Ten days or so ago I included a post from Paul Luvera’s blog about the importance of using checklists for taking the deposition of an eye witness.
Here is another post from Paul. This time he is sharing a checklist on information you should share with your client about the trial process. It includes suggestions for how the client should act during the trial and how to act during cross-examination.
Thanks again, Paul.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued an amend to its regulations to require interstate commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders subject to the physical qualification requirements of the agency’s regulations to provide a current original or copy of their medical examiner’s certificates to their State Driver Licensing Agency (SDLA). The new regulations also require the SDLA to record on the Commercial Driver License Information System (CDLIS) driver record the self certification the driver made regarding the applicability of the Federal driver qualification rules. The rule is effective January 30, 2009.
The goal of the new regulations is to help to prevent medically unqualified drivers from operating covered vehicles on our highways by giving the states the means of identifying CDL holders who are unable to obtain a medical certificate and to deter the use of false certificates.
Here is a copy of the new regulations.
Many plaintiff’s lawyers from across the state received assessments from the Department of Commerce and Insurance for failure to report data concerning medical malpractice settlements and judgments received during the prior year. Many of the penalities approach $20,000 and, as one lawyer told me, the penality he has been assessed is greater than the fee he received in the case.
Some people have asserted that the reason plaintiff’s lawyers have to report this data is my fault. That is not accurate. Here are the facts.
Since 1986 I have pushed for mandatory reporting of medical malpractice verdicts and settlements data. Unfortunately, the state of Tennessee only recently began keeping data on verdicts in med mal cases, and most settlements are cloaked with a confidentiality agreement. Therefore, we had no good data to fight the constant whining by the medical community that there was a med mal litigation crisis.
Thank you to the hundreds of you who have said such kind words about our new newsletter, Tennessee Trial Law Report – Tort Law Edition. Brandon Bass and I have worked hard to put together a newsletter than will save you time and make you money.
Our idea was to have one source where a tort lawyer could stay up-to-date with all of the case law in the field of torts, civil procedure, evidence and trial. Your kind words, and your subscriptions, have confirmed that we are on the right track.
To read more about the newsletter and order a sample see our website. It includes a handy list of references for Tennessee tort lawyers.
Paul Luvera has offered-up a list of his talking points for trial, an example that can be applied to a myraid of cases. See them here.
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research has issued a report extolling the virtues of a "loser pays" rule.
Here is an excerpt from the "Executive Summary:"
This study explores the likely effects of adopting a "loser pays" rule for attorneys’ fees in the United States. Loser pays, sometimes called the "English rule" but actually, in essence, the rule in place in the rest of the world, refers to the policy of reimbursement by the parties who lose in litigation of the winners’ legal expenses, including attorneys’ fees. This study argues that loser pays could be an important part of a larger effort to reduce litigation costs, better compensate prevailing litigants, and better align tort law with its goal of deterring socially harmful conduct. A loser-pays rule would discourage meritless lawsuits, but because any such rule should also ensure plaintiffs of modest means but strong legal cases access to justice, our proposal calls for:
Paul Luvera’s blog includes this great checklist for taking the deposition of an eye witness.
Paul makes the point that "lawyers must use a checklist for every deposition they take no matter how experienced there are. If seasoned airplane pilots use checklists, lawyers should too. It’s too easy to get side tracked during a deposition and forget some area of questioning."
Thanks for sharing this, Paul. It is a wonderful tool.
Here are links to two interesting blog posts by Stewart Weltman in his "Lean and Mean Litigation Blog" on the subject of formulating a discovery plan before taking depositions. The knee-jerk response is depose everyone, but as this author makes crystal clear that is not always the smart thing to do.
A sample: "Rule No. 1 in developing a deposition program – you must have a clear conceptualization of what you want your case in chief to look like at trial and you also must anticipate what you believe the other side’s case is going to look like. If you don’t, then you are on a rudderless ship that will flounder aimlessly through discovery. How can you possibly know what to ask if you don’t have a clue (1) what you want your case to look like at trial and (2) what you believe the other side’s case is going to look like?"
Thanks Stewart.
The Insurance Institute for HIghway Safety has announced its TOP SAFETY PICKS for 2009.
The picks " recognize[ ] vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side, and rear crashes based on good ratings in Institute tests. Winners also have to have electronic stability control (ESC), which research shows significantly reduces crash risk."
IIHS reminds us that "[f]ront and side impacts are the most common kinds of fatal crashes, killing about three-quarters of the 28,896 passenger vehicle occupants who died in 2007. Rear-end crashes usually aren’t fatal, but they result in a large proportion of crash injuries. Neck sprain or strain is the most commonly reported injury in two thirds of insurance claims for injuries in all kinds of crashes."
A couple weeks ago I wrote a post about use of PDF Portfolios to organize documents. The source for that post has recently given us access to an eseminar that he did on creating electronic closing binders using PDF technology – either PDF Binder or PDF Portfolio. The differences between the two programs are explained in great detail.
The author has also given us access to a 36-page guide called Creating Electronic Closing Binders using Acrobat 9.
These programs can be used to create electronic briefs, demand letters, etc.
