The Tennessee Bar Association published my column, Day on Torts, on September 1, 2011. The title of this column is "Who Should Get Burned by Bruce’s Torch?". An excerpt: Independent contractors are not considered employees. The general rule is that one who employs an independent contractor is not liable for the…
As mentioned in the last three posts (here, here and here), the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts has released the 2009-2010 Annual Report of the Judiciary. The Report Contains statistical data about our court system. As mentioned in our earlier posts, there were 263 jury trials and 325 non-jury trials in tort…
This new article reveals that traumatic brain injury, currently considered a singular event by the insurance industry and many health care providers, is instead the beginning of an ongoing process that impacts multiple organ systems and may cause or accelerate other diseases and disorders that can reduce life expectancy, according to…
This is one of a series of posts that will excerpt sections from the third edition of my book, Day on Torts: Leading Tennessee Tort Cases. To order the book go here. § 14.1 Generally The Case: Anderson v. Armstrong, 171 S.W.2d 401 (Tenn. 1943). The Basic Facts: “The action is one…
Starting next week I will begin to write about the bills that passed the 2010 General Assembly that are of interest to tort lawyers. There are fewer tort law-related bills in 2010 than there were in 2009, but the changes that have been made are changes you should know…
The University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service, Municipal Technical Advisory Service, has a collection of municipal codes and charters of most of the cities in Tennessee.
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee has released for public comment proposed changes in the local rules. Here is a red-lined version of the proposed rules. The comment period ends October 31, 2009. Most of the rule changes address of change of the time periods…
The Tennessee Bar Association is sponsoring a seminar to educate lawyers on the new medical malpractice statute passed by the Senate on June 4, 2008. If signed by the Governor, and there is no reason to believe that he will not sign the bill, the legislation makes major changes in…
The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the Chief Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court should have recused himself in a case involving the company of a man who ran $3,000,000 of ads in favor of the judge’s election. Read the opinions here.
Raymond P. Ward writes "the (new) legal writer," where he shares his knowledge of the art of legal writing. In this post he shares an excellent article that helps us understand techniques for emphasis and de-emphasis in our our writing. An excerpt: "look for your favorite passage in that favorite book, the one…