I know that this article is off-topic, but I could not let it pass. It seems that claim severity is down in the worker’s compensation market. This article reports that "[o]verall injury rates have dropped by an average of 3.9% per year since 1996 including an estimated 4.5% decline in…
Everyone knows that auto death rates are decreasing. But why? This study tells us that the reason is safer autos. Issued by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the study says that "an increasingly dangerous traffic environment has been offset since 1994 only because people are driving vehicles that are…
I hope each of you had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend. My wife and I spent the weekend at the lake. Saturday and Sunday I did no work whatsoever, the first time in months I have taken two days off in a row with absolutely no work. Monday I was…
Judge Fallon has thrown out the $50M compensatory damage award and a $1M punitive damage award in the recent New Orleans Vioxx trial. He ordered a new trial on damages. No surprise here. The compensatory award obviously had a significant punitive component. Here is the Order.
Wennesday was an 18+ day and today gives rise to hearings in Clarksville in the morning and an important deposition in Brentwood in the afternoon. Pardon me, folks, but I am taking a day off.
Hmm. Summary judgment for a drug manufacturer is reversed? In the 21st Century? In Federal Court? Now, that is something worth writing about. In McNeil v. Wyeth, No. 05-10509 (August 22, 2006) the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals faced an appeal after summary judgment was granted in favor of the manufacturer…
The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued an extremely important decision in the field of bad faith law. In Johnson v. Tennessee Farmers Mutual Insurance Company, No. E2004-00250-SC-R11-CV (August 28, 2006), Justice Holder, writing for an unanimous court, reversed the Court of Appeals and upheld a bad faith verdict against Tennessee…
Dr. Bill Frist, who serves both as Majority Leader of the United States Senate and Founder and CEO of APCDBAV (Association of Physicians Capable of Diagnosing Brain Activity Via Videotape), applied for renewal of his medical license in Tennessee, pledging that he met the CME requirements of the State. This article…
The case: Lavin v. Jordon, 16 S.W.3d 362 (Tenn. 2000). Author: Justice William M. Barker. Why it is a Blue Chipper: Lavin v. Jordan is the leading case on the liability of parents for the willful or malicious tortious acts of their children. It is important to note, however, that…
Former Justice Penny White, former Judge Joe Riley and I are holding our civil trial practice seminars again this Fall. We started Justice Programs three years ago with the idea that, with increasing specialization in the Bar, a large number of people would prefer to attend an "annual review" program that was…