Day on Torts

September 3, 2009

Health Care Reform Everyone Can Support – The Use of Medical Checklists

A reader sent me an article in September – October 2009 issue of Harvard Magazine that discusses the work of Dr. Atul Gawande. Dr. Gawande is very interested in patient safety. One of his interests is the use of medical checklists, a subject I have addressed in a previous post.

Apparently, Gawande and his colleagues developed a checklist for surgery patients. The list, described in the article as addressing "rudimentary tasks" (e.g. confirming the patient’s identity), had some amazing results. In one year of use in 8 different hospitals around the world, the rate of complications had dropped one-third; surgicial-site infections by half, and deaths of surgical patients by nearly half.

Seven countries and more than two dozen states require the use of surgical checklists. One wonders why every state in the Union does not require them.

September 2, 2009

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers – Post 20

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

Post 20 (we are almost finished with this series folks, I promise) concerns judicial selection and evaluation. So much has been written about this subject the last four years. The bill is 16 pages in lengh and cannot be summarized here. If you are truly interest in reading this legislation, click on the link to read Public Chapter 517.

September 1, 2009

Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission Members Announced

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

Last week I filed a post on the new members of the Judicial Selection Commission. Today, the appointees to the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission were announced.

The Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, which replaces the Judicial Evaluation Commission, evaluates the performance of the appellate level judges who are up for re-election. Prior to the election, the commission will complete a thorough review of each judge’s performance and make a recommendation to either retain or replace each judge. These recommendations are placed in newspapers throughout the state to inform voters prior to the election.

The appointees:

August 31, 2009

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers – Post 19

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

Post 19 addresses the liability of "agritourism professionals." What, in heaven’s name, is a agritourism professional? A person involved in agritourism, of course. And what is that? Agritourism is

any activity carried out on a farm or ranch, eligible for greenbelt classification under Title 67, Chapter 5, Part 10, that allows members of the general public, for recreational, entertainment, or educational purposes, to view or enjoy rural activities, including farming, ranching, historic, cultural, or harvest-your-own activities, or natural activities and attractions. An activity is an agritourism activity whether or not a participant provides compensation in money or other valuable compensation to participate in the activity. Agritourism activity includes an activity involving any animal
exhibition at an agricultural fair, regardless of the location of the fair.

Here is a brief description of what the bill does:

August 31, 2009

September 2009 Tennessee Trial Law Report is in the Mail

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

The September 2009 edition of the Tennessee Trial Law Report is in the mail.

The lazy days of summer are upon us – this edition includes a summary of just 10 different cases addressing various aspects of the law of torts, civil procedure, evidence and trial as decided by Tennessee appellate courts between July 15 and August 15, 2009. (This is about 1/2 of the normal volume of decisions released in a given month.) The newsletter totals 34 pages, including 16 pages containing the full-text (in addition to our summary) of the most important opinions issued last month.

The newsletter also includes (a) my continuing series on The Law of Trial (this month’s article is “Opening Statements and Closing Arguments;” and (b) a summary of the status of 12 cases of interest to tort lawyers that are pending before the Supreme Court of Tennessee.

August 31, 2009

“New” Chrysler Steps Up to the Plate

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

New Chrysler (Chrysler Group LLC) has announced that it will be accepting product liability claims on vehicles manufactured by its predecessor, now known as Old Carco, but only for accidents occurring after June 10, 2009. Chrysler yielded to pressure from consumer groups that aggressively lobbied for a law requiring warning stickers on used Chrysler vehicles, an effort which would have reduced the value of the vehicles.

From the New Chrysler Press Release:

"We know a lot more about the viability of our business today than when we purchased Old Carco’s assets in its bankruptcy proceedings several months ago," said John Bozzella, Senior Vice President, External Affairs & Public Policy, Chrysler Group LLC. "While Chrysler Group still faces challenges, we are confident that the future viability of the company will not be threatened if we accept these claims."

August 30, 2009

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers – Post 18

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

Post 18 of this series brings to your attention a change in the law concerning the licensing of lawyers and pro hac vice admission of lawyers to practice in Tennessee. The language of T.C.A. Sec. 23-1-108 has been deleted and replaced with the following language:

No person shall practice law in this state without first receiving a license
issued by the Tennessee supreme court and complying with the provisions of
Rule 6 of the Rules of the Tennessee supreme court concerning admission to the
practice of law, except that nothing in this statute precludes the pro hac vice
admission of persons licensed in other jurisdictions in accordance with
Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 19.

Here is a the text of Public Chapter 485. Here is the text of Rule 19 of the T.S.C.R.

August 29, 2009

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers – Post 17

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

Post 17 of this series also addresses the subject of court reporting. This bill establishes: (1) licensure requirements for court reporters; (2) the Tennessee Board of Court Reporting; and (3) the Tennessee board of Court Reporting Fund. This bill prohibits any person from practicing court reporting or holding the person out as a court reporter unless the person is a licensed court reporter, except as otherwise provided by law.

The licensure requirements go into effect July 1, 2010.

Click at the link to see a complete copy of Public Acts,2009 Public Chapter 450.

August 28, 2009

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers – Post 16

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

Post 16 of this series addresses a change in the law applicable to taking of depositions. The bill summary set forth below describes the original bill as amended. The new law

prohibit[s] the taking of a deposition before a person who is:

(1) A party to the action or an attorney for one of the parties;
(2) A relative, including a spouse, of one of the parties or of an attorney for one of the parties;
(3) An employee of one of the parties or of an attorney for one of the parties;
(4) Someone who has, or has had during the past two years, a sexual relationship with one of the parties or with an attorney for one of the parties; or
(5) Someone with a financial interest in the action or its outcome.

August 27, 2009

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers – Post 15

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

Post 15 addresses the changes to Tennessee law concerning the proper way to give notice to potential defendants in medical malpractice cases and the changes in the law concerning the certificate of good faith.

I have addressed this legislation in several other posts (here is a post with a complete summary) and need not repeat what I have published in the past. For those of you who are involved in medical negligence litigation I suggest you read my article on this legislation in the July 2009 edition of the Tennessee Bar Journal.

The predecessor to this law came into effect last October and has resulted in a significant decrease in the number of medical malpractice case filings. As I wrote in June, the number of filings for the first eight months after the original law law passed are down 60% over a year earlier.