Articles Posted in Miscellaneous

The news that Pilot Flying J, a company largely if not exclusively owned by Governor’s Haslam’s family and run by his brother, is the subject of a criminal investigation has made a lot of news in the last week. Headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, Pilot Flying J has over 600 retail locations and is the largest operator of travel centers and travel plazas in North America.  The company is one of the largest privately owned companies in the United States.

The FBI has searched corporate headquarters in Knoxville as well as the homes of several employees of the company. It has been reported that FBI Special Agent Robert H. Root  alleged in an affidavit that  a “conspiracy and scheme to defraud executed by various Pilot employees to deceptively withhold diesel fuel price rebates and discounts from Pilot customers … for the dual purposes of increasing the profitability of Pilot and increasing the diesel sales commissions of the Pilot employees participating in the fraud.”

Here is the company’s latest press release on the matter.  Here is the affidavit in support of the search warrant served on Pilot Flying J.

Alabama just passed a 12-year statute of repose that protects a new corporate citizen – Airbus.

Airbus, not content with $158,000,000 in corporate welfare to put a plant in Alabama, sought and has obtained immunity from suit unless its planes cause harm within twelve years.

The bill only applies to planes with more than 100 seats. 

The Tennessee Supreme Court has released data concerning filings and dispositions on civil and criminal cases for the year ended June 30, 2012, including personal injury and wrongful death cases.  The Annual Report of the Tennessee Judiciary is published every year and contains lots of data not readily available from any other source.

To be sure, the Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter  provides detailed information about jury verdicts in Tennessee personal injury and Tennessee wrongful death cases and that publication is of much more assistance to lawyers seeking to find jury verdict information about a particular type of case.  However, he Annual Report, provides a view our justice system at the 10,000 foot level.

What follows is certain data about personal injury and wrongful death filings in Tennessee for the year ended June 30, 2012.  The second number (in bold) for each category is the same statistic for the prior year,  2010-2011:

The 2012 Justice Programs annual seminar has been scheduled.  The seminar will once again be held in Knoxville (Nov. 29 and 30), Nashville (Dec. 6 and 7)  and Memphis Dec. 13 and 14). Fifteen hours of CLE credit (including four hours of ethics / dual credit) will be awarded to those who register for and attend both days of the program.

The Justice Programs annual review seminar is one of the largest attended seminar programs in Tennessee.  A complete schedule of the program may be viewed at www.tennjusticeprograms.com.

The registration form applies to individual registrations only.  Group discounts are available by calling Kori at 615.742.4880.

The Lexis website that contains the Tennessee Code that is available through the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts is not updated with 2012 legislative changes.  This despite the fact that many of those changes went into effect July 1, 2012, or even earlier.

It appears that Westlaw has updated the Code.

Thus, lawyers are advised not to count on the Lexis website available through the AOC at this time.

AAJ is sponsoring a case planning workshop in Washington, D.C. on July 12-14, 2012.

This in-depth program takes your active case through six critical workshops and three group sessions to help you define your case strategy. The hands-on format provides constant attention to your wrongful death or catastrophic injury case. Highly experienced trial lawyers guide and coach you to map out your litigation plan. At the end of the program, you’ll have a methodical and empirically-based strategy for your case. Not just concepts—actionable items that you have fully developed with the faculty and can put into motion with your trial team.

Here’s what you will learn about your case:

Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Bill Cunningham has authored an article in the News Democrat Leader about lawyers who take their own lives.  Called "Broken Hearted Idealists," it does a fine job exposing a problem in our profession and some interesting thoughts about why it happens.

John Travolta,  one of the better known actors in the world, has been hit with two lawsuits alleging that he engaged in sexual misconduct.

The allegations come from two masseurs who, so far,  have refused to reveal their names.  In one case, the masseuse claims that Travolta solicited sexual conduct with him on January 16, 2012 at the Beverly Hills Hilton.  Travolta allegedly began rubbing the masseuse’s leg, touched his scrotum and the shaft of his penis.  Travolta adamantly denies the accusations, and has offered proof that he was in New York at the time the alleged incident occurred. Now, the accuser says he got the date wrong, and that the real date was some time earlier.

Here is a copy of the complaint in  case.  The theories of liability are assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

"1-800-Ask-Gary" is a medical and legal referral service in Florida founded by Sarasota chiropractor Gary Kompothecras.  If you have been to Central Florida you have seen their billboards, television ads and radio ads.  Television ad costs exceed $12M per year.

Business must be good –  last June Kompothecras paid a little more than $1 million for a three-year deal to put his service’s name on the amphitheater in Tampa.  And he built a home of almost 30,000 square feet.

However, 1-800-Ask-Gary has created more than a little controversy.  The referral business sends people to some 40  clinics operated by Kompothecras.  Lawyers pay to join the referral network and get cases from the referral service.

Subject to several exceptions, the Tennessee Supreme Court has the right to choose what cases it will hear.  A T.R.A.P. Rule 11 petition is filed when one seeks permission to appeal a case to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

In the year ending June 30, 2011, 888 Rule 11 petitions were filed and only 61 were granted.  Of those 61 cases, the Court actually heard 52 of the cases.  The other 9 cases were immediately remanded for evaluation by a lower court.

Thus, the chance of the Tennessee Supreme Court actually accepting a Rule 11 application (or remanding the case for evaluation by a lower court) is about 1 in 14.