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Mark McGrath, "Excavating negligent host claims buried in comp cases", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, May 11, 2009.

Two mechanics are called into work unexpectedly on the Fourth of July. In an early morning telephone call, their crew leader had explained that a local titanium processing plant was in shutdown mode due to an electrical failure in the lathe room.  Read the Full Story: Excavating negligent host claims buried in comp cases

Mark McGrath, "PRACTICAL LITIGATOR: How to play the corporate shell game to help your comp client win", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, March 16, 2009.

Probably the most common question I get from referring attorneys relates to the criteria for screening and identification of workplace-injury claims for potential third-party actions.  Read the Full Story:  PRACTICAL LITIGATOR: How to play the corporate shell game to help your comp client win

Mark McGrath, "PRACTICAL LITIGATOR: Rescuing third-party claims from silent death in a comp file", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, February 16, 2009.

After some 18 years of first defending and now prosecuting third-party workplace claims, I firmly believe for every meritorious third-party workplace injury case that gets filed, at least five equally viable cases die an anonymous death on some dusty file-room shelf.   Read the Full Story: PRACTICAL LITIGATOR: Rescuing third-party claims from silent death in a comp file

Mark McGrath, "THE PRACTICAL LITIGATOR: Nursing home residents, injured patients take a beating in Azar", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, September 22, 2008.

With not so much as a whimper, the N.C. Court of Appeals has completely rewritten the law of causation in medical malpractice and nursing home cases. In holding that a plaintiff must prove that a defendant's negligence is the proximate cause of a person's injury instead of a proximate cause of the injury, the Court of Appeals has made it virtually impossible to prove medical causation in nursing home cases.  Read the Full Story: THE PRACTICAL LITIGATOR: Nursing home residents, injured patients take a beating in Azar

Mark McGrath, "THE PRACTICAL LITIGATOR: Despite stark facts, power line cases can be complex", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, August 24, 2008.

When people or the equipment they are using come into contact with overhead power lines, tragedy is the inevitable result. Even when victims survive such incidents, electricity inflicts horrific damage upon the human body, causing severe burns, tissue necrosis and even limb loss.  Read the Full Story: Despite stark facts, power line cases can be complex

Mark McGrath, "Case law can mean failure to ID proper defendant has draconian consequences", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, June 16, 2008.

Our favorite plaintiff's attorney has just landed a career case. Damages, liability, causation, it's all there. A visiting Wall Street tycoon has been struck and killed by a truck bearing the name of the state's largest public utility, Carolina Gas and Light Company. The truck driver was drunk, and the accident report clearly identifies the registered owner of the vehicle as "Carolina Gas & Light Co." As fate would have it, the statute of limitations is about to run. The cautious barrister visits the N.C. Secretary of State's Web site, identifies 13 CG&L entities and names each of them in his complaint. He gets the complaint filed on the last day before the statute expires.   Read the Full Story: Case law can mean failure to ID proper defendant has draconian consequences

Mark McGrath, "N.C.'s premises liability law is variation of Roman notion", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, March 31, 2008.

Seneca, the Roman statesman and orator, once said that a person who does not take action to prevent a crime when he has the ability and means to do so is guilty of encouraging its commission. The North Carolina courts have implicitly established a variant of this principle in recognizing that business and property owners can be held liable when they fail to take reasonable measures to protect persons from the foreseeable criminal acts of third parties.  Read the Full Story: N.C.'s premises liability law is variation of Roman notion

Mark McGrath, "Sanity restored? N.C. Supreme Court to revisit 'same or similar communities' standard", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, January 14, 2008.

Since the North Carolina Court of Appeals issued its decision in Henry v. Southeastern Ob-Gyn Associates, P.A 1 in 2005, trial courts have been bouncing medical experts from North Carolina courtrooms like drunken rugby clubbers. Because any medical expert, however qualified, can fail to recall the population and per capita income of Ahoskie in the heat of deposition battle, even "slam dunk" malpractice cases, staffed with the finest physician experts in the land, confront the prospect of dismissal.  Read the Full Story: Sanity restored? N.C. Supreme Court to revisit 'same or similar communities' standard

Mark McGrath, "Third-party claims offer best chance for full compensation of workplace injuries", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, January 7, 2008.

