 Appellate Court Upholds 1.62 Million Jury Verdict.

Maryland Court of Special Appeals: KIRSON v. JOHNSON — Md. App. — (2018)

APRIL 2, 2018

Torts — Lead poisoning

Suzanne C. Shapiro of Suzanne C. Shapiro Law, LLC wrote the winning Brief and Motion to Publish that resulted in the Court of Special Appeals reported decision today affirming a 1.62 million jury verdict on behalf of a victim of lead poisoning. The Court of Special Appeals held that a lead-paint plaintiff is not required to prove that lead from a specific place within a property contributed substantially to his or her injuries. In addition, a plaintiff can recover damages for injury suffered from exposure to exterior lead-based paint.

Read the appellate court opinion here:   opinion  

Suzanne C. Shapiro of Suzanne C. Shapiro Law, LLC  briefed the appeal and motion to publish on behalf of Plaintiff/Appellee.

Plaintiff/Appellee was represented at trial and on appeal by the Law Offices of Peter T. Nicholl.

 Appellate Victory in Maryland’s High Court for Victims of Lead Exposure.

 Rogers v. Home Equity USA, Inc., (Maryland Court of Appeals May 30, 2017)

The Maryland Court of Appeals reversed a reported decision of the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. The Court eased the burden of proof as to source causation for victims of environmental toxic lead exposure, when exposed to lead from more than one reasonably probable source. The Court clarified that the Plaintiff was not required to rule out other sources of lead exposure, when  the Plaintiff presented sufficient evidence to rule in the subject property as a reasonably probable source of his injury-causing exposure. The decision overturned the trial court’s grant of summary judgment, and reversed the reported decision of the Court of Special Appeals affirming the grant of judgment.

Suzanne C. Shapiro wrote the Petition for a Writ of Certiorari and the winning briefs that resulted in the Court of Appeals decision. Ms. Shapiro’s successful efforts have paved the way for future cases to move forward to trial. These cases would likely have been dismissed for insufficiency of evidence to establish a prima facie case under prior case law from Maryland’s intermediate appellate court.

View the Maryland Court of Appeals reported opinion. 

 Rowhouses, Inc. v. Smith Defines Circumstantial Evidence Standard.

Suzanne C. Shapiro Law, LLC is proud to be a part of making new law today. The Maryland Court of Appeals clarified the standard for presenting circumstantial evidence to establish causation in toxic tort litigation. Suzanne C. Shapiro wrote the winning brief that resulted in the Court of Appeals decision. In writing the brief, Ms. Shapiro convinced the high court that circumstantial evidence is sufficient to prove the existence of lead paint in a home, resulting in lead poisoning injury to a child, even though the house had been demolished and could not be directly tested for lead paint during litigation, and the child had visited and resided at other houses. 

View the Maryland Court of Appeals reported opinion. 

Ms. Shapiro also submitted briefs in the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.

View the Maryland Court of Special Appeals reported opinion. 