Maryland State Conference of NAACP Branches v. Baltimore City Police Department (Maryland U.S.D.C.)(not approved for publication)

Decided December 1, 2006--Opinion by Catherine C. Blake (not approved for publication)

Motion to deny class certification status is premature when class certification had not yet been requested. Sovereign immunity is available for claims for monetary damages, but not equitable relief. Governmental immunity is available for common law claims. Preliminary denial of motion to certify question to state court when there is a purely federal question pending as to whether the statute is unconstitutional as applied.

The full opinion is available in PDF.

Laboratory Corp. of America v. Hood (Ct. of Appeals)

Filed December 1, 2006--Opinion by Judge Alan Wilner.

Certified questions from the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The questions directed to the Court were as follows:

1. In a case where a medical laboratory receives a specimen from a Maryland physician and erroneously interprets the specimen in another State, causing injury in Maryland the Maryland residents, should this court follow the "standard of care" exception in the Restatement (First) of Conflicts of Law §380(2) and apply the substantive law of the State where the erroneous interpretation took place?


2. Does denying Maryland residents the right to bring a wrongful birth action by applying North Carolina law violate the public policy of the State of Maryland?


3. Where a laboratory analyzes a mother’s amniocentesis specimen and the results are provided to the mother’s physician, but relied upon by both parents, does the laboratory have a sufficient relationship with the father that gives rise to a duty of care?

The full opinion is available in WordPerfect and PDF.