Articles Posted in Miscellaneous

The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear arguments in the following cases that are of interest to tort lawyers in Knoxville on September  6:

Konvalinka v. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority – (Swiney, author) (Susano & Lee) –
1. Whether the Court of Appeals erred in holding attorneys John Konvalinka and Jennifer Lawrence in contempt without any evidentiary hearing;
2. Whether the Court of Appeals erred in holding attorneys John Konvalinka and Jennifer Lawrence in contempt when case law supports a separate request for documents pursuant to a statute not being in violation of a stay of litigation.
3. Whether the Court of Appeals erred in holding attorneys John Konvalinka and Jennifer Lawrence in contempt for pursuing a Tennessee public records act request when only lower court proceedings in the Stratienko action were stayed, and not a separate action to enforce the right of access to public documents.
4. Whether the Court of Appeals erred finding contempt when counsel acted in good faith and reasonably interpreted the stay order at issue pursuant to existing law.
5. Whether the Court of Appeals erred in not remanding this matter for production of the requested documents, and in not awarding attorney’s fees pursuant to the valid public records act request.

Tenn. Farmers Life Reassurance Co. v. Rose – (Susano) (Franks, concurring;
Swiney, dissenting)
1. Whether the C/A erred in affirming the Trial Court’s grant of summary judgment by concluding that the attorney in fact under the durable general power of attorney did not have the specific authority to execute an effective life insurance change of beneficiary form, notwithstanding the
fact that the power of attorney specifically authorized the attorney in fact to "transact all insurance business", to "take any other action necessary or proper in this regard . . .", and to "execute and perform all and every act and thing whatsoever without limitation whatever and without being confined to the specific acts hereinabove set out . . . ."

Ken Shigley has an interesting post listing some poll results that have been circulated in AAJ materials in recent days.  

Former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Penny White, former Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joe Riley and I are sponsoring our annual "Justice Programs" seminars again this Fall.  Here is the schedule  for this two-day, fifteen-hour program.

First Day

8:00 – 8:30 Registration
8:30 – 10:15 Tort Law / Comparative Fault
10:15 – 10:30 Break
10:30 – 11:30 Dealing with Difficult Judges
11:30 – 12:15 U.S. Supreme Court Review
12:15 – 1:15 Lunch on your own
1:15 – 2:30 Tort Law / Comparative Fault (cont’d)
2:30 – 2:45 Break
2:45 – 4:15 Evidence in the Trenches
4:15 – 4:30 Break
4:30 – 5:45 Business Torts – The State of Tennessee’s Law

I have been in Chicago for the last four days, attending the Board meeting of the National Board of Trial Advocacy and spending time with my son , MIchael.  We saw the Cubs beat the Astros Saturday afternoon and took in a street fair in Chinatown yesterday.  It was a great trip.

I apologize for the problem with the links to the last few posts.  I have brought the issue to the attention of my service provider and assume that it has been fixed.

You know the general rule: absent a special relationship, one person does not have a duty to come to the aid of another.  You can see someone drowning, calling out for help, and simply walk by listening to your Ipod and taking a another lick of your Maggie Moo’s ice cream cone.  These is true even if you are a world-champion swimmer trained in life-saving. 

The Superior Court, Appellate Division, of New Jersey recently faced an issue of whether two passengers in a car had a duty to aid a motorcycle rider who had been hit by the intoxicated driver of their car who was either unwilling or unable to come to the motorcyclist’s aid.  The three men stopped after the incident, saw the injured man, and left the scene without offering or calling for assistance.   (The three had cell phones with them.) The driver’s car broke down shortly thereafter, and the passengers fled the scene leaving the driver behind waiting for his girlfriend to pick him up.  The passengers told the driver not to tell anyone that they had been present.  The motorcyclist was left on the road, was hit by a car and died.

The trial judge dismissed a case brought against the auto passenger’s by the administrator of the motorcyclist’s estate.  The Appellate Division reversed, in a fascinating opinion that takes the reader back to Torts 101.    A brief excerpt:

Here is a follow-up story on my earlier post about a lawyer who indicated that a judge was a few fries short of a Happy Meal.

The General Assembly has approved changes to the Rules of Evidence, the Rules of Civil Procedure, and the Rules of Appellate Procedure.

Perhaps the most significant change for practicing lawyers is the amendment to Rule 15 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, which provides that "For amendments adding defendants pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. §20-1-119, however, written consent of the adverse party or leave of court is not required." 

All changes are effective July 1, 1007.

Robert Bork, the man who gave us the verb "borked," has sued The Yale Club in a trip-and-fall case.  Read the NYT article about the case here.

Here is a copy of the complaint.  Note that Judge Bork seeks punitive damages.  I guess that it possible that conduct in a premises case like this can give rise to punitive damages, but it is difficult for me to imagine what that conduct would be.  He also seeks attorneys’ fees, which I did not think were recoverable in premises liability cases in New York.  Then again, I’m just a tort lawyer who went to public school.

His law firm?  Gibson Dunn, a great firm that is known for, among other things, its advocacy against punitive damages.

This article from the Washington Post tells a fascinating tale about a lawyer for Best Buy who altered documents and then produced them to the plaintiffs in a class action case.

Man sues claiming that an energy drink gave him an erection that would not subside.

The drink is called "Boost Plus."

For a list of dealers near you,  please call 1-800-4StickUp.