Mr. Brown has tried and won hundreds of personal injury cases, ranging from automobile accident cases to wrongful death and catastrophic injury lawsuits. Bud recently obtained a $370,000 verdict for his injured client before a U.S. District Court jury, who was only offered $75,000 by Defendants prior to trial.

Over the last two decades, he has successfully prosecuted and defended personal injury actions involving defective products claims, elevator, scissor-lift and man lift accidents, animal attacks and injuries caused by fire and explosions.

Success in litigating serious injury and death cases requires a combination of seasoned counsel, top-flight experts and exhaustive investigation and preparation. Mr. Brown’s experience includes over twenty years of successfully handling cases involving catastrophic injuries to adults and children, such as loss of limb, burns, spinal cord injuries, and other such tragic loss. These cases arise from accidents as diverse as factory explosions, aviation accidents, product defect, workplace and construction site accidents, heavy equipment accidents, elevator/escalator failures, as well as automobile, truck, watercraft and recreational vehicle accidents. As a result of his long experience in litigating these claims, Bud has access to the State and the nation’s best experts, including accident reconstruction, explosion, construction site and workplace practices, warning, product design and manufacture, construction and electrical engineering experts.

The combination of Mr. Brown’s trial experience with the expertise of the best experts, is bolstered by the tireless preparation of the case for trial, from the first contact through verdict. It is this combination which is at the core of Bud’s practice, and which provides the winning edge in the field of personal injury litigation.

The firm’s primary practice area, representation begins from the time of the event, as one of the services offered by the firm is immediate response, on a 24/7 basis, to the site of the fire, explosion, collapse or other casualty. This hands-on approach not only serves to secure immediate expert analysis, but also to secure critical evidence, provide prompt notice to potentially liable parties, and most importantly, sharpen the winning edge at trial, as there is no substitute for counsel’s first hand observations of the loss site. This program has recently led to the successful pursuit of a multi-unit warehouse fire, crane collapse and restaurant fire.

Mr. Brown’s knowledge and experience in fire and explosion litigation is perhaps best demonstrated by the opponent’s decision to dismiss Bud’s client during the trial of a $4 million condominium fire, solely in order to terminate Bud’s cross-examination of the expert as to the cause and origin of the fire, so that the case against his co-defendant might be salvaged.

This area of practice has included lawsuits arising from dust collector explosions, wood and gas fireplace fires, electrical service and appliance malfunctions, and LP gas explosions and fires.

The Law Office of Edward J. Brown, LLC provides a full range of representation in insurance related matters, including the providing of opinion letters, assisting in the initial investigation of claims (including Examinations under Oath, site inspections and Appraisals) and adjudicating AFI panel hearings, MIA complaints and other administrative proceedings. Bud has been at the forefront of the recently enacted Absence of Good Faith laws, having testified before the Maryland State Senate regarding the original version of the bill, writing the featured article for the Winter 2007 Defense Line and providing lectures to insurance representatives and the Bar, most recently at the invitation of the Md. State Bar Association’s Litigation and Young Lawyers’ Sections.

Mr. Brown also has extensive experience in litigating insurance disputes, both at the trial level and in the appellate Courts. Recent victories have included prevailing before a Baltimore County jury in a coverage action involving claims for coverage by a well-known local millionaire who pointed a gun and threatened his neighbors (a teen-age girl and her parents), disproving a wrongful disclaimer by the insurer of a newly acquired automobile (which also included successful recovery of his client’s attorneys fees), and successfully pursuing appeals involving duty to defend vs. duty to indemnify issues, as well as the Workers Compensation’s carrier’s coverage obligations with respect to an out-of-jurisdiction incident. His trial experience has included a diverse range of insurance coverage issues, ranging from cases involving the application of pollution exclusions over the course of several years to a continuously occurring ground water contamination claim, to policy application fraud and misrepresentation issues.

Bud has given numerous presentations to members of the insurance field, including lectures on Garage Auto Policy issues, Continuous Trigger considerations, Rental Car First and Third Party Coverage Issues, Bad Faith Claims (including the developing law in policy depletion claims in multiple claimant accidents), drafting Reservation of Rights and Disclaimer letters, and Collision and Comprehensive coverage issues.

Mr. Brown has written several articles addressing insurance issues, including one on the recent Maurer v. Penn National decision regarding the UIM’s carrier’s waiver of its liability defenses when consenting to a settlement. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Maryland Defense Counsel’s task force on the Absence of Good Faith laws, and was previously Co-Chair of the Negligence and Insurance Committee of the MDC. Bud has also testified as an expert on insurance related matters.

For over two decades, Mr. Brown has handled claims and lawsuits arising from interstate trucking accidents, local transportation services, and courier operations. These claims include successful prosecution and defense of catastrophic tractor-trailer and bus accidents, as well serious injury and death cases arising from the loading and other freight yard operations. Bud has represented several national trucking carriers and courier services, and also has experience in coverage issues unique to the transportation industry. He frequently attends the DRI Transportation seminars to keep abreast of the developments across the country in trucking litigation.

