by

Tort cases are a rare commodity in the SCOTUS (Thank God) but one was argued earlier this week. A woman tripped on packages and other matters left on her porch (rather than in her mailbox) by the Post Office and and brought suit under the FTCA.

The issue is “whether a claim for personal injury caused by the negligence of a United States Postal Service employee while
delivering mail is barred by 28 U.S.C. ㋔ 2680(b), the exception
to the government’s waiver of sovereign immunity in the
Federal Tort Claims Act for claims “arising out of the loss,
miscarriage, or negligent transmission of letters or postal matter.”

The case is Dolan v. United States Postal Service, 04-848. Read more here. You can get copies of the briefs here.

by

Today I am off to Chattanooga for two days of a seminar sponsored by Justice Programs. The 15-credit hour seminar (which includes 3 E & P hours) is designed for lawyers who practice civil litigation. The seminar will also be held in Knoxville on November 17 and 18 and in Memphis on December 1 and 2. Read more here.

Those of you who dive may enjoy a seminar in Cozumel on November 26-29. I will be speaking for 6 hours on torts, comparative fault, and depositions. This program is sponsered by the Tennessee Bench Bar Conference. Contact me for more information.

Finally, our law firm will be holding two seminars in December. On December 14 and 15 we offer a program for young lawyers called “Fundamentals of Civil Litigation.” It is always a well-attended program and has gotten great reviews over the years. On December 19 we will hold our second annual “Beyond the Fundamentals of Civil Litigation” program. Both seminars are held in the Nashville area (Franklin, right of I-65). Read about them at this page on our website.

by

It is 1 to 1 and we now move to federal court for round 3 in the Vioxx wars. The first federal trial is in Houston, where Jere Beasley from Alabama will serve as lead counsel for the plaintiffs and Phil Beck from Chicago will serve as lead counsel for the defendants.

The trial starts November 29, 2005. Read more here.

The federal trial was orginally set for trial in New Orleans but had to be moved because of Katrina.

by

The Tennessee Supreme Court has granted a Rule 11 application in Johnson v. Tennessee Farmers Mutual Ins. Co. With this case, the Tennessee Supreme Court will decide whether the tort of “bad faith” exists is Tennessee.

Judge Inman’s decision in this case renders the tort virtually meaningless. It requires almost intentional conduct to give rise to liability.

Judge Lee’s dissent says that the law of Tennessee is (and should be) that bad faith may be found if the jury determines from a consideration of all relevant factors that good faith was absent. She would not require proof of fraud or dishonesty.

Continue reading

by

Plaintiff’s lawyers don’t really do legal research, do they?

Only the plaintiff’s lawyers who want to win.

If you don’t know the law it is difficult to make intelligent case selection decisions. There is nothing wrong with pushing the envelope, but you need to know you are pushing the envelope when you accept the case so that you can make an informed decision that you are taking a case that has appropriate facts that increase the likelihood that you will push the envelope and live to tell about it.

Continue reading

by

I came upon a new blog – Insurance Scrawl – written by Marc Mayerson in D.C.

Here is how Marc describes the purpose of the blog:

“Insurance Scrawl focuses on the law of insurance, the insurance of business, and the business of insurance. It is the first insurance blog (or insurance blawg) that approaches these issues from the perspective of policyholders. The principal focus is on commercial property-casualty matters (and not life/health/disability/auto or the insurance needs of individuals). The goals of this weblog are to provide current updates, with links to source materials, on matters about which well-informed professionals should be aware and to share my perspective and knowledge about insurance-coverage issues. In-house lawyers, risk managers, brokers, outside counsel, insurance-company and reinsurance professionals, adjusters, professors, law students, and judges are the intended audience. Although Insurance Scrawl approaches the subject from a particular vantage point, readers should find the articles to be more analytical than polemical.”

Continue reading

by

The Washington Post reports that “Americans pay more when they get sick than people in other Western nations and get more confused, error-prone treatment, according to the largest survey to compare U.S. health care with other nations.”

The Post also states that “Americans also reported the greatest number of medical errors. Thirty-four percent reported getting the wrong medication or dose, incorrect test results, a mistake in their treatment or care, or being notified late about abnormal test results. Only 30 percent of Canadian patients, 27 percent of Australian patients, 25 percent of New Zealanders, 23 percent of Germans and 22 percent of Britons reported errors.”

Read the article here.

Contact Information
Brentwood Office
Mailing Address
5141 Virginia Way, #270
Brentwood, TN 37027
Toll Free: 866.812.8787
Phone: 615.742.4880
Fax: 615.742.4881
Nashville Office
810 Dominican Dr #315
Nashville, TN 37228
Toll Free: 866.812.8787
Phone: 615.669.3993
Fax: 615.742.4881
Murfreesboro Office
1639 Medical Center Pkwy #105
Murfreesboro, TN 37129
Toll Free: 866.812.8787
Phone: 615.867.9900
Fax: 615.742.4881
This is a paid legal advertisement.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2015 – 2025, The Law Offices of John Day, P.C.
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design