AAJ has released a report titled "The Ten Worst Insurance Companies in America." Read it here.
The list:
1. Allstate
Back to Music City
I spent the last week at Rosemary Beach, Florida with my family. I took a week off from blogging and virtually everything else and did nothing.
Let the blogging begin! Here is a Tort Law Tibit from June of 2005:
The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices is available, free of charge, online at the Federal Highway Administration website. The site not only has the latest 2003 edition, but goes back as far as the 1993 revisions. You should be able to find the right edition to address any pending or potential claim for a roadway that is dangerously unmarked. Compliance with the MUTCD is necessary, but not always sufficient. The MUTCD and the law still require reasonableness by a contractor or highway planner.
SVMIC Files 2007 Annual Report
State Volunteer Mutual Insurance Company , the doctor-owned medical malpractice insurance carrier, continues to enjoy profitability, according to my review of its 2007 Annual Report that was recently filed with the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance.
A few highlights:
* Surplus, the insurance industry equivalent of net worth, increased almost $28,000,000 to a total of $245,000,000. This follows a $33 million dollar increase in 2006 and a $16.4 million dollar increase in 2005.
Tort Law Tibit – Negligence Per Se
What is the name of the case that tells us that violation of a statute is negligence per se? Cook By and Through Uithoven v. Spinnaker’s of Rivergate, 878 S.W.2d 934, 937 (Tenn. 1994). What about the violation of a regulation? Long by Cotton v. Brookside Manor, 885 S.W.2d 70, 73-74 (Tenn. App. 1994). An ordinance? Kim v. Boucher, 55 S.W.2d 551 (Tenn. App. 2001).
(Originally appeared May 39, 2005).
Tennessee Ranked #1 – Business Litigation Climate
Tortsprof Blog has been kind enough to let us know that Directorship has released its second annual Boardroom Guide to State Litigation Climates. According to the Guide:
Directorship’s Best and Worst States for Business
The 10 Best
Poll About Juries
Harris Interactive conducted a online poll about jury service in December 2007. The findings include the following:
* "Two-thirds (65%) of Americans have been called to serve jury duty, two-thirds of that (68%) actually attended, leaving one-third (32%) who did not.
* Of those who have attended jury duty, just over half (55%) have actually served on a jury.
Thong Lawsuit
As a 51 year old man happily married to a beautiful, intelligent 37 year old woman, I confess I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about thongs. I also confess that it never crossed my mind that a person wearing a thong could ever suffer a personal injury from the thong. Oh sure, I knew that a thong could cause financial loss, usually in the form of alimony paid by the married man dating a woman who wore one. And I could certainly image some degree of discomfort when wearing a thong in a foreseeable manner- clearly an assumed risk. But actionable personal injury? Nope, never crossed my mind.
Well, it has happened. Or at least Macrida Patterson, a 52 year old woman from California, says it happened. Her lawyer told The Smoking Gun that "a "design problem" caused [a] decorative piece [on the thong] to come loose and strike Patterson in the eye, causing damage to her cornea." The offending piece of merchandise was reportedly a "’low-rise v-string’ from the Victoria’s Secret ‘Sexy Little Thing’ line." Read the article and complaint here.
TSG also tells us that "v-strings" are an undergarment that serves as the Victoria’s Secret variant on the "g-string," " which has long been favored in the battle against visible panty lines" (also known as "vpls"). (Aren’t you men glad TSG saved us hours of time paging through the latest VS catalog trying to figure this out? For those of you who don’t trust TSG, go here and conduct your own research.)
Tennessee Supreme Court on TRCP Rule 35
The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued an opinion interpreting Rule 35 of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure.
Rule 35 is the rule the permits a party to have a physician of the party’s choice examine the adverse party. Unfortunately, it is often referred to as an independent medical examination, and indeed the opinion mistakenly refers to it as such. Rule 35 exams usually have the same degree of objectivity as a mother opining on the character and physical appearance of her only son.
But on to substance. Very few civil procedure cases find their way to the Tennessee Supreme Court (exception: Rule 56) and when one does get there we need to read it. This is true even in this case where the plaintiff was pursuing a worker’s compensation claim and the issue is primarily covered by the Worker’s Compensation Act.
Tennessee Adopts Interstate Deposition Act
Governor Bredesen has signed the "Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act" into law. The Act is effective for discovery requests after July 1, 2008.
The legislation establishes a procedure for litigants in other states to do discovery in Tennessee. However, the Act is a uniform act, so Tennessee lawyers will benefit from knowledge of it when they have to do discovery in other states that also have the Act
The legislation also repeals on portion of the current chapter, T.C.A. Section 24-9-103.
