Fresh off the heels of a recent loss, Chris Seeger and his team are gearing up for more Vioxx cases state court in New Jersey. The judge has decided that one of seven cases will be tried starting January 30, 2006. Each of the cases are on behalf of a…
Kaiser Permanente is advancing the cause of patient safety by using a “Preoperative Safety Briefing” similar in concept to preflight checklists used in the airline industry. A one-page checklist was developed and used for the project. In a six-month trial project wrong site surgeries were eliminated (there had been three…
The New Jersey Supreme Court has held that a plaintiff is entitled to a res ipsa instruction in an case in which an automatic door unexpectantly closed and caused injury. Because of that determination, the plaintiff was entitled to get by a summary judgment motion and have a jury decide…
I was speaking at a seminar in Knoxville Friday and someone asked me that question. I was a little taken aback, and then remembered that Evan Schaeffer of Legal Underground faced the same issue recently. The answer is an unambigious “Yes” but I guess some explanation is necessary. I have…
The Court of Appeals of Washington has ordered a new trial in a criminal case in which the State admited into evidence computer-generated simulation evidence using Version 6.2 of a program called PC-CRASH to prove that defendant had been the driver of the vehicle involved in the wreck. The Court…
Regular readers will remember that several weeks ago I wrote about the opinion by Judge Jack in a group of silicosis cases pending in Texas. At the time I wrote “this story will not and should not die.” Well, it has not died. The business community has grabbed this bull…
Some of you read a recent article in the Tennessee Bar Journal about a project that I am working on concerning board certification for lawyers. Unfortunately, the title of the article, “Changes would allow litigators with fewer jury trials to be certified ‘civil trial specialist,” has caused concern for those…
An appellate court in California reversed a jury verdict because of a trial court’s refusal to instruct the jury pursuant to the federal standard of care requiring “extreme care” as opposed to the reasonable care standard. The appellate court held that this was prejudicial error requiring a remand for a…
Plaintiff filed a medical negligence lawsuit. She enjoyed an occasional joint, before and after her injury. At trial, the defendant called four witnesses to say that the use of pot could affect a doctor’s treatment of her. None testified that it did affect treatment. The jury returned a verdict for…
There is no decision yet in the Calloway case. Until there is, it may be wise to assume that the three-year statute of repose in medical negligence cases trumps the rights of minors. I will let you know as soon as I hear something on this important case.