Law Office of Matthew Vance, P.C., Personal Injury Law Blog

In a recent ruling, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico denied summary judgment to the sole defendant, an out of state tire manufacturer. The case before the court arose after a tire blow out that allegedly was caused by manufacturing and design defects. Allegedly after the tire blew out, a tragic…

A recent ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico reflects some of the challenges plaintiffs can encounter when naming a city and its mayor as defendants in a federal complaint seeking recourse for allegedly injurious conditions. Last November a person filed a federal complaint against the City of Albuquerque and…

Courts applying New Mexico’s laws recognize the principle of res ipsa loquitor. In Latin res ipsa loquitor means the thing speaks for itself. Under this principle, the very occurrence of an accident implies negligence. In a recent case, one of the defendants filed a motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of all claims asserted against…

The U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico recently denied a dismissal motion filed on behalf of defendants including the Santa Fe Public Schools. The plaintiffs had brought a lawsuit in state court based on alleged sexual abuse by their fourth grade teacher. The motion had sought dismissal of a complaint on the…

Recently the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico was presented with a dispute concerning whether an insurance coverage case presented to it for adjudication should be sent back to the state court in which the plaintiff had first filed the case. The federal court trial court presented with this dispute ruled in…

A recent opinion addresses whether a company that leases a store is liable for damages in a New Mexico personal injury suit, after a customer is attacked in a parking lot used by the store’s customers. Allegedly two people were trying to purchase a video game console from an electronic gaming store in Santa Fe,…

Sometimes a person is not liable for the payment of damages resulting from an accident. Even though the person’s conduct was among the causes of the accident, the conduct at issue is considered by a court to not have been the accident’s proximate cause. A recent ruling by a federal district court granted a defendant’s…

Sometimes multiple parties can be held liable for the payment of damages in a single New Mexico truck accident case. A recent case concerns the ability of a plaintiff to name a new party as a defendant in an amended complaint filed years after the initial complaint was filed, and following the expiration of the…

New Mexico personal injury lawsuits often proceed in New Mexico’s state courts. A personal injury lawsuit can be removed from state court to federal court if it meets criteria set forth by federal law for removal. It is also possible, in some instances, to remand a case that was filed in state court and removed…

It is possible to alter the outcome of a jury trial in New Mexico personal injury cases by prosecuting post-trial motions and appeals. A recent ruling handed down by an Albuquerque federal court reflects the difficulties inherent in winning post-trial motions for judgment as a matter of law or new trial. In May of 2019,…