Building the Distracted-Driving Evidence Record in Auto Cases
The distracted-driving case is won in the first two weeks. Here is how to preserve the carrier logs, subpoena the timing metadata, and stag…
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.
Freight Broker Negligent-Hiring Liability Opens Nationwide After Montgomery
The Supreme Court's 9-0 ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II ends FAAAA preemption for freight brokers in state negligent-hiring sui…
Freight Broker Carrier-Selection Liability: Key PI Rulings, July 17, 2026
The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 on May 14, 2026 in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, No. 24-1238, holding that FAAAA no longer preempts state-…
Standing and the One-Action Rule: The Procedural Traps That Sink Wrongful-Death Cases
In a death case, who may sue and how they must sue can end the matter before damages are ever reached. A look at standing, capacity, and th…
Rebutting the Seatbelt Nonuse Defense in Auto Cases
The seatbelt defense is admissible in more courtrooms than plaintiff lawyers assume. Here is how to keep restraint-nonuse evidence away fro…
Lanunziata v. Penn National and the Residency Line in UIM
A May 2026 Pennsylvania decision denied an adult child UIM coverage under his parents' policy. The residency-versus-domicile line is a cove…
Winning the Phantom-Vehicle UM Claim Without Contact
A driver forces your client off the road and never stops. The UM claim then turns on two separate rules the carrier is counting on you to c…
Uber MDL-3084 Non-Delegable Duty Ruling and Key PI Verdicts: July 2026
Judge Breyer's April 10, 2026 order in Uber MDL-3084 (N.D. Cal.) held Uber owes a non-delegable duty to passengers regardless of driver-con…
Three Spring Trucking Verdicts Reach $121M as NHTSA Recalls Expand PI Plaintiff Leverage
Three eight-figure commercial trucking verdicts totaling $121 million across California and Texas set new damages benchmarks for left-turn…
After the Survival-Damages Sunset: Rebuilding the Death Case
California's four-year window for pre-death pain-and-suffering damages in survival actions closed on January 1, 2026. The value of a death…
Punitive Damages in California PI After Roby: Ratios, Proof, and Due-Process Review
A punitive award you win at trial is only half the fight. Between Civil Code § 3294's proof gate, the managing-agent rule, and de novo due-…
Wage Statement Defects Under Labor Code 226: Derivative Claims and PAGA Stacking
A defective pay stub is rarely a standalone case. It is the multiplier that turns an unpaid-overtime or missed-premium claim into layered s…