I am taking a few days off to enjoy the holidays. I be back with you on Monday a.m.
Off Topic – Iraq
Well, I just said that I wasn’t going to post anything and then came upon this interesting article about the events leading up to the war in Iraq. This article does as fine a job as I have seen compiling the facts about the representations made by the Bush administration leading up to the war.
Please don’t write to me and tell me that I don’t support our troops. That is ridiculous.
Article in Memphis Paper About Medical Malpractice Litigation in Tennessee
Here is an interesting article published in a Memphis newspaper.
Toy Report Issued – Concerns About Risk of Injury to Children Expressed
It’s toy time in Tennessee – and all around the nation. This report is the 20th Annual Toy Survey that advises us about toys that present a risk to children. Here is the Executive Summary. And here is summary list of the toys that present a potential hazard.
Last Chance for Justice Programs Seminar
Next week is the last seminar of the year offered by Justice Programs, a creation of former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Penny White, former Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joy Riley and yours truly. We will be in downtown Memphis at the Doubletree Hotel on December 1 and 2.
We offer a complete year’s worth of CLE is 2 days. The program is designed for civil trial practioners.
We have had a great time with the seminar this year and, if I do say so myself, have had great reviews. We have almost doubled our attendance from last year and have been very fortunate to have a good number of repeat attendees.
Tort Reform Playbook
Here is what purports to be talking points concerning tort reform for Republicans.
A sampling: “America has far too many frivolous lawsuits, absurd jury awards and outrageous plaintiffs’ lawyers. They wreck small businesses, damage the economy, punish consumers, deprive Americans of essential healthcare and cost all of us a lot of money. Republicans can never go wrong criticizing lawsuit abuse. For statistical purposes, you start with a potential pool of 81% of the electorate that believes ‘laws should be enacted to make it tougher for lawyers to file frivolous lawsuits.’ That’s pretty darn good.
So you start out with the American public on your side. But to keep them there, you need to talk about this issue using the right tone, context and language.”
It goes on and on, page after page.
Vioxx Cases Moving Forward in New Jersey
Fresh off the heels of a recent loss, Chris Seeger and his team are gearing up for more Vioxx cases state court in New Jersey. The judge has decided that one of seven cases will be tried starting January 30, 2006. Each of the cases are on behalf of a person who took Vioxx 18 months or longer; one of the people died.
Cases in which the plaintiff took Vioxx for 18 months or longer are expected to be more difficult for the defense to try.
The next New Jersey case will begin March 27, 2006.
Smart Practices Mean Less Injuries
Kaiser Permanente is advancing the cause of patient safety by using a “Preoperative Safety Briefing” similar in concept to preflight checklists used in the airline industry. A one-page checklist was developed and used for the project.
In a six-month trial project wrong site surgeries were eliminated (there had been three in the prior six month period) and positive perceptions by staff about patient safety and teamwork increased.
Read more here and here.
Recognized in Automatic Door Case
The New Jersey Supreme Court has held that a plaintiff is entitled to a res ipsa instruction in an case in which an automatic door unexpectantly closed and caused injury. Because of that determination, the plaintiff was entitled to get by a summary judgment motion and have a jury decide the case.
More precisely, the Court put the issue this way: “whether the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur permits a jury to infer, based on common knowledge, that a supermarket’s automatic doors ordinarily do not malfunction and close on a customer unless negligently maintained by the store owner, or whether the res ipsa inference is preconditioned on expert testimony first explaining the door’s mechanics.”
The case arose from a malpractice action against an attorney who filed a premises suit on behalf of the plaintiff but allowed the case to be dismissed because of a failure to respond to discovery requests. When the plaintiff discovered the dismissal, she sued her attorney.
“Hi John – Are You Still Practicing Law?”
I was speaking at a seminar in Knoxville Friday and someone asked me that question. I was a little taken aback, and then remembered that Evan Schaeffer of Legal Underground faced the same issue recently.
The answer is an unambigious “Yes” but I guess some explanation is necessary. I have spent a good amount of time over the years during professional association activities, particularly with the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association and, in the last decade, the National Board of Trial Advocacy. I also founded and am a co-author of the Tennessee Tort Law Letter, a monthly newsletter on tort law developments in Tennessee and serve, from time to time, on various committees, boards, and commissions. Then, last February, I started playing with this blog. I guess that could cause some people to wonder if I still practice law.
Well, I do, and I believe that the folks in my office will tell you that it is still a full-time practice. How do I work it all in? I typically blog between 4:30 and 5:30 in the morning, although I occasionally prepare a post at night before I go to bed and actually post it the next morning. I do my other writing at nights or on the weekends and squeeze in the professional activities just like the rest of you do. The writing and speaking I do on substantive law actually keeps me very current on the case law in the state and developments in the law around the nation, which I believe helps me better represent our clients.