Superior Court Rules that Default Judgment Against Defendant Should Have Been Opened

In the case of Lines v. Timothy Britton Const. Servs., Inc., No. 948 W.D.A. 2024 (Pa. Super. July 1, 2025 Bowes, J., Olson, J., and Bender, P.J.E.) (Op. by Bowes, J.), the Pennsylvania Superior Court addressed the proper procedure relative to a Petition to Strike and/or Open a Default Judgment. In the end, the court reversed a trial court’s Order dismissing a Defendant’s Petition to Strike and/or Open a Default Judgment.

This matter arose out of a lawsuit brought by a homeowner against the Defendant for breach of contract and violation of consumer protection law claims.

According to the Opinion, the Plaintiff’s Complaint did not contain a required Notice to Defend. When the Defendant made no response, the Plaintiffs ultimately obtained a default judgment. The Defendant then petitioned to strike and/or open the judgment based upon the deficiencies with the Plaintiff’s Complaint.

With the parties’ consent, the trial court struck the initial default judgment and granted the Defendant leave to file a responsive pleading. Thereafter, the Defendant failed to file a pleading and the Plaintiffs again secured a default judgment. The Defendant then petitioned to strike and/or open the second default judgment due to the Plaintiff’s failure to provide the notice required under Pa. R.C.P. 237.1.

The Plaintiffs argued that, given that they had previously provided their Rule 237.1 notice before the entry of the first default judgment, no new notice was required. 

 The trial court dismissed the Defendant’s Petition to Strike and/or Open and the Defendant then appealed.

The Superior Court held that the trial court erred in entering a second default judgment against the Defendant where notice pursuant to Pa. R.C.P. 237.1 was missing. The appellate court ruled that the initial Rule 237.1 notice was not still in place by the time the second default judgment was entered. 

The appellate court also noted that the trial court’s extension of time to answer, which was issued after the entry of the initial default judgment, also did not comport with the requirements set forth under Pa. R.C.P. 237.6.

The appellate court otherwise also noted that the trial court’s agreed extension Order did not state that a failure to timely respond could result in another default judgment. As such, the appellate court ruled that, absent compliance with Rule 237.6, a default judgment could not be entered absent a new 10-Day Notice as required under Rule 237.1.

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


Source: The Legal Intelligencer State Appellate Case Alert, www.Law.com (July 16, 2025).

Superior Court Rules that Forum Selection Clause in Informed Consent Form is Enforceable in Medical Malpractice Cases

In the medical malpractice case of Somerlot v. Jung, No. 2578-EDA-2024 (Pa. Super. July 30, 2025 Lazarus, P.J., Kunselman, J., and King, J.) (Op. by Kunselman, J.), the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the validity of forum selection clauses in informed consent forms.

According to the Opinion, in this personal injury action, the Plaintiff had undergone treatment with certain medical providers and, under the contract entered into with those medical providers, the Plaintiff agreed that any litigation would be pursued solely in Bucks County.

Yet, the Plaintiff brought this personal injury lawsuit in Philadelphia County.  The medical Defendant filed Preliminary Objections asserting improper venue.

The Superior Court affirmed the decision of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas transferring the case to Bucks County based upon the forum selection clause.

The Superior Court upheld the general principle of contract law that the parties are free to pre-select among all possible proper venues as to which venue would be utilized to decide any legal disputes that might arise between them. Accordingly, the Superior Court affirmed the lower court’s decision.

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

Source of image:  Photo by Etactics Inc. on www.unsplash.com.

Superior Court Addresses Discoverability of Documents Under Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality Improvement Act in a Med Mal Case

In the case of Boyle v. Mainline Health, Inc., No. 2454 EDA 2023 (Pa. Super. July 17, 2025 Lazarus, P.J., King, J., and Lane, J.) (Lane, J., Concurring and dissenting)(Maj. Op. by King, J.), the Superior Court ruled that reports created for the hospital’s patient safety organization constituted “deliberation or analysis of” the patient safety evaluation system. As such, the court ruled that these reports were privileged under the Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality Improvement Act. 

This case arose out of a medical malpractice lawsuit by the Plaintiffs seeking compensation for birth injuries sustained by their child.

During the course of discovery, the Defendants produced a privilege log regarding certain documents. The Plaintiff followed a discovery motion in response. The trial court granted the Plaintiff’s Motion.

On appeal, the Superior Court affirmed in part and reversed in part. As part of the ruling, the Superior Court noted that the Defendants had a patient safety plan, which established a patient safety committee under MCARE.

The court found other documents that were not privileged given that those documents did not arise from a matter reviewed by the patient safety committee.

However, noted above, the court did find that certain other documents fell within the scope of the statutory privilege provided under the Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality Improvement Act.

Anyone wishing to review a copy of this decision may click this LINK. The concurring and dissenting Opinion issued by Judge Lane can be viewed HERE.


Source: “The Legal Intelligencer State Appellate Case Alert,” www.Law.com (Aug. 6, 2025).

Judge Powell of Lackawanna County Rules on Medical Practice Pleading Isssues

In the case of Menon v. Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, No. 2024-CV-7436 (C.P. Lacka. Co. June 23, 2025, Powell, J.), Judge Mark Powell of the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas overruled various Preliminary Objections filed by the different medical Defendants to the Plaintiff’s medical malpractice Complaint.

