Hold your wee for a wii trial in progress

Go here for an update. It describes the testimony of the VP/Market Manager of the radio station in which he said he did not believe that the radio show personalities knew of the danger of drinking too much water. Isn't this common knowledge? For past comments on this case go here. Thanks to TortsProf Blog for the link.

The most common factors leading to legal malpractice claims

Summarizing the discussion during an ABA panel discussion held in Chicago last Thursday, an article published in Friday's Chicago Law Journal states that the top mistakes that lead to malpractice claims are: •Poor communication between lawyer and client, resulting in disparate understandings of the arrangement. •Missed deadlines through bad calendaring or failure to know deadlines. •Poor investigation that misses basic facts. •Failure to catch errors in work delegated to assistants. In personal injury cases, blowing the statute of limitations leads the way in malpractice errors, either because the attorney entered the wrong date in the law firm's or lawyer's calendar, the attorney waited for the very last day to file or because the attorney did not know statutory deadlines. Another common reason for a malpractice complaint is that the lawyer failed to decline the case in time for the plaintiff to find another lawyer. Often a lawyer doesn't make it clear to a potential client whether the lawyer agreed to take the case or is just looking it over. And the lawyer never gets around to actually rejecting the representation. Interestingly, I cover both of these problems in the classes I teach. In Torts I tell my students that buying a calendar and learning how to use it is the fist thing they should do after they get a job and that missing the statute of limitations is the dumbest thing they can do. In Professional Responsibility we cover the issues related to the formation of an attorney-client relationship by discussing the famous case Togstad v. Vesely, Otto, Miller & Keefe which illustrates the importance of letting a client know clearly the decision not to agree to the representation. If a second year law student knows not to make these mistakes, there is no excuse for attorneys in practice to be making them.

FDA admits to something we already knew...

In a story published today by the New York Times, the FDA admits that it has made decisions based on influence from outside sources. This is should not be news to anyone who has followed the FDA over the years but the more information comes to light about the deficiencies of one of the agencies that are supposed to be protecting us from dangerous products, the better. The NYT story, which is available here, specifically refers to the integrity of the FDA’s decision-making process for the approval of a device known as Menaflex. The agency’s scientific reviewers repeatedly and unanimously over many years decided that the device was unsafe, but after receiving what an FDA report described as “extreme,” “unusual” and persistent pressure from four Democrats from New Jersey agency managers overruled the scientists and approved the device for sale.

Malpractice claim for failure to communicate settlement offer

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog is reporting today that "Susan Stanford is suing her former divorce lawyer for $200 million, alleging that the lawyer, Nancy Rommelmann, failed to tell her of a verbal offer to settle her divorce for $200 million last year. Click here for the story, from Bloomberg. Stanford filed a complaint (link not available) on Thursday in Houston state court."

NYT article re med mal

Here is a link to an article on the medical malpractice debate from the New York Times; and here is one to a post on the Wall Street Journal summarizing it.

Most interesting stories this week

It's Friday, which means it is time for the TortsProf Blog's list of the most interesting stories for this week (availalble here.) To their list I would add the following three stories: $12 million verdict against Michelin in tire tread separation claim FDA to discuss possible regulation of internet promotion of prescription drugs Illinois Supreme Court rejects Tarasoff

Illinois Supreme Court rejects Tarasoff

The Supreme Court of Illinois released an interesting opinion today in which it rejects the reasoning behind the famous case Tarasoff v Regents of the Univ of California. The case is called Tedrick v. Community Resource Center and the opinion is available here. In this case, the plaintiffs brought an action seeking damages resulting from the death of a woman who was killed by her husband. The complaint alleged that the defendants, ten healthcare providers, including physicians, psychologists and social workers, negligently provided medical care to the husband and that they had a duty to warn the wife, and to protect her from, the husband’s threats and potential violent acts. In discussing the claim, the Court recognized that Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California is the “most cited” case for holding that a mental-health-care provider owes a duty to warn and protect a nonpatient third party under certain circumstances. However, interpreting its decision in other previous cases, the Court concludes that "it is clear . . . that this court has rejected the rationale of the Tarasoff case."

More on med mal reform debate

Here is a link to a story (which itself has many more links) that challenges the typical pro-tort reform argument based on how the lack of reform results in "defensive medicine." This argument, in case you are new to the topic, is that the fear of getting sued makes doctors order or perform unnecessary tests and procedures which increase the costs of health care. There is evidence out there now that supports the proposition that many doctors are not ordering or performing these procedures out of fear of getting sued but because it is a good way to make more money. Go here for a story in the Washington Post. Here is the latest from the PopTort on the subject (including links to more information).

Debate re med mal tort reform

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has published a debate on whether liability damages caps should be a part of health reform... here. Thanks to the TortsProf blog for the link

New story re false arrest in Chicago

A head emergency room nurse at Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital has sued the city of Chicago and a Police officer for violation of her civil rights when the officer handcuffed her and putt her in the back of a squad car for 45 minutes after she refused to draw blood from a suspected drunken driver. As so often happens these days, the cop forgot there are cameras everywhere and his actions were caught on video. The full story and the videos are available here. Prof. Jonathan Turley has more on the story here. Thanks to Louis Raymond for the link.