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

The Court of Appeals of New Mexico recently reversed the dismissal of a personal injury case brought by the parents of a child who had been injured in a school-sponsored sports program. The parents alleged that, when their son was 12 years old and a student at a New Mexico middle school, he joined the…

A ruling handed down earlier this year shows that New Mexico personal injury lawsuits can be difficult for an individual to prosecute without having the benefit of experienced counsel. As the ruling explains, a litigant needs to pay court filing fees or achieve leave to proceed without paying fees, the litigant’s complaint needs to state…

Personal injury lawsuits brought in New Mexico typically proceed on the basis that they will be heard by a jury. Recently a New Mexico federal court granted a motion to compel arbitration brought by a defendant and stayed the plaintiffs’ personal injury lawsuit pending the completion of arbitration. Allegedly, the plaintiff had been employed as…

Typically it is the defendants in a New Mexico personal injury case that move for summary judgment, arguing that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In a recent case, a New Mexico federal trial court ruled on a summary judgment motion brought by a plaintiff injured in Albuquerque. The court denied…

An important part of a personal injury case can be determining the physical condition of the plaintiff. A New Mexico federal trial court recently decided an insurance company defendant’s motion seeking an independent medical examination of the plaintiff. The court tried to balance the parties’ rights because there were several points of disagreement including duration…

It can be very important for litigants asserting personal injury and wrongful death claims to have their day in court. Arbitration agreements can cut off the right of access. In a ruling in favor of a New Mexico skilled nursing facility, a federal district court recently upheld an arbitration agreement following the filing of a…

Though parties to personal injury litigation in American federal courts have broad discovery rights, certain materials are protected in the discovery process including those that are subject to the attorney-client and work product privileges. In a recent case, the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico granted in part a motion for…

The U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico recently ruled against a plaintiff in a New Mexico wrongful death suit that was based on a successive entrustment theory of liability. The ruling came in the context of resolving a motion for summary judgment brought by one of the defendants, a company that had…

The U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico handed down a decision on January 3, 2019 in favor of a plaintiff who was seeking a recovery from her insurance company following a New Mexico car accident resulting in the plaintiff allegedly suffering personal injuries. The insurance company had argued that the plaintiff needed…

Defendants sued in state court in New Mexico personal injury cases will often prefer to litigate in federal court. Under some circumstances, defendants can successfully remove cases filed by plaintiffs in state court, thereby changing the plaintiffs’ chosen forum. But this is not always the case because federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. In…