2023 Gavel Boston Summit

Bailey & Wyant PLLC's "Abbie" Dunn Jr. attends Boston Summit

Bailey & Wyant, PLLC's Of Counsel, Albert, "Abbie" C. Dunn, Jr. attended the Gavel's Summer Summit held in Boston, Massachusetts. Abbie, along with other distinguished members of the Gavel participated in presentations conducted by the Product Liability, Construction, and Professional Liability practice groups. Topics discussed included "The Psychology of Negotiations, Offensive and Defensive Discovery Tactics regarding Medical Providers, and a discussion around Product Experts: what claims handlers and their defense attorneys need to know about working with expert witnesses and navigating Daubert Motions."

Motion to Dismiss Granted

Charleston Member Jordan K. Herrick and Martinsburg Equity Member James W. Marshall, III

Jordan K. Herrick and James W. Marshall, III were granted a Motion to Dismiss on behalf of medical care providers at Pruntytown Correctional Center. The plaintiff, an inmate at Pruntytown, alleged the medical care providers violated his Constitutional rights by not prescribing him certain medications for his chronic Hepatitis C.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia found that the allegations asserted against the medical care providers were insufficient to assert a claim for violation of the inmate’s Eighth Amendment rights and dismissed the Complaint.

A Beautiful Day for a Wonderful Cause

Equity Member John P. Fuller of Bailey & Wyant PLLC's Charleston Office

Equity Member, John P. Fuller participated in this years Kids’ Chance of West Virginia, "Swing Fore Kids' Education" Golf Tournament. Kids' Chance of West Virginia is a nonprofit organization that provides scholarships to the sons and daughters of West Virginians who have been seriously or fatally injured in a work-related accident.

Voluntary Dismissal Obtained

Bailey & Wyant PLLC 's Of Counsel, Albert C. Dunn, Jr. (Abbie)

“Albert “Abbie” Dunn, Jr. obtained a voluntary dismissal of a suit involving an automobile accident between the operator of a tractor trailer and a pedestrian which occurred on the interstate that resulted in an asserted, significant personal injury to the pedestrian including but not limited to a traumatic brain injury requiring the an extensive, future life care plan.  The Plaintiff asserted entitlement to past and future damages in an amount estimated to be well over 20 million dollars.”

Keeping you in the Know

Charleston Associate, Samuel M. Bloom

Case law update: ICA Memorandum Decision in Rush v. Danasdome, LLC, et. al

The article this month focuses on a recent Memorandum Decision form the Intermediate Court of Appeals (“ICA”). Although there is little precedential value to the case as it is only a Memorandum Decision and not a signed Opinion, it reinforces longstanding principles as to tort liability when the criminal conduct of others is involved.

In the matter, the plaintiff was the estate of the deceased who was shot and killed outside of a bar operated by Defendant DanasDome, LLC. What occurred was that the deceased had gone to the bar with his cousin and was hanging out with the bartender, whom the deceased had been romantically involved with previously. Another individual who had been romantically involved with the bartender was also present, and there was ultimately an altercation between this individual and the deceased. What resulted was the other individual shooting and killing the deceased outside the bar at 6:00 a.m.

The estate brought a wrongful death claim against DanasDome, LLC, the operator of the bar, and against the sole member of the DanasDome, the landlord of the building, and the sole member who owned the building. The lower court found no merit to the estate’s claims and dismissed the action. On appeal to the ICA, the ICA agreed.

The ICA, in recognizing the general rule that a person does not have a duty to protect others from the deliberate criminal conduct of third parties unless a person has a special relationship which gives rise to a duty to protect another person from intentional misconduct or when the person’s affirmative actions or omissions have exposed another to a foreseeable high risk of harm from the intentional misconduct, held that it was proper for the Court to dismiss the Complaint as there was nothing foreseeable about this situation for the landlord and the owner of the building. As it pertained to DanasDome, the Court found that there was nothing about serving alcohol after hours made the criminal conduct reasonably foreseeable and that there was no other evidence that would have put DanasDome on notice that there would possibly be a violent interaction between the two individuals. Thus, there was no basis for liability against any of these defendants. 

Bailey & Slotnick, PLLC's Member Amy Haynie

This year's 2023 West Virginia Association of Realtors Annual Convention was held in Huntington, West Virginia at the Double Tree by Hilton. Bailey & Slotnick, PLLC Member Amy Haynie, and Equity Member, Marc J. Slotnick attended as well as sponsored the Welcome Reception for realtors across the state. This was a three day convention that included a Trade Show, Evening Gala as well as continuing education classes for licensed Realtors.

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month began in 2004 through a partnership between the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security) and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA). Cyber protection has grown to a worldwide imperative and, throughout this month, businesses, governments, and individuals come together in their passion for online protection.

As National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the month of October promotes the importance of staying safe and secure online. It’s hard to imagine life without our devices, immediate access to global information, thousands of pictures retrievable at a moment’s notice, and effective management of confidential data for our professional- and personal electronic lives. Cybersecurity didn’t exist 50 years ago but, today, our world requires an ever-increasing amount of cyber protection. 

There is no downtime in keeping our online activities safe and secure. But this month creates far-reaching awareness of the importance of cybersecurity so set aside some time to ensure you are personally protected and work with your employer’s I.T. department to protect your Cybersecurity.