Personal Injury Cases in

Baltimore County, Maryland

Baltimore County has historically been considered a below average jurisdiction for Maryland auto and truck accident, and medical malpractice lawyers handling personal injury cases. Historically, Baltimore County jurors have given jury awards that are about 75% of what personal injury plaintiffs recover from juries throughout the rest of Maryland, and a little over half of what the awards are in Baltimore City and Prince George's County.

We Think Baltimore County Is a Better Jurisdiction Than Some Lawyers Believe

Most Maryland attorneys handling personal injury cases on behalf of injured victims believe that Baltimore County is one of the worst forums for plaintiffs' attorneys handling accident cases in Maryland. The Baltimore Sun wrote an extensive piece on March 22, 2004, titled "Baltimore County Juries Buck Trend of Big Awards." The byline to the article was, "Average for medical malpractice, personal injury payouts lower than state figure; 'You don't see runaway verdicts.'" The premise of the article was that Baltimore County was the most difficult county for personal injury attorneys in Maryland to get fair compensation for their clients.

Our law firm, we are happy to say, has had a different experience in this county. Our lawyers have had a number of outstanding results for clients seeking compensation in Baltimore County. One verdict our lawyers obtained in Baltimore County received national exposure in Lawyers Weekly USA based largely on Baltimore County's known reputation for not giving plaintiffs in accident cases the benefit of the doubt (and there were some problematic facts in the case). We also just got a real nice verdict in 2013 which you will see below. Our strategy has been to spurn conventional wisdom that you should pick the "dumbest" jury you can get in a Baltimore County case and pick a smart, balanced jury that has the fortitude to wait to hear all of the evidence before reaching a conclusion.

How Baltimore County Circuit Court Works

In Baltimore County injury cases, the parties attend a settlement conference after the close of discovery. Settlement conferences in Baltimore County are done at the courthouse in Towson and are typically conducted by retired Baltimore County judges. The judge acts as a mediator in an effort to resolve the case. These settlement conferences are often helpful in getting the parties in an auto accident case to reach a resolution. Until very recently, the trial date was set shortly after the lawsuit was filed. But in recent years, Baltimore County has struggled to get trials off as scheduled, creating scheduling problems in personal injury cases for the accident lawyers, the injured victims, and the experts scheduled to testify.

The new plan for less complex personal injury cases is that the trial date will not be set until after a settlement conference and the Court believes that all non-trial disposition possibilities - including mediation and arbitration - have been reasonably explored. In more complicated personal injury accident cases, called civil extended standard cases in Baltimore County, the practice of scheduling the trial after the filing of the lawsuit will continue, and you will get a trial date when the original scheduling order is issued. (Click here for a sample Baltimore County Circuit Court scheduling order in a personal injury auto accident case).

Baltimore County also has changed how attorney motions are heard and handled in all cases, including accident cases. Previously, all attorney motions filed without a request for a hearing in Baltimore County were referred to the daily chambers judge. Attorney motions filed with a hearing request were scheduled on the monthly motions docket on the last Monday of every month, if the hearing was expected to take less than 15 minutes. If the motions hearing was expected to last longer than fifteen minutes, it was scheduled on the daily docket. Now, all dispositive motions - motions that will end all or part of the lawsuit - need to be scheduled (regardless of the length of time) either on the civil or domestic daily dockets. Accordingly, all attorney motions for summary judgment and motions to dismiss are now set for a hearing approximately 30 days from the at-issue date. At the same time, these attorney motions will be pre-assigned to a judge by the Central Assignment Office. All non-dispositive motions filed in personal injury cases are referred by the Civil Assignment Office to the chambers judge. If the chambers judge believes a hearing on a motion is necessary, the Civil Assignment Office will schedule an attorney motions hearing within 14 days.

Sample Baltimore County Verdicts and Settlements

These are recent personal injury jury verdicts and settlements in Baltimore County. These cases were not chosen using any scientific methodology. Some are our cases, others are cases handled by lawyers we know, and some were obtained from reported verdicts and out-of-court settlements. Do these verdicts help you better understand the value of your case? These verdicts might shed some light on the value of your Baltimore County claim. But keep in mind they also might mislead you because it is impossible to summarize all of the relevant facts of a case in a single paragraph. The failure or success of these cases might have hinged on a fact completely unrelated to the facts set out in these descriptions.

