Plaintiffs in Indiana had a $39 Million verdict reversed because of the failure to disclose the name of a witness. Plaintiffs were injured in a car wreck with a driver who was operating his vehicle under the influence of alcohol. They sued the restaurant where the driver had been drinking alleging…
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that all material given to testifying expert witnesses must be disclosed, including attorney opinion work product materials. The circuits have been split on this issue. In Regional Airport Authority of Louisville and Jefferson County v. LFG, LLC, Case…
The Supreme Court just issued its opinion in Alsip et al v. Johnson City Medical Center et al. More information on the opinion, holding that defense counsel may not participate in ex parte communications with a plaintiff’s non–party treating physicians, is available over at our firm’s medical malpractice blog. I…
The Colorado Supreme Court has issued an opinion in Aloi v. Union Pacific R.R. This is the opening paragraph of the opinion: “Petitioner Frank Aloi brought a personal injury action against Union Pacific Railroad (UP). Prior to trial, UP destroyed documents relevant to the litigation. As a sanction for spoliation…
I was talking with some lawyers lately about an increasing problem of discovery abuse, particularly during depositions. Apparently some lawyers don’t understand the rules or, if they do, they don’t care about them. Here is an interesting Order entered in a case that put the hammer down on a lawyer…
The Supreme Court of Mississippi has granted summary judgment in favor of a physician when the plaintiff failed to timely respond to discovery seeking information about plaintiff’s expert witnesses and did not timely file an expert affidavit opposing the summary judgment motion. Plaintiff maintained that she was entitled to more…
To what extent may a party discover communications between an oppsoing party and its expert witness? The Supreme Court of Rhode Island recently addressed this issue in Crowe Countryside Realty Associates Co., LLC v. Novare Engineering Co. (For some reason I cannot get a good link to the opinion so…
One of the plaintiffs in this case (Kelly) was injured in a car wreck and had “soft tissue” injuries. The defense sought and was granted a Rule 35 examination by a doctor of its chosing. The doctor opined that the plaintiff “was magnifying her symptoms and neuropsychological testing/MMPI should be…
Here is an interesting article tilted “Understanding U.S. Electronic Discovery and “Best Practices” Therefore” written by Michael Kaminski. It will give you a good idea of the way major law firms are advising their clients on discovery and retention of electronic evidence.