Articles Posted in Miscellaneous

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 is wrong  with talking-head "journalism" will be re-affirmed by this well-written article  by Dahlia Lithwick from Slate.  Some excerpts:

"Nancy Grace didn’t kill Melinda Duckett, but she is aiding and abetting the death of public confidence in the law. Grace dresses like a lawyer and talks like one, but the only thing she seems to feel for the court system is contempt."

Bruce Braley is running for Congress in Iowa.  His Republican opponent is a lawyer.

Bruce is the subject of this attack ad – a real cheap shot considering it comes from a Republican who had enough intellect to attend Harvard Law School.

I know Bruce – he is a good guy who deserves the help of lawyers across the Nation.  You can contribute to his race here.

Did you see that Glaxo has agreed to pay the IRS $3.4 billion dollars in past due taxes?  Read more here.  Glaxo had estimated that it might be on the hook for $15 billion.

The good news for Glaxo is that paying the money will not have any significant impact on the company’s earnings.  Isn’t that nice?

The Washington Post says that "the case, which began with an IRS audit in the early 1990s, involved the way Glaxo paid taxes on U.S. profits from such popular drugs as Zantac, a stomach remedy, Imitrex, for treatment of migraines, and Ceftin, an antibiotic."

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 2005, according to the 2006 study. But for the two most recent years, high-cost claims have shared equally in the frequency decline …."

Does this mean rates will be coming down?  Nope – because medical costs have seen average increases of 9.1%  each of the last four years.

The Judicial Selection Commission has selected three people for the open position on the Tennessee Supreme Court:  Hon. Bill Koch (Judge on the Court of Appeals, Nashville), Hon. D’Army Bailey (Circuit Judge, Memphis) and Houston Gordon (lawyer, Covington).

None of the appointees was from East Tennessee because there are already two justices from that part of the state (Chief Justice Barker and Justice Wade) and the Constitution limits membership on the Court to no  more than two judges from any one Grand Division.

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 back at it (depositions today) but even then I did not have to put in a full day. 

I need to get back to the days when I took the weekends off.  I intend to do so.  Soon.

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.

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 suggests that he did not.

The excuse?  "’As a result of a change in Tennessee’s regulations several years after Dr. Frist came to the Senate, he may be required to complete additional continuing medical education hours,’ spokesman Matt Lehigh said in a statement. ‘A representative of the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners has been contacted, and Dr. Frist will meet every requirement of the Board.’"

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 focused on the law of interest to civil trial lawyers.  Attendance at the seminars have exceeded our expectations and have grown by leaps and bounds each year.  We believe that this year’s program will be even better than the one we offered last year and registrations are already flowing into our headquarters in Ripley.

Here is our schedule for 2006: