David W. White Law Blog

On March 2, 2011, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, in a matter of first impression, ruled that M.G.L. c. 186, § 19 applies to commercial lessors, thus expanding the liability of commercial property owners. The court ruled that the owner is liable for remedying a dangerous condition once it has received written notice of the defect. The ruling thus expands a landowner's liability for Read More

DePuy Orthopedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, has issued a recall in the United States for its ASR XL Acetabular System, a prosthesis used in total hip replacements. Approximately 93,000 of the defective prostheses have been implanted around the US. The prosthesis has an unusually high failure rate due to the metal-on-metal surface, which releases microscopic metal particles into the body. The metal is causing some patients to have adverse reactions, including swelling, pain, and... Read More

The case started when a Vermont insurance company, Northern Security Insurance Company, Inc., after receiving a notice of claim against one of its insureds, agreed to defend the case under a reservation of rights. The insureds, who owned rental property, were the subject of a complaint by a tenant alleging personal injuries and other damages due to exposure to mold.

The insureds rejected representation under the reservation of rights and retained their own counsel, an experienced... Read More

When there is a motor vehicle accident and somebody is hurt, the first question in the claims process is: How much insurance coverage is there? The primary concern is usually how much bodily injury coverage does the responsible driver have. The answer is usually straightforward, but circumstances can make it complicated.

In Massachusetts, every motor vehicle must be insured for at least $20,000 per person/$40,000 per accident. This minimum amount can be bought for the absolute... Read More

Auto insurance is one of those necessary evils; in Massachusetts, you cannot register your car unless you have the minimum limits required by law. And when the law requires "minimum" they mean it. One is only required to carry $20,000 per person and $40,000 per accident for bodily injury liability insurance. A trip to the emergency room can eat up half of that in just an afternoon, and if the injuries are serious, $20,000 in coverage quickly becomes inadequate.

Even though... Read More

In my last blog I discussed the tension between the "open and obvious" rule and the usually more technically correct defense of comparative negligence. It should be remembered that the open and obvious rule itself relates primarily to the duty to warn of dangers that are obvious. This may, for example, include the danger of swinging on a rope swing over a shallow river strewn with rocks, or diving into the shallow end of a swimming pool. There is no legal duty to warn.  Read More

Defendants in personal injury lawsuits frequently claim two defenses: The plaintiff was comparatively negligent; and/or the danger was "open and obvious." The open and obvious rule has, unfortunately, frequently been misapplied. Some recent appellate court decisions have provided guidance.

The fact that a danger is open and obvious does not relieve an owner from the duty or remedying the condition if he or she can anticipate that the danger may cause harm, even if it is... Read More

When the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled on the case of Papadopoulos v. Target Corp., 

357 Mass. 368 (2011), they probably never envisioned that the winter of 2010-2011 was going to be a contender for the record books. The ruling was a major change in personal injury law for Massachusetts, and all residents and businesses are affected.

The SJC reversed over 100 years of jurisprudence, abolishing the distinction between "natural accumulations" and... Read More