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This Week's Feature
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GENERATING SOME HEAT
By Dave Root
Carlock, Copeland & Stair, Atlanta, Georgia
Surprisingly, real-life trials—as contrasted to their TV counterparts—can be boring. Jurors become restless and doodle on their pads. Judges' heads bob up and down as they fight sleep. I see this sometimes in my own cases. Often, when I pop in a courtroom to watch other lawyers try cases, I can stand to be there only a few minutes. It's just too boring. Zzzzzzzzzzz.
[FULL STORY]
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DRI News
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50 Year Milestone
Congratulations to Edward W. Mullins, Jr., a senior partner with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, on his 50th anniversary as an active trial lawyer with the firm. Residing in Columbia, South Carolina, Mr. Mullins focuses his practice on product liability, business and general litigation. He is Chair Emeritus of the firm and its Litigation Department. Mr. Mullins served as DRI president in 1985.
[FULL STORY]
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DRI Awards — Deadline is Saturday, August 1
DRI’s Annual Professional Achievement and Service Awards celebrate and honor outstanding performance by SLDOs, DRI law firms and individual members. Brochures detailing the awards and nomination criteria have been emailed to all members, and you may also view the brochure online. We encourage you to recognize the accomplishments of your peers and submit entries for each of the awards. The call for nominations deadline is August 1, 2009. The awards will be presented at the Awards Luncheon, Thursday, October 8, with Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois Joseph H. Hartzler, the government’s lead counsel in the Oklahoma City bombing case, as guest speaker. To register for the luncheon and other events at the Annual Meeting, click here.
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DRI Jury Service Task Force
If the jury system is the bedrock of our civil justice system, jury service is its cornerstone. As the number of jury trials decreases, the importance of preserving the jury system increases in greater proportion. Well-functioning jury trials are vital to the preservation of public confidence in the civil justice system as a means of resolving intractable disputes. Any devaluation of the importance of jury service or juror dissatisfaction with the experience of service only serves to undermine the jury system.
[FULL STORY]
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2009 DRI Annual Meeting
October 7-11
Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers
Chicago, Illinois
It’s not too soon to make plans to attend the 2009 Annual Meeting! Learn about emerging trends and discuss hot topics with colleagues. Hear from nationally recognized blockbuster speakers: Doris Kearns Goodwin, world-renowned historian, author and NBC commentator; Elaine L. Chao, former secretary of labor under George W. Bush; Joseph H. Hartzler, government’s lead counsel in the Oklahoma City bombing case and former solicitors general including Paul D. Clement, Drew S. Days III, Charles Fried, Theodore B. Olson and Kenneth W. Starr. Help celebrate DRI’s 50th anniversary, Lincoln’s 200th birthday and lawyers’ important role in the civil justice system. Click here to register now or for more information.
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Save $100 — Register by August 26
Register by August 26 to save on DRI's webcast series on the Medicare Secondary Payer Statute and the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act.
Members can register for the complete series for only $300 or register for individual webcasts at $150 each.
August 26, 2009
Part 1: THE MEDICARE SECONDARY PAYER STATUTE AND THE MEDICARE, MEDICAID AND SCHIP EXTENSION ACT: IMPACT ON LITIGATING PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS
The first session of the three-part series will provide attendees with a practical perspective on how the Medicare Secondary Payer Statute (MSP) and Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act (MMSEA) regulations impact litigation of personal injury claims.
[FULL STORY]
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More Member Benefits
• Do you know a defense lawyer who is a member of his or her State or Local Defense Organization (SLDO), but not a member of DRI? If so, did you know that he or she qualifies for a one-year free membership with DRI?
• Did you know that a defense lawyer who has either attended a DRI seminar or the DRI Annual Meeting qualifies for a one year, half-price membership in DRI? The defense lawyer must be a first time member of DRI.
• Did you know that DRI offers a Senior Membership for just $50 per year? In order to qualify, individuals must be 65 years of age or older and not actively engaged in the practice of law.
Click here for more information.
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Punitive Damages: A State-by-State Compendium
The newest publication in the Defense Library Series covers the law of each state (plus the District of Columbia and Canada) governing punitive damages. Each chapter is authored by experienced practitioners who are members of the DRI Product Liability Committee. The following topics are addressed in detail: background and basics; pleading; discovery; proof; defenses; jury instructions; amounts recoverable; who recovers; insurance/indemnity issues; appeals; miscellaneous considerations. Click here to pre-order your copy today and for more information on this new release!
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Upcoming Webcast
Chinese Drywall Litigation: Emerging Developments and Legal Theories
Monday, August 17, 2009
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Central
This webcast is designed to educate litigators and others on the emerging litigation concerning Chinese drywall. In addition to discussing recent developments, this course will address the legal theories being employed by owners or claimants and the defenses available to defendants, such as suppliers, installers and builders. The webcast will also address issues that may arise with the involvement of foreign business entities, as well as applicable insurance coverage issues. Register online or visit www.DRI.org for more information.
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And The Defense Wins!
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DRI President Marc E. Williams, a partner at Huddleston Bolen LLP with offices in Huntington and Charleston, West Virginia, and associate Alicia Deligne, successfully defended CSX Transportation in a Federal Employers Liability Act case involving conductor’s injuries after a railyard run-in with a goose. Filing the FELA lawsuit last year, conductor Aaron E. Richards contended that CSX was negligent in failing to remove a goose nest from its Kaiser Receiving Yard near Ravenswood. On April 23, 2005, just past midnight, the conductor was performing a brake test on a train in the unlit railyard when a goose flew off a nest that was located under a railcar and attacked him, causing the conductor to fall backward and tear ligaments in his ankle.
