Daniel E Cummins

July 26, 2024 | The Legal Intelligencer

While there is a lack of appellate guidance on these issues, a few notable decisions have been handed down by Pennsylvania trial court judges across the commonwealth.

By Daniel E. Cummins

10 minute read

May 02, 2024 | The Legal Intelligencer

As another high school mock trial season comes to a close, here are some reflections on lessons that mock trial students learn that can also be applied by real attorneys to real life trials in order to improve their presentation skills in the courtroom.

By Daniel E. Cummins

11 minute read

February 29, 2024 | The Legal Intelligencer

On Jan. 29, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its long-awaited and much anticipated decision in the regular use exclusion case of Rush v. Erie Insurance Exchange, and, in doing so, seemed to signal a possible continuing movement away from its previous penchant for advancing plaintiffs' causes in personal injury matters and toward a more reasoned, moderate approach to civil litigation questions of law.

By Daniel E. Cummins

7 minute read

December 07, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

Here's a look at the notable trends and decisions in Pennsylvania civil litigation law over the past year along with a review of anticipated decisions to keep an eye out for in the year ahead.

By Daniel E. Cummins

15 minute read

June 01, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

Over the past five years or so, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has been issuing one decision after another, along with civil litigation rule changes, most, if not all of which, have greatly favored personal injury plaintiffs' causes. A couple of recent decisions by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have tempered this sense of futility for some.

By Daniel E. Cummins

8 minute read

March 30, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

Back in 2019, in the case of Gallagher v. GEICO Indemnity, 201 A.3d 131, 138 (Pa. 2019), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the household exclusion, found in automobile insurance policies, violated Pennsylvania's Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Law and was, therefore, not enforceable under any circumstance.

By Daniel E. Cummins

13 minute read

January 19, 2023 | The Legal Intelligencer

With the pendulum of judicial thought at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court level having swung so far in the plaintiffs favor, it appears that the sky's the limit for the plaintiffs bar to continue to alter the legal landscape in Pennsylvania.

By Daniel E. Cummins

11 minute read

December 22, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

Here's a look at the notable trends and decisions in Pennsylvania civil litigation law over the past year along with a review of anticipated decisions to keep an eye out for in the year ahead.

By Daniel E. Cummins

18 minute read

September 29, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

It seems that an intellectual debate has been sparked on whether the pertinent parts of the Spencer opinion on the issue of whether the Fair Share Act applies to innocent plaintiffs are dicta and whether the analysis contained in that dicta is flawed.

By Daniel E. Cummins

7 minute read

August 04, 2022 | The Legal Intelligencer

The notion that the Fair Share Act does not apply when an injured party plaintiff is an innocent victim of the negligence of another seems to be gaining steam in recent several state and federal court decisions despite the fact that this notion is based upon dicta initially espoused in the Spencer decision.

By Daniel E. Cummins

8 minute read