Given the limitations of the workers' compensation remedy and the precarious status of Woodson v. Rowland, 329 N.C. 330, 407 S.E.2d 222 (1991), third-party claims offer workers their brightest prospect for obtaining full compensation for workplace injuries.  Read the Full Story: Third-party claims offer best chance for full compensation of workplace injuries

Mark McGrath, "THE PRACTICAL LITIGATOR: N.C. appellate courts' treatment of Woodson amounts to reversal", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, October 22, 2007.

In the landmark case of Woodson v. Rowland,1 the North Carolina Supreme Court brought our state into the mainstream of modern tort law, holding that employees could avoid the exclusivity bar of the workers compensation act and sue their employers in tort for injuries arising from egregious conduct on the part of their employers. Never ones to enjoy the mainstream, our atavistic appellate courts have been back-pedaling ever since.  Read the Full Story: N.C. appellate courts' treatment of Woodson amounts to reversal

Mark McGrath, "THE PRACTICAL LITIGATOR: Legal options have narrowed for N.C. employees seeking compensation for work-related injuries", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, October 1, 2007.

In enacting the North Carolina Workers' Compensation Act, the General Assembly, like legislatures across the country, gave much to workers of this state but also took much away. In exchange for guaranteeing limited compensation for work-related injuries, workers forfeited their right to seek full compensation for such injuries, including the right to seek compensation for pain and suffering and other non-pecuniary damages.  Read the Full Story: Legal options have narrowed for N.C. employees seeking compensation for work-related injuries

Mark McGrath, "Kenyon v. Gehrig: Are surgical malpractice cases dead in N.C.?", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, July 30, 2007.

Imagine the following scenario. Police are called to the house of a prominent businessman. They find the man in bed, quite dead, with a massive laceration to his throat. In the basement of the home, they find a bloody straight razor bearing the fingerprints of his estranged wife and traces of the victim's blood. Upon questioning, the woman confesses that she had been shaving her husband earlier in the day when, suddenly, "there was blood everywhere."  Read the Full Story: Kenyon v. Gehrig: Are surgical malpractice cases dead in N.C.?

Mark McGrath, "Res ipsa amputated: Plaintiffs turn to circumstantial evidence", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, July 16, 2007.

At both the federal and state levels, the latest medical malpractice reform campaign seems to have fallen short of its mark. Despite the relentless efforts of the insurance and medical lobbies, statutory medical malpractice reform at the federal and state level will have to wait for another day.  Read the Full Story: Res ipsa amputated: Plaintiffs turn to circumstantial evidence

Mark McGrath, "High voltage, high stakes, Part II: Shop around for evidence, experts in electrical injury cases", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, June 11, 2007.

In the first installment of this series, we explored code provisions, case law, standards and other substantive legal principles that come into play in electrical injury cases. In Part 2, we will examine aspects of discovery, expert witness selection and damages that are characteristic of the catastrophic electrical injury case.  Read the Full Story: High voltage, high stakes, Part II Shop around for evidence, experts in electrical injury cases

Mark McGrath, "High voltage, high stakes: Electrical injury cases demand familiarity with national, state rules and codes", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, May 28, 2007.

Between 1992 and 1998, nearly 3,000 workers died from job-related electrical injuries. During that same period, another 32,309 workers suffered serious, but non-fatal, electrical injuries. Each year, thousands more Americans are injured or killed by coming into contract with electrical energy in some form. These cases range from contacts between sailboat masts and power lines to arc-flash incidents and catastrophic electrical dust explosions.  Read the Full Story: High voltage, high stakes: Electrical injury cases demand familiarity with national, state rules and codes

Mark McGrath, "The Practical Litigator: Don't Forget About the", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, March 26, 2007.

You are sitting in your star expert's deposition. Despite five hours of wood-shedding, your expert has just testified that a national standard of care governs the removal of gangrenous limbs. "If the left leg is gangrenous, you remove the left leg," he explains testily. "I don't care if you are in New York or New Bern. In that scenario, removing the good leg is going to be negligent regardless of where you are performing the procedure." Defense counsel grins in a rather mean way. The trap is tripped.  Read the Full Story: The Practical Litigator: Don't Forget About the

Mark McGrath, "Establishing Agency in Medical Malpractice Cases: Part II: The Law", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, December 4, 2006.

