BALTIMORE LANDLORDS: RECENT LEAD PAINT CASE TRENDS

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In the area of lead-based paint poisoning litigation, several recent trends are of great concern to property owners, landlords, and property managers in Baltimore and elsewhere in the United States.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

To treat childhood lead poisoning claims like a typical landlord-tenant action would be naïve and dangerous.  Investigation of these claims must be prompt, and it must address all potential avenue of defense.  Further, investigation must focus on complex medical issues, in addition to multifaceted matters that may affect liability.

There can be no dispute that prolonged and excessive exposure to lead may result in adverse health effects, especially for children.  Studies have shown that, at young ages, elevated blood-lead levels can cause children to experience symptoms ranging from nauseousness to attention deficit disorder to intellectual impairment.

Unlike a broken bone, which can readily be confirmed through an x ray, claims of neurological impairment are often difficult to verify.  It can be even more difficult to contest that a child's alleged problems result from causes other than lead paint exposure.  Given these difficulties, jurors are understandably inclined to render verdicts in favor of young children, who are often depicted as being "intellectually impaired" as the results of their ingestion of lead paint chips or dust. 

Indeed, numerous judges and commentators have suggested that in certain circumstances lead poisoning cases are "indefensible".

Lead poisoning claims can, however, be defended on a number of grounds, including challenging the CDC's assertion that a low blood-lead level 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.

[If you have been named as a defendant in a lead-based paint poisoning lawsuit in Baltimore or elsewhere in Maryland, or in Washington, D.C., call us at (410) 730-5016, or (410) 720-6129, or email us at charlesjeromeware@msn.com.  We are Charles Jerome Ware, Attorneys & Counselors, LLC --- a premier Maryland-based nationally respected and highly-regarded lead paint poisoning defense law firm]