Aircraft maintenance is governed by an extensive system of federal regulations intended to promote aviation safety. Typically, an aircraft undergoes rounds of inspections and maintenance to identify any issues that may impact the craft and its occupants. As such, when an aircraft has completed the inspections required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), it may […]
Few doctrines in tort law generate more disagreement at trial than the eggshell plaintiff rule, also known as the thin skull rule. The principle is well established: a defendant whose negligence causes injury cannot avoid liability due to the plaintiff’s preexisting condition, even if that condition made the resulting harm substantially worse than what an […]
When an aircraft crashes after the pilot loses control, the final moments of the flight become a dispute in court. The available flight data may show that there was an abrupt control input or an unusual altitude change. Witnesses may describe erratic flight behavior, while investigators reconstruct the aircraft’s final trajectory. While all of these […]
Medical records can establish a diagnosis, and an expert’s testimony may explain physiology. Lost earning capacity may be described by economists while life-care planners can estimate future medical needs. Yet these things may not always show exactly how someone is living with their catastrophic injury. Day-in-the-life evidence attempts to provide insight as to how a […]
Serious personal injury litigation presents an unusual causation problem. A defendant’s negligence may cause catastrophic injuries that require emergency medical treatment, but the plaintiff’s condition subsequently worsens because of alleged medical negligence. The resulting litigation no longer concerns a single negligent act but the allocation of responsibility to the successive acts of negligence that may […]