Those of us who typically work for contingent fees have an extra incentive to work smarter. Like many of you, I have done a lot of reading in the field of time managment and project management, looking for ways to improve my productivity through better organization.
I found this article on Harvard Business School’s "Working Knowledge" site that does a nice job summarizing some of the ideas I have read over the years that help improve productivity.
Post 10 addresses changes to the Personal Rights Protection Act of 1984, codified at TCA Title 47, Chapter 25, Part 11.
Here is a summary of the new law:
Under present law, the Personal Rights Protection Act specifies that an individual is entitled to recover the actual damages suffered as a result of the knowing use or infringement of such individual’s rights and any profits that are attributable to such use or infringement which are not taken into account in computing the actual damages. Profit or lack thereof by the unauthorized use or infringement of an individual’s rights is not a criteria of determining liability.
Post 9 in our ongoing series of legislation of interest to tort lawyers addresses a new act that clarifies the responsibility of cemetary operators when they learn that a body has been interred in the wrong burial plot at the cemetery. If the cemetary operator complies with the statute no damages can be awarded against the cemetery unless the cemetery acted intentionally or with malice.
Click on the link to read Public Acts, 2009 Public Chapter 365.
This is Post 8 in my review of the legislation of interest to tort lawyers that was passed by the General Assembly in 2009. Want to see more? Look at the Legislation 2009 category.
This legislation is of interest to those who bring or defend dram shop cases. The new act modifies TCA Section 57-3-406 and TCA Section 57-5-301. Here is a summary of the bill:
Present law prohibits an alcoholic beverage retailer from selling any alcoholic beverages to any person who is drunk and from selling alcoholic beverages to any person accompanied by a person who is drunk. This bill revises this provision to refer to persons who are "visibly intoxicated" instead of persons who are "drunk."
(1).bmp)
Last week I received a letter informing me that I had been selected for inclusion in the 2010 edition of Best Lawyers in America. I have been fortunate to have been included among this distinguished group of lawyers since 1993.
This year I have been listed in the specialties of Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Medical Malpractice Law, Personal Injury Litigation, and Product Liability Litigation.
Best Lawyers surveys lawyers to determine who should be included in the publication. Thus, I fully realize that I would not be included in this book if it were not for the votes I received from my fellow lawyers, many of whom deserve equal or even greater recognition for their service to their clients and to the profession. I also realize that I would not be a part of this publication without the wonderful support I receive from every member of our firm, each of whom works diligently every day to serve our clients.
Here is Post 7 of recent changes to statutory law in Tennessee that I think will be of interest to tort lawyers. As I have said in the last six posts, you can read about additional changes in the law under the Legislation 2009 category.
Public Chapter 206 changed the Governmental Tort Liability Act to include Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 29-20-101 et seq, to specifically include "community action agenc[ies] [and] nonprofit corporation[s] which administer[] the Head Start or Community Service Block Grant programs" as entities covered under the Act.
I believe that this legislation is a result of a case our firm handled against such an organization in East Tennessee earlier this year. We argued that the entity was not covered by the Act (and therefore the damage caps did not apply) because the type of entity was not specifically mentioned in the Act. I predicated at the time we identified the issue that a legislative change would be forthcoming, and this is it.
The "Dead By Mistake" website, hosted by the San Francisco Chronicle, contains chilling stories of deficiencies in our health care system that result in injury and death. This alone brings the point home: more people die each month from preventable medical errors than died in the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
Quite frankly, this is all old news to lawyers who are involved in medical malpractice litigation. This site will educate those lawyers who do not regularly do this work. It will inform consumers and legislators of the nature and extent of the problem. And, for those of us who do this work everyday, it will remind us of how important it is that we work as hard as we can to hold health care providers responsible for the harm they cause.
LIke you, I get a lot of emails every day. All too often, I permit emails to control my work schedule – a big mistake.
Here is a nice article that gives suggestions for managing the mass of emails that enter our lives every day. The writer, Stever Robbins, accurately points out the reason for the problem:
Before e-mail, senders shouldered the burden of mail. Writing, stamping, and mailing a letter was a lot of work. Plus, each new addressee meant more postage, so we thought hard about whom to send things to. (Is it worth spending thirty-two cents for Loren to read this letter? Nah….)
I admire people who have the foresight and courage to pick a practice area and learn it, inside out. I greatly admire those who share the knowledge they have to help other lawyers and the public.
Here is a fine example: Dog Bite Law by Kenneth Phillips. He limits his cases to representing people who have been bitten by dogs and "accept [s] only cases where a person has been bitten in the face, or has become disabled — or where a person has been killed."
Kenneth shares lots of information for victims of dog bites, down owners, parents, journalists and other lawyers. He also sells what appears to be a very comprehensive form book. He also sells videos and books for lawyers. For those who have relatively minor cases, Kenneth sells forms to aid the injured party in resolving his own case.
Those of us who do medical malpractice work are familiar with Occam’s Razor, the common understanding of which (as stated on Wikipedia) is that "of several acceptable explanations for a phenomenon, the simplest is preferable, provided that it takes all circumstances into account."
Those of us who do medical malpractice work are also familiar with the the following litigation tactic often employed by our brothers and sisters of the defense bar, known as Blore’s Razor: "Given the choice between two theories, take the one which is funnier." (from Michael Moncur’s (Cynical) Quotations).
