Personal Injury Law

Suggestion for Expert Witness Disclosure Language in Scheduling Orders

Posted on September 10, 2009
         One of the battles in the preparation of scheduling orders is the deadlines for disclosure of expert witnesses. The defense always wants the plaintiff to go first, and wants an additional 30 or 60 or even 90 days to disclose its experts...

Death of a Giant of the Tennessee Trial Bar

Posted on September 09, 2009
Nashville trial lawyer John T. Conners, Jr. died yesterday in his home in West Meade.  He would have turned 90 in March 2010.    He was a name-partner at Boult Cummings Conners & Berry in Nashville and practiced law over 50 years...

Jury Selection - Exercising Preemptory Challenges

Posted on September 08, 2009
A couple years ago I wrote this post about how to exercise preemptory challenges.  Last week, I got a call from a lawyer on this issue once again, and thought I should re-run it. It is always a good idea to ask the trial judge at the pretrial conference or on the morning of trial how he or she handles peremptory challenges...

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers - Post 22

Posted on September 05, 2009
This is the last of 22 posts in our series of the new laws of interest to tort lawyers.  If you missed any of these posts all of them are collected in the "Legislation 2009" category. The last post concerns the changes to the rules of civil procedure, evidence, and appellate procedure, as well as a host of changes to the rules dealing with electronic evidence...

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New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers - Post 21

Posted on September 04, 2009
Post 21 of this series re-designates the current language of existing T.C.A. Section 70-7-104 (the Recreational Use Statute) as subsection (a) and then adds a subsection (b). Thus, as of July 1, the new statute reads as follows: (a) This part does not limit the liability that otherwise exists for: (1) Gross negligence, willful or wanton conduct that results in a failure to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure or activity; or (2) Injury caused by acts of persons to whom permission to hunt, fish, trap, camp, hike, sightsee, cave, or any other legal purpose was granted, to third persons or to persons to whom the person granting permission, or the landowner, lessee, occupant, or any person in control of the land or premises, owed a duty to keep the land or premises safe or to warn of danger...

Health Care Reform Everyone Can Support - The Use of Medical Checklists

Posted on September 03, 2009
A reader sent me an article in September - October 2009 issue of Harvard Magazine  that discusses the work of Dr. Atul Gawande.   Dr. Gawande is very interested in patient safety.  One of his interests is the use of medical checklists, a subject I have addressed in a previous post...

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers - Post 20

Posted on September 02, 2009
Post 20 (we are almost finished with this series folks, I promise) concerns judicial selection and evaluation.   So much has been written about this subject the last four years.  The bill is 16 pages in lengh and cannot be summarized here...

Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission Members Announced

Posted on September 01, 2009
Last week I filed a post on the new members of the Judicial Selection Commission.  Today, the appointees to the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission were announced. The Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission, which replaces the Judicial Evaluation Commission, evaluates the performance of the appellate level judges who are up for re-election...

September 2009 Tennessee Trial Law Report is in the Mail

Posted on August 31, 2009
The September 2009 edition of the Tennessee Trial Law Report is in the mail. The lazy days of summer are upon us - this edition includes a summary of just 10 different cases addressing various aspects of the law of torts, civil procedure, evidence and trial as decided by Tennessee appellate courts between July 15 and August 15, 2009...

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers - Post 19

Posted on August 31, 2009
Post 19 addresses the liability of "agritourism professionals."  What, in heaven's name, is a agritourism professional?  A person involved in agritourism, of course.  And what is that? Agritourism is  any activity carried out on a farm or ranch, eligible for greenbelt classification under Title 67, Chapter 5, Part 10, that allows members of the general public, for recreational, entertainment, or educational purposes, to view or enjoy rural activities, including farming, ranching, historic, cultural, or harvest-your-own activities, or natural activities and attractions...

