The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that a products liability claim against a catheter manufacturer are preempted. More specifically, the Court held that “tort claims that allege liability as to a PMA-approved medical device, notwithstanding that device’s adherence to the standards upon which it obtained premarket…
The number of products liability lawsuits filed in federal courts is declining. According to an article posted at www.insurancejournal.com, the number of federal products liability lawsuits declined by 14% last year and are on pace to decline 16% this year. Read the article here. The study itself may be found…
The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that executors of an estate can sue the decedent’s attorney for malpractice for negligently providing estate planning advice. In Belt v. Openheimer, Blend, Harrison & Tate, Inc., No. 04-0681 (May 5, 2005), the executors claimed that poor estate planning cost the estate $1.5M that…
Senators Clinton and Obama have written an article about the need for patient safety for the New England Journal of Medicine. The opening paragraph: “We have visited doctors and hospitals throughout the country and heard firsthand from those who face ever-escalating insurance costs. Indeed, in some specialties, high premiums are…
The male plaintiff said that he slipped, fell, and sustained various injuries on the sidewalk outside of his apartment early one morning. He and his wife brought suit. Defendant found a medical record (from a provider not listed in answers to interrogatories by the plaintiffs) that indicated that plaintiff was…
Lay and Skilling have been found guilty of multiple crimes that contributed to the fall of Enron and the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars of shareholder value. How much time should these men spend in prison? I know little about the federal sentencing guidelines. But I think back…
I love to ride a jet ski. In fact, I have had a Yahama Waverunner since 1999 and my beautiful wife just bought me the Mac- Daddy Seadoo (which will go 80 MPH and will rock your world). So it was with more than my usual “I-love-torts-so-I-will-read-dang-near-court-opinion-on-the-subject” attitude that I…
Don’t count on it. Read this new opinion from the Tennessee Supreme Court which affirmed a grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant when the plaintiff submitted an affidavit in opposition to the motion after the date required by a previous order of the trial judge. The core…
This is a brief in response to a defendant’s motion in limine to exclude the expert witness testimony of an economist. The economist was disclosed in a wrongful death case arising out of the drowning of a three-year-old boy. The economist is expected to testify about the present value of…
The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the failure of a plaintiff to get leave to amend a complaint before adding a nonparty as a defendant to not permit the newly-added party to raise the statute of limitations as a bar. Key to the holding was the fact that…