The American College of Emergency Physicians has released a new clinical policy called "Clinical Policy: Neuroimaging and Decisionmaking in Adult Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in the Acute Setting."
Amusement Parks, Carnivals, and Carnies
I grew up in Spencer, Wisconsin, a village of about 1000 (less in the 1960 census, more in the 1970 census) in North Central Wisconsin. The closest city was Marshfield, at eight miles to the south on Highway 13, which at the time had about 15,000 people, a J.C. Penny store, a mail order-only Sears store and, by the time I was a senior in high school in 1973-74, a McDonald’s. My home county had more dairy cows than people. When I tease my wife about her hometown (Karns, Tennessee), she quickly reminds me that at least her birthplace had a red light and a Hardee’s. We had neither, although from time to time in some summers we had a local family run a root beer stand that we referred to as the "ringworm stand" because of a physical affliction suffered by several employees.
You get the picture.
Every June we had a three-day festival called "Spencerama," which provided not only a parade, a Spencerama Queen, and a carnival but, most importantly, a three-day excuse to drink beer to excess in an outdoor public place (as opposed to a indoor public place offered by one of the six bars in town). This extravaganza was held in the Spencer Village Park, just across the parking lot from the fire station. The carnival surrounded a wooden pavilion built to house (you guessed it) the beer garden.
Do You Want to Start Your Own Firm?
I admit it: I am a fan of the Wall Street Journal. I have read it almost every week day since I was 19, and actually got chill bumps when they started a Saturday edition a couple of years ago. The editorial page makes me mad as hell every morning, but quite frankly I think it is important to get mad as hell about something every single day.
Yesterday the WSJ had a great article titled "So, You Want to Be an Entrepreneur." The intended audience is those who want to start a business, but many of the points made apply to those who intend to start their own law practice. Here are the ten questions that the article encourages you to ask to see whether you are "up for the challenge of entrepreneurship:"
1. Are you willing and able to bear financial risk?
Has Hill v. NHC Been Settled? UPDATE
I heard a rumor that the appeal in Hill v. NHC Healthcare/Nashville,LLC, M2005-01818-COA-R30-CV, (Tenn. Ct. App. April 30, 2008) (Rule 11 granted Aug. 25, 2008) has been dismissed.
This important opinion held that the defendant nursing home’s arbitration clause was unconscionable as a matter of law. The hope was that this case would give some guidance on the circumstances under which arbitration clauses could be upheld in nursing home contacts.
Does anyone know what happened to this case?
Impeachment by Contradiction
How do you impeach by contradiction? The Federal Evidence Review Blog has a fine summary of a recent case from the Third Circuit that provides a “textbook example” of how one sets up an impeachment by contradiction and how the impeachment evidence comes before the jury even though it is not otherwise admissible.
An excerpt from the blog: “the introduction of the prior conviction evidence was “authorize[ed] under FRE 607 as impeachment by contradiction. After the defendant testified about a particular fact, the government could show that “the defendant lied as to that fact.” Gilmore, __ F.3d at __ (citing United States v. Greenidge, 495 F.3d 85, 99 (3d Cir. 2007) (no error in prosecution cross examination of bank fraud defendant about consumer and criminal complaints made against her in light of her volunteered denial that any such complaints had been made against her)).
Avoiding Malpractice – Tips for Lawyers
The American Bar Association has a nice paper titled "The Top Ten Malpractice Traps and How to Avoid Them." The paper is excerpted from "Desk Guide Legal Malpractice." Not all of the "traps" are applicable to those who do tort work on a full-time basis, but there is a lot to be learned from this 11-page document.
Here it is.
Ruining Depositions – Part 3 of 3
Evan Schaeffer from St. Louis has two blogs, The Legal Underground and The Trial Practice Tips Weblog. He has written three posts on the latter titled "15 Ways to Ruin a Deposition." Here is his latest and last post (Part 3) on the subject. Here is a link to Part 1 and Part 2.
A sample: "Failing to incorporate your completed deposition into your overall trial plan. After a deposition has ended, do you add the transcript to a giant stack of depositions sitting on your floor? There are a number of other more sensible post-deposition steps you can take. You’ll find seven of them here: ‘Trial-Planning Steps to Take After a Deposition Has Ended.’"
Peanut Butter and Peanut Recall List
Here is a list of the peanut and peanut butter products that have been recalled.
Fire in the Operating Room
The February 18, 2009 edition of The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about fires in the operating room, which happen approximately 650 times per year in the United States.
A sample: "Because each member of the [surgical] team may be focusing on his own role in a procedure, ‘the No. 1 cause of fires is lousy communication’ says Patricia Seifert, editor-in-chief of AORN Journal, the monthly publication of the Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses."
Here is a website dedicated to raise awareness about this problem: www.surgicalfire.org.
Florida Family Awarded $8M in Tobacco-Related Death Case
Tort lawyers have been carefully watching the tobacco lawsuit against Phillip Morris which arose out of the death of 55-year old Stuart Hess. The Florida jury imposed liability several days ago and earlier today awarded $3M in compensatory damages and $5M in punitive damages. Read more here.