Some health care providers are starting to get it. When you mess up, fix it. Don’t hide. Don’t cover it up. Don’t blame the patient. Just do the responsible thing and fix it. Today’s Wall Street Journal writes about the relatively recent phenomena of hospitals that not only step in and…
Day on Torts
Dan Hull on Lawyering
I love to read Dan Hull’s blog, What About Clients? He gets it. Or, more precisely, he gets most of it. He doesn’t get contingent fees, which puzzles me. But the rest of it is firmly within his grasp. Dan’s post, Litigation: Lawyering, Real Life and a Little Zen is one is wish…
New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers – Post 14
Well, are all of these posts on new legislation of interest to Tennessee tort lawyers driving you crazy? Some lawyers forget that the Tennessee General Assembly has passed hundreds of laws that impact tort practice. The rest of us know that tort law has it roots in common law, but is also greatly impacted…
CPSC Renews Warnings About Bassinets
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has renewed warnings to parents that certain bassinets made by Simplicty present a risk of death to children. From the press release: [The CPSC] is once again urging all parents and caregivers to immediately stop using convertible "close-sleeper/bedside sleeper" bassinets manufactured by Simplicity Inc., of…
New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers – Post 13
Post 13 in our series of new legislation of interest to tort lawyers concerns the administration of in nursing homes. Public Chapter 403 eliminates the need for nurses to provide medication to patients. Now, an aide who receives certain training is permitted to administer the following medications: (1) Oral medications; (2)…
Blaming the Plaintff
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…
AAJ Seminar: “Litigating Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Cases”
AAJ is sponsoring a pharmaceutical and medical device seminar at the Venetian in Las Vegas on September 24-25, 2009. The seminar, open only to AAJ members who represent plaintiffs, offers 11.25 CLE hours. The seminar is an effort lead by AAJ’s Section on Toxic, Environmental, and Pharmaceutical Torts (STEP), which…
New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers – Post 12
Post 12 of this series on changes in Tennessee statutory law of interest to tort lawyers addresses a new law that imposes lighting requirements on bicycles. Here is the new code section, which replaces existing section (a) of T.C.A. Sec. 55-8-177: (a) Every bicycle, when in use at nighttime, shall…
New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers – Post 11
We are up to Post 11 in our series that highlights new changes to Tennessee statutory law of interest to tort lawyers. The Legislature has modified T.C.A. Sec. 68-11-256 (a) to require all nursing homes to perform a criminal background check on all employees who provide direct care to patients…
The First Syllable of “Lawyer” is “Law”
A Tennessee lawyer who purports to have knowledge and experience in Tennessee medical malpractice law recently wrote a blog post that advised the pubic about statutes of limitations in medical malpractice cases. His post was wrong, and it was obvious to me that he was unaware of the legislation passed in June…