TT&H Attorney Lauren Upton wins summary judgment in connection with a motor vehicle accident claim filed in Federal Court.

In September of this year, Attorney Lauren Upton of our Baltimore office won summary judgment in a matter filed against a Virginia construction company and two of its employees.  The Plaintiff was riding a motorcycle from D.C. to his home in Maryland when he was involved in an accident with a vehicle that fled the scene.  Based upon information provided by an unidentified individual, the police report indicated that the Virginia construction company was the owner of the vehicle involved in the accident.  However, no other witness could identify the vehicle, and no witness could provide any details regarding the vehicle’s driver.

In his suit, Plaintiff sued the Virginia company and two of its employees, who were claimed to be the driver of the vehicle.  In her Motion, Attorney Upton argued that the vehicle identification in the police report amounted to inadmissible hearsay.  She sought summary judgment due to the absence of admissible evidence identifying the vehicle and its driver.  Agreeing with Lauren and granting her Motion, the Court recognized that “without the inadmissible hearsay evidence contained within the police report, there is nothing to link the vehicle to the accident.”  Further, no evidence rebutted the employees’ statements that they were not the driver of the vehicle.  Thus, the Court found the Defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

Questions about this case can be directed to Lauren Upton, at (443) 641-0572 or lupton@tthlaw.com.