The Internet Cases blog alerted me to this case. Apparently, plaintiffs counsel in a medical malpractice case began using his laptop to "Google" potential jurors to learn background information about them. The Court questioned this effort as follows:
THE COURT: Are you Googling these [potential jurors]?
[PLAINTIFFS COUNSEL]: Your Honor, there’s no code law that says I’m not allowed to do that. I-any courtroom-
Penny White, Joe Riley and I are on the road again this Fall as part of our annual Justice Programs seminar. You wouldn’t be reading this blog if you didn’t have an interest in Tennessee tort law, and I will be doing my annual summary of changes in the law of torts as part of the two-day, 15-hour program..
Here is our schedule for this year:
Have you subscribed to the Tennessee Trial Law Report – Tort Law Edition? Each month Brandon Bass and I summarize the recent Tennessee appellate decisions in the field of tort,civil procedure, evidence and trial law and publish those summaries in the TTLR. Importantly, we do not just regurgitate the opinion – we summarize it and give our opinion of whether the decision is consistent or inconsistent with prior law and the public policy of Tennessee.
The newsletter also includes an article by me on some aspect of the law of civil trial in Tennessee. Next month’s edition includes Part 4 of my series on the law of the use of depositions at trial.
Finally, the newsletter includes a list of all cases pending before the Tennessee Supreme Court that are of interest to tort lawyers, indicating the status of those cases before the court (as best we can tell from public data).
Thanks to each of you who has ordered the third edition of Day on Torts: Leading Cases in Tennessee Tort Law. Hundreds of books have been shipped in the last two months and orders are continuing to flow in.
Day on Torts identifies more than 300 Tennessee tort law subjects and provides summary of the leading case on each subject to give you a quick, readable synopsis of current state of the law. Many of the summaries include citations to other cases, giving you even more insight and helping narrow the scope of your research.
The good news is that books are still available. The bad news is that because the books are hard-cover and designed for pocket parts, once they are gone they will not be available again for three or four years (until the pocket part becomes so thick that a new edition of the book becomes necessary). The expense of a limited, second printing of the third edition is cost-prohibitive. Therefore, those lawyers who do not obtain a copy of the third edition will have to wait until the fourth edition is available to have their own copy of the book.
Today (August 4) I will be speaking on behalf of the Nashville Bar Association about various tort and civil procedure topics that cause lawyers to lose sleep. The title of the speech is " KEY PRACTICE STRATEGIES FOR TORT LAWYERS: SOLVING ISSUES THAT KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT." The program qualifies for 1.5 hours of CLE credit.
Read more here.
There are lots and lots of reasons to be a good dad, not the least of which is to avoid having your son or daughter actively oppose your effort to be a judge by taking out an ad in the local newspaper.
I readily and proudly admit to being a plaintiff’s lawyer. And, I confess, from time to time I have taken what some would argue as "aggressive" positions on the responsibility of certain defendants to warn others of the risk of harm.
However, the most aggressive plaintiff’s lawyer on the planet would not think the warning given in the restrooms in the convention center in Vancouver was necessary. This is the language of a sign posted above each urinal.
The Vancouver Convention Centre is committed to sustainability and uses recycled non-potable water from its Waste Treatment Facility to flush toilets and urinals. This water is not intended for consumption.
On June 15, 2010 I reported that SVMIC, the bedpan mutual that insures the vast majority of Tennessee doctors, reduced its rates by 23.1% . I also reported that the company declared a $20,000,000 dividend. The net effect of the dividend means that policyholders with a history of no paid claims will receive another 8% reduction (or so) in rates effective May 15, 2010.
How can SVMIC cut rates so dramatically while paying the highest dividend it has paid in years? There are two reasons. First, as a result of the tort reform passed effective October 1, 2008 (revised effective July 1, 2009) claims have decreased substantially. Fewer claims means reduced claims handling costs, defense fees, court reporter and other litigation fees, and claims payments. Since the law permits insurers to "write off" reserves as they are established, fewer claims means that reserves are lower than these would have otherwise been had there been more claims. A decrease in the need to set aside money in reserves for these "absent" claims increases net income.
And how it has increased. In 2009, SVMIC had a net income (after taxes) of a whopping $71, 968,000, an increase of over 100% from a year earlier.
I have good news for all of you who pre-ordered a copy of Day on Torts: Leading Cases in Tennessee Tort Law: the book arrived from the printer on Monday and the vast majority of the advance sale copies were shipped out the same day. The balance of the advance sale copies will be mailed on Tuesday the 22nd.
The new book contains over 650 pages, identifies more than 300 Tennessee tort law subjects, and provides summary of the leading case on each subject to give you a quick, readable synopsis of current state of the law. Many of the summaries include citations to other cases, giving you even more insight and helping narrow the scope of your research.The new book has over 30% more pages than the last edition, and addresses many new subjects. In addition, for the first time, the book has been printed in hardcover and will be supplemented by pocket part.
The price of the book is only $129, plus sales tax and a shipping and handling charge. You can order it here.
I file lawsuits for a living. Thus, I understand that reasonable minds often differ about whether there is liability in a given situation, often because there is a dispute about the facts. I also understand the idea of pushing the legal envelope – of attempting to expand the law to create a cause of action that will advance the overall cause of justice.
But a recent lawsuit threw me for a loop. David Carradine’s widow has apparently sued the French production company that was handling the actor’s last film, alleging that Mr. Carradine would still be alive if he had not been left in the hotel alone the night of his death.
Mr. Carradine was was found dead on June 4, 2009 in his Bangkok hotel room — a likely victim of auto-erotic asphyxia. Allegedly, there is a photo of Carradine (published by a Thai tabloid) which shows a body suspended from a bar in a closet, with his hands bound together above his head. Carradine’s genitals were also tied. It is reported that the family hired a doctor to do a private autopsy and determined that the cause of death was accidental asphyxiation.
Day on Torts