  • 2013: $217,000 Verdict Defendant driver leaves St. Agnes Hospital emergency room just minutes before the car crash, and just after taking Oxycodone for a very minor surgical procedure. He is told not to drive. He passes out and slams Plaintiff’s small car into the jersey wall. Plaintiff suffers a shoulder impingement syndrome and undergoes arthroscopic shoulder surgery which includes a biceps tenotomy. MRI of the lumbar spine two months post collision reveals two disc herniations and degenerative disc disease. State Farm fights on liability and Plaintiff's past medical history which includes shoulder complaints, lower back complaints, and diagnosis of degenerative disc disease. State Farm offers $25,000.00 to settle the case, waiting four days before the case is set for trial. The jury awards damages more than 8 times the State Farm's offer.  Our law firm won this case. (Find more State Farm verdicts our firm has won here.)
  • 2012: $761,782 Verdict. Plaintiff undergoes an emergency C-section. A routine CT scan four days later reveals a bowel obstruction.  The Defendant doctor refers Plaintiff for treatment, but before treatment is received, Plaintiff suffers a bowel obstruction requiring emergency surgery.  Plaintiff claims the Defendant medical providers failed to provide timely treatment and the resulting surgery (and recovery time) deprived Plaintiff of vital bonding time with her newborn daughter.  Defendants argues they did not breach the standard of care by referring Plaintiff to another physician. A Baltimore County jury sides with the Plaintiff and awards $761,782. 
  • 2012: $1 Million Verdict. Plaintiff alleges medical malpractice after losing vision in both eyes while under the care of the Defendant doctor.  Plaintiff suffers from diabetic retinopathy and argues that while the vision in her left eye could not have been salvaged, Defendant failed to provide adequate treatment for her right eye for over one year.  Plaintiff lost vision in her right eye during that time.  Defendant argues that he provided adequate and conservative treatment, but that Plaintiff’s heart condition contributed to her blindness.  A Baltimore County jury awards Plaintiff $1,000,000 plus interests and costs. 
  • 2010: $663,000 Verdict. An 18 year old female pedestrian iss struck as she is walking across the driveway entrance to a fast food restaurant on York Road in Baltimore County. The Defendant driver, insured with State Farm, is texting while leaving the restaurant. She does not stop to render aid and flees the scene. Defendant is later apprehended by the police. Plaintiff sustains various soft tissue injuries to her body, the most severe of which is a knee injury. She is treated by three different orthopedic surgeons. The last surgeon finally uncovers internal damage to her knee and she underfoes knee surgery. Unfortunately, she then develops  Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) – a condition resulting in damage to the sympathetic nervous system causing constant pain and burning in her leg. The Plaintiff undergoes a spinal cord stimulator implant to help relieve her pain. She will require subsequent operations to change the battery in the stimulator unit.  Defendant admits liability. Pre-trial offer is $20,000. Plaintiff demands policy limits early in the litigation process. Defendant uses no experts of their own but calls one of the Plaintiff’s treating orthopedic surgeons to prove there is no objective knee injury.  A jury awards $663,000. Our law firm won this case.

  • 2011: $148,863 Verdict. Plaintiff is driving on Route 40 when he loses control of his vehicle and collides with the left-side jersey wall.  Plaintiff is stranded in his disabled vehicle when he is struck by the Defendant’s vehicle.  Plaintiff suffers fractures in his hand, and sustains a near amputation of his dominant arm.  Plaintiff argues that the Defendant had an opportunity to avoid the accident, while the Defendant argues that the Plaintiff is at fault because his stranded vehicle occupied a portion of the far left lane.  Defendant additionally argues that Plaintiff’s injuries are a result of the collision with the jersey wall, not the collision between the two vehicles.  A jury awards the Plaintiff $100,000. 

  • 2011: $100,000 Verdict. Plaintiff is a passenger in Defendant’s vehicle when Defendant strikes the curb and a tree at 1:25 a.m. (Lesson? Nothing good happens at 1:25 a.m.)  Plaintiff alleges Defendant is intoxicated and drove his vehicle in a negligent manner resulting in Plaintiff’s injuries.  The jury awards $148,863.14 in damages to the Plaintiff, but judgment is entered at $100,000 per an agreement between the parties. 

  • 2010: $295,156 Verdict. Plaintiff is rear-ended and claims to suffer a mild traumatic brain injury as a result.  At the time of the crash, the Defendant driver is driving a pick-up truck owned by his employer and is working within the scope of his employment.  Plaintiff argues that the Defendant failed to follow at a safe distance and that Defendant’s employer is responsible because the driver is working at the time of the crash.  The Defendant driver and employer admit liability, but the Plaintiff’s injuries are disputed.  The jury awards $295,156 to the Plaintiff. 
Hiring a Lawyer for Your Case

Because of our proximity to Baltimore County, Maryland, our attorneys handle a number of cases for clients in Baltimore County, including Timonium, Towson, Cockeysville, Catonsville, Arbutus, Perry Hall, Dundalk, Essex, and Owings Mills. If you have been injured in an accident or by medical malpractice in or around Baltimore County, call our Baltimore County medical malpractice and auto accident attorneys at 800-553-8082 or get a free consultation.

Other Nearby Jurisdictions
More on Baltimore County Personal Injury Cases
Information on Our Personal Injury Law Firm