Presenting Civil Litigation Update at Upcoming November 5, 2026 Lackawanna County Bench Bar Conference

On November 5, 2026, Daniel E. Cummins, Esq. of Cummins Law and Neil T. O'Donnell of O'Donnell Law will be presenting a CLE program entitled "2026 Civil Litigation Update With Practice Tips" at the Lackawanna County Bench Bar Conference set to take place at the Hilton Scranton Hotel and Conference Center.

Attendance at the Lackawanna County Bench Bar Conference is open to members of the Lackawanna Bar Association Conference and will be held in person.

Please consider registering to attend the upcoming November 5, 2026 Lackawanna County by utilizing this LINK.

Please also note that a version of this presentation may also be offered on Zoom through another sponsor in the near future. Details to follow.

Preliminary Objections to Claims of Recklessness and Punitive Damages Overruled

In the case of Appleman v. Byrne, No. 2026-CV-498 (C.P. Lacka. Co. Sept. 24, 2026 Gibbons, P.J.), the court issued an Opinion denying a Defendant’s Preliminary Objections attacking claims of recklessness and claims of punitive damages in a motor vehicle accident case. 

President Judge James A. Gibbons reviewed the current status of the law which allows for the pleading of allegations regarding a defendant’s general state of mind, such as an allegation of recklessness, as being permitted without any supporting facts at the pleading stage.  

President Judge James A. Gibbons
Lackawanna County

The court noted that a plaintiff is not required to produce any evidence of recklessness on the part of a defendant “until after the completion of discovery.”  See Op. at 5.

The trial court additionally noted that, with respect to claims of punitive damages, the appellate courts have held that claims of wanton and reckless conduct can be alleged generally.  

In this matter, the court found that the Plaintiff was not only allowed to generally plead claims of recklessness and/or punitive damages, but also found that the Plaintiff did assert facts in the Complaint to support the same. 

More specifically, the court noted that the Plaintiff alleged that the Defendant driver was recklessness because he allegedly took his eyes off the road for an extended period of time when he allegedly dropped his coffee on his lap and looked down to grab it, during which the rear-end accident occurred. 

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.

Case Provides Lessons On The Business Records Exception to the Hearsay Rule

As identified by Attorney Jon Bruno on his excellent Pa. Super Blog, the Pennsylvania Superior Court provided an excellent analysis of the business records exception to the rule against hearsay in the case of Commonwealth v. Thomas, No. 429 WDA 2025 (Pa. Super. Sept. 21, 2026 Neuman, J., Lazarus, P.J., and Stabile, J.) (Op. by Stabile, J.).

This is another example of an appellate court decision in a criminal court case having possible applicability to the civil litigation arena.

At pags. 28-37 of the Opinion, the Superior Court reviewed the parameters of Pa. R.E. 803(6) regarding the business records exception.

The appellate court held that it was error to admit into evidence under the business records exception, a Pennsylvania State Police record that contained multiple layers of hearsay.

At a minimum, the Superior Court held that the business records exception was improperly applied because the law enforcement officer who testified about the record was not the custodian of the record or other qualified witness capable of laying the type of foundation required by Rule 803(6) for the exception to apply.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.


I send thanks to Attorney Jon Bruno of the Pittsburgh law firm of Bruno Litigation, LLC for publicizing this Opinion on his excellent Pa. Super blog.

Please Consider Sponsoring or Registering for the Lackawanna Pro Bono Gala (Set for November 12, 2026)

 

Allegations of Recklessness Allowed to Proceed in MVA Case

In the case of Bolus v. Lake, No. 2025-CV-4637 (C.P. Lacka. Co. Sept. 16, 2026 Nealon, J.), the court addressed Preliminary Objections asserted against allegations of recklessness and a corresponding demand for punitive damages.

This matter arose out of a motor vehicle incident.

Relative to the allegations of recklessness and punitive damages, the court followed the trend of cases allowing for the pleading of such claims in the absence of any supporting facts so long as a claim of negligence is asserted.

The court noted that recklessness can be generally alleged under the terms of Pa. R.C.P. 1019(b). 

The court additionally noted that a demand for punitive damages is not governed the “material facts” pleading requirement in Pa. R.C.P. 1019(a) due to the fact that a claim for punitive damages is merely an element of damages incidental to an underlying cause of action, rather than a cause of action itself.

The court otherwise overruled the Preliminary Objections asserting the inclusion of “scandalous or impertinent matter” relative to the allegations regarding the “No Kings Day” rally that was going on at the time and place of the incident. The court found that some of the “No Kings Day” protest allegations in the pro se Plaintiff’s pleading were relevant to the Defendant motorist’s state of mind and the accompanying claim for punitive damages.  The Plaintiff had alleged that the Defendant allegedly obstructed the Plaintiff’s path of travel in a reckless fashion at the time of the accident.

The court did otherwise sustain certain other Preliminary Objections to certain other language contained in the Complaint.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.

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Superior Court Rules that Carrier Must Produce Documents in Discovery in Bad Faith Action

In the case of Rheingold v. AmGuard Ins. Co., No. 1123 MDA 2025 (Pa. Super. Sept. 16, 2026 Lane, J., Kunselman, J., Ford Elliott, P. J.E.) (Op. by Lane, J.), the Superior Court denied a defendant insurance company’s appeal seeking to overrule the trial court’s decision regarding a discovery motion in a bad faith action.

According to the Opinion, the Defendant insurance company asserted the client-attorney privilege and the work product doctrine in seeking to avoid to produce certain documents in discovery in this bad faith case. 

The carrier had offered up a generalized privilege log that referenced 2,000 pages of withheld documents into five (5) broad categories. None of the documents were individually described in the privilege log.

The trial court, after an in camera review of the discovery at issue, ordered that the withheld documents be disclosed after finding the documents to be relevant, discoverable and not privileged.

On appeal, the Superior Court affirmed. The appellate court emphasized that, on appeal, the Defendant carrier did not address any particular document, or specify any documents or the contents of any such documents. 

The appellate court additionally noted that the Defendant carrier did not adequately explain why either the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine applied to any particular document.

Given that the carrier only broadly presented the issues on appeal and failed to produce sufficient facts to show that the privileges asserted were properly invoked, the lower court’s decision was upheld.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK.


Source: The Pa. Super. Blog by Jon Bruno of Bruno Litigation, LLC, in Pittsburgh, PA.