Stephen J. "Steve" Nolan

In Case No. 188363 at the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Steve served as lead counsel in a two-week jury trial involving a malignant asbestos disease claim on behalf of a 34-year-old mother and wife. Following the closing argument by Mr. Nolan, the jury returned a verdict of $9,188,000.00, determining that the Plaintiff’s exposure to a product manufactured and distributed by Georgia-Pacific contributed to her cancer. Georgia-Pacific appealed to the Court of Special Appeals, contesting the trial court's decision not to apply Maryland’s statutory cap on non-economic damages and challenging the sufficiency of the Plaintiff’s causation evidence. The Court of Special Appeals ruled that the loss of consortium claim was subject to the cap, but upheld $7,438,000 of the judgment. Pransky v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., No. 2352, September Term, 1999. In an unreported opinion filed on July 11, 2001, the Court allowed Georgia-Pacific’s petition for a writ of certiorari at the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals, in its Opinion on June 11, 2002, Georgia-Pacific Corporation v. Lisa J. Pransky, et al., No. 107, September Term, 2001, determined that the Plaintiffs adequately demonstrated evidentiary support for bystander asbestos exposure, established the exposure as a significant factor in the Plaintiff’s illness, and concluded that the statutory cap did not apply. With accrued interest, Georgia-Pacific was mandated to pay $9,838,000. This case holds significance as it not only confirmed the origin of Mrs. Pransky’s mesothelioma before the 1986 cap statute was enacted in Maryland but also marked the first upheld plaintiff's verdict against Georgia-Pacific regarding their asbestos-laden joint compound.

On May 19, 2017, the Circuit Court for Baltimore County (Judge Finifter) reached a judgment in Case no. 03-C-12-007741. Steve was the primary legal advisor for the Plaintiff in a matter involving a dispute between LLC members, which included both direct and derivative claims. The Honorable Michael J. Finifter conducted a 15-day bench trial and delivered his decision, granting partial findings in favor of both the Plaintiff and Defendants. Notably, on April 1, 2016, after considering the testimony of Benjamin Rosenberg regarding the Plaintiff’s derivative action leading to the recovery or preservation of company assets exceeding $14 million, the Court granted the Plaintiff over $816,000 for attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses.

Steve represented Plaintiff-Caveators/Family members in Will contest transmitted to the Circuit Court for Baltimore County (Hanley, J.) Case No.: C-03-CV-19-002295, upon issues from the Orphans’ Court for Baltimore County. Family members of reclusive uncle, with a history of hallucinations and paranoid thinking, sought to set aside a Will procured by Defendant accountant so as to benefit himself and his sister with $1 million bequest to the detriment of uncle’s intended legatee, namely, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. After a four day trial in September 2020, the Court’s Certified Findings of Fact held that the Will favoring accountant was the product of undue influence and uncle’s late-onset schizophrenia. The successful outcome resulted in the probate of uncle’s prior Will that left nearly the entire $1.7 million estate to St. Jude’s.