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.
