defendants keeps your case alive against the others, but that payment comes off any later verdict. A 2026 ruling shows it can erase one.
In D.C., a landlord who lets a ceiling, stairwell, or railing stay dangerous cannot defeat your injury claim by saying you should have moved out. Here is what that rule does and does not cover.
A Maryland jury awarded $2 million to a man stabbed 17 times in a state prison. The Supreme Court of Maryland cut it to $400,000. Here is how the cap on suing the State works, and what counts as one incident.
A head-on crash on the GW Parkway killed one passenger and gravely hurt another, but the Virginia claim still failed because no one could prove how it happened. Here is the proof a crash case needs.
A passenger who lost both legs in an Uber crash never signed anything with Uber, and the D.C. Circuit refused to push his case into private arbitration. Here is what that means for D.C. rideshare riders.
A Virginia public hospital’s corporate arm does not automatically inherit government immunity, and the doctor who treated you may have none at all. Immunity is a defense they must prove, not assume.
The District sets no dollar limit on pain and suffering, unlike Maryland and Virginia. A $4 million malpractice verdict that survived appeal shows how D.C. juries are allowed to put a number on what was taken from you.
Maryland’s top court just held that county school boards keep full immunity for child sexual abuse that happened before July 1, 1971. Here is who can still be sued, and how the deadlines compare in MD, DC and Virginia.
A Virginia jury found that a delayed specialist referral cost a patient most of his sight. An appeals court then erased the verdict over one missing piece of proof. Here is what these claims require.
You usually cannot sue the federal government for assault, but there is an exception for federal law enforcement officers. A new D.C. Circuit ruling shows how far it reaches, and the deadlines that apply.
A Maryland property owner can't defeat your injury claim just by pointing out that admission was free. A new ruling says courts must look at where you were hurt and what that area is actually for.
Virginia cities and counties are often immune when their negligence hurts you, but not always. A new Supreme Court of Virginia ruling shows what separates a claim that survives from one that is barred.
In D.C., being even slightly at fault normally destroys an injury claim entirely. But pedestrians, cyclists, and scooter riders are protected by a 2016 law that most people hurt on D.C. streets have never heard of.
In Maryland, being listed in a relative’s wrongful death lawsuit does not protect your own claim. A new ruling cost a father his share because he did not formally join within three years of his son’s death.
No. Concussion is a clinical diagnosis: CT and MRI look for bleeding, not the injury you have. How post-concussion cases are proven, and two results built on normal imaging.
