Articles Posted in Miscellaneous

Some of you know that I have been involved in litigation against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville for the past 6 years, suing it on behalf of two young men (and the mother of one) for outrageous conduct arising out of the abuse of the young men when they were teenagers.

The case was filed in January of 2000, lost on summary judgment in June 2001 shortly before trial, and lost again in the Tennessee Court of Appeals. The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed and remanded; read the opinion here.

The case was set again for trial March 13, 2006 and settled in the late afternoon on Saturday, December 10. Read about the settlement here.

Ever had a lawsuit involving a horse? For example, have you ever had a horse and car collision case? A case where a person riding a horse got hurt? How about a case arising out of a breach of contract concerning the sale of a horse?

Here is a site that collects the law of horses. Really.

If you have a PI case that involves a person injured while riding horse be sure to read the Tennessee Equine Activity Act.

Well, if you have, it is gone.

You fellow bloggers know how it works and the rest of you probably have guessed what happens.

The spammners attempt to post comments on blogs. Maybe I should appreciate all the wonderful people telling me where I can buy Viagra, how I can lose weight, and where I can gamble on-line but I do not need the advice of any of them now or in the foreseeable future (ok, maybe the weight loss, but nothing more).

I just learned that David Shrager, a fine gentleman and lawyer from Philadelphia, has died. David is a former President of ATLA and a man I greatly admired. He always took the time to talk to young lawyers and remind them of their responsibility to their clients and the public. He was a giant of the trial bar.

Ken Suggs, the current ATLA President, has sent out a email about David’s death. It is set out fully below.

“ATLA, the legal profession and the vulnerable families we represent have lost an outstanding leader and friend.

Well, I just said that I wasn’t going to post anything and then came upon this interesting article about the events leading up to the war in Iraq. This article does as fine a job as I have seen compiling the facts about the representations made by the Bush administration leading up to the war.

Please don’t write to me and tell me that I don’t support our troops. That is ridiculous.

I am taking a few days off to enjoy the holidays. I be back with you on Monday a.m.

Next week is the last seminar of the year offered by Justice Programs, a creation of former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Penny White, former Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joy Riley and yours truly. We will be in downtown Memphis at the Doubletree Hotel on December 1 and 2.

We offer a complete year’s worth of CLE is 2 days. The program is designed for civil trial practioners.

We have had a great time with the seminar this year and, if I do say so myself, have had great reviews. We have almost doubled our attendance from last year and have been very fortunate to have a good number of repeat attendees.

It’s toy time in Tennessee – and all around the nation. This report is the 20th Annual Toy Survey that advises us about toys that present a risk to children. Here is the Executive Summary. And here is summary list of the toys that present a potential hazard.

Here is what purports to be talking points concerning tort reform for Republicans.

A sampling: “America has far too many frivolous lawsuits, absurd jury awards and outrageous plaintiffs’ lawyers. They wreck small businesses, damage the economy, punish consumers, deprive Americans of essential healthcare and cost all of us a lot of money. Republicans can never go wrong criticizing lawsuit abuse. For statistical purposes, you start with a potential pool of 81% of the electorate that believes ‘laws should be enacted to make it tougher for lawyers to file frivolous lawsuits.’ That’s pretty darn good.
So you start out with the American public on your side. But to keep them there, you need to talk about this issue using the right tone, context and language.”

It goes on and on, page after page.

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 spent a good amount of time over the years during professional association activities, particularly with the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association and, in the last decade, the National Board of Trial Advocacy. I also founded and am a co-author of the Tennessee Tort Law Letter, a monthly newsletter on tort law developments in Tennessee and serve, from time to time, on various committees, boards, and commissions. Then, last February, I started playing with this blog. I guess that could cause some people to wonder if I still practice law.

Well, I do, and I believe that the folks in my office will tell you that it is still a full-time practice. How do I work it all in? I typically blog between 4:30 and 5:30 in the morning, although I occasionally prepare a post at night before I go to bed and actually post it the next morning. I do my other writing at nights or on the weekends and squeeze in the professional activities just like the rest of you do. The writing and speaking I do on substantive law actually keeps me very current on the case law in the state and developments in the law around the nation, which I believe helps me better represent our clients.