The Georgia Legislature imposed a cap on noneconomic damages in meritorious medical malpractice cases in 2005. The cap is $350,000. In a case tried in Fulton County several years ago, the jury’s verdict exceeded the cap, and the Georgia Supreme Court is now considering whether the cap is…
I admire people who have the foresight and courage to pick a practice area and learn it, inside out. I greatly admire those who share the knowledge they have to help other lawyers and the public. Here is a fine example: Dog Bite Law by Kenneth Phillips. He limits his cases…
A Virginia trial judge refused to allow a podiatrist to give causation testimony in a FELA case where a railroad worker alleged his foot problems were caused by conditions in the workplace. The Virginia Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. Here is the wording of the assignment of error that…
Economists in personal injury cases and wrongful death cases often consider work life expectancy tables in calculating future economic losses. As explained on this website, "[m]any laypersons (and some experts) assume that [worklife expectancy] is the number of years until the person turns 65, the historic age for full social security…
Here is a fascinating article from the New York Law Journal about an opinion by Judge Jack B. Weinstein objecting to a defendant’s use of race-based statistics on life expectancy to reduce a damage award in a quadriplegia case.
I am Columbus, OH today speaking an Ohio Association for Justice seminar program. The hotel where I am staying is right down the street from the Ohio Supreme Court building. It is appropriate, then, that I write about a new opinion handed down by that court on the issue of…
Smart defense lawyers know that sometimes the best defense is to admit liabilitiy and talk about damages. This article – "Defending the Damages Only Case" – is written by Mercer Clark of Miami. It appeared in the Winter 2008 edition of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel Quarterly. Defense…
We all know that Medicare and Tenncare has a subrogation right in PI and wrongful death cases, but new information being sought by Medicare has lead some lawyers to believe that Medicare will now be looking at case proceeds for payment of future medical bills. The Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension…
One of my favorite publications, Lawyers USA, has an interesing article about a new test which allegedly determines whether a personal injury plaintiff is malingering. It is called the "Fake Bad Scale." The article says that "[a] leading critic of the test, Dr. James Butcher, PhD, a senior author of…
The jury found that the defendant was negligent and that the negligence caused an herniated disk. The disk problem was surgically repaired. The plaintiff used a walker for nine months and now uses a cane. Amount of damages for pain and suffering? Zero. Motion for new trial? Denied. The California…