In 2013, many novel civil litigation issues came before the trial and appellate courts of Pennsylvania for decision. Some of these issues were resolved and some were left open for another day, but one key trend that emerged was courts wrestling with technological advances like social media, cellphones and GPS devices in the legal spectrum. In the end, it made for another interesting year of Pennsylvania jurisprudence.
Post-Koken Auto Litigation
In the case of Stepanovich v. McGraw and State Farm Insurance, PICS Case No. 13-2987 (Pa.Super. Oct. 15, 2013), the state Superior Court found no due process violation by the trial court’s decision to allow the post-Koken trial involving a tortfeasor defendant and an underinsured motorist carrier defendant to proceed before a jury without any mention of the UIM carrier as a party defendant.
