For Independence Day, why not read about another affront to the civil justice system, this one via a bill sponsored by Texas Republican Lamar Smith? There is a good article on the dangers of the bill over at law.com. It is amazing that the bill not only attacks a nonexistant problem, but does so with all the precision of a drunken sumo wrestler in high heels. It’s like trying to kill a housefly with a shotgun.
Products Liability – Defense Costs
Thanks to Robert Ambrogi for telling us about an interesting study from the Rand Corporation.
Rand studied asbestos payments, and found that 42 cents of every dollar went to victims, 27 cents went to their lawyers, and 31 cents went to defense costs. See an executive summary of the study here.
While it is a shame that “administrative” costs eat up such a large share of the asbestos dollars, it is interesting to see it actually documented that defense costs exceed the monies paid to the lawyers for the victims. This study helps document why it is so unfair to cap attorneys’ fees on one side of the “v”.
Legal Research – Municipal Codes
Ok, you may think this is boring but …
Trying to get your hands on local ordinances in other cities and counties is a challenge. Here is a site that offers the codes in some Tennessee cities for free. The cities included are Brentwood, Clarksville, Gallatin, Germantown, Kingsport, Knoxville, and Memphis. Also included are the ordinances for Shelby County.
The site is offered by the publisher of the codes in those locales. The publisher has codes for over 1400 cites and towns. Visit the publisher’s home page here.
See the Average Traffic for Every Tennessee State Road
The Tennessee Department of Transportation has a terrific web tool that lets you view the amount of traffic on state roads. You can click on any county in the state, then zoom around the map to find the highway you are looking for. This is a great tool for checking the traffic volume on a road based on Average Daily Traffic (“ADT”). This information is invaluable in dangerous roadway cases.
New Medical Malpractice Blog
Branham & Day is happy to announce that our firm is now running another legal blog, medmalblog.com. Several of the attorneys at our office, as well as our nurse-paralegal, are posting entries on the new site. Rebecca Blair, a shareholder at Branham & Day, is leading it. The blog is focused on the plaintiff / patient’s side, and we are planning to provide legal forms, resources, case law summaries, and notes on the tort reform movement. Check it out (in your mythical free time).
Trial Court Cannot Grant Ex Parte Communications With Plaintiff’s Treating Physicians
From over at the Med Mal Blog: The Eastern Section Court of Appeals held today that Givens prevents a trial court from issuing an order that allows ex parte communications with a plaintiff’s treating physicians. The Court of Appeals rejected the argument by the defendant doctors and Tennessee Medical Association that a patient waives confidentiality by filing suit. Although there is a good chance this case is going up to the Tennessee Supreme Court, this resolves the issue for now in favor of patients.
This issue has been popping up in numerous cases across the state, so the Court of Appeals decision is an important one. Many defendants request “authorizations for medical records and information” with written discovery. Think hard before you allow your client to sign on to any medical release that might be read to allow the defendant to skirt Givens.
Website with Links to All 50 States’ Corporate Searches
How many times have you gotten ready to file suit against an out-of-state corporation and searched the Internet for its registered agent? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a single website with links to corporate filing information from all 50 states? Voila. The site correctly points out that the extent of information available in each state varies widely. Georgia even gives you a free search by officer’s name to find every company that person serves as officer on. At a minimum, you can start your search for registered agents and official corporate names.
Finding Statistics From Uncle Sam and His Siblings
Sometimes you need data that you can only find from the federal government. Here is a link to a site that has more statistics than you can shake a stick at. Hundreds of federal agencies have statistics on this site on even more subjects.
Here is another site than can give you public information from state governments.
Tort Reform – A Movement That Refuses to Die
The tort reform movement, lacking in facts but fueled by greed and ignorance, will not die. It cannot, because there are too many lobbyists and tort reform special interest groups that need for it to be kept alive. The so-called reformers receive hundreds of millions of dollars per year to “keep hope alive” for the business and insurance industries. They can’t just let that money go away.
Here is an article that describes that current state and the direction of the movement.
Another Warning From Guidant on Defibrillators
The problems with Guidant’s defibrillators continue. On Saturday, Guidant issued another warning about five more of its defibrillators. These five are in addition to the seven defibrillator models that Guidant recalled earlier last week. Guidant says that doctors “should discontinue implants of these devices pending further notice.”
It appears that Guidant has begun to do the right thing. However, only time will tell if they did the right thing in a timely fashion. Now is the time to ask Howard Baker’s famous question: What did they know, and when did they know it?
I have written about these Guidant defects before, on May 24 (Guidant Decides Not to Warn About Manufacturing Defect in Defibrillator), June 12 (Guidant Class Action Suits Filed), and June 20 (Guidant Defibrillators Recalled).