Did you know that you can view the Tennessee Rules of Evidence on line at no charge? Go to this site.
Upcoming Speech
I have been invited to speak at the Murfreesboro American Inns of Court meeting on April 28, 2005. The speech will address recent developments in tort and comparative fault law.
The meeting is at the Stones River Country Club in Murfreesboro. The social hour begins at 5:30, dinner is at 6:30, and the speech will begin at 7:00 or so.
I will post my handout materials after the speech.
New Study Concerning Medical Errors
The American Association of Critical Care Nurses has issued a new study concerning medical malpractice in our nation’s hospitals.
This is scary stuff. The reports says that each year “one in twenty in-patients will be given the wrong medication, 3.5 million will get an infection from someone who did not wash his or her hands or take appropriate precautions, and 195,000 will die because of mistakes made while they’re in the hospital.” The study goes on to say that 60% of medication errors are caused by mistakes in interpersonal communication.
The study explains that the majority of health care providers break rules, make mistakes, or apppear to behave incompetently, but less than 1 in 10 say anything about it.
Federal Judges: Frivilous Litigation Not a Problem
A survey of federal judges concludes that there is not a problem with frivilous litigation in their courts.
Seventy percent of the the judges surveyed said the frivilous litigation was a “small problem” or a “very small problem.” Only one percent of the judges said it was a “very large problem.”
Thanks to Evan for informing me about this report.
Woman Not Pointing the Finger at Wendy’s
Anna Alaya, the woman who allegedly found a finger in a bowl of Wendy’s chili, has decided not to sue the organization. Read about it here.
Weny’s is still offering a $50,000 reward for information about the source of the finger.
Discovery in Bad Faith Cases
The Florida Supreme Court recently held that a person bringing a first-party bad faith action against an insurance company has the right to discover all materials contained in the underlying insurance claim and related litigation file. Read the decision by clicking here.
In this type of case there is always a big fight over whether certain materials are protected by the work product privilege. Insurers attempt to invoke the doctrine. Plaintiffs seek the documents, saying that the information in such documents is directly relevant to resolution of the issue of whether bad faith was committed. In Florida, full discovery has traditionally been permitted in third-party claims but the law on first party claims was not as generous. This law opens up discovery in first party bad faith cases.
Florida has a well-developed body of bad faith law. This decision substantially changes the law of discovery in those cases and will greatly impact the law on this subject around the nation.
Effective Appellate Advocacy
Here is a great article written by Robert Gilbreath in Certworthy, a publication of the DRI Appellate Advocacy Committee. I found it with the help of Evan at his Illinois Trial Practice blog.
The article summarizes points about appellate advocacy made by Karl Llewellyn in a 1960 law review article. Titled “The Seven ABCs of Successful Appellate Advocacy,” Gilbreath’s article appears on Page 13 of the PDF file.
One point made in the article that I think is often missed by those who file briefs and make arguments before appellate courts is the need to make judges understand why good public policy supports your position. Judges are human. They want to do the right thing. It is your job to help them understand that adopting your position is the right thing to do.
Upcoming Seminar Programs
Last year former Justice Penny White, former Judge Joe Riley and I started a seminar program call “Justice Programs.” We had seminars across the State last fall. The program had great attendance and great reviews.
Penny, Joe and I are doing a similar program this year, but we have lengthened the program to offer 15 hours. The seminar is “Cutting Edge Developments and Practice Pointers.” It is designed to help civil trial practioners stay up to date on civil procedure, evidence and substantive law. We will also be sharing practice pointers to help lawyers do a better job representing their clients.
Read more about these programs by visiting our website.
New Personal Jurisdiction Decision
The Tennessee Court of Appeals has issued a new opinion finding that Tennessee has in personam over a Georgia bank sued by a Tennessee business.
Progeny Marketing v. Farmers and Merchants Bank arises out of a claim by the plaintiff that it was not paid for certain work it did for the defendant bank. The trial judge ruled that bank could not be sued in Tennessee, but the Court of Appeals, in an opinion written by Judge Cain, held to the contrary.
The opinion does not represent new law, but is brought to your attention because it is one of the rare jurisdiction cases decided by our appellate courts. The opinion will be particularly helpful to Tennessee individuals and companies who sign service contracts with out of state entities.