From time to time over the years there has been talk about imposing a sales tax on professional services. One cannot help but wonder whether there will be an effort to impose such a tax to help solve the budget problem facing our state government. Like all sales taxes, a…
Here is the text an December 20, 2008 article on the CBS News website about the efforts of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to take advantage of the opportunity created by the world’s financial problem to seek legal protection for wrongdoers. Thanks to Suzanne Keith at TAJ who forwarded it to…
Insurance companies know that they have little credibility in the fight over access to the courthouse. This is particularly true in the medical malpractice area, where the evidence in Tennessee demonstrates that (a) doctors and hospitals win over 96% of jury trials; (b) professional liability rates, adjusted for the medical inflation rate,…
The state’s law libraries are closing their doors to lawyers and other citizens. The Administrative Office of the Courts is cutting programs and staff. Appellate court law clerks are fearing the loss of their jobs. Tennessee budget problems are hitting the judiciary and it remains to be seen what impact…
According to the Tennessean. Tennessee nursing homes rank No. 48 (beating only Louisiana and Georgia), according to new survey information out from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Less than 7% of the nursing homes in Tennessee were rated above average. The paper reports that "[o]f the 40 nursing…
On March 24, 2006 I wrote about the death of my grandmother, Milda Heath, at the age of 97. Today is her 100th birthday. She was a wonderful grandmother, mother, teacher and citizen. I miss her.
Here is a summary of FRE 502 which came into effect on September 18, 2009. The rule – which addresses the attorney client privilege and work product doctrine – is intended to provide increased clarity in this confusing area of the law. The author explains that "[t]he rule establishes a…
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…