The Tennessee Court of Appeals (Middle Section) has ruled that "trial court has the discretion to sanction a party by dismissal of its case where the party’s destruction of evidence severely prejudices an adverse party’s defense irrespective of whether the destruction was inadvertent or intentional." The Court quoted with approval…
Governor Bredesen gave his State of the State address last night . He did not say that he had any desire to limit the right to trial by jury for any citizen against any defendant in any industry. This comment scares the nursing homes: "My job is to open more…
A federal judge has written a "Top Ten" list taking issue with the United States Supreme Court opinions on the sentencing of criminal defendants. Read it here.
6. Great Trial Lawyers Don’t Cheat There are lots of opportunities to cheat in the practice of law. You can withhold information during the discovery process. You can improperly coach a witness or client. You can knowingly violate orders on motions in limine. You can knowingly violate the rules of…
Did you that our appellate courts had forms to help guide you through the appellate court process? This page at the Administrative Office of the Courts website has various forms relevant at different stages of the appellate process, inlcuding a sample brief cover page, a motion for extension of time,…
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled that a plaintiff has a right to videotape a Rule 35 examination (often mistakenly referred to as an "independent medical exam"). The Court’s conclusion: "Our decision to allow an examinee to videotape a court-ordered independent examination was foreshadowed by our decision in McCullough v.…
This study in PLoS Medicine reports that, based on estimates from publicly available data, drug manufacturers probably spend more money on advertising than they do for research and development. In the words of the study: "From this new estimate, it appears that pharmaceutical companies spend almost twice as much on…
5. A Great Trial Lawyer Maintains A Reasonable Caseload In Part 4 we discussed the fact that great trial lawyers take time to think about their cases. And we mentioned that many lawyer argue that they don’t have time to think. I suggest that there are only four possible reasons…
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit released a decision several months ago that presents a real danger for plaintiff’s lawyers and their clients who seek to rely on T.C.A. Section 20-1-119 to avoid a statute of limitations defense. The Tennessee Bar Journal published my article on…
The Tennessean has been kind enough to print an op-ed piece I wrote and to editorialize against the health care industry’s attempt to avoid full responsibility for the harm it causes to its patients. Read the editorial here. Read my op-ed piece here. Read the opposing op-ed piece by Rep.…