Articles Posted in Miscellaneous

The Wall Street Journal has been writing a series of articles about crashes of medical helicopters.  A total of 13 crashes took 29 lives in 2008.

This crashes can give rise to several potential types of claims.   The patient  has a potential claim,  assuming he or she can prove that there was negligence in the operation or maintenance of the helicopter.  Assuming that the health care providers are employed by the same entity that owns, operates and maintains the helicopter, they will be limited to a worker’s compensation claim.  If a different company flies, owns, or maintains the helicopter, a lawyer should look to see whether the negligence of any of the non-employers contributed to cause the incident.  Of course, it is always possible the crash was caused by a defect in the helicopter, the failure of a replacement part, etc.

Let me hasten to add that not every crash will give rise to a lawsuit.  For example, the patient who survives a crash may not be able to prove that the crash caused an injury.  Or the family of a deceased patient may not be able to show that the patient would have survived the acute illness or trauma the resulted in the air transport of the patient in the first place.   A through investigation of each crash is necessary to determine whether the crash was caused by negligence, whether the crash caused an injury or death, and whether the wrongdoer, if any, is protected from liability by worker’s compensation law or some other law.

David Mills, lawyer and cartoonist,  held a contest to determine the best caption for this cartoon.  The winning caption appears below.

I submitted several entries, including "“Yes, I made $4M last year testifying for Ford, but that does not influence my professional judgment," and "demonstrative evidence is essential when proving loss of consortium for the single male."  I also offered this caption from the standpoint of a juror: “He makes more sense than the last three witnesses.”  I did not win, but must confess that the winning caption is much better than any of those I offered.

David has a wonderful gift.  I confess – I am jealous.

It is 1:45 AM.  I just returned to the Carolina Inn after spending a little time on Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill, NC.  My daughter and I had the pleasure of being in the Dean Dome and watching the Tar Heels win their 5th National Championship.  It was a great game to watch – if you were a Carolina fan.

Go Heels!

I  just saw  these previously unreleased photos  from Life magazine that were taken on the day that Martin Luther King was shot.  Most of the photos were taken at the Lorraine Motel, the site of the murder.  They were so powerful I felt that I should share them with you.

The Lorraine Motel is now the National Civil Rights Museum.  I encourage you to spend several hours there the next time you go to Memphis.  You will find it to be an educational and moving experience.

The April 2009 edition of the Tennessee Trial Law Report is in the mail.

This edition includes a summary of 11 different cases addressing various aspects of the law of torts, civil procedure, evidence and trial as decided by Tennessee appellate courts between February 15 and March 15, 2009. The newsletter totals 40 pages, including 20 pages containing the full-text (in addition to our summary) of the most important opinion issued last month. We add the full-text of the Smartt  decision because we think that it is significant enough that lawyers who seek to stay on top of tort law will want to read it in full.

The newsletter also includes (a) Part 1 of my new,  four-part article of the law of jury selection; and (b) a summary of the status of 20 cases of interest to tort lawyers that are pending before the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Court of Tennessee.

The Judicial Selection Commission and the Judicial Evaluation Commission are in a wind-up period after the General Assembly let them die last year.  (I serve on the later commission as an appointee of former Lt. Governor John S. Wilder.) Both commissions will die on June 30, 2009 unless the General Assembly takes action to provide for their continued existence.

What happens to our  existing judges if the commissions are permitted to die?  What happens when a vacancy occurs? This is what the Attorney General thinks should happen:

1. Because there would be no statutory mechanism in place for the election of appellate judges upon the expiration of the two commissions, there could not be an election for appellate court judges in either 2010 or 2014. By virtue of Article VII, §5, of the Tennessee Constitution, incumbent appellate court judges would hold over pending further action of the General Assembly to determine the manner of the election of such judges. On the other hand, expiration of the two commissions would not change the current system for electing trial court judges. Incumbent trial court judges either seeking election in 2010 to the unexpired portion of an eight year term or reelection in 2014 to a full eight-year term could stand for election by the qualified voters of their districts in August of 2010 and 2014, respectively.

The rules of civil procedure in Tennessee ordinarily require that a plaintiff make a "short, plain statement.."  There is an exception – Rule 9 of the TRCP requires pleading with particularity when fraud or mistake are alleged.

Nothwithstanding the general rule, some people believe that more is better.  Here is an example, from a real complaint in a real case:

Plaintiff was operating said vehicle in a safe and prudent manner, lawfully and under conditions commensurate with road and weather conditions on or about January 1, 2009, on Highway X in Some County, Tennessee, when Plaintiff fell asleep and drove off the roadway.  Upon exiting the roadway, the vehicle came to a sudden stop when it collided with a culvert along the side of the roadway.  The vehicle was equipped with airbags which did not deploy in the accident.

Yesterday (March 15) was the 111th birthday of William L. Prosser, author of the torts text used by most of us in law school and Reporter for the Restatement (Second) of Torts. 

All weekend I heard the drone of certain business reporters and various members of the Republican Party  that President Obama was responsible for the declines in the stock market over the last six weeks.

Well, the market went up 5.8% yesterday.  Should the President get the credit for that increase?

Of course not.  And he should not get the blame for what has happened the last six weeks.  The mess we now find ourselves in was created over the last thirty, forty or fifty years by a series of mistakes made by lots of people in the public and private sector.  Anyone who says that they thought  that the economic situation would materially improve in the last six weeks is a simpleton, a liar, or both..

Lawyer and cartoonist David Mills shares his craft on Courtoons.  An example:

I confess to extreme jealously of lawyers who have talent is any aspect of the world of art or music.