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Welcome to LUCAS and CAVALIER, LLC
We hope you enjoy our Fall Newsletter. This edition
summarizes several interesting cases which should pique the interest of our rather diverse client base. We are also taking the opportunity to acknowledge the recent achievement of our partner, Matthew S. Marrone related to the Pennsylvania Superior Court upholding a favorable jury verdict (summarized below) he received last year for the defense in a sailboat accident case.
We hope you enjoy this edition and we invite you to share it with others who might be interested.
Robert M. Cavalier,
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 Superior Court of Pennsylvania Affirms Jury Verdict in Favor of Both Sailboat Owner and Operator in Traumatic Head Injury Case
On June 24, 2008, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the March 23, 2007 jury verdict entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County, Pennsylvania, in favor of both defendants (represented by the author) on the issue of negligence in the case of Lepone
v. Brown, Docket No.: 2261-EDA-2007. In rendering its 20-page opinion,
the Superior Court interpreted several navigational rules and issues which
were directly relevant to the claims and defenses in the case.
Full Story
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 Indeterminate Defect - Easy for a New Jersey Plaintiff to Reach the Jury
By: Robert M. Cavalier
The appellate division in New Jersey recently reaffirmed the "Indeterminate Product Defect Test." This doctrine is akin to the negligence concept of res ipsa loquitor which in essence lowers the level of proof a plaintiff must come forward with to defeat a summary judgment application.
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Battle Brewing Over New Jersey's Harsh Legal Malpractice Climate
By: Matthew S. Marrone
In 1996 the Supreme Court of New Jersey rendered its opinion in the case of Saffer v. Willoughby, 670 A.2d 527 (N.J. 1996). This landmark fee-shifting decision dramatically changed the legal malpractice climate in New Jersey, and over the ensuing twelve years the Garden State has become arguably the most difficult in the nation for attorneys and their insurers to defend malpractice claims. At long last, however, a movement to reverse this onerous rule is gaining widespread momentum.
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No Reimbursement of Defense Costs For Liability Insurer While Defending Insured Under Reservation of Rights