Articles Posted in Miscellaneous

Robert Bork, the man who gave us the verb "borked," has sued The Yale Club in a trip-and-fall case.  Read the NYT article about the case here.

Here is a copy of the complaint.  Note that Judge Bork seeks punitive damages.  I guess that it possible that conduct in a premises case like this can give rise to punitive damages, but it is difficult for me to imagine what that conduct would be.  He also seeks attorneys’ fees, which I did not think were recoverable in premises liability cases in New York.  Then again, I’m just a tort lawyer who went to public school.

His law firm?  Gibson Dunn, a great firm that is known for, among other things, its advocacy against punitive damages.

This article from the Washington Post tells a fascinating tale about a lawyer for Best Buy who altered documents and then produced them to the plaintiffs in a class action case.

Man sues claiming that an energy drink gave him an erection that would not subside.

The drink is called "Boost Plus."

For a list of dealers near you,  please call 1-800-4StickUp.

Never tell a judge that she is "a few fries short of a Happy Meal."

I have been in mediations the last two days and have two depositions in a very significant case today.  Therefore, I simply do not have time to do a substantive post.

I will take time to say one thing, however.  This is my 1000th post on this blog.  1000 posts in 27 months.   I must say that I have enjoyed every minute of it. 

I hope that this blog has helped you better serve your clients.  I know that writing it has helped me serve our firm’s clients. 

The Tennessee Department of State has administrative rules and regulations on its website.

Among the actions taken by the ALI at the meeting in San Francisco this past week was the rejection of the need for the magic words "reasonable degree of medical certainty."

The following language was approved for Section 28(a)  of the Restatement of Torts Third:

"Subject to Subsection (b), the plaintiff has the burden to prove that the defendant’s tortious conduct was a factual cause of the plaintiff’s physical harm."

I am still in San Francisco at the ALI meeting.  Last night we had a reception at the Legion of Honor and then dinner at the Boulevard.

On today’s agenda are discussions of proposed restatements on the law of nonprofit organizations, aggregate litigation (class actions) and restitution and unjust enrichment.  Tonight is a black tie dinner at the Westin St. Francis.

There is one custom at this meeting that I have never seen at any meeting of lawyers I have ever attended.  There are scores of  federal and state judges here, but none of the name tags identify the judges as judges.  Yesterday I was talking to the Chief Justice of New Zealand and had no idea that she was a judge. 

I am in San Francisco attending my first meeting as a member of the American Law Institute. 

Yesterday I attended a meeting of the Members Consultative Group for the Restatement Third, Economic Torts and Related Wrongs.  We spent two hours debating five black-letter law sections of a draft of the restatement, including a very interesting discussion of the law of damages.  Last night there was a dinner for the first-year members at the R & G Lounge and then several of us went to the Buena Vista Cafe for Irish coffee.

This morning we will hear speeches by the Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit as well as the President and President-Elect of the ABA.  Later today there will be floor discussions about changes in the restatements in the fields of software contracts and international intellectual property.

Some of you have looked at the upper right-hand corner of this blog and noticed that our firm name has changed to The Law Offices of John Day, P.C. Those of you on our announcement list received a more formal notice last week.

What’s going on?  John Branham, the gentleman I started the firm with in 1993, turned 65 last fall and decided to leave the firm at the end of the year. Rebecca Blair, who has been a shareholder of the firm for several years, has now became a name partner in the firm.

We are in the same location, have the same phone number and, with a couple of exceptions, the same personnel we had four months ago.  Regrettably, we are losing a lawyer in a couple days.  Jimmy Streett, who clerked with us as a rising third-year student and has been with us since his graduation from Vanderbilt two years ago, is moving home to Arkansas to take over his father’s law practice.  Jimmy has done a very good job for our clients and we will miss him.