Appellate Courts News
Appellate Courts
Woman falls down stairs at day care, loses lawsuit with too-late argument
PHILADELPHIA - A state appeals court has affirmed a jury verdict in the case of a woman who fell down stairs at a day care while wearing covers on her shoes.
Appellate Courts
Pa. Supreme Court rules federal law protects gun-maker in case of teen's accidental death
PITTSBURGH - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court won't let the parents of a teenager shot and killed accidentally to sue the gun's maker and seller.
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Appellate Courts
Supreme Court says those with no biological link to child can show intent to be its parent
PHILADELPHIA - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has added a new way to become a parent, in a case concerning divorced lesbians who, now, share a child.
Appellate Courts
New Jersey agency can't be dragged into Pa. court, Supreme Court holds
PHILADELPHIA - Pennsylvania isn't the place for a lawsuit against a New Jersey agency, the state Supreme Court recently ruled.
Appellate Courts
Man beaten, paralyzed in prison loses lawsuit against Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA - The City of Philadelphia won't be penalized for a prison attack that left one man paralyzed.
Appellate Courts
Columbia gas customers not on hook for the $300K it would cost to serve one customer
HARRISBURG - A Fayette County funeral home is losing its natural gas as it tries to expand its operation to include a crematory and heat for available apartments on the property.
Appellate Courts
Pa. SC protects retailers from new consumer protection theory
PITTSBURGH - Collecting sales tax does not open retailers to lawsuits under Pennsylvania's consumer protection law, the state Supreme Court has held in a proposed class action against companies like Kohl's and J. Crew.
Appellate Courts
Pa. court sides with med-mal lawyers, draws line on if doctor picked surgery for patient
HARRISBURG - A state appeals court has revived a medical malpractice lawsuit against Geisinger Medical Center, in a win for Pennsylvania's plaintiff lawyers.
Appellate Courts
Roofers, check your ladders; Court rules against worker who fell off one placed on a block
PITTSBURGH - A roofer should have known better, a Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled, finding that a ladder placed on a wooden block is an obviously dangerous condition.
Appellate Courts
Domino's decision a win for Pa. plaintiff lawyers, though other states have reached the opposite conclusion
PHILADELPHIA - A recent decision by a Pennsylvania appellate judges not only goes against an earlier ruling by their own court but also at least six others.
Appellate Courts
Court strikes $2.5M verdict for fired helicopter pilot, balancing when at-will employees can sue
PITTSBURGH - A helicopter pilot has lost the $2.5 million verdict he scored in Allegheny County, as a state appeals court has found as an at-will employee, he could not pursue a wrongful termination claim.
Appellate Courts
Pa. Supreme Court finds COVID-19 business interruption losses don't qualify for insurance coverage
HARRISBURG – The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania unanimously ruled that a dental practice which suffered business interruption losses during the COVID-19 pandemic was not entitled to receive coverage from its insurer for those losses, the first time the state’s high court made such a finding.
Appellate Courts
Pa. Supreme Court dismisses articles of impeachment against Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner
HARRISBURG – A recent 3-1 ruling from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania dismissed articles of impeachment brought against Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, due to the process being improperly taken up during two different legislative sessions.
Appellate Courts
Court: 26 years in solitary for death row inmate was cruel and unusual
PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled in favor of a death row inmate who alleged that his being kept in solitary confinement, despite facing severe mental health issues, constituted cruel and unusual punishment – and has remanded his case to a lower federal court for further consideration.
Appellate Courts
Pa. Supreme Court ruling cuts vote lead in 117th District House race from five to four
HARRISBURG – A recent 5-2 ruling from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania may bring the Republican Party primary election to a seat in the State House of Representatives for the Commonwealth’s 117th District one step closer to a resolution, as the Court found one voter’s provisional ballot to be invalid and another voter’s to be valid.
Appellate Courts
TikTok to face suit after 10-year-old dies doing 'Blackout Challenge'
PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has reinstated a Chester woman’s wrongful death lawsuit against social media app TikTok, filed after her 10-year-old daughter died in December 2021 due to attempting a “Blackout Challenge” and which had been previously dismissed by a lower court federal judge.
Appellate Courts
Jewish family in fight with Abington neighbors can post anti-hate signs
HARRISBURG – The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has reversed a trial court injunction which initially prevented a Jewish family from erecting lawn signs in their backyard, signs which protested hostile and anti-Semitic behavior they experienced from their neighbors.
Appellate Courts
Pa. Superior Court says Dragonetti Act dispute between gaming entities was rightly dismissed
HARRISBURG – A state appellate court has concurred with a Dauphin County judge’s ruling that preliminary objections brought by two gaming organizations against a group of consultants for that industry were not in error, and the consultants’ action to bring charges under the Dragonetti Act was rightly dismissed.
Appellate Courts
Circuit split: Third says Roundup weedkiller doesn't need Pa. cancer warning
PHILADELPHIA – A federal appellate court’s concurrence with the makers of weedkiller Roundup, in opining that federal law preempts Pennsylvania law requiring Monsanto include a cancer warning on its label, sets up a possible review by the Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split.
Appellate Courts
Court rules against hospital patient who fell off toilet; Defendants said injuries were pre-existing
HARRISBURG – The Superior Court of Pennsylvania has upheld a Bradford County court’s ruling to grant summary judgment dismissal to a hospital faced with litigation after a patient fell from a bedside toilet and allegedly suffered serious injuries.