On June 21, 2006 I wrote a post about the status of prejudgment interest in Tennessee.
The recent case featured in that post was Francois v. Willis, No. M2005-01263-COA-R3-CV (June 6, 2006). The Tennessee Supreme Court has denied the plaintiff’s Rule 11 Application in the case.
So, is prejudgment interest in personal injury and wrongful death cases now ""morally, ethic’lly, spiritually, physically, positively, absolutely, undeniably and reliably dead?"
This morning my wife and I leave on what I think is a well-deserved vacation. I turn 50 years old on Thursday and my wonderful wife is taking me to the Canadian Rockies to celebrate.
One year ago she made booked a room for us at the Moraine Lake Lodge, a 33-room lodge 15 minutes outside of the Village of Lake Louise. I have wanted to go the Canadian Rockies for years and am thrilled about the trip.
I am not taking my computer and am not going to use one in the hotel. I am going to attempt to go 5 days without any communication from or to my office. I haven’t done that for at least 6 years, maybe longer.
The only thing better than Notre Dame losing is Notre Dame losing at home.
Nancy Grace, who brings disgrace on herself and on her profession every time she appears on television, is embroiled in another controversy. This time, it is the death of Melinda Duckett, an interviewee on Grace’s show who committed suicide.
Those of you who believe that Ms. Grace defines everything that is wrong with talking-head "journalism" will be re-affirmed by this well-written article by Dahlia Lithwick from Slate. Some excerpts:
"Nancy Grace didn’t kill Melinda Duckett, but she is aiding and abetting the death of public confidence in the law. Grace dresses like a lawyer and talks like one, but the only thing she seems to feel for the court system is contempt."
Bruce Braley is running for Congress in Iowa. His Republican opponent is a lawyer.
Bruce is the subject of this attack ad – a real cheap shot considering it comes from a Republican who had enough intellect to attend Harvard Law School.
I know Bruce – he is a good guy who deserves the help of lawyers across the Nation. You can contribute to his race here.
Did you see that Glaxo has agreed to pay the IRS $3.4 billion dollars in past due taxes? Read more here. Glaxo had estimated that it might be on the hook for $15 billion.
The good news for Glaxo is that paying the money will not have any significant impact on the company’s earnings. Isn’t that nice?
The Washington Post says that "the case, which began with an IRS audit in the early 1990s, involved the way Glaxo paid taxes on U.S. profits from such popular drugs as Zantac, a stomach remedy, Imitrex, for treatment of migraines, and Ceftin, an antibiotic."
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that all material given to testifying expert witnesses must be disclosed, including attorney opinion work product materials.
The circuits have been split on this issue. In Regional Airport Authority of Louisville and Jefferson County v. LFG, LLC, Case No. 05-5754 (6th Cir. Aug. 17, 2006), the court clarified the law in the Sixth Circuit.
The precise holding: "The bright-line approach is the majority rule, represents the most natural reading of Rule 26, and finds strong support in the Advisory Committee Notes. Therefore, we now join the "overwhelming majority" of courts . . . in holding that Rule 26 creates a bright-line rule mandating disclosure of all documents, including attorney opinion work product, given to testifying experts." (Emphasis added.) Don’t try to argue that whatever information you gave to the expert wasn’t considered by the expert and therefore is not discoverable; the word "given" was deliberately chosen by the court to void that argument.
I know that this article is off-topic, but I could not let it pass.
It seems that claim severity is down in the worker’s compensation market. This article reports that "[o]verall injury rates have dropped by an average of 3.9% per year since 1996 including an estimated 4.5% decline in 2005, according to the 2006 study. But for the two most recent years, high-cost claims have shared equally in the frequency decline …."
Does this mean rates will be coming down? Nope – because medical costs have seen average increases of 9.1% each of the last four years.
The Judicial Selection Commission has selected three people for the open position on the Tennessee Supreme Court: Hon. Bill Koch (Judge on the Court of Appeals, Nashville), Hon. D’Army Bailey (Circuit Judge, Memphis) and Houston Gordon (lawyer, Covington).
None of the appointees was from East Tennessee because there are already two justices from that part of the state (Chief Justice Barker and Justice Wade) and the Constitution limits membership on the Court to no more than two judges from any one Grand Division.
I hope each of you had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend.
My wife and I spent the weekend at the lake. Saturday and Sunday I did no work whatsoever, the first time in months I have taken two days off in a row with absolutely no work. Monday I was back at it (depositions today) but even then I did not have to put in a full day.
I need to get back to the days when I took the weekends off. I intend to do so. Soon.
Day on Torts