Day on Torts

March 22, 2007

Another Story Out of the Justice Department

Watch this story from the Washington Post increase the heat on the Justice Department, folks. There will be hearings on this, without a doubt.

A sample: "The leader of the Justice Department team that prosecuted a landmark lawsuit against tobacco companies said yesterday that Bush administration political appointees repeatedly ordered her to take steps that weakened the government’s racketeering case.

Sharon Y. Eubanks said Bush loyalists in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales’s office began micromanaging the team’s strategy in the final weeks of the 2005 trial, to the detriment of the government’s claim that the industry had conspired to lie to U.S. smokers.

March 22, 2007

Arkansas Strikes Down Part of Certificate of Merit Legislation

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The Arkansas Supreme Court struck down that portion of legislation requiring a plaintiff in medical negligence cases to file affidavits of merit in medical malpractice cases within 30 days of filing the complaint or face dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint.

The Court ruled that the statute imposed a requirement for commencement of an action that was greater than that imposed by Rule 3 of the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure. The Court went on to say that "[t]he constitutional infirmity in § 16-114-209(b) is the provision for dismissal if the affidavit does not accompany a complaint within thirty days. We do not hold today that the balance of § 16-114-209(b), requiring a reasonable-cause affidavit, is constitutionally infirm. Having said that, it appears that without the time limit of thirty days, the statute largely is duplicative of § 16-114-206 regarding the plaintiff’s burden of proof and medical expert testimony concerning breach of the standard of care in the community."

The case is Summerville v. Thrower, No. 06-501, (Ark. S. C. March 15, 2007). Read it here.

March 21, 2007

More on Priest Sexual Misconduct and the Cover-Up

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Cardinal Mahoney from LA. You read the story from the LA Times and decide for yourself.

An excerpt: "In a letter to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before Ratzinger became pope in April 2005, Mahony said [Father] Caffoe had videotaped "partially naked" boys in a state of sexual arousal. The tape was "objective verification that criminal behavior did occur," Mahony wrote, according to papers filed last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court in a lawsuit by four plaintiffs who allege that Caffoe abused them.

In October 2005, in what Mahony told parishioners was the "fullest possible disclosure" about the scandal, he reported that a videotape had been discovered in 1992 in Caffoe’s bedroom, depicting "improper behavior" with high school boys. But the cardinal said the boys were "fully clothed" and there was no sexual activity."

March 21, 2007

Off Topic – Snow Job

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Tony Snow has a different opinion about the use of the "executive privilege" defense today than he did almost a decade ago.

Here is a sample from the folks at The Swamp: ""Evidently, Mr. Clinton wants to shield virtually any communications that take place within the White House compound on the theory that all such talk contributes in some way, shape or form to the continuing success and harmony of an administration,” the columnist wrote. "Taken to its logical extreme, that position would make it impossible for citizens to hold a chief executive accountable for anything.”

Read it all here.

March 20, 2007

500 Comments

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

I am pleased to report that this blog received its 500th comment the other day. We are approaching 1000 posts, a milestone that will be reached in June.

This blog began in February 2005. I truly enjoy writing it and wish I had even more time to devote to it.

Thank you for your wonderful comments and your words of encouragement. Please let me know what topics you would like me to cover more frequently and I will do my best to accomodate you.

March 20, 2007

Bills Pending in the U.S. Congress

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

There have been two bills introduced by Senator Spector that, if passed and signed into law, would be good for those of us who do contingent fee work and for the clients who hire us.

S. 813 provides as follows:

(a) In General- Section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to trade or business expenses) is amended by redesignating subsection (q) as subsection (r) and by inserting after subsection (p) the following new subsection:

March 19, 2007

Truck Safety Figures Released

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The Truck Safety Coalition has released data showing the number of fatal truck crashes by state. Tennessee had 156 fatal crashes in 2005 and 717 in the five-year period from 2001-2005. By comparison, Alabama had 122 fatal crashes in 2005 (706 in five-years), Kentucky had 124 (596), Arkansas had 116 (531), Mississippi had 91 (445) and Georgia had 229 (1162).

Tennessee had 2.62 fatal crashes per 100,000 people, the 15th highest rate in the country. Wyoming was the worst at 6.09. Rhode Island had the best rate at .09. Eight states in the Southeast were amoung the twenty states with the highest death rates.

Another 114,000 persons were injured in truck crashes in 2005.

March 16, 2007

The Forensic Economist

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Here is an interesting article about the admissibility of the testimony of a forensic economist. The article is written to give guidance to defense counsel about how to exclude such testimony.

March 15, 2007

TSC Decides Independent Contractor Case

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has issued an opinion in Bennett v. Trevacca Nazarene University.

The summary:

"We accepted this appeal of a premises liability case to determine whether the “independent contractor rule” adopted in Blair v. Campbell, 924 S.W.2d 75 (Tenn. 1996), relieves a premises owner from liability when a premises owner provides an independent contractor inaccurate information germane to the contractor’s work. We hold that a property owner has a duty of reasonable care to provide accurate information to an independent contractor if the owner provides specific information germane to the repair after engaging the contractor. Because material facts remain in dispute between the parties in this case about what information the premises owner provided, the trial court erred when it granted summary judgment to the defendant. We affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion."

March 14, 2007

From the Tennessean

by The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.

Larry’s recent column on the med mal issue.

Update: link repaired.