[FULL STORY]
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DRI members Patrick Durick and Zachary Pelham of the law firm Pearce & Durick in Bismarck, North Dakota, successfully defended Comstock Construction, Inc. in a premises liability case arising out of a metal door post (mullion bar) falling onto the plaintiff. The mullion bar can be unlocked from the door frame to allow large objects into the building. The mullion bar was not properly snapped back into place, and fell onto the plaintiff, a teacher, as she entered the school building. The plaintiff claimed shoulder, neck and knee injuries.
[FULL STORY]
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In a case of interest to independent adjusting companies, DRI member David Henry, a litigation partner with Swartz Campbell, LLC in Orlando, Florida, was recently granted summary judgment in Gross v. John Wimberly Enterprise, Inc., Case No. 08-CA-3177-11 pending in Seminole County. The plaintiff had made a claim for misrepresentation against an independent adjuster and adjusting firm working for the Florida Insurance Guarantee Association. The plaintiff-buyer had claimed that the adjuster negligently reported claim payment information inducing the buyer to close without an assignment of insurance proceeds from the seller.
[FULL STORY]
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DRI member Michael E. Hensley, a partner with Jones, Skelton & Hochuli, P.L.C. in Phoenix, Arizona, teamed with an associate recently to obtain summary judgment for their insurance company client in a breach of contract and insurance bad faith claim. The court also awarded the insurance company over $70,000 in attorneys’ fees against the plaintiffs who brought the claims.
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DRI members Thomas Vanderbloemen, Jennifer Johnsen and Nicole Buntin of Gallivan, White & Boyd, PA in Greenville, South Carolina were successful in getting the Fourth Circuit to affirm judgment in favor of their client, Aetna. In Carden v. Aetna Life Insurance Company, 559 F.3d 256 (4th Cir. 2009), the Fourth Circuit affirmed Aetna’s decision to offset a lump sum workers’ compensation settlement that the plaintiff received as a result of asbestosis from long-term disability benefits he received for vertigo under a long-term disability plan that was administered and insured by Aetna. The plan granted Aetna discretion to interpret plan provisions.
[FULL STORY]
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Keep those defense wins coming! Send a short summary and recent photo of yourself to Barb Lowery by email (blowery@dri.org).
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Leader Spotlight
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This week the DRI leadership spotlight shines on Sean W. Martin, a partner at Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, PLLC in the firm’s Chattanooga, Tennessee office. He is a member of DRI’s Construction Law Committee, where he serves as publications chair. In this role, Mr. Martin is currently working with other members of the committee to complete the Construction Litigation Desk Reference which will be available for purchase this fall.
[FULL STORY]
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Legislative Tracking
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NEW YORK (Contributor: Carrie Pottker-Fishel, Harris Beach PLLC)
BUSINESS LAW
• A9026 - Relates to prohibiting certain restaurants and food establishments from serving foods containing artificial trans fat.
• This amendment relates to prohibiting certain restaurants and food establishments from serving foods containing artificial trans fat; takes effect 180 days with respect to oils, shortenings and margarines containing artificial trans fat that are used for frying or in spreads and December 31, 2010 with respect to all other oils or shortenings used for deep frying of yeast dough or cake batter and all other foods containing artificial trans fat.
• 06/19/09 – Referred to Health
• 6/22/09 – Referred to Rules, reported cal. 671, ordered to third reading, passed assembly
• 6/22/09 – Delivered to Senate, referred to Rules
• A9027 - Relates to requiring restaurants and food service establishments to post caloric value of food items.
• Amends law to clarify how postings must appear and what constitutes a violation.
• 6/19/09 – Referred to Health
• 6/22/09 – Referred to Rules, reported cal. 672, passed assembly
• 6/22/09 – Delivered to Senate, referred to Rules
LIFE, HEALTH, AND DISABILITY
• A9016 – Legalizes the possession, manufacture, use, delivery, transfer, transport or administration of marihuana by a certified patient or designated caregiver.
• Legalizes the possession, manufacture, use, delivery, transfer, transport or administration of marihuana by a certified patient or designated caregiver for a certified medical use. Also prescribes procedures for such possession, manufacture, etc. including certification of patients by their practitioner, and that, in the practitioner's professional judgment, the serious condition should be treated with the medical use of marihuana. Provides that possession or manufacture of marihuana shall be lawful under these provisions provided that the marihuana possessed does not exceed a total aggregate weight of two and a half ounces. Further directs the department of health to monitor such use and promulgate rules and regulations for registry identification cards; provides for reports by the department of health to the Governor and legislature on the medical use of marihuana.
• 6/29/09 – Referred to Health
• 6/22/09 – Reported referred to Codes
[MORE]
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Quote of the Week
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It's not the will to win that matters — everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters.
— Paul "Bear" Bryant
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DRI CLE Calendar
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Chinese Drywall Litigation (webcast)
August 17, 2009
DRI's National Workers' Compensation Review
August 17-18, 2009
Orlando World Center Marriott, Orlando, Florida
Payer Statute and the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act: Impact on Litigating Personal Injury (webcast)
August 26, 2009
Construction Law
September 10-11, 2009
The Palace Hotel, San Francisco, California
Nursing Home/ALF Litigation
September 10-11, 2009
The Westin Kierland, Scottsdale, Arizona
Strictly Automotive
September 24-25, 2009
Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, La Jolla, California
Appellate Advocacy
November 5-6, 2009
Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, La Jolla, California
Asbestos Medicine
November 12-13, 2009
Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Miami, Florida
Insurance Coverage and Practice
December 3-4, 2009
Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, New York, New York
For all other seminars, webconferences and webcasts, click here.
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Current Issues in Medical Liability and Health Care Law
Defending Damages Claims in Business Tort Cases
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