Childhood Lead-Paint Poisoning (CLPP) cases are an epidemic in the Baltimore City metropolitan area. In fact, so many of these lead paint cases are filed by plaintiffs' attorneys in Baltimore City, particularly, every year that a special "lead paint case" docket exists within the Circuit Court for Baltimore City.
Further, to compound the problems for the defense in these cases, numerous judges as well as commentators suggest that in certain circumstances lead paint poisoning cases are "indefensible".
To be sure, especially in Baltimore City, a lead paint case defendant must retain a good lead paint defense attorney for legal representation in these cases.
Lead poisoning claims can, however, be defended on a number of grounds, including challenging the CDC's assertion that a low blood-lead level (10 to 25 micrograms per deciliter) can result in decreased IQ, learning disabilities, and psychological, neurological, and behavioral injuries.
From the insurer's perspective, the best defense to lead poisoning claims begins with educating and monitoring their insureds.
It is essential that property owners take an active role in preventing lead poisoning claims, rather than simply reacting to complaints of lead paint violations.
TRENDS
There are some trends in the arena of lead paint poisoning in Baltimore (as well as nationwide) that should be of enormous concern to property owners:
- The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has repeatedly lowered acceptable blood-lead levels to the point where hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of children are now legally classified as "lead poisoned." Many of those newly classified children will go on to become plaintiffs in lead-based paint poisoning lawsuits.
- Various state health departments have consistently lowered the amount of lead permissible in residential paint to the extent that millions of apartment units nationwide may suddenly be in violation of local ordinances and regulations.
- Multimillion-dollar verdicts and six-figure settlements are increasingly common in lead-based paint poisoning civil lawsuits. Juries in Baltimore and across the country seem receptive to arguments that children have suffered irreversible neurological impairment as a result of their alleged ingestion of lead paint chips and dust. This alleged impairment - depicted as manifesting itself in loss on intellectual capacity with resultant medical care, loss of earnings, and pain and suffering - if often the basis for exorbitant jury awards rendered against property owners.
www.CharlesJeromeWare.com
Renowned and respected for his extensive trial experiences and legal counselling of thousands of individual and organizational clients, Attorney Charles Ware is also noted for being a prolific author of several best-selling books, numerous information blogs, and hundreds of articles.
Ware is a widely acclaimed expert legal commentator who, for eight years in the 1990s hosted the extremely popular legal advice radio program "The Lawyer's Mailbox": the Number One (#1) legal advice radio program in the Mid-Atlantic States, on WEAA-88.9 FM, Morgan State University Radio in Baltimore, Maryland.
Among attorney and author Charles Jerome Ware's best-selling books are:
(1) The Secret Science of Winning Lotteries, Sweepstakes and Contests;
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(2) Understanding the Law: A Primer;
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(3) The Immigration Paradox: 15 Tips for Winning Immigration Cases;
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(4) Legal Consumer Tips and Secrets: Avoiding Debtors' Prison in the United States; and
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(5) Quince (15) Consejos Para Ganar Casos Del Inmigracion.
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Ware's blogs and twitter include, inter alia:
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