This medical malpractice action arose from the death of a full-term newborn baby.

Relative to the Plaintiff’s claims of negligent infliction of emotional distress related to alleged negligent care during the late pregnancy stage and the delivery, the Defendants filed a demurrer. The Defendants asserted that the Plaintiffs failed to allege a contemporaneous sensory perception of the harm-producing event as required under Sinn v. Burd and Bloom v. Regional Medical Center.

The court disagreed and ruled that the Plaintiffs sufficiently pled a continuous traumatic sequence of events that included direct observation of the newborn’s distress and death. The court cited to the case of Neff v. Lasso, for the proposition that concept of sensory perception in this context under Pennsylvania law is not limited to visual observation but also includes awareness through experience and presence.

Judge Powell also overruled the Defendants’ objections regarding the lack of specificity with respect to the allegations of negligence and agency claims contained in the Complaint. The court held that, under Pennsylvania’s fact-pleading standard, Plaintiffs are not required to identify every employee and are not required to site specific hospital policies at issue at the pleadings stage.

Rather, the court found that, in this case, the Plaintiffs’ detailed allegations provided the Defendants with adequate notice of the claims presented. The court noted that the identity of unnamed agents could be ascertained through discovery efforts.

In this regard, the court emphasized that, in medical malpractice cases, Defendants typically control the relevant records and personnel information.

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

Source: Lackawanna Jurist, Vol. 126, No. 27 (July 4, 2025).

Court Addresses Medical Charting Issues in a Medical Malpractice Case

In the case of Creech v. Piotr F. Zembrzuski, No. 2024-CV-9004 (C.P. Lacka. Co. July 21, 2025, Nealon, J.), the court overruled Preliminary Objections filed against a medical malpractice Complaint in a wrongful death litigation.

According to the Opinion, a mother commenced this lawsuit against various healthcare providers for treating her daughter. The mother alleges that the healthcare providers failed to timely and properly diagnose the Plaintiff’s decedent’s deteriorating medical conditions.

According to the Opinion, the Plaintiff-mother asserted, among other claims, that the healthcare providers failed to timely and appropriate document the daughter’s findings and that their violation of the medical records documentation obligation prevented the mother from identifying in the Complaint each hospital agent who allegedly negligently treated the daughter.

The hospital Defendants filed a demurrer to the medical record charting allegations on the ground that the mother did not cite any statute, regulation, or other law that was allegedly violated or that supported the imposition of civil liability for untimely or inadequate medical entries.

The medical providers also sought to dismiss one hospital Defendant on the basis that it was merely a holding company which cannot be liable unless the mother pierced the corporate veil.

The court overruled the Preliminary Objections.

Judge Nealon noted that, under Pennsylvania law, physicians are obligated to make timely entries in a patient’s medical record that accurately, legibly, and completely reflect specific information regarding patient evaluation and treatment. The court noted that those charting requirements have been recognized as establishing standards of care and conduct for physician.

Accordingly, the court found that the mother’s allegations related to the hospital Defendants’ alleged violations of those medical records documentation standards were relevant to the Plaintiff’s negligent claims.

With regard to the claim against the alleged holding company, the court ruled that the mother had specifically alleged that the alleged holding company owned and operated the subject hospitals, employed the physicians and other professionals who treated the decedent, and provided medical care and services to the decedent.

Under the standard of review that requires the court to accept the Plaintiff’s factual allegations as true, and which prohibits the hospital Defendants from presenting a speaking demurrer, the court held that the Defendant’s Preliminary Objections should be overruled.

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

Superior Court Upholds a Forum Selection Clause Found in Consent To Treatment Form in Medical Malpractice Case

In the medical malpractice case of Somerlot v. Jung, No. 2578-EDA-2024 (Pa. Super. July 30, 2025 Lazarus, P.J., Kunselman, J., and King, J.) (Op. by Kunselman, J.), the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the validity of forum selection clauses in a medical consent form.

According to the Opinion, in this personal injury action, the Plaintiff had undergone treatment with certain medical providers and, under the contract entered into with those medical providers, the Plaintiff agreed that any litigation would be pursued solely in Bucks County.

The Plaintiff brought this personal injury lawsuit in Philadelphia County.

The Superior Court affirmed the decision of the Philadelphia County Court transferring the case to Bucks County based upon the forum selection clause.

The Superior Court upheld the general principle of contract law that the parties are free to pre-select among all possible proper venues as to which venue would be utilized to decide any legal disputes that might arise between them. Accordingly, the Superior Court affirmed the lower court’s decision.

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

Summary Judgment Granted in Amusement Ride Case

White Water Landing Log Flume - Dorney Park

In the case of Tepox v. Six Flags Entertainment Corp., No. 2024-CV-2312 (C.P. Lehigh Co. May 16, 2025 Pavlack, J.), the court granted summary judgment in a case where a Plaintiff, while at an amusement park, was hit by water while walking over a bridge built over a log flume water ride 

The court noted that the bridge was designed for people to both observe the ride and to get wet by the splash the ride creates.

The court ruled that the no-duty rule/inherent risk doctrine applicable to amusement park accidents supported the entry of summary judgment in this case. 

The court noted that spectators and patrons assume certain risks when participating in amusements such that no duty exists on the part of the Defendant to protect against those risks.

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