Yesterday I posted changes to the Federal Rules of Evidence. Below, in the language of US Courts, are the changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Absent action by Congress, the changes are effective December 1, 2006. Civil Rule 9 (Pleading Special Matters) (conforming amendment pertaining to Supplemental Rule…
The United States Supreme Court has approved changes to several rules of the Federal Rules of Evidence. The changes become effective December 1, 2006 unless Congress votes to overturn them. Here is the language of the rule changes from the US Courts website: Evidence Rule 404 (Character Evidence Not Admissible…
Here is another case out of our appellate courts that reminds us of the need to make a record. Plaintiff failed to object to the introduction of certain medical records in a personal injury case. The defendant read excerpts of those records to the jury to establish the existance of…
Lawyers who cheat need to be popped – hard. Here is an article about a defense lawyer who commented during opening statement on evidence that had been excluded by the trial judge. The appellate court reversed an order of sanctions against him. I was in a trial a little over…
Yesterday I wrote about Carpenter v. Klepper and its discussion about the locality rule. The last third of that opinion is worth reading, too – it addresses the level of specificity required when seeking discretionary costs under Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 54.04(2). Read it for some insight on how…
I wrote last week that the Tennessee Supreme Court approved certain changes to the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure (and other rules of procedure). What I did not address is the proposed rule change that was not adopted by the Court. That is the proposed change to Rule 8.01, which…
Here is an article written by a trial consultant for defendants about how to minimize damages in significant cases. Very interesting. Thanks to David Swanner for telling us about it. I would recommend you check David’s blog every day; I do.
An appellate court in California reversed a jury verdict because of a trial court’s refusal to instruct the jury pursuant to the federal standard of care requiring “extreme care” as opposed to the reasonable care standard. The appellate court held that this was prejudicial error requiring a remand for a…
The Tennessee Supreme Court has just reversed a summary judgment because there was not an appropriate record to permit the Court to determine if summary judgment was appropriate. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the appellee without indicating its reasoning for doing so. The appellee’s motion for…
I mentioned in a previous post that the Civil Rules Commission has proposed several rules changes that, if adopted by the Tennessee Supreme Court and the Legislature, will become effective on July 1, 2006. One proposal is a change to Rule 37 and provides that a party who without substantial…