"New" Chrysler Steps Up to the Plate

Posted on August 31, 2009
New Chrysler (Chrysler Group LLC) has announced that it will be accepting product liability claims on vehicles manufactured by its predecessor, now known as Old Carco, but only for accidents occurring after June 10, 2009.    Chrysler yielded to pressure from consumer groups that aggressively lobbied for a law requiring warning stickers on used Chrysler vehicles, an effort which would have reduced the value of the vehicles...

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers - Post 18

Posted on August 30, 2009
Post 18 of this series brings to your attention a change in the law concerning the licensing of lawyers and  pro hac vice admission of lawyers to practice in Tennessee.   The language of T.C.A. Sec. 23-1-108 has been deleted and replaced with the following language: No person shall practice law in this state without first receiving a license issued by the Tennessee supreme court and complying with the provisions of Rule 6 of the Rules of the Tennessee supreme court concerning admission to the practice of law, except that nothing in this statute precludes the pro hac vice admission of persons licensed in other jurisdictions in accordance with Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 19...

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers - Post 17

Posted on August 29, 2009
Post 17 of this series also addresses the subject of court reporting.  This bill establishes: (1) licensure requirements for court reporters; (2) the Tennessee Board of Court Reporting; and (3) the Tennessee board of Court Reporting Fund...

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers - Post 16

Posted on August 28, 2009
Post 16 of this series addresses a change in the law applicable to taking of depositions.  The bill summary set forth below describes the original bill as amended.  The new law prohibit[s] the taking of a deposition before a person who is: (1) A party to the action or an attorney for one of the parties; (2) A relative, including a spouse, of one of the parties or of an attorney for one of the parties; (3) An employee of one of the parties or of an attorney for one of the parties; (4) Someone who has, or has had during the past two years, a sexual relationship with one of the parties or with an attorney for one of the parties; or (5) Someone with a financial interest in the action or its outcome...

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers - Post 15

Posted on August 27, 2009
Post 15 addresses the changes to Tennessee law concerning the proper way to give notice to potential defendants in medical malpractice cases and the changes in the law concerning the certificate of good faith.  I have addressed this legislation in several other posts  (here is a post with a complete summary) and need not repeat what I have published in the past...

New Judicial Selection Commission Members

Posted on August 27, 2009
  The new members of the Tennessee Judicial Selection Commission have been announced. Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey appointed the following people: Miles Burdine, President and CEO of the Kingsport Area Chamber of Commerce Christopher Campbell, a Memphis attorney Christopher Clem, a Chattanooga attorney William Jenkins, Jr...

AAJ Issues Report About Unsafe Trucks on U.S. Roads

Posted on August 26, 2009
The American Association for Justice has issued a report called "Warning!  Safety Violation Ahead."  The report reveals that "a new analysis of government data reveals that more than 28,000 motor carrier companies, representing more than 200,000 trucks, are currently operating in violation of federal safety laws...

Additional Email Tips

Posted on August 26, 2009
On August 11, 2009 I directed you to an article written by  Steven Robbins on writing better emails.    Here is a great article written by Jim Calloway on managing your in-box.  Jim writes the "Law Practice Tips Blog,"  a great place to learn about law practice management and technology...

Failure to Inform Patients of Abnormal Test Results

Posted on August 25, 2009
An article in Archives of Internal Medicine (2009;169(12):1123-1129) reveals that about 1 in 14 abnormal outpatient test results are either not reported to the patient or the report to the patient is not documented.  The article summarizes a study consisting "of a retrospective medical record review of 5434 randomly selected patients aged 50 to 69 years in 19 community-based and 4 academic medical center primary care practices...

Dan Hull on Lawyering

Posted on August 25, 2009
I love to read Dan Hull's blog, What About Clients?   He gets it.  Or, more precisely, he gets most of it.  He doesn't get contingent fees, which puzzles me. But the rest of it is firmly within his grasp. Dan's post, Litigation:  Lawyering, Real Life and a Little Zen , is one is wish I would have written...

