A motion in limine to prevent your adversary from performing magic tricks in closing argument?
Read all about it here from the Litigation and Trial Blog.
SCOTUS Issues Opinion in Wyeth v. Levine
The U.S. Supreme Court has issued the opinion in Wyeth v. Levine, the product liability case against the manufacturer of Phenergan. Wyeth appealed from an adverse jury verdict saying that Levine’s failure-to–warn claims were pre-empted by federal law because Phenergan’s label was approved by the FDA.
The USSC held that federal law did not pre-empt Levine’s claim that Phenergan’s label did not contain an adequate warning about the IV-push method of administration.
Read the opinion here
Legal Malpractice Lawsuits On the Upswing?
This post from the New York Attorney Malpractice Blog includes the full text of an article from New York Lawyer titled "Legal Malpractice Cases May Surge as the Economy Tanks."
The article says that " [a] recent American Bar Association (ABA) study that looked at legal malpractice claims filed between 2004 and 2007 found that the total number of claims increased by more than 36% compared to the previous three-year period." CNA expects a increase in claims this year that are related to the downfall in the economy.
March 2009 Edition of the Tennessee Trial Law Report
The March 2009 edition of the Tennessee Trial Law Report is in the mail.
This edition includes a summary of 20 different cases addressing various aspects of the law of torts, civil procedure, evidence and trial as decided by Tennessee appellate courts between January 15 and February 15, 2009. The newsletter totals 47 pages, including 22 pages containing the full-text (in addition to our summary) of the three most important cases of the last month. We add the full-text of selected decisions because we think that they are significant enough that lawyers who seek to stay on top of tort law will want to read them in full.
The newsletter also includes (a) Part 3 of my three-part article of the law of motions In limine; and (b) a summary of the status of 22 cases of interest to tort lawyers that are pending before the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Court of Tennessee.
Animation of Crash of Flight 1549
Here is an animation of the crash of US Airways 1549 landing in the Hudson River prepared by Scene Systems. The simulation includes the audio from the pilot and air traffic control.
Scene Systems creates animations for litigation of all types.
E-Discovery Highlights
Kroll Ontrack, an company in electronic discovery and computer forensics business, has compiled a list of the 5 most important of the 138 reported electronic discovery opinions issued from Jan.1, 2008 until Oct. 31, 2008. A full 25% of the cases address the issues of sanctions.
To read a summary of the 5 most significant cases go and Kroll OnTrack’s analysis of the state of e-discovery click here.
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in the ER
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?