Don Maciejewski has published an article entitled "Dealing With Difficult Opposing Counsel – How to Tame "Rambo’" in the January / February 2012 edition of Litigation Commentary & Review. Don includes 13 helpful hints on how to deal with jerks. As he correctly notes, "Rambo is probably well-skilled in lying…
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court’s finding that an expert witness was not qualified to testify on behalf of a plaintiff in a health care liability action, relying on Shipley v. Williams, 350 S.W.3d 527 (2011). In Bock v. University of Tennessee Medical Group, Inc.,…
Generally speaking, these are the rules for who may file a wrongful death lawsuit inTennessee: A lawsuit for the death of a husband can be filed by his wife, his executor or the administrator of his estate. A lawsuit for the death of a wife can be filed by her…
"Lost earning capacity is not a difficult concept to understand, but our friends in the defense bar sometimes are able to confuse judges and juries about what it means. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit confronted in issue recently in a case involving Ohio tort law,…
The Republican dominated House of Representatives has passed HR 5, a tort reform bill designed to make it more difficult for patients to pursue medical malpractice cases. The bill passed 223-181. Ten Republicans voted against the legislation, and 7 Democrats crossed over to support the Republicans. Four Republicans voted "present."…
A truck driver who negligently caused a car wreck on an interstate highway cannot be held responsible for an accident occurring four hours later in traffic backed-up because of the original crash. In Blood v. VH-1 Music First, No. 09-399 (7th Cir. Feb. 9, 2012), the appellate court affirmed a…
I am in a lawsuit and had to answer interrogatories. I didn’t tell the truth about some things and the other side found out about it. Can I get sent to jail for not tellling the truth? There is a risk of jail or a fine because interrogatories are answered…
Four professors have written an article titled "Do Poor People Sue Doctors More Frequently? Confronting Unconscious Bias and the Role of Cultural Competency." The article concludes that "Contrary to popular perception, existing studies show poor patients, in fact, tend to sue physicians less often. This may be related to a…
State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company, the Tennessee medical malpractice insurer owned by the doctors themselves, has had another profitable year even with its significant rate decrease. The company, which insures about 75% of the doctors in the state, has announced the following financial results and other data for the year…
Forbes recently published a fascinating article about Steve Susman’s thoughts on saving money in litigation. The article reports that Susman has launched a website called "Trial by Agreement" that "provides a sort of 0pen-source repository of pre-trial agreements that lawyers can use to reduce the often needless expense of electronic…