Sylvius von Saucken, a partner in the Garretson firm, has written this analysis of the opinion in Murphy v. United States, released by D.C. Court of Appeals on July 3, 2007. The case addresses the taxability of damage awards in cases alleging emotional distress. Here, in bold, is his analysis…
Day on Torts
Law Review Article
The Michigan Law Review has published an interesting article called "Doctors & Juries" by Philip G. Peters, Jr. Here is a synopsis of the article: "Physicians widely believe that jury verdicts are unfair. This Article tests that assumption by synthesizing three decades of jury research. Contrary to popular belief, the…
Poll About Attitudes of Voters (Read: Potential Jurors)
Ken Shigley has an interesting post listing some poll results that have been circulated in AAJ materials in recent days.
Justice Progarms – 2008
Former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Penny White, former Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joe Riley and I are sponsoring our annual "Justice Programs" seminars again this Fall. Here is the schedule for this two-day, fifteen-hour program. First Day 8:00 – 8:30 Registration 8:30 – 10:15 Tort Law / Comparative Fault…
Back from Chicago
I have been in Chicago for the last four days, attending the Board meeting of the National Board of Trial Advocacy and spending time with my son , MIchael. We saw the Cubs beat the Astros Saturday afternoon and took in a street fair in Chinatown yesterday. It was a…
“High – Low” Agreement Must Be Disclosed to Adversary
The highest court of New York has ruled that a "high-low" agreement must be disclosed to the judge and to non-settling defendants. This is what the Court said: To ensure that all parties to a litigation are treated fairly, we hold that whenever a plaintiff and a defendant enter into…
Taxability of Damage Awards
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has released an en banc opinion in Murphy v. Internal Revenue Service, No. 05-5139 (July 3, 2007). The summary of the opinion as prepared by the Court: "Marrita Murphy brought this suit to recover income taxes she paid on the compensatory damages for emotional…
Don’t Do This
Put this is the "You ain’t gonna believe this" department. A New Jersey firm admitted "that an associate — with two partners’ knowledge — asked a bank representative whether a client, Kennedy Funding Inc. of Hackensack, could purchase the personal mortgages of the attorney suing Kennedy Funding in four federal…
More on Robert Bork
i wrote several weeks ago about the lawsuit Robert Bork filed against the Yale Club. I mentioned that the some issues I had with the suit, including the request for punitive damages. Eric Turkewitz wrote a much better post than I. As a New York personal injury lawyer, he wrote…
Starburst Candy Lawsuit
You have undoubtedly heard about the lawsuit that was filed that claims that Starbursts are too chewy and caused an injury to a woman’s mouth. The plaintiff’s lawyer is Brian Muawad from St. Clair Shores, Michigan. He and his brother hold themselves out as competent in " Personal Injury, Auto…