Articles Posted in Miscellaneous

Tennessee courts recognize a claim for intentional interference with business relations, but this multi-year dispute did not end well for the claimant.

In Stratienko v. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority, No. 2011-01699-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 21, 2013),the Tennessee Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of a plaintiff doctor’s claim for intentional interference with business relations. The case has a substantial procedural history, having been previously appealed through the Tennessee Court of Appeals to the Tennessee Supreme Court, as well as to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in an almost identical federal suit. In sum, the case stems from an alleged physical altercation in 2004 between Dr. Stratienko and another doctor in the break room of hospital owned and operated by the defendant Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority.

Before addressing the claim for intentional interference of business relations, the Stratienko court rejected the plaintiff’s contention that the trial court had incorrectly dismissed on summary judgment his other claims for breach of contract, inducement of breach of contract, conspiracy, and immunity. The plaintiff argued that there were disputed facts regarding the physical altercation, the investigation of the incident, and the plaintiff’s subsequent suspension. The Court of Appeals, however, observed that the federal district court and the Sixth Circuit had previously made findings of fact relative to the incident, investigation, and suspension, and those findings constituted the law of the case. Under Tennessee’s law of the case doctrine, an appellate court’s decision (state or federal) on an issue of law is binding in later trials and appeals of the same case if the facts on the second trial or appeal are substantially the same as the facts in the first trial or appeal. See Life & Casualty Ins. Co. v. Jett, 133 W.W.2d 997, 998-99 (Tenn. 1939). Therefore, the Court of Appeals refused to reconsider the facts at issue.

The New York Times had a nice obituary about the life and death of Bob Gibbons, a fine trial lawyer and gentleman from Austin, TX. 

I know – I have gone off the grid.  For the past couple of months I have been extremely busy and my law practice has simply consumed the vast majority of my time.  I have also worked on an article that I was asked to write for the inaugural edition of Belmont University Law Review  and  also the 2013 edition of my most recent book, Compendium of Tennessee Tort Reform Statutes and Related Case Law, 2008-2013.  (This book will be available October 20, 2013.)  I have also been preparing for my presentations at the 10th annual Tennessee Justice Programs seminar series. 

Well, I’m back.  Look for several posts every week about tort law in Tennessee and around the nation. Your comments are always welcome.

Ok, State v. Zimmerman was a criminal case, not a civil case. much less a tort case. (Zimmerman may be sued by Martin’s family – more on that below). But, in the "for what it’s worth department, here are my comments on the criminal verdict:

1. I don’t know if Zimmerman murdered Martin or if he did not.

2. I know that Zimmerman killed Martin.

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: