Plaintiff filed a wrongful discharge and whistle-blower suit against his employer. The employer sent him a letter advising him to preserve all data on his company-issued laptop (which Plaintiff retained in his position for a period of time after the litigation began). Plaintiff destroyed 2200 personal files of data before…
Day on Torts
Discovery of Finances of Experts
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that a party may conduct discovery into the financial records on a non-party’s expert witness "to facilitate an inquiry into bias." As explained in more detail below, it is clear that such discovery will not be permitted of every expert. In Cooper v. Schoffstall,…
A Noteworthy Rule 10 Opinion
How can a Rule 10 opinion be noteworthy? Those of you who have no life other than the law know that a Rule 10 opinion is one that "shall not be published, and shall not be cited or relied on for any reason in any unrelated case." So why discuss it…
Rule 11 Application Denied in Pre-Judgment Interest Case
On June 21, 2006 I wrote a post about the status of prejudgment interest in Tennessee. The recent case featured in that post was Francois v. Willis, No. M2005-01263-COA-R3-CV (June 6, 2006). The Tennessee Supreme Court has denied the plaintiff’s Rule 11 Application in the case. So, is prejudgment interest…
Vermont Supreme Court Allows Wrongful Death Recovery for Death of a Sibling
The Supreme Court of Vermont has held that the sibling of a decedent may maintain a wrongful death suit seeking damages for loss of companionship where the sibling is the "next of kin." The Vermont statute provides that in a wrongful death case the court jury may "give such damages…
Vacation
This morning my wife and I leave on what I think is a well-deserved vacation. I turn 50 years old on Thursday and my wonderful wife is taking me to the Canadian Rockies to celebrate. One year ago she made booked a room for us at the Moraine Lake Lodge,…
Yesterday’s Post
Believe it or not yesterday’s post brought in more comments than any other post in a 24-hour period. I have published some of the comments; other comments seemed to address personal situations so I thought it best to pass on those. Let me respond to several of the comments. Bill said…
Collectibility and the Burden of Proof
I am currently defending a legal malpractice case for a friend of mine and have insisted that the plaintiff prove that amount of damages that would have been collectible in the underlying tort case. I have a hearing on this issue coming up shortly; the trial is this Winter. I…
Off Topic – Football
The only thing better than Notre Dame losing is Notre Dame losing at home.
Nancy Dis Grace, The Screaming Skull
Nancy Grace, who brings disgrace on herself and on her profession every time she appears on television, is embroiled in another controversy. This time, it is the death of Melinda Duckett, an interviewee on Grace’s show who committed suicide. Those of you who believe that Ms. Grace defines everything that…