While the basic principles of agency are straightforward under North Carolina law, their application by the North Carolina courts in medical malpractice cases has been anything but simple. Anyone attempting to establish an agency relationship between health care providers in a malpractice case should familiarize herself with this body of case law before filing suit. Failing to do so can lead to fatal flaws in pleading and missed opportunities in the discovery process.  Read the Full Story: Establishing Agency in Medical Malpractice Cases: Part II: The Law

Mark McGrath, "Establishing Agency in Medical Malpractice Cases Part I: The Basics", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, November 6, 2006.

It is an all too familiar story. With 9(j) opinions in hand, and a month to go before the statute runs, you file your blue ribbon medical malpractice case. From your perfectly organized set of medical records, you identify the providers whose negligence caused or contributed to your client's injuries. Ever the diligent advocate, you serve interrogatories and requests for production of documents with the complaint. The defendants all obtain thirty-day extensions in which to answer and respond to discovery. When the discovery responses finally arrive, one month after the statute has run, you learn that one of the people who rendered care and treatment to your client was not employed by the defendants, but by a third-party contractor. He might be a laboratory technician, an emergency room physician or even a laboratory technician. Whoever he might be, all that matters is the fact that the statute has run, and you are one defendant shy of a complete set.  Read the Full Story: Establishing Agency in Medical Malpractice Cases Part I: The Basics

Mark McGrath, "Surviving Wrongful Death Part III:  Timing is Everything" North Carolina Lawyers Weekly.

The statutes of limitation enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly appear at first blush to be paradigms of clarity. But don’t let that fool you. North Carolina’s sunset statutes can be mighty tricky critters, especially when they are applied to wrongful death cases.   Read the Full Story:  Surviving Wrongful Death Part III:  Timing is Everything

Mark McGrath, "Surviving Wrongful Death Part II:  Shall it be Survival or Death?", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, September 25, 2006.

From the perspective of a trial attorney, few things spawn greater desperation than a clear liability case that is saddled with questionable medical causation. This disheartening combination of facts can be especially devastating when the negligence of a defendant causes an innocent person to suffer terribly for a period of time, only to perish later of conditions that are, arguably, unrelated to the original injury.   Read the Full Story:  Surviving Wrongful Death Part II:  Shall it be Survival or Death?

Mark McGrath, "Surviving Wrongful Death Part I:  An Overview", North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, September 4, 2006.

As statues go, North Carolina's wrongful death statute is a seemingly benign piece of legislation.  Under common law, all tort claims were extinguished or "abated" by the death of their holder, regardless of the degree of pain, suffering or general misery endured by the deceased prior to his demise.  Our General Assembly saw fit to rectify that inequity by enacting the North Carolina wrongful death stature, presently codified at G.S. § 28A-18-2.  Read the Full Story:  Surviving Wrongful Death Part I:  An Overview
 

Mark McGrath,  "Familiarity Breeds Success: Strategies For Bullet-Proofing The Medical Expert In Malpractice Cases" North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, March 20, 2006.

In Wiggins v. Piver, 276 N.C. 134, 171 S.E.2d 393 (1970), the North Carolina supreme court rejected the "locality rule" in favor of the "same or similar communities" standard. Following Wiggins, the North Carolina General Assembly codified the same or similar communities standard in N.C. Gen. Stat. Sect. 90-21.12. Learn More:  Strategies For Bullet-Proofing The Medical Expert In Malpractice Cases
 

Mark McGrath,  "Back to the Horse and Buggy Days: North Carolina Courts Harken A Return To The 'Locality Rule' In Medical Malpractice Cases" North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, January 31, 2005.

In a remarkable turn of events, recent decisions of the North Carolina courts augur a return to the locality rule, or some variant of it, and reveal that, like the reports of Twain's death, the demise of the locality rule pronounced in Wiggins was greatly exaggerated.  Click Here:  A Return To The 'Locality Rule' In Medical Malpractice Cases
 

Mark McGrath, "A Jury of Their Peers? The High Price of Peer Review Confidentiality" North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers

The peer review privilege ensures that patients and their families will never know much of what goes on behind closed hospital doors. The privilege protects from disclosure all activities of peer review committees- bodies of physicians and other providers that are formed for the purpose of evaluating the quality of services rendered in healthcare institutions and to oversee the credentialing and assessment of medical staff members.  Click Here for:  A Jury of Their Peers? The High Price of Peer Review Confidentiality