The Firm also offers a 24/7 “boots on the ground” service, which provides for an immediate response by counsel and an accident reconstruction expert to truck accidents in Maryland and the DC metropolitan area. This hands-on approach not only serves to secure immediate expert analysis, but also to secure critical evidence, protect the company’s interests, and most importantly, sharpen the winning edge at trial, as there is no substitute for counsel’s first hand observations of the accident site.

Mr. Brown has successfully pursued and defended claims for a diverse range of commercial clients in matters ranging from contract disputes to tortious interference and fraud claims, as well as real estate, mortgage and lending practice issues. Bud recently successfully prosecuted a claim involving improper mortgage lending practices claim against a national lending company, and secured a dismissal without payment for his client who was accused of wrongfully securing government contracts through unfair trade practices.

While victory through trial is often the only manner of recourse, the Firm also actively utilizes various ADR measures, when appropriate, in order to control expenses, secure confidentiality and obtain an expeditious resolution of these claims.

From the commencement of his career, Mr. Brown has handled products litigation claims, including toxic torts such as asbestos and urea-formaldehyde claims, as well as more traditional products claims, including equipment, appliance and vehicle lawsuits. Bud has successfully defended and prosecuted claims based upon theories of defective design and manufacture, breach of warranty and failure to warn, and has represented national manufacturers and suppliers, as well as homeowners, insurers and consumers who claim to have been harmed by unreasonably dangerous defective products.

The products liability practice includes cases involving serious bodily injury and wrongful death claims, as well as cases involving residential and commercial property losses. Bud has worked with nationally recognized experts, and has litigated issues involving not only issues of product defect, but also the sufficiency and efficacy of warnings on the products, as well as the defense of product misuse.

Mr. Brown has defended and prosecuted actions ranging from single home complaints to multimillion dollar condominium and sub-development-wide claims. These cases include not only traditional construction defect claims, but also construction site accident and death claims, breach of contract actions, and fraud lawsuits. His clients have included the owner, general contractor, construction manager and subcontractors in virtually all of the trades (masons, plumbers, roofers, excavators, HVAC, electricians, framers, painters and carpenters). Bud has successfully defended a national builder in claims involving a development wide ground water claim, and successfully prosecuted claims by building owners against both residential and commercial entities.

The Firm recognizes the need for securing the best expert consultation, and Bud has worked in conjunction with some of the best experts within and outside the State of Maryland, including design and architectural experts, construction managers, structural engineers, hydrogeologists, and electrical engineers. While victory through trial is often the only manner of recourse, the Firm also actively utilizes various ADR measures, when appropriate, in order to control expenses, secure confidentiality and obtain an expeditious resolution of these claims. Bud also has extensive experience in handling insurance coverage claims, which often arise in connection to claims of defective work and consequential loss.

Mr. Brown has successfully pursued large subrogation cases involving fires, explosions, water infiltration, collapse, workplace injury, vehicle accidents and bond-indemnity claims. To maximize the client’s possibility of recovery, pursuit of the claim begins from the time of the event, as one of the services offered by the firm is immediate response, on a 24/7 basis, to the site of the fire, explosion, collapse or other casualty. This hands-on approach not only serves to secure immediate expert analysis, but also to secure critical evidence, provide prompt notice to potentially liable parties, and most importantly, sharpen the winning edge at trial, as there is no substitute for counsel’s first hand observations of the loss site. This program has most recently led to the successful pursuit of a multi-unit warehouse fire, crane collapse and restaurant fire.

The Firm has handled subrogation cases which emanate from occurrences which include factory explosions, commercial and residential fires, crane collapse, water damage, sprinkler malfunction, roof and wall collapses, construction equipment mis-operation, product defect and serious vehicle accidents. Losses from intentional torts, including arson and intentional destruction of property are aggressively pursued, including obtaining restitution orders as well as pursuit via civil actions, to maximize recovery.

Bud’s subrogation clients also benefit from his experience in insurance coverage litigation, as he has successfully challenged disclaimers of coverage by the at-fault party’s carrier, thereby obtaining recovery when it appeared that the judgment might be uncollectible (and also securing reimbursement of his clients’ attorneys fees and expenses).

Mr. Brown has successfully pursued or defended dozens of appeals, and has presented oral argument before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the Maryland Court of Appeals, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Several of these cases have been reported and thus have become part of the law of the jurisdiction.

One of these reported cases, ADM Partnership v. Martin is a leading case in Maryland with respect to the defense of assumption of the risk. Amongst Bud’s other reported cases are decisions addressing coverage issues, animal liability, hold-harmless and exculpatory clauses and pleadings practice. (These cases can be accessed through the Reported Decisions section on the Firm Profile page).

• Personal Injury Litigation
• Fire & Explosion Litigation
• Insurance Coverage Analysis & Litigation
• Transportation Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Products Liability Litigation
• Construction Litigation
• Large Loss Subrogation
• Appellate Practice