Did you know that there is a cause of action for malicious harrassment in Tennessee? The malicious harassment statute, Tennessee Code Annotated, section 4-21-701, provides: "(a) There is hereby created a civil cause of action for malicious harassment. (b) A person may be liable to the victim of malicious harassment…
I got a call today from a lawyer who asked about the method by which peremptory challenges are exercised in state court. It is always a good idea to ask the trial judge at the pretrial conference or on the morning of trial how he or she handles peremptory challenges. …
Did you know that there is a federal statute that provides certain limitations on the liability of “volunteers?”
Under the definitions in most insurance policies a loss of consortium claim is included as part of a personal injury claim and therefore the two claims count as one claim for purposes of liability coverage. Did you know that under the Governmental Tort Liability Act loss of consortium is a…
Need to know the weather at a given date, time and place? Go to Weather Underground, type in the zip code or name of the location you want, and then scroll down to “History and Almanac.” Enter the date and find more data than you can imagine.
A friend of mine who is a defense lawyer told me that in 50 % of the cases he defends he is not served written discovery. I can imagine that there might be a tactical reason not to serve written discovery in a particular case. I can also say that…
The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices is available, free of charge, online at the Federal Highway Administration website. The site not only has the latest 2003 edition, but goes back as far as the 1993 revisions. You should be able to find the right edition to address any pending…
As a lawyer who has done medical malpractice work for 24 years I am embarrassed to say this, but I came across this little tidbit a couple weeks ago while preparing for an argument in the Tennessee Supreme Court. Do we have the discovery rule for med mal cases? “Yes.”…
What is the name of the case that tells us that violation of a statute is negligence per se? Cook By and Through Uithoven v. Spinnaker’s of Rivergate, 878 S.W.2d 934, 937 (Tenn. 1994). What about the violation of a regulation? Long by Cotton v. Brookside Manor, 885 S.W.2d 70,…
Can I tape record a hearing or trial? Yes. T.C.A. Sec. 20-9-104 gives a lawyer the right to use a tape recorder as an aid in making notes of any public proceedings.