Hospitals That Do It Right

Posted on August 25, 2009
Some health care providers are starting to get it.  When you mess up, fix it.  Don't hide.  Don't cover it up.  Don't blame the patient.  Just do the responsible thing and fix it. Today's Wall Street Journal  writes about the relatively recent phenomena of hospitals that not only step in and make a fair payment to a person who has been harmed by negligence but go a step further and (a) figure out how and why the error happened and (b) put measures in place to prevent future errors...

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers - Post 14

Posted on August 24, 2009
Well, are all of these posts on new legislation of interest to Tennessee tort lawyers driving you crazy?  Some lawyers forget that the Tennessee General Assembly has passed hundreds of laws that impact tort practice.  The rest of us know that tort law has it roots in common law, but is also greatly impacted by statutes and regulations...

CPSC Renews Warnings About Bassinets

Posted on August 22, 2009
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has renewed warnings to parents that certain bassinets made by Simplicty present a risk of death to children.  From the press release: [The CPSC] is once again urging all parents and caregivers to immediately stop using convertible "close-sleeper/bedside sleeper" bassinets manufactured by Simplicity Inc...

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers - Post 13

Posted on August 21, 2009
Post 13 in our series of new legislation of interest to tort lawyers concerns the administration of in nursing homes. Public Chapter 403 eliminates the need for nurses to provide medication to patients.  Now, an aide who receives certain training  is permitted to administer the following medications: (1) Oral medications; (2) Topical medications; (3) Medications administered as drops to the eye, ear, or nose;; and (4) Any of the above medications prescribed with a designation authorizing or requiring administration on an as-needed basis, but only if a nursing assessment of the patient is completed by a licensed nurse before the medication is administered...

Blaming the Plaintff

Posted on August 20, 2009
We have seen much of this story happen before.   Woman is raped at gunpoint in a hotel parking garage.  Woman sues hotel for negligent failure to keep premises secure.   Hotel blames woman for failing to exercise due care - how dare she assume that the hotel parking garage was secure...

AAJ Seminar: "Litigating Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Cases"

Posted on August 20, 2009
AAJ is sponsoring a pharmaceutical and medical device seminar at the Venetian in Las Vegas on September 24-25, 2009.  The seminar, open only to AAJ members who represent plaintiffs, offers 11.25 CLE hours.  The seminar is an effort lead by AAJ's Section on Toxic, Environmental, and Pharmaceutical Torts (STEP), which focuses on the toxic effects of pharmaceuticals, pesticides and herbicides, medical devices, consumer products, industrial pollution, and other environmental poisons...

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers - Post 12

Posted on August 19, 2009
Post 12 of this series on changes in Tennessee statutory law of interest to tort lawyers addresses a new law that imposes lighting requirements on bicycles. Here is the new code section, which replaces existing section (a) of T.C.A. Sec. 55-8-177: (a) Every bicycle, when in use at nighttime, shall be equipped with a lamp on the front which shall emit a white light visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet (500') to the front and either a red reflector or a lamp emitting a red light which shall be visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet (500') to the rear when directly in front of lawful upper beams of head lamps on a motor vehicle...

New Tennessee Legislation of Interest to Tort Lawyers - Post 11

Posted on August 18, 2009
We are up to Post 11 in our series that highlights new changes to Tennessee statutory law of interest to tort lawyers. The Legislature has modified T.C.A. Sec. 68-11-256 (a) to require all nursing homes to perform a criminal background check on all employees who provide direct care to patients or residents...

The First Syllable of "Lawyer" is "Law"

Posted on August 17, 2009
A Tennessee lawyer who purports to have knowledge and experience in Tennessee medical malpractice law recently wrote a  blog post that advised the pubic about statutes of limitations in medical malpractice cases.  His post was wrong, and it was obvious to me that he was unaware of the legislation passed in June and that went into effect on July 1, 2009...

Working Smarter

Posted on August 15, 2009
Those of us who typically work for contingent fees have an extra incentive to work smarter.  Like many of you, I have done a lot of reading in the field of time managment and project management, looking for ways to improve my productivity through better organization...

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