Maryland Agrees With Shook Amici Brief That Settlement Precludes Later Suit For Same Personal Injury

The Maryland Court of Appeals has held that an injured motorist who settled a lawsuit over a car accident cannot bring a second suit against a hospital seeking damages for the same injury, agreeing with the arguments Shook Partners Phil Goldberg and Cary Silverman made in the amici brief they filed in the matter. 

Goldberg and Silverman argued that allowing a second recovery in a medical malpractice case related to the injuries claimed in the previous negligence action would nullify the state’s “One Satisfaction Rule,” which provides that a claimant can only recover once for a particular injury. 

Shook filed the brief on behalf of the American Medical Association and MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society. Goldberg is co-chair of Shook’s Public Policy Group, and is Managing Partner of the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.

The case is Gallagher v. Mercy Med. Ctr., Inc., No. 44 (Md.)