Pre-Trial Practice and Procedure

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

V. PRE-TRIAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

A. Jury Trials

A party is not entitled to a jury trial unless an election is filed within 15 days after the time for answering the appeal petition.⁵⁹

B. Framing of Issues

In cases where a jury trial has been prayed, the case is submitted to the jury on issues of fact. In non-jury cases, it is not necessary to submit the case on issues of fact, but the Supreme Court of Maryland has stated it is good practice to do so.⁶⁰

The parties generally present proposed issues to the court on the day of trial, but they may be filed earlier.⁶¹

The issues presented to the jury must be those which originated at the Commission. An issue may not be raised for the first time on appeal.⁶²

However, this does not mean that the formal issue must have been presented to the Commission, but merely that there was some evidence before the Commission to pass upon the issue of fact.⁶³ If there was no such evidence before the Commission on the particular issue, the circuit court should remand the case so that the Commission may consider that issue.⁶⁴

If the Commission disallowed the claim on an issue but did not rule on other issues, those other issues are rendered moot and may not be raised in the circuit court; if the Commission's decision is reversed, the case will then be remanded to the Commission for a determination of those issues.⁶⁵

The issue of permanent total disability may not be raised on appeal if only the issue of permanent partial disability was raised at the Commission.⁶⁶

A party who did not raise an issue at the Commission may nevertheless appeal the Commission's decision and raise in the appellate court any issue explicit or implicit in that decision, as long as there was no deliberate attempt to bypass the Commission.⁶⁷

C. Discovery

The discovery procedures set forth in the MARYLAND RULES with regard to civil cases apply to workers' compensation cases, and it is common practice to employ interrogatories, depositions, requests for production of documents, and requests for admissions of fact.

? Discovery proceedings should be instituted promptly since workers' compensation appeals may be assigned early trial dates.

1. Income tax records

Income tax records, including joint tax returns, are discoverable to the extent they are relevant.⁶⁸

2. Medical examinations

The employer and insurer are entitled, subject to regulation by the trial court under MD. RULE 2-423, to have the claimant undergo a medical examination prior to trial even though he or she was examined previously.⁶⁹

3. Surveillance investigation

Surveillance investigation is subject to discovery and must be revealed by the employer and insurer after they have had an opportunity to depose the claimant regarding his or her injuries.⁷⁰

D. Summary Judgment

Motions for summary judgment are frequently filed while an appeal is pending in cases involving a question of law.⁷¹

Normally, the transcript of testimony taken before the Commission is submitted in lieu of an affidavit, although there may be affidavits submitted as well. For the circuit court to review as part of a motion for summary judgment the opinion of a physician who did not testify at the Commission, this opinion must be presented by an affidavit or a deposition.⁷²

Generally, the appealing parties will not be entitled to summary judgment on an issue of fact because the non-appealing party may simply rely on the presumption of correctness of the Commission's decision, which is substantive evidence of the facts found by the Commission.⁷³

However, if no facts were established at the Commission sufficient to support its decision, it will not be considered substantive evidence and summary judgment in favor of the appealing parties may be granted.⁷⁴ In order for the Commission's decision to be presumed correct, it must have had before it the minimum evidence necessary to support its award (i.e. evidence, although slight, that was beyond speculation and conjecture).⁷⁵

The presumption of correctness of the Commission's decision extends to factual issues and not questions of law, although the courts give the Commission a degree of deference in its formal interpretation of the Workers' Compensation Act.⁷⁶

But...