Representative Cases

Case Summary -- State of Maryland v. J.P. Smith Company

The State of Maryland sued J.P. Smith Company for costs, expenses and attorneys fees associated with the clean up after an overpass bridge collapsed onto Interstate Route 295. The State sought to recover costs associated with debris removal, "on call" clean up crews, emergency signage, the temporary detouring of traffic around the accident site and attorneys’ fees. On behalf of J.P. Smith Company, the Firm conducted a thorough investigation of the facts of the claim and performed the necessary research and evaluation of applicable contract, tort and property law, as well as the Maryland Emergency Management Agency Act. Through meetings with the Maryland Attorney General’s Office and the filing of a definitive Motion to Dismiss the Complaint, we persuaded the State to voluntarily dismiss with prejudice its Complaint against the J.P. Smith Company. The voluntary dismissal cleared our client of responsibility for the clean up, saved many hours of management’s time that otherwise would have been committed to the defense of the claim and saved the insurer thousands of dollars in legal and expert fees.