What is the perfect Christmas gift for someone who loves the law of torts? The original Restatement of Torts, published in 1934. My wife found a set for me on EBay. The comments are full of examples concerning steamships and railroads. It is a real pleasure to see how the…
Day on Torts
Merry Christmas
May you and your family enjoy a wonderful Christmas and have a safe and healthy 2006 – and beyond.
Anti-Consumer Vaccine Legislation Passes
The President will sign a budget bill containing a provision for immunity for manufacturers of certain vaccines. I cannot track down the legislation itself but here is an ATLA summary of it: “The liability provisions allow the Secretary of HHS to declare that a drug, device, or vaccine is a…
Howard Nations’ Paper
Those of you who attend ATLA conventions probably know Howard Nations. Howard is a Vandy Law grad who practices in Houston. He is a frequent speaker at ATLA programs. This is a paper he wrote called ?Shakespeare’s Tribute to Trial Lawyers.” Read it and feel good about what you do.…
Jailed Plaintiff Answers the Call of Nature – And Falls
“If you have to go to the bathroom, you have to go, water on the floor or not.” That comes to us from Judge Susano, writing a concurring opinion in a new slip and fall case out of East Tennessee. The incarcerated plaintiff got up at 1:00 A.M. to use…
Reject Letters And Things That Go Bump In The Night
It is a good idea to write a reject letter to a potential client when you turn down a case. A good number of lawyers tell the receipent of the letter something about the statute of limitations on the particular claim in such a letter. This decision reminds us why…
Oral Fee Split Upheld
The high court of Massachusetts upheld a lower court decision that found and enforced an oral fee-splitting arrangement between two lawyers. The lawyer who refused to share the fee claimed that the agreement was not only not it writing but was not agreed to by the client (which is also…
Mistried Federal Vioxx Trial Re-Set
The federal Vioxx case that was mistried earlier this month has been set for a second trial on February 6, 2006. Read more here.
Guest Sunday Spoof
Locked Nest Mobster By Howard H. Vogel Guest Spoofer Nashville, Tennessee – December 18, 2005 Anonymous sources high up in the Bredesen administration announced today a break through in the Food for Tickets investigation that spans the administrations of four Tennessee governors. In a recent raid upon a locked janitors…
Legal Writing Guide
Here is a e-book written by Judge Mark Painter in Ohio. The book is called “Legal Writing 201” and it contains 30 rules that will help you write for, not like, a judge. (That is what the sub-title says, I promise.) Thanks for the lead from Appellate Law and Practice.