New York’s highest court has ruled that the claim of bus passengers injured in a single-vehicle bus wreck which sought to hold the bus manufacturer liable for the failure to install passenger seatbelts on the bus were not preempted by federal regulations promulgated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). …
Fortunately, things are so good in Tennessee that the General Assembly has seen fit to take time to limit the responsibility of bovine owners. For you city folk, cows, buffaloes and oxen are known as bovines. The new law, codified at T.C.A.Sec. 44-21-101 et seq, provides that "no person shall…
Two lawyers who have been involved in an arbitration and federal court battle over fees from Fen-Phen cases appear to be at the end of the litigation road. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld an arbitration award of over $8 million dollars, finding that one lawyer breached a…
Tennessee summary judgment law changed on July 1, 2011 to allow the use of "put up or shut up" motions. (The law only applies to cases filed on or after July 1.) This change will increase the use of summary judgment motions in Tennessee and will probably result in…
In medical negligence cases in Tennessee there is often a dispute about whether the plaintiff can recover the amount of the medical charges or the amount actually paid by the private insurer or governmental entity like Medicare. This is a recent brief on the subject prepared by Brandon Bass, a…
The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals has ruled that the common fund doctrine applies to the determination of the payment of attorneys’ fees when monies for payments made under medical payments coverage are collected in a personal injury case. In Mitchell v. State Farm, No 2100184 (Ala. Civ. App. 10/7/11),…
The old "every dog gets one free bite" rule was severely limited as a result of legislation enacted by the Tennessee General Assembly several years ago. In fact, the new law works to protect motorcyclists and bicyclists, too. Here are the new rules: 44-8-413. Civil liability for injury caused by dogs. …
The Doctor’s Company sells medical malpractice insurance to doctors. In 2010, it conducted 525 patient safety site surveys. The surveys were conducted across a range of practice environments around the country—from small office practices to large integrated delivery systems, hospitals, and outpatient facilities, such as surgery centers. The survey found…
"Trial Lawyers Care" was created to help 9/11 victims advocate for benefits from the Victim Compensation Fund. It brought out the best of AAJ and its members. This article does a nice job explaining the work that was done and the thoughts of some of the participants.
Amy Alkon, the Advice Goddess, had a bad run-in with a TSA agent. Of course, we have no legal right to hold the TSA or its agents accountable for acting like complete and total jerks, so she wrote about her experience. As only a writer could write. And, God love…