One of the fundamentals of negligence law, which applies in personal injury litigation such as medical malpractice cases, is the requirement that the defendant in the case owed a legal duty to the plaintiff. Sometimes, the duty is obvious, such as in car accident cases in which drivers owe one another a duty to exercise…
Continue reading ›Under sovereign immunity, governmental entities may be immune from lawsuits arising from the negligence of their employees. Over the years, the courts carved out several exceptions to the doctrine, and in 1978 the Commonwealth passed the Massachusetts Torts Claims Act, Mass. Gen. Laws c. 258, § 4 (the “Act”), specifying the circumstances in which immunity…
Continue reading ›Massachusetts requires that all medical malpractice claims go through a medical tribunal under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 231 § 60B (“§60B”) to review the claims and decide whether medical malpractice occurred. As an example, a recent Massachusetts appeals court decision ruled that a medical malpractice plaintiff did not bring sufficient evidence to allow the case…
Continue reading ›Over the past several decades, arbitration clauses have increasingly been used to resolve legal disputes. An Arbitration clause is an agreement between two contracting parties to settle their disputes in arbitration as opposed to going to trial. Their increased use has several justifications including reducing court volume. It may be strange to find an article…
Continue reading ›In a recent Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) decision, a mother and daughter brought a medical malpractice action against a medical practitioner for complications arising during childbirth causing the child to have severe and permanent injuries. The plaintiffs claimed that the defendant failed to detect significant abnormalities that may have caused the birthing complications. Through…
Continue reading ›On October 26, several law enforcement agencies in the Cape hosted the National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day. The Cape Cod Times reported that fourteen towns took part in the event to help rid localities of potentially dangerous prescription drugs. The National Drug Take-Back Day, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement…
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