Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk

Legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus.

1410 Posts and Counting

On Being Quick to Learn and Slow to Judge

No. 1,509 It is worth a reminder not to draw conclusions with less than full information. Information is being communicated to us with incredible speed.  Yet, too often, what reaches our eyes and ears first is incomplete or worse, presented to further the interests or biases of the communicator. If the communicator is also a […]

Supreme Court Accepts Appeal on Wal-Mart Case

In case you may be interested, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently granted the petition for allocatur in the case of Braun v. Walmart Stores. The initial appeal was decided by the Superior Court last June and is reported at 24 A.3d 875 (2011). This was a class action involving employee wage and hour claims which was tried in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in 2009. Wal-Mart had appealed from a judgment in the amount of $187,648,589.11.

“Predictive Coding” is a trend worth noting.

No. 849 Electronic discovery is so expensive that it has heretofore been confined to cases involving high stakes.  However, a variety of technologies have emerged that sometimes enable searchers to cull out a vast number of documents.  The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on a Virginia federal case in which the court  authorized the use of Predictive […]

The Art of the Objection.

Like so many things that lawyers do, stating objections in court requires preparation, experience and skill. If you don’t state your grounds quickly, the damage may be done, even if the objection is sustained.

Facing Up to the Reality of Social Media.

No. 691 What ethical issues are there for lawyers who do or don’t invade adversary’s Facebook pages looking for evidence?  I have heard various pronouncements that it may be malpractice for a lawyer to fail to investigate the opponent’s Facebook Page.  But what about the subterfuge that might be required to gain access?  I am […]

Superior Court Declines to Apply Business Records Exception to Electronic Records Created by Third-party Assignor of a Debt.

No. 678 In a case of first impression, a panel of the Superior Court declined to find that electronic records of a credit card account generated by a third party , who had assigned the debt to the plaintiff, were entitled to be admitted into evidence under the business records exception to the hearsay rule […]

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CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

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