In the recent past, the federal courts have changed their rules related to discovery to account for electronic information in civil cases such as wrongful death and personal injury files. Discovery is the process by which the injured person can get information and documents from the at fault party who hurt them. Lawyers representing injured people need to focus on these new rules and the changes caused by the increase of electronic data on computers. Nowhere is this issue more pressing than in cases where the defendant is a big corporation like a railroad insurance company or other corporation.
I have recently attended seminars that have focused on the question of electronic discovery and making sure that plaintiff’s lawyers get all of the electronic information that they are entitled to. One type of injury case where this comes up a lot is in crossing accidents, where a train hits a car at a railroad grade crossing. One key piece of evidence in railroad crossing cases is the black box or event data recorder from the train. Experienced F.E.L.A. or railroad crossing lawyers know that the process by which this data is downloaded and how it can be manipulated by the railroad. Thus, in this type of case, we typically hire an electronic data expert to help us develop a plan to make sure that we are getting all original data in its native form, rather than copies of information that have been changed or filtered by the railroad after causing the injury. Of course, this all takes time and money to do properly. All the more reason to pick a lawyer with significant experience in dealing with electronic discovery and fighting major corporations as defendants as our firm does.
Rick Shapiro has practiced personal injury law for over 30 years in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. He is a Board-Certified Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (ABA Accredited) and has litigated injury cases throughout the eastern United States, including wrongful death, trucking, faulty products, railroad, and medical negligence claims. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before the VA Supreme Court, VA Court of Appeals, NC Supreme Court, SC Supreme Court, WV Supreme Court, TN Supreme Court, and three times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, underscoring Shapiro’s trial achievements. In addition, he and his law firm have won settlements/verdicts in excess of $100 million. His success in and out of the courtroom is a big reason why he was named 2019 “Lawyer of the Year” in railroad law in U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers publication (Norfolk, VA area), and he has been named a “Best Lawyer” and “Super Lawyer” by those peer-reviewed organizations for multiple years. Rick was also named a “Leader in the Law, Class of 2022” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (total of 33 statewide honorees consisting of lawyers and judges across Virginia). And in September 2023, Rick was selected as a recipient of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) 2023 President’s Award. Although many nominations were submitted from across the country, Rick was just one of eight attorneys chosen by the prestigious National Board which certifies civil trial attorneys across the U.S. Rick was also recently named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2024 Virginia’s Go To Lawyers Medical Malpractice. The attorneys awarded this honor are nominated by their colleagues and chosen by a panel from the publication.
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