The United States Supreme Court has ruled for the plaintiffs in a case involving an assertion of federal pre-emption in litigation involving whether selling "light" cigarettes was deceptive. As pointed out in this article in the New York Times, "[t]he question before the court was not whether use of the…
That’s right. The Chamber of Commerce believes in the right to file suit if you have been aggrieved by the conduct of another. As long as you are a car manufacturer and want to complain about new laws limiting greenhouse gas emission standards. Read about the Chamber’s latest hypocrisy here. Thanks to…
Professionally speaking, it is hard to have a worse day than having a United States Supreme Court justice say this: " “I simply cannot follow your argument because I believe you have just made a statement to me that is utterly irrational.” That is what Justice Souter said to Jennifer…
Ten days or so ago I included a post from Paul Luvera’s blog about the importance of using checklists for taking the deposition of an eye witness. Here is another post from Paul. This time he is sharing a checklist on information you should share with your client about the trial…
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued an amend to its regulations to require interstate commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders subject to the physical qualification requirements of the agency’s regulations to provide a current original or copy of their medical examiner’s certificates to their State Driver Licensing Agency (SDLA). The new…
Many plaintiff’s lawyers from across the state received assessments from the Department of Commerce and Insurance for failure to report data concerning medical malpractice settlements and judgments received during the prior year. Many of the penalities approach $20,000 and, as one lawyer told me, the penality he has been assessed…
Thank you to the hundreds of you who have said such kind words about our new newsletter, Tennessee Trial Law Report – Tort Law Edition. Brandon Bass and I have worked hard to put together a newsletter than will save you time and make you money. Our idea was to…
Paul Luvera has offered-up a list of his talking points for trial, an example that can be applied to a myraid of cases. See them here.
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research has issued a report extolling the virtues of a "loser pays" rule. Here is an excerpt from the "Executive Summary:" This study explores the likely effects of adopting a "loser pays" rule for attorneys’ fees in the United States. Loser pays, sometimes called the "English…
Paul Luvera’s blog includes this great checklist for taking the deposition of an eye witness. Paul makes the point that "lawyers must use a checklist for every deposition they take no matter how experienced there are. If seasoned airplane pilots use checklists, lawyers should too. It’s too easy to get…