Beating the Treatment-Gap Defense in Soft-Tissue Auto Cases
A blank stretch in the treatment timeline is the defense's favorite exhibit. Here is how to document the gap, explain it, and keep it from…
Author
Marshall Vance
Senior correspondent covering case law, settlements, verdicts, and trial reporting for the personal injury bar. Based in California. Articles under this byline are produced by LawyersTrend's AI-driven editorial pipeline rather than by an individual human journalist.
Drury v. Ryan and the Negligence Per Se Instruction
A California appellate court threw out a defense auto verdict because the jury never heard the negligence per se instruction. Drury v. Ryan…
FMCSA Rollbacks and Aurora AV Trucks Reshape Trucking Plaintiff Discovery in 2026
FMCSA Final Rule 2026-12449, effective July 22, 2026, eliminates CDL self-reporting and the in-cab ELD manual, cutting two layers of docume…
Illinois $45M Mesothelioma Verdict Tests Reduced Lifespan Damages Theory
On July 10, 2026, the Illinois First District affirmed a $45 million talc-mesothelioma verdict in Garcia v. Johnson & Johnson, including a…
Rebutting the Sudden Medical Emergency Defense in Auto Cases
The sudden medical emergency defense can zero out a clean liability case, but it carries a heavy burden. How plaintiffs attack foreseeabili…
Georgia Negligent Security After Carmichael and SB 68
Georgia CVS Pharmacy v. Carmichael marked the high-water line of plaintiff-friendly negligent-security law. Then SB 68 snapped the foreseea…
The Six-Month Clock on Public-Entity Fatality Claims
Suing a city, county, or transit agency after a fatality means clearing a claims-presentation deadline measured in months. Here is how the…
Temporal Proximity and the Retaliation Causation Record
Timing wins retaliation cases and timing loses them. This is how to frame the temporal-proximity record under FEHA and Labor Code section 1…
CCP 998 in 2026: Offer Math, Cost-Shifting, and Enforcement
A CCP 998 offer is the cheapest verdict insurance a plaintiff lawyer can buy, but only if the number is defensible and the paper is clean.…
Unpaid Commission Claims and the Labor Code 2751 Writing Requirement
Labor Code 2751 makes a written commission agreement mandatory but attaches no penalty of its own. That gap is where the plaintiff's case a…
Adding the Bar: Dram Shop and Social Host Claims in DUI Crashes
In a serious DUI crash, the at-fault driver's policy is often the smallest source of recovery. The establishment or host that over-served t…
Fuentes v. Parkchester and the Sidewalk Tenant's Escape Hatch
A First Department decision dismissing a commercial tenant on summary judgment is a checklist for plaintiff's counsel: prove special use or…