It was reported several months ago that nude videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews were circulating on the Internet. The pictures were taken in several hotels. The man accused of taking the videos, Michael David Barrett, has been arrested. It turns out that a majority of the videos were taken…
A former patron at the Coyote Ugly Saloon in Nashville has sued the entity, claiming she was injured when she fell off a slippery bar. She claims that the bar surface should have been kept dry (and therefore safe) because she was invited to dance on it by employees.…
We have seen much of this story happen before. Woman is raped at gunpoint in a hotel parking garage. Woman sues hotel for negligent failure to keep premises secure. Hotel blames woman for failing to exercise due care – how dare she assume that the hotel parking garage…
This is Post 8 in my review of the legislation of interest to tort lawyers that was passed by the General Assembly in 2009. Want to see more? Look at the Legislation 2009 category. This legislation is of interest to those who bring or defend dram shop cases. The new…
I admire people who have the foresight and courage to pick a practice area and learn it, inside out. I greatly admire those who share the knowledge they have to help other lawyers and the public. Here is a fine example: Dog Bite Law by Kenneth Phillips. He limits his cases…
This is the fifth in a series of posts about changes in Tennessee statutory law of interest to tort lawyers. For other changes click on the Legislation 2009 category. Tennessee has a "Ski Area Safety and Liability Act" codified at TCA Section 68-114-101 et seq. Public Chapter 85 changes the…
For the last five or six years my friend Bill Marler, food poisoning lawyer extraordinaire, and I have worked together on food poisoning cases. Bill knows this area like the back of his hand and is widely understood to be the lawyer with the greatest expertise in this field. One thing I really…
Stripper allegedly kicks patron in the head. Strip joint manager says dancer kicked him after he "violently slapped … her buttocks." The stripper did not return calls to WPTV, the Florida TV station that reported this story. Patron claims permanent injury and sues strip joint. There is no indication whether the…
"Yeah, the facts demonstrate a Shoney’s buffet of negligence, but there is no proof that any of that negligence caused any harm. So what?" This case out of Illinois is a classic example. Russell was found severely injured at the bottom of some steps. When found he said "I fell over…
I write a quarterly column on tort law for the Tennessee Bar Journal. The column for the May edition of the publication discusses Tennessee’s recreational use statute, Tenn. Code Ann. §70-7-101 et seq, An excerpt: The Tennessee Supreme Court has interpreted the recreational use statute as one that gives rise to…