The Florida Supeme Court has relied on the Restatement (Second) of Torts to impose a duty on the manufacturer of anthrax "to avoid a an unauthorized intercepton and dissemination of the materials."
The lawsuit arose out of the mailing of stolen anthrax some seven years ago that resulted in the death of a man in Florida when he came into contact with the substance at his place of work.
The case is United States v. Stevens, No. SC07-1074 (Fl. Oct. 30, 2008). Read it here.
Brandon Bass and I are pleased to announce that the inaugural edition of Tennessee Trial Law Report – Tort Law Edition has been printed and mailed to Tennessee lawyers who we know practice tort law.
Brandon and I resigned from our position as editors of the Tennessee Tort Law Letter and launched this new publication in an effort to better serve the needs of lawyers in the state that do tort work. It is our view that tort lawyers need to stay current on the law of torts – but we also need to stay current on the law of evidence, civil procedure and trial. So, Tennessee Trial Law Report summarizes opinions in all four fields, whether those opinions are primarily tort opinions or instead are domestic, commercial or criminal law opinions that have morsels of information tort lawyers need to know.
For example, one of our lead opinions this month is not a tort case at all but rather a Court of Criminal Appeals opinion by Presiding Judge Joe Tipton on expert testimony. Another of our summaries addresses a non-tort Tennessee Supreme Court case on a important evidence issue.
The Fall travel schedule begins again.
Many of you know that five years ago former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Penny White, former Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joe Riley and I establsihed a seminar company called "Justice Programs." We offer a 15 hour CLE program each Fall that permits attendees to meet all mandatory CLE obligations for the entire year and, more importantly, gives civil trial practioners the opportunity to gain valuable information for their practice. Tomorrow we make our first stop in the year in Chattanooga.
Here is the outline for our course in 2008:
A Handbook for Tennessee Tort Lawyers 2009 is scheduled to arrive in Brentwood on November 3 and will start being shipped to purchasers on November 4.
The 2009 of the book follows the same format as the 2008 version. It has been expanded to include 8 new chapters and 28 new sections on tort law subjects for a total of 262 sections. Each section includes the key language of the leading case on that subject and, as appropriate, citations to other important cases on the subject. Also included is a reference to all opinions released in the last year on tort law organized by chapter and section.
The book also includes the full text of all of the new statutes of interest to Tennessee tort lawyers.
The Tennessee Supreme Court released its decision in Hannan v. Alltel Publishing Company and has affirmed Judge Susano’s reversal of summary judgment in favor of the defendant.
The court, by a 4-1 margin, re-affirmed its decisions in Byrd, McCarley and Blair and held
a moving party who seeks to shift the burden of production to the nonmoving party who bears the burden of proof at trial must either: (1) affirmatively negate an essential element of the nonmoving party’s claim; or (2) show that the nonmoving party cannot prove an essential element of the claim at trial.
Associated Press has reported that Nebraska State Senator Ernie Chambers’ lawsuit against God has been dismissed for lack of service of process. The suit sought a permanent injunction to prevent God from committing acts of violence such as tornadoes and earthquakes.
Just think, if God was a Tennessee doctor the suit could have never been filed because God could have never been served with notice as required under the new statute.
It just goes to show you: membership (in the TMA) has its advantages.
A Handbook for Tennessee Tort Lawyers 2009 has been sent to the printer.
The 2009 of the book follows the same format as the 2008 version. It has been expanded to include 8 new chapters and 28 new sections on tort law subjects for a total of 262 sections. Each section includes the key language of the leading case on that subject and, as appropriate, citations to other important cases on the subject. Also included is a reference to all opinions released in the last year on tort law organized by chapter and section.
The book also includes the full text of all of the new statutes of interest to Tennessee tort lawyers.
After over 13 years,165 editions, and no less than 1500 printed pages, I have resigned from my position as the Editor of the Tennessee Tort Law Letter." The September 2008 edition, mailed a couple days ago, is my final edition.
I will be taking one month off and then will launch a new tort law newsletter in November, 2008. Brandon Bass (who has resigned from his position as Assistant Editor of the TTLL) will be joining me in the effort.
I will share the details on the new newsletter at a later date. For the time being suffice it to say that the new newsletter will be a dramatically different publication and, I hope, one that helps its readers help their clients.
The Saturday Night Live video.
Written by Will Bunch, as found at www.philly.com.
Palin’s Speech to Nowhere
Day on Torts