Harris Interactive conducted a online poll about jury service in December 2007. The findings include the following: * "Two-thirds (65%) of Americans have been called to serve jury duty, two-thirds of that (68%) actually attended, leaving one-third (32%) who did not. * Of those who have attended jury duty, just…
As a 51 year old man happily married to a beautiful, intelligent 37 year old woman, I confess I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about thongs. I also confess that it never crossed my mind that a person wearing a thong could ever suffer a personal injury from…
The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued an opinion interpreting Rule 35 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 35 is the rule the permits a party to have a physician of the party’s choice examine the adverse party. Unfortunately, it is often referred to as an independent medical examination, and…
Governor Bredesen has signed the "Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act" into law. The Act is effective for discovery requests after July 1, 2008. The legislation establishes a procedure for litigants in other states to do discovery in Tennessee. However, the Act is a uniform act, so Tennessee lawyers will…
The United States Supreme Court has ruled that a successful plaintiff may recover paralegal fees in a case against the government covered by the Equal Access to Justice Act. Although not binding on Tennessee courts in those limited cases where attorneys’ fees are recoverable, the result can be used as…
The Tennessee Supreme Court has released an opinion that settles (and changes) the law on the "prior suit pending" doctrine. The issue rises infrequently in tort cases, but is still worthy of note. In Tennessee a worker’s compensation lawsuit cannot be filed until after a benefit review conference (BRC) does not…
The website of the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts maintains a set of all of the Local Rules for the state’s circuit and chancery courts. View. The site makes it clear that the AOC only posts what it has been given, so it would be prudent to check with the…
Grandstaff v. Bowman, No. E2007-00135-COA-R3-CV, (Tenn. Ct. App. May 29, 2008), is a case that reminds careful readers of the perils of filing a personal injury case on the eve of the statute and then simply sitting on it. As a result of this conduct, the plaintiff lost the opportunity…
Closing Thoughts As I said in my first post on this subject, a great trial lawyer need not have all of the attributes set forth in this series of posts. Admittedly, the "great trial lawyer" hurdle has been set high. Very high. Indeed, if complete fulfillment of all of these…