I love handling appeals. I prefer to be an appellee, and I would just as soon win and move on, but if we have to end up in an appellate court, I enjoy the work. Here is a publication from the Defense Research Institute addressing various issues concerning appeals, including…
Extreme Makeover is a disturbing show that takes advantage of poor self image and glorifies physical beauty. Deleese Williams did not make the final cut of the show and, she now alleges, the experience was so horrible that it caused her sister to take her own life. <a According to…
How can some members of the Republican Party take a national disaster and turn it into a windfall for corporate America? No-bid contracts for companies working to clean up the mess caused by Katrina? Of course, but there is more. Eliminate the need to pay the prevailing wage? Sure. How…
The NYT has a great article today about the issue of conflicts between physicians and the medical device industry. The information about the cost of medical devices and the disparity between the costs of the devices at different hospitials is shocking.
Are you one of those people who say that politics doesn’t matter to you or your practice? Do you refuse to get involved in political campaigns? Do you “just say no” to a request for a political contribution? Well, those who want to take away the rights of your clients…
A recent poll indicates that many Americans think that they are being “overtreated” by their doctors. An article describing the poll results says that “[n]early three-quarters (72%) of U.S. adults think that patients who have medical conditions experience problems because of being overtreated (i.e., getting too many treatments or getting…
Today I am in Memphis to participate in the evaluations of our appellate judges. A couple years ago Lt. Gov. John S. Wilder appointed me to the Judicial Evaluation Commission. The Commission has the responsibility of evaluating judges and composing a summary statement about each judge for publication in newspapers…
Federal tort trials are dropping like President Bush’s approval rating. From fiscal year 1985 through 2003 the number of federal tort trials dropped 79%, from 3600 to less than 800. Only 2% of all cases in that time period went to trial. There were less than 100 products liability trials…
Anna Ayala, the woman who claimed that she found a finger in a bowl of Wendy’s Chili, has plead guilty to filing a false claim and attempted grand theft. Her husband has also plead guilty for his part in the scheme. The finger turned out to be that of a…
Those of you who read the Tennessee Tort Law Letter know that I depise Tennessee’s limitations on the liability of governmental entities. I think a limb or life of a person should be worth the same regardless of whether the tortfeasor is a person, an entity, or a governmental entity.…