Day on Torts

March 28, 2010

Products Liability Judgment Against Ford Reversed

The South Carolina Supreme Court has reversed a judgment for the plaintiffs in a case against Ford Motor Company. The plaintiffs claimed that the Ford Explorer in which they were riding had a defective cruise control and defective seat belts.

The court ruled that the trial judge should have excluded Bill Williams as an expert on cruise control diagnosis. The court also ruled that Dr. Anoty Anderson was not qualified to reliabily testify as to alternative designs and his theory concerning the cause of teh sudden acceleration.

Finally, the court ruled that certain claimed "other similar incidents" were not substantially similar.

March 26, 2010

Handling Bar Complaints

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Brian Tannebaum is a Florida lawyer who handles bar grievance cases and shares information on the subject in his blog, My Law License. He has been kind enough to share an e-book with us called "I Got A Bar Complaint" that is both informative and entertaining. The book discusses the Florida grievance process, but includes tips that will benefit lawyers around the country.

Enjoy.

March 25, 2010

“Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter” Statistics – Part 4

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

As I mentioned in three previous posts, Shannon Ragland of the Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter has graciously agreed to permit me to share some of the information he has gathered concerning jury trials in Tennessee.

This multi-part series will discuss some of the data contained in Shannon’s 359-page 2009 report. You can buy the report yourself for $175.00. It is well worth the money. Click here to buy the report. The same link will permit you to order Shannon’s monthly newsletter.

Shannon’s 2009 report gathers data about the most common retail defendants in premises cases, employment discrimination cases, dog bite cases, loss of consortium awards, soft tissue cases and more. I think I have gone about far enough in giving away the data he collected and sells (at a reasonable price, I might add) but I will go a little bit further and talk about one more subject.

March 25, 2010

Medical Helicopter Crash Near Brownsville, TN

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Various television stations are reporting that a medical helicopter crashed outside of Brownsville, Tennessee. The NTSB has sent a team to the scene.

Apparently, the company operating the helicopter was Memphis Medical Center Air Ambulance Service, Inc., also known as Hospital Wing.

The helicopter was a Eurocopter Astar AS350B3 model.

March 24, 2010

Day on Torts: Leading Cases in Tennessee Tort Law

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

I am pleased (no, overjoyed) to report that the new edition of my tort book has gone to the printer.

The book is now in its third edition, with a title change to more accurately reflect what the book contains. Day on Torts: Leading Cases in Tennessee Tort Law contains 79 chapters and 345 sections highlighting the most prominent tort case on 345 different subjects. There are citations to another several thousand cases. The original volume of the book just 66 chapters and 233 sections. The page count has increased from 437 pages to 667 pages.

The new edition has abandoned the effort to update the rules of civil procedure, evidence and relevant tort law statutes. This will result in a substantial price drop for the book.

March 23, 2010

“Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter” Statistics – Part 3

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

As I mentioned in two previous posts, Shannon Ragland of the Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter has graciously agreed to permit me to share some of the information he has gathered concerning jury trials in Tennessee.

This multi-part series will discuss some of the data contained in Shannon’s 359-page report. You can buy the report yourself for $175.00. It is well worth the money. Click here to buy the report. The same link will permit you to order Shannon’s monthly newsletter.

Today we look at medical malpractice verdicts. There were 32 trials in Tennessee in 2009. Plaintiffs won 9 of those cases, and the defense won 23. Seven of those cases were tried in Nashville and five were tried in Memphis.

March 22, 2010

Rule Change in State Court – Service of Pleadings and Papers By Electronic Mail

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Effective July 1, 2010 a party to a litigation may serve papers in Adobe PDF format via electronic mail to the attorney’s email address. The process is a little more cumbersome than it need be, but it is a step-forward toward increasing the efficiency of law practice and reducing cost.

The rule change is a modification to Rule 5.02 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure. View this rule change (and the other changes to the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure) here.

Note: the amendments proposed to Rules 3, 4 and 26 have not been adopted.

March 22, 2010

Georgia Supreme Court Strikes Down Damages Cap in Medical Malpractice Cases

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The Georgia Supreme Court has struck down a cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases, declaring the cap to be a violation of the right to trial by jury. The case is Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery, P.C. v. Nestlehutt, NO. SO9A1432 (Ga. March 22, 2010). Read the opinion here.

The Court ruled that by "requiring a court to reduce a noneconomic damages award determined by a jury that exceeds the statutory limit, OCGA Sec. 51-13-1 clearly nullifies the jury’s findings of fact regarding damages and thereby undermines the jury’s basic function."

March 18, 2010

“Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter” Statistics – Part 2

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

As I mentioned in last Tuesday’s post, Shannon Ragland of the Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter has graciously agreed to permit me to share some of the information he has gathered concerning jury trials in Tennessee.

This multi-part series will discuss some of the data contained in Shannon’s 359-page report. You can buy the report yourself for $175.00. It is well worth the money. Click here to buy the report. The same link will permit you to order Shannon’s monthly newsletter.

Today we look at wrongful death cases. Total trials in Tennessee in 2009? Just 14. Only three verdicts were returned for the plaintiff and eleven came in for the defense. Seven of those trials were in the medical malpractice area, and six of those were won by the defense. The average verdict in the three successful cases was a little over $2.4 million.

March 17, 2010

Motions To Strike Insufficient Affirmative Defenses

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

I have had several lawyers ask me to post our most recent work in the area of filing motions to strike insufficient affirmative defenses in comparative fault cases.

I have been filing these motions since 1992. A defendant has an obligation to follow Rule 8.03 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure and set forth the facts upon which a affirmative defense, including the defense of comparative fault, is based. The failure to do so should result in the defense being stricken from the answer.

A defendant has a right to have a reasonable amount of time to investigate the case and amend their answer to assert a comparative default defense of a party or non-party. This is discussed in my article called "Party Planning for Tort Lawyers" in the November 2009 edition of the Tennessee Bar Journal.