The Oklahoma Supreme Court has struck down a requirement that an affidavit of merit from an expert be filed with medical negligence lawsuits. The statute at issue "requires that a plaintiff alleging medical malpractice attach an affidavit to the petition stating that the plaintiff: 1) has consulted with a qualified…
The Federal Court for the Middle District of Tennesse has a local rule on expert witness that has been criticized for decades. The rule provides as follows "Expert witness disclosures shall be made timely in accordance with any order of the Court, or if none, in accordance with Fed. R.…
The Illinois Supreme Court held that it was not appropriate to certify a class of personal injury plaintiffs who received injuries as a result of chemical exposure after a train derailment. The holding: "Although proof of the cause of the derailment will be relatively straightforward, this alone will not establish…
The Court of Appeal of California has ruled that a lawyer may be sued for failure to warn a client that the failure to settle a claim against the client would put the client at risk for paying the adversary’s attorneys fees. The Court held that it was not appropriate to dismiss the…
The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that a parent corporation may be sued for intentional interference with a contractual relationship between a partially owned subsidiary and a third party. The Court had ruled in an earlier case that " a parent corporation has a privilege pursuant to which it can cause…
Merck won another Vioxx case in federal court, but when you hear the background of the plaintiff it is easy to understand why. According to an AP report posted on Law.com, the plaintiff "had other risk factors for his heart attack, including tobacco use, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes…
Well, yesterday I had to be a lawyer again, taking a deposition in a matter pending in Bankruptcy Court where we have been hired to represent the Trustee. I find myself doing more and more commercial litigation and, quite frankly, it is quite enjoyable. I majored in business and economics…
Law.com has published an interesting article titled "Who Killed the Mass Tort Bonanza?" The opening paragraph: "The power of the plaintiffs bar is on the wane in this country, and will be for a long time to come." Followed shortly thereafter by this: "Neither [business interests or trial lawyers], however, would…
In Pruitt v. Hancock Medical Center, NO. 2005-CA-00132-SCT (Miss. S. Ct. 11/16/06), Plaintiff had a personal injury claim that was not disclosed in a bankruptcy filing. The injury occurred before the bankruptcy petition was filed. She received a discharge of her debts in her Chapter 7 proceeding, and then took…
This fascinating article is written by J.D. Hull, a lawyer from San Diego. It is called "Professionalism Revisited: What About the Client? It makes some wonderful points about the client view of what we call in the South the "good ol’ boy system" of law practice. We are seeing increasing…