Welcome New Visitors …

This is a running “best of” list that was originally created November 11, 2007 for new visitors. It has been modified to include posts from the blog’s inception in November 2006 until the end of 2008. More recent years will appear separately and in the right sidebar.

The older posts are on top and the most recent are on the bottom.
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2007:

Doctor “Flea” Settles Malpractice Suit After Blog Exposed In Court
I followed medical blogger Flea as he live-blogged his own medical malpractice trial under a pseudonym, was outed on the stand by plaintiff’s counsel, took down his blog and then saw his name and face blasted across the front page of the Boston Globe above the fold. I followed up with an interview with the attorney who tried the case, and added information not available in previously published reports. Some have called this one of the most fascinating stories in either the medical or legal blogospheres this year.

Philip Morris Punitive Damages Decision — Why It Was Good For Plaintiffs
My analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision in Philip Morris v. Williams that tossed out a $79.5M personal injury punitive damage award, and why a careful reading of the opinions and judicial comments at oral argument brings a surprising conclusion.

Robert Bork Brings Trip/Fall Suit for Over $1M, Plus Punitive Damages And Legal Fees
A former Supreme Court nominee (and a tort “reformer”) brings a personal injury suit in New York. Gee, you think I’ll cover that? I also did an analysis of the Complaint by his BigLaw firm and pointed out how to fix the many blunders.

Your Bar Exam Answer Sheet Is Gone — Now What?
New York managed to screw up this year’s bar exam, losing some of the essay questions submitted by computer. The last time they screwed up, in 1985, I was one of the recent grads taking the exam. This is the story, complete with four-part harmony and dancing girls.

Don’t Post This Letter On The Internet!
It’s not personal injury law, but about a cease and desist letter regarding a blog, where the lawyer tried to claim a copyright on the letter itself. It didn’t turn out so well for the lawyer (or his client). As it happens, I also got a take-down letter shortly after this blog posting was made, due to my using the Avis logo for a decision regarding car leasing and rental companies. Those folks have no sense of humor. The logo is still there, by the way.

Conseco Insurance Scandal Follows Movie Plot
When life follows art you have to sit back and chuckle, except it wasn’t so funny for the people that bought policies from this insurer.

Practice Tip: One Way to Cross-Examine The Attractive Doctor
I’m not retired and I’m not in academics. I handle cases from intake through trial and sometimes appeal. And this was one of the popular practice tips I put out.

How New York Caps Personal Injury Damages
Since tort “reform” is a constant issue, I addressed how damages are limited in the real world, without the one-size-fits-all damage caps that big business tries to push.

Personal Injury Law Round-Ups
Weekly round-ups of personal injury news and blog postings that I did from February-November 2007. (Links to other round-ups also appear at this link at the top of the results.)

And that’s my tiny corner of cyberspace — a focus on personal injury and medical malpractice, sometimes oriented toward New York, but reserving the right to go wherever the hell I want. So go ahead, add me to your RSS feed. What’s the downside? Maybe next year I’ll actually say something intelligent.

Blawg Review #134 — A round-up of the best of the legal blogosphere for the week, done in the context of the New York City Marathon, and was my favorite post for 2007. Thankfully, it was also critically acclaimed.

2008:

Who Sits Jury Duty (The Turkewitz Beer Test) 1/22/08

So here is my take on jury selection, New York style…

More on Bush’s Frivolous Claim of “Junk Medical Lawsuits” (1/29/08)

When I wrote this morning that Bush complained, once again, about “junk medical lawsuits” in the State of the Union, I wrote that he never cites any studies to support the claim. Nor for that matter, do tort “reformers.”…

How to Fool A Jury (Is it Insurance Fraud?) – My expose on an “independent” medical exam company that directed its doctors to give reports that were biased. (Feb. 12, 2008)

I Passed the New York Bar Exam (2/26/08)

Friends, law stories don’t get much better than this. It started with the New York bar examiners losing my test results in the summer of 1985. And it ends 22 years later in the wake of another New York bar exam fiasco, this time with lost essay answers on laptops due to a software glitch. This graduate, who was told that he failed the July 2007 exam, will not be taking the February bar exam being given today. This is his story…

New York’s No-Fault Problem with “Serious Injuries” 3/2/08

…if you are lazy and “milk” the injury, you qualify to bring suit under New York’s statute, but if you struggle back to work, and work despite the pain and limitations you might have, you don’t qualify. The “serious injury” law, in other words, works as an incentive for people to be lazy and complain instead of being as productive as they can….

Punitive Damages: Why America is Different from Europe 3/26/08

In the New York Times, Adam Liptak writes that in Europe punitive damages are not viewed the same way they are here (see: Foreign Courts Wary of U.S. Punitive Damages). The idea of punitive damages “was so offensive to Italian notions of justice that it would not enforce [an] Alabama judgment” in a case Liptak uses to illustrate the point.

Supreme Court Grants Cert in “Fantasy Baseball” Case; Three Justices Recuse Themselves Due To Participation in High Court League – (April 1, 2008)

The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari today in the “Fantasy Baseball” case of CBC Distribution v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media. The suit is remarkable not only for the First Amendment and right to publicity issues that form the basis of the dispute, but because Justices John Paul Stevens, Samuel Alito and Stephen Breyer recused themselves due to their participation in a fantasy baseball league comprised of current and past court personnel.

with a deconstruction of the fantasy here.

It Was 20 years Ago Today… (5/2/08)

On May 27, 1988, after 2 1/2 years as an associate at a top medical malpractice firm in New York, I quit. Not for another job. But to pick up a backpack and travel around the world.

Trial Blog-Part 1 (6/24/08) This is the first of a seven-part series on a Bronx car accident trial, presented as a day-in-the-life. Links at the bottom bring you to the subsequent parts.

Blawg Review #188 — Arlo Guthrie came to my place for Thanksgiving Dinner with a bunch of law bloggers for a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat, and we discussed the week’s events.