Articles Posted in Miscellaneous

Some of you are familiar with the Rosoce Pound Institute, an organization founded in 1956 which works to “help judges, academics and others understand a balanced view of the U.S. civil justice system.”

Last week, the Institute held a conference at Vanderbilt University School of Law on the issue of medical negligence. Friday afternoon I had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion about patient safety. Joining me on the panel were Sandy Bledsoe, a nurse by training and now the #2 person in Vanderbilt’s Risk Management Department, Dr. Paul Keckley, the head of Vanderbilt’s Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, and Dr. Gerald Hickson, Director of the Center for Patient and Professional Advocacy.

I was happy to learn about the substantial effort Vanderbilt is making in attempting to reduce patient injuries and claims. The CPPA identifies physcians who are the subject of patient complaints and works with them to approve their skills in communicating with patients. Dr. Hickson has taken this program around the country; I believe he said that his team has been to 18 other institutions with this concept. Dr. Hickson has worked in conjunction with the Risk Managment Department at Vanderbilt.

Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body is the leading textbook on anatomy and now it is available on-line. Click here to review the index of what drawings and information is available.

Thanks to Bob Kraft for bringing this site to my attention.

Georgia passed a tort “deform” statute last year. One part of the legislation required a plaintiff to pay a defendant’s attorneys’ fees if the plaintiff did not obtain a judgment of at 25% higher than a defendant’s last offer of judgment.

A trial judge has struck down that provision, saying that “[b]y authorizing attorney’s fees to be awarded against plaintiffs who assert their right to prosecute their claims in court, secure a judgment in their favor, but fail to win as much damages as they hoped, the statute violates [Georgia’s Constitutional] guarantees that “[n]o person shall be deprived of the right to prosecute … [their] cause in any of the courts of this state.”

Here is an articledicussing the ruling.

The United States Supreme Court has refused to hear a case involving a class action certified by a Oklahoma judge involving 420,000 GM vehicles. The lawsuit alleges that the vehicles are equipped with airbags that deploy unnecessarily.

The problem is a software glich, later corrected by GM on other vehicles.

Senator Frist’s blind trust is a story that will not die – and now more information is coming forward.

Read the latest from the Miami Hearld and the AP.

You may remember that the Florida voters passed a cap on attorneys’ fees in medical malpractice cases. The constitutional amendment was pushed by Florida’s doctors. Fees are capped at 30% for the first $250,000 and 10% on any amount over $250,000.

Lawyers representing patients began asking them if they wanted to waive the cap of fees. The doctors then got a group of lawyers to petition the Florida Supreme Court to have the Court change its rules of professional conduct to limit attorney’s fees in medical malpractice cases. The doctor’s efforts is being led by former Florida Supreme Court Justice Stephen Grimes who works for Holland & Knight.

Grimes led an effort to get 54 lawyers to sign a petition to get the rules changed – Florida rules require at least 50 lawyers to sign a petition to start the process. Former Justice Grimes managed to get 19 lawyers from his firm to sign the petition – quite an amazing result given the fact that the firm advertises that it has “1200 lawyers and professionals.”

I love handling appeals. I prefer to be an appellee, and I would just as soon win and move on, but if we have to end up in an appellate court, I enjoy the work.

Here is a publication from the Defense Research Institute addressing various issues concerning appeals, including some legal writing tips.

Extreme Makeover is a disturbing show that takes advantage of poor self image and glorifies physical beauty. Deleese Williams did not make the final cut of the show and, she now alleges, the experience was so horrible that it caused her sister to take her own life. <a

According to one source, “Williams was videotaped recounting the ridicule she suffered as a child and her years in an abusive marriage to an ex-husband. Her lawsuit alleges that her husband and sisters were also interviewed and encouraged to make disparaging comments about her looks.Here is a copy of the complaint.

It appears that the contestant signed some sort of release before taking part in the activities that may have given rise to an actual appearance on the show.

How can some members of the Republican Party take a national disaster and turn it into a windfall for corporate America?

No-bid contracts for companies working to clean up the mess caused by Katrina? Of course, but there is more. Eliminate the need to pay the prevailing wage? Sure.

How about tort reform?