A Healthy Respect for the Judicial System Great trial lawyers have a healthy respect for the judicial system and, if they are jury trial lawyers, for the right to trial by jury and the jury system. They demonstrate that respect in the way they speak and act around lawyers and…
The Chamber of Commerce does an annual ranking of the "lawsuit climate" in the fifty states. The winning state – Deleware – has the most pro-business climate. The losing state – West Virginia – has the most anti-business climate. How are the rankings determined? By a "sample of in-house general counsel…
A Passion for the Work It is hard to be a great trial lawyer if you don’t like what you do. Most people can quickly determine whether a lawyer – or the cashier at McDonald’s – has a passion for the job. You can see that passion in the face…
Indiana is not known as a particularly progressive state when it comes to tort law (or anything else for that matter). But not even Indiana could deny a plaintiff the use of the res ipsa doctrine when the plaintiff caught on fire during surgery. You read that right. The plaintiff…
Vehicle rollovers result in a significant number of fatalities every year, and there has been a vigorous debate about the roll that roof strength plays in those deaths. Now, a new study from the Insurance Institute for HIghtway Safety reveals that stronger roofs would save lives. The study concludes as…
The ability and willingness to undertake (and share with the client) a cost-benefit analyis throughout the litigation. Things change in litigation. For example, as mentioned in a least one previous post in this series, almost every deposition changes the value of a case. But there are many other things that impact the…
One of my favorite publications, Lawyers USA, has an interesing article about a new test which allegedly determines whether a personal injury plaintiff is malingering. It is called the "Fake Bad Scale." The article says that "[a] leading critic of the test, Dr. James Butcher, PhD, a senior author of…
"From 2004 through 2006, patient safety errors resulted in 238,337 potentially preventable deaths of U.S. Medicare patients and cost the Medicare program $8.8 billion, according to the fifth annual Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study." So begins this article found on the MSN website. The article notes that (a)"of the…
The Courage to Tell The Client the Truth Many clients don’t want the truth. A number of them want re-assurance that they are "right," regardless of the reality of the situation. Others demand to know that, at the end of the day, they will prevail. And some will fire or lose…
The Tennessee Supreme Court has announced that it is going to hear oral argument in a very important case on Wednesday, May 7th, 11:00 a.m. in Knoxville. The case is Tennie Martin et al. v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co. et al. (Franks, author) (Susano, dissenting) – E2006-01021-SC-R11-CV. The issues are:…