I am in San Francisco attending my first meeting as a member of the American Law Institute. Yesterday I attended a meeting of the Members Consultative Group for the Restatement Third, Economic Torts and Related Wrongs. We spent two hours debating five black-letter law sections of a draft of the…
A young lawyer called me with a question the other day. He was looking at a case that required a significant amount of experience to handle it appropriately, and was clearly struggling. He wanted to keep the case (it had tremendous potential), but I could hear during several moments of…
Rudolf fired his lawyers after a jury trial that resulted in a 50% finding of comparative fault and a total verdict of $250,000. He then hired a new lawyer, got a new trial, and then settled his case for $750,000. Next, he sued his original lawyers for malpractice, saying that he failed…
Some people have found a way to turn a police chase case into a Sec. 1983 action. It was always tough – and it just got tougher. Here is the issue as stated by Justice Scalia: "We consider whether a law enforcement official can, consistent with the Fourth Amendment, attempt…
Is this the worst lawyer ad of the year? I hope so. Here is the owner of the offending law firm. I am sure she is proud of herself – she has managed to accomplish in one ad what she apparently cannot establish by her work product. Fame. I hope…
The American Association of Pediatricians has issued "Guidelines and Levels of Care for Pediatric Intensive Care Units." The abstract: "The practice of pediatric critical care medicine has matured dramatically during the past decade. These guidelines are presented to update the existing guidelines published in 1993. Pediatric critical care services are…
The Tennessee Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Nashville on June 5, 6 and 7. Here is a list of the tort cases which will be heard and the issues to be determined in each case: * Simpson Strong-Tie Company v. Stewart, Estes, & Donnell – Rule 23 Middle District…
This report published by Rueters says that if "the typical stay-at-home mother in the United States were paid for her work as a housekeeper, cook and psychologist among other roles, she would earn $138,095 a year." Is this data that can be reasonably relied upon by an economist in a…
Justice Holder has released on new comparative fault opinion on behalf of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Austin had a one-car accident and sued Fayette County for negligently maintaining the roadway. Fayette County said this in its answer: "the traffic sign in question was not placed there by the Defendant, Fayette…
This is no news to anyone who actually follows medical malpractice litigation, but it is nice to see that a person who has actually researched the issue confirms conventional wisdom accepted by everyone except lobbyists for the health care industry and the legislators they persuade. An article in Law.com reports on this…