In a recent post I set out in their entirety the comments of a doctor who told us of the fear he has testifying on behalf of plaintiffs in medical negligence cases. He has written back – and here it is: NOTE: there are a bunch of unusal characters…
Day on Torts
Supreme Court Politics – Michigan-Style
Most of us know judges who from time to time have disagreements with their colleagues and know other judges who simply don’t like a judge they have to work with every day. There is nothing unusual about this – judges are people and it is unrealistic for anyone to expect that the…
Release Did Not Cover Loss of Consortium Claim
The Nebraska Supreme Court has held that a husband of a personal injury claimant who did not sign a release of his claim could maintain an action for loss of consortium arising from the injury even though his wife released her claim. The Court said that the claim for loss…
“The Great Medical Malpractice Hoax”
That’s the name of a new report issued by Public Citizen. From the press release: "Public Citizen reviewed publicly available information from 1990 to 2005 from the federal government’s National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), which contains data on malpractice payments made on behalf of doctors as well as disciplinary actions…
Wheelchair Fire Case
Can you imagine sitting in your battery-powered wheelchair and having it catch on fire? That’s what the plaintiff alleged happened to her late father in this California case. It settled on the courthouse steps; the settlement is, of course, confidential. The article reports that "in 2006, said court records, the…
Jury Selection – Exercising Peremptory Challenges
I got a call today from a lawyer who asked about the method by which peremptory challenges are exercised in state court. It is always a good idea to ask the trial judge at the pretrial conference or on the morning of trial how he or she handles peremptory challenges. …
A Comment From A Doctor
I wrote two posts in the last year (here and here)about doctors who have been attacked by organized medicine for giving testimony on behalf of plaintiffs in medical malpractice lawsuits. The goal of these efforts is not only to punish the doctors for having the audacity to testify for a…
From Today’s “Tennessean”
Just one segment of an op-ed piece in today’s Tennessean: "How bad is medical malpractice? According to an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Dr. Barbara Starfield of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, the third-leading cause of death in this country after heart problems and…
Off Topic – Public Defenders vs. Criminal Defense Lawyers in Private Practice
Here is an interesting article from the New York Times that discusses a recent study of whether private practice lawyers or public defenders get better outcomes for citizens accused of crimes.
“Metoo” Motion
We have "Metoo" motions in Nashville. They usually occur when one defendant takes the time to draft and file a motion and memorandum and the co-defendants file papers that simply say "Metoo." But a "Metoo" motion has a special meaning Up North. Or, should I say, it will from now on.…