Duane Morris Appellate Review

By Sharon L. Caffrey, Robert M. Palumbos, Anne A. Gruner and J.J. Larkins

On July 29, 2026, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted allocatur to review Hagans v. Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, in which the Superior Court affirmed a $182.7 million jury award that, accounting for delay damages, produced a judgment exceeding $207 million. The court will decide whether vicarious liability may be imposed on a hospital without an express jury finding against a specific named agent, and whether the jury may find liability based on either factual causation or increased risk of harm, resolving a direct conflict between Superior Court panels on this important causation question.

Read the full Alert on the Duane Morris LLP website.

Standoff at the table of authorities. Two guides enter. Can only one survive?

By Benjamin G. Shatz

Here we are again for that classic showdown: Blue versus Yellow. To set the stage, recall Rule 1.200 (Format of Citations), which states: “Citations to cases and other authorities in all documents filed in the courts must be in the style established by either the California Style Manual [commonly called the Yellowbook] or The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, at the option of the party filing the document. The same style must be used consistently throughout the document.” How to choose? Let’s let the guides duke it out for themselves in gunslinger style. They square off at high noon at the mesa of authorities in a small opening brief somewhere in the Golden State….

Read the full version of this month’s “Exceptionally Appealing” column from Partner Benjamin G. Shatz at the Daily Journal.

When is a 60-day deadline only 20 days?

If you google “How long to appeal arbitration order in California,” the AI Overview response looks something like this: “For court orders denying a petition to compel arbitration, you typically have 20 days to file a notice of appeal.” Using a more grammatical phrasing, if you google “How long does one have to appeal an arbitration order in California,” the result again is something like this: “Key deadlines for arbitration appeals in California: Denial of Motion to Compel Arbitration: 20 days to appeal an order dismissing or denying a petition to compel arbitration.” Similarly, googling “How long does one have to appeal an order denying arbitration order in California,” the AI Overview answer looks something like this: “In California, a notice of appeal regarding an order denying a petition to compel arbitration must typically be filed within 20 days after the superior court clerk or a party serves a ‘Notice of Entry’ of the order or a file-endorsed copy of the order.” (Note that googling these various queries, even verbatim, often returns slightly different phrasings.)

Read the full version of this month’s “Exceptionally Appealing” column from Partner Benjamin G. Shatz at the Daily Journal.

In this episode of the SideBar Advisors podcast, Duane Morris Partner, Seth Rokosky, shares how legal paths actually unfolded in real life—through a series of decisions, tradeoffs, and adjustments. Seth provides insight on his approach to career decisions, what it really takes to build a niche practice from the ground up, and how his background in competitive chess influences the way he thinks about strategy, risk, and decision-making.

Listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts.