The New York Personal Injury Law Blog presents the week that was:

Before heading over to the courtroom, we look at risky conduct that leads to lawsuits and check to see that the courthouse doors are open:

Dispute resolution often needs a courthouse, and with corporate interests always looking for ways to get immunity through tort “reform,” TortDeform presents: Michigan Lawyer’s Weekly has exposed tort deform for what it is: Chamber of Commerce anti-lawyer propaganda based on myths instead of hard data;

And over at the Maryland Injury Law Blog, Ronald Miller scratches his head at a doctor who thinks that limiting the rights of patients is “the most important thing on the planet.” Someone give that guy a newspaper;

Courts mean nothing without a judge…and since New York’s judges have now gone 9 years without even a cost-of-living pay raise, so our Chief Judge has threatened a lawsuit. But Jason Boog at Judicial Reports sees a potential alternative: Will New York Judges Go On Strike?

In the risk management department, the RFID Law Blog reports on a new bill to help stop counterfeit drugs breaking into our drug supply chain (via Adam Fein at Drug Channels);

And before we get to our new clients and litigation, Rob Sachs from ShragerLaw shares some insight as to why some Philadelphia hospitals are doing well, why some do poorly, and who the bad ones want to blame;

Also regarding hospitals, Kia Franklin at TortDeform takes on the issue of patient dumping in Los Angeles;

As the new client walks into the office, we are reminded of a post from Kevin, M.D. about chatty doctors who lose the focus of the exam when talking about personal events, and we wonder if we make the same error while making small talk with the new client;

And into the courthouse we go…

A federal judge sitting in New York has allowed a Zyprexa class action to go forward, according to Prescription Action Litigation;

Medical care in prisons jumped to the news in The BLT: Blog of Legal Times, as they report on a suit brought due to deprivations of medical care for those incarcerated;

The Medical Quack reports that a medical malpractice case resulted from triple-bypass surgery being done. It seems the doctor was looking at the angiogram films of another patient
(via Kevin, M.D.);

TortsProf William Childs has links to a bunch of new personal injury matters this week: A Kentucky Amusement park ride that resulted in a 13-year-old having both feet sliced off; (with more on theme park safety from Sluggobear and the Kentucky Law Review); Settlement discussions on the Boston death of a woman when a tunnel at the Big Dig collapsed, and a Las Vegas “gentleman’s club” altercation involving strippers, bouncers, guns, biting and a former pro-football player;

From tragic to bizarre, the Consumerist writes of a Taco Bell Employee that Allegedly Spit and Urinated in Food;

From bizarre to comical: Lowering the Bar gives us a woman who sued for emotional distress because she was not in the lottery;

From comincal to pathetic: Manny at QuizLaw brings us the case of a woman who injured her jaw because Starburst Fruit Chews were, well, too chewey. I hope the attorney who took this wasn’t counting on it to make the rent. And if you guessed that Overlawyered might also have the story, you would be correct;

Following closely behind the Starburst suit in the cateogry of “what the hell was the lawyer thinking?”…from Thomas Swartz at New York Legal Update, a lawsuit that drives the good lawyers crazy because it should never have been brought — a woman who sued after falling while ice skating, when some 15 minutes before her fall, she observed that the skating surface was deteriorating, and there were ice chips, bumps, and wet spots on the ice. Fancy how that happens after people have been skating;

Can a child sue his own parents for negligence in failing to properly put him in his child seat? The Minnesota Supreme Court says yes in this case reported by The Injury Blog;

And a New Jersey court rules a duty owed by the passengers of a car to aid an injured man, from John Day at Day on Torts;

Billy Merck at Above the Law has a: Lawsuit of the Day: Belk Cosmetics Contractors Win Damages for Being Watched. Who needs a real window to play Peeping Tom, when you can snoop via video?

When you can get an opposing witness to testify multiple times, it ususally helps a case, and litigants in the September 11 litigation got just such a bonus when former EPA head Christie Whitman gave congressional testimony, and Joe at Tort Burger — Hold the Reform brings us some of the details;

As the trial goes on, I have always wondered just how much background knowledge the jury has on certain subjects. I’m not the only one to wonder, as Anne Reed writes in What Do They Know? which followed up on a Newsweek poll about the lack of knowledge some Americans have on various subjects;

When you started that case, I hoped you picked the right lawyer. As Andrew Bluestone from New York Attorney Malpractice Blog points out, this claimant thinks she did not, after netting just $6.60 from a $35,000 settlement. She has now brought a legal malpractice suit against high profile New York personal injury attorneys, the Barnes Firm; (See also, Suit ‘winner’ nets pocket change, via Buffalo Pundit)

Some causes of action award legal fees, such as this consumer fraud claim in New Jersey regarding Vioxx. Mark Herrmann at Drug and Device Law complains that the legal fees were $4.9M on a claim that was only worth $4,000 (also Ted Frank at Point of Law) So with that kind of risk, why didn’t Merck try to settle that particular claim?

Of course, that case for attorneys fees is not to be confused with that of former Judge Robert Bork who asked for lawyers fees in a New York personal injury case, with a small problem being that such fees are not permitted, even if successful;

After verdict, the action isn’t always over, as Princeton Insurance found out the hard way, after a $75M verdict (reduced to $37.5M) in a dram shop case. They had apparently failed to negotiate in good faith on the $1M policy, and they are now stuck with a $21.4M bill (Law.com via The Legal Intelligencer);

As you pack your bags and go home for the weekend, or a full one week Fourth of July respite, a few things to mull over:

• Is this how they usually treat suspected purse snatchers in Texas, by running them over with a truck? (via QuizLaw);
• MonkeyGirl wonders what would it be like to have indicator lights on your head for others to see the reactions to your comments;
• And finally, with the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Championship just days away, it seems the 6-time champ is having problems with his jaw (via Kevin, M.D.). I knew you’d be concerned…

Enjoy the upcoming holiday week…

(Submissions for next week’s edition, if I feel like doing one, can be made to –>> blog [at] TurkewitzLaw.com)

(Eric Turkewitz is a personal injury attorney in New York)

The New York Personal Injury Law Blog presents the week that was:

In doing these round-ups I like to start with risky conduct before delving into the litigation, for that is what brings on the injuries and attorneys. So let’s start here:

Headlining the arena of risk this week: Doctor Anonymous reports on a 15-year old that performed a C-section “under his parents watch” (via Kevin, M.D.);

Defective toys made in China were big news this week, including the use of lead paint on Thomas the Train toys. The Gun Toting Liberal was unsparing in his commentary of who to blame;

We’ve seen a lot of food poisoning stories lately. Wonder how it happens? Bill Marler tells us that slaughtering a goat in the kitchen may be the source in one case;

And the Vatican (!) sees danger and risk too, and has issued some new commandments regarding driving (via California Personal Injury and Insurnace Blog);

The New Jersey Law Journal sees that Electronic Health Records Raise New Risks of Malpractice Liability, the coming of which I discussed briefly on December 15, 2006;

The Cavalcade of Risk, with the latest edition by the Workers’ Comp Insider, has made my job easier this week, by covering numerous risky issues at the insurance-related blog carnival;

Let’s head to the courthouse now and see what we find:

Sheila B. Scheuerman from TortsProf gives us the latest obesity lawsuit, but it might not be quite what you think;

Howard Erichson from MassTorts reports that it was a good week for the paint industry as two state high courts knocked out lead paint nuisance claims;

Sometimes judges turn into litigants. Anyone come to mind? Anthony Sebok at his FindLaw Writ column discusses: Judges Behaving Badly: Their Ill-Considered Suits Against a Dry Cleaner, and Against the Yale Club. For a few more badly behaving judges, see: Judges Gone Wild;

And from the discovery department: Law firms Wiley Rein and Coughlin Duffy learned the hard way about discovery issues when walloped with $1.25M in sanctions by Southern District of New York Judge Alvin Hellerstein (New York Law Journal) due to document destruction and misleading statements that added years and millions of dollars to the cost of prosecuting suits on behalf of people who died or were injured or suffered property loss in the September 11 attacks;

(And since I went to Wiley Rein and Coughlin Duffy‘s websites for the links above, I might as well add that both firms are in violation of New York’s new ethics rules by failing to note on their home pages that their websites are “attorney advertising.” Doh!)

It’s not just defense lawyers that acted badly this week, but plaintiff’s too, as the New Jersey Law Journal reports today on two lawyers indicted for staging phony car accidents;

Returning to discovery, if you need some documents from the FDA to help your case, I hope you asked for them a loooooong time ago. Ed Silverman at Pharmalot reports there are some Freedom of Information Act requests pending for three years;

Sometimes trying a case can involve moments of great drama, but as Howard Zimmerle from Quad Cities Injury Lawyers reminds us, sometimes it is simply nuts-and-bolts lawyering to resolve things like How to get the chiropractor bills paid that is required. I like this this new blog as it addresses actual issues, as opposed to the trap so many personal injury attorneys fall into of reporting on the latest accident…And then writing if you were hurt, call us at blah, blah, blah…

In sorting through the viable claims, Day on Tort’s John Day reports that the Kentucky Supreme Court has rules there can be no recovery for pre-impact fear in a wrongful death case, a decision that doesn’t make any sense to this New Yorker;

Some fodder for the weekend:

• Thinking of hanging your own shingle? Carolyn Elefant of My Shingle fame creates SOLOFORMANIA! A Cornucopia of Forms for the Busy Solo;
• Fellow blawger Ron Miller and his Maryland Injury Lawyer blog got some nice local press. We could all use a little of that from time to time;
• And not to be missed (via 911doc at M.D.O.D.) from The Onion, I’ve Got Some Bad News, And I’ve Got Some Hilarious News. Is this medical malpractice or simple negligence? You decide…

Enjoy the weekend.
(Submissions for next week’s edition may be made to blog[at]TurkewitzLaw.com) xxx

The New York Personal Injury Law Blog presents the week that was:

Lawyers, drugs and money will once again be a recurring subject. But before heading over to the courtroom, let’s look at some preliminary issues:

In one of the saddest stories of the last month, a woman in Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital in Los Angeles was dying on the floor of the emergency room. So she was arrested. And then died just outside the hospital doors. Though it happened last month it is news again because the 911 tapes were just released. Randall Udelman (Injury Board: Phoenix) discusses the incident in the context of a degradation in California health care since tort “reform” caps were put in place in 1975; and Dr. Deb uses it to describe the mangled state of health care in the country;

Also in the horrible story department: On Staten Island, a seventeen-year-old track star died from an anti-inflammatory found in sports creams such as Bengay and Icy Hot. This Newsday story comes via TortsProf;

At any stage mediation might come up as an option. To that end, we check in with Diane Levin to help us along with Premature negotiation: how to get rid of performance anxiety at the mediation table, featured at her Online Guide to Mediation blog (via Ambrogi at Law.Com);

Ed Silverman at Pharmalot brings us a good dose of irony. Or hypocrisy. Take your pick. It seems that Eli Lilly is complaining about attorney advertising unfairly influencing patients. Except that there own marketing budget encourages people to take the drugs to begin with. You can find out, courtesy of Advertising for Success, what Lilly officials wanted its reps to say about Zyprexa’s side effects;

In the “picking the right lawyer category” we stay with Silverman and Avandia: Here Come the Chicken Pluckers!, with a story of two types of law firms: Those that run around advertising for cases (the chicken catchers) and those that actually know how to try them (the chicken plucker’s);

OK, let’s head head into the courthouse to see what we find:

Still on the subject of picking the right lawyers: Two examples this week of the wrong ones, as Scott Greenfield sets out in You Paid How Much? as well as my own dissection of the counsel Judge Robert Bork chose for his New York personal injury case;

Of course, being your own lawyer has its problems too, as Administrative Law Judge Roy Pearson should know regarding his now-infamous $54M pants lawsuit. It’s isn’t personal injury law, but since ABC News quoted me, I’ll add it to the Round-Up here:

Frivolous lawsuits like this one are an embarrassment to the profession…I see he has a claim for $500,000 in emotional damages. I don’t doubt that he has some emotional suffering, but I don’t think it’s related to the pants.

From picking counsel to picking courts: Philip Morris doesn’t like that it when plaintiffs bring their actions in state court instead of federal. So they tried to have a tobacco case removed from state court to federal, a subject discussed here in Round-Up #11. Michael Dorf (Dorf on Law) explains how a unanimous court rejected its arguments that Philip Morris was “assisting a federal officer,” simply by complying with the law, and was therefore entitled to force the action into the federal system (more by Amy Howe at SCOTUSblog and by Scott Nelson at Consumer Law & Policy Blog);

But just because you started suit doesn’t mean you’ll get to finish. At Drug and Device Law, Beck/Herrmann describe Compliance With FDA Regulations As A Defense in drug cases, and list the specific state laws that are available to get your case dismissed without the merits being addressed;

Having survived the motion to dismiss, we go to the practice tip department: Evan Schaeffer at his Illinois Trial Practice Weblog brings up a tactic I’ve never tried: Ask for the Story in Reverse;

And from the admissibility of evidence department, Ronald Miller at the Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog writes today about getting those photographs of the damaged vehicles into evidence;

At Respectful Insolence, pseudonymous surgeon/scientist Orac discusses a trial now underway regarding the claims that the mercury in the thimerosal in childhood vaccines has caused autism;

As litigation winds on, some personal injury litigants, who might not be able to work anymore, become desperate for cash to keep on going. Andrew Bluestone at his New York Attorney Malpractice Blog describes an attorney’s suspension for having loaned money to clients;

Though it could be worse: Three Kentucky fen-phen lawyers were indicted on fraud charges related to overpaying themselves after a $200M settlement on behalf of hundreds of clients (via Point of Law);

As we get to the end of trial, the jury must be charged: The medical malpractice attorneys and doctors who visit here will want to read this post about the emergency doctrine as it applies to childbirth: As Thomas Swartz explains at his New York Legal Update, a New York court Finds Obstetrician Is Not Entitled To Emergency Doctrine Charge involving shoulder dystocia;

With our jury now deliberating we anxiously pace the courthouse hallways, because second-guessing ourselves is the only thing we can do at this point, and wonder if any of our jurors have an agenda. So we turn once again to Anne Reed’s Deliberations for a discussion. One probing question I will add to my voir dire repertoire: Do you have any favorite magazines or web sites?

And just because you won at trial doesn’t mean the battle is over. Justinian Lane at TortDeform reports on a study showing appeals judges favor defendants in jury verdicts by 2:1;

In the miscellaneous-but-still-important category, Jacob Goldstein at the WSJ Health Blog reports that, When Hospitals Err, Medicare Might Not Pay. Which is to say, a hospital may no longer get paid for fixing certain problems that they created. Will they discharge patients and make them worse? Time will tell…

As you pack up the trial bag and go home of the weekend, a few things to check out:

• At Nicole Black’s Legal Antics she has a contest for the Top 10 Funniest Law Blogs;

• Though none of those bloggers hold a candle to this patient, who uttered the best one-liner ever from a patient, according to Paul Levy at Running a Hospital;

• And if you wanted to add some medical bloggers to your own RSS, but didn’t know which ones? Kevin M.D. rounds up his top eight.

Enjoy the weekend.

(Submissions for next week’s edition may be made to blog[at]TurkewitzLaw.com)

The New York Personal Injury Law Blog presents the week that was:

Before heading over to the courtroom, we look in on risky conduct that leads to lawsuits, check to see that the courthouse doors are open, and that we’ve selected the right attorney for the job:

The lawyer flying commercial flights with a dangerous strain of tuberculosis landed on the front page of the New York Times today. But Daniel Solove at Concurring Opinions had already taken a crack at the subject with Can the TB Patient Be Sued? Professor Bainbridge also opines on it in Flying TB Infected Lawyer’s Liabilities. The carrier is Atlanta attorney Andrew Speaker of The Speaker Law Firm, but don’t bother going to his site, as it has been taken down. Incredibly, he is the son-in-law of a microbiologist. Did he also give his new son-in-law some fatherly advice? Which leads to the next question of who might be sued if someone else contracted the disease…

Last week’s Round-Up heavily covered the breaking story of diabetes drug Avandia, and this week the responses: Ed Silverman at Pharmalot on the drop (to zero) of new prescriptions for the drug; The WSJ jumps all over the issue claiming NEJM editors gave short shrift to the study’s flaws; David Phillips at 10Q Detective points an accusatory finger at the press in Who Benefits from Glaxo’s Drug Disaster?; Glaxo defends itself in the British journal Lancet (WSJ Health Blog) and Derek Lowe from In The Pipeline does an analysis in The Avandia Wars Continue. (several via Kevin, M.D.) Mark at A Georgia Lawyer discusses the FDA smear campaign against the Avandia critic;

One question that comes up prior to starting a suit is the extent of insurance coverage (because you can’t get blood from a stone), but in this accident, I’m betting it is one issue that the parties won’t worry about (via South Carolina Trial Law Blog);

Andrew Bluestone from New York Attorney Malpractice Blog brings us a story that will no doubt result in lawsuits against many: A man had his conviction overturned, and then spent the next 17 years in jail, while his attorney, the prosecutor and the courts all dropped the ball;

Still on the subject of attorneys and clients, this one is too good not to include even though it doesn’t deal with personal injury law: From Scott Greenfield’s Simple Justice, The Wrong Things Potential Clients Say To Criminal Defense Lawyers And Why;

Moving on to the start of litigation:

Here is a litigant that apparently wishes they never started suit…Jewish Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky brought a retaliatory lawsuit against two attorneys that had alleged unclean conditions at the hospital in numerous lawsuits, and then saw most of them dismissed. So the hospital turned around and sued, and was more than happy to talk about it to the press. Perhaps what they didn’t expect, for some bizarre reason, is that the attorneys who had been sued would actually defend themselves and publicly give the basis of their suit…and it wasn’t pretty since it dealt with unclean conditions. Now what? The hospital, after starting the suit and starting the comments in the press, turns around and asks the court for a gag order. Michael Stevens at the Kentucky Law Review has all the details…and then…late breaking news, the Hospital asks the court to gag their gag order. I wonder how much they billed for all that.

William Childs at TortsProf writes of an asbestos case where the judge rejected a pre-packaged bankruptcy;

Baseball fans have no doubt heard of St. Louis Cardinal pitcher Josh Hancock being killed in a car accident April 29 when he slammed into a tow truck. Published reports said he was drunk, speeding and talking on his cell phone. His father sued the bar on a dram shop theory, as well as the tow truck operator for not having appropriate warning devices, as well as the driver of the car needing aid. A sober legal analysis of the claims comes from Howard Wasserman at the Sports Law Blog (via TortsProf) and a snarky analysis from David Nieporent at Overlawyered;

As we get ready for trial, we always wonder about juries and jury selection. And so, we turn once again to Anne Reed at Deliberations for more insight and tips in: “Do Juries Deliberate?” A Survey In Seattle;

Now in the middle of trial, we turn to Flea, the pseudonymous med-blogger that was outed during his cross-examination. In Round-Up #11 back on May 11th, I wrote this:

In part of an extraordinary medical-legal series, pediatrician (and blogger) Flea repeatedly let loose with his observations and emotions regarding his own medical malpractice trial: as defendant in a wrongful death case. Jury selection is now complete, and he reflected on the jurors chosen and the traumatized parents. Except that Flea has now taken down some, though not all, of those the posts on the subject. Why has he chosen some, but not all? With the death of a child at stake, it is clear Flea’s trial is not just about money…Will the nail-biting drama end in verdict or sigh-producing settlement? I’m guessing we haven’t heard the last of this.

From settlement to verdict: In New Jersey, an Accutane trial has resulted in a $2.6M award for inflammatory bowel disease, based on a failure to warn of the disease, according to Tom Lamb at his Drug Injury Watch;

And finally a little weekend reading:

• From Kevin, M.D.: The best anti-smoking ad ever created.
• From Sheila Scheuerman at TortsProf, top 10 downloads for papers posted on the Social Science Research Network for the last three months in the Journal of Torts & Products Liability Law.
• Blawg Review #110, by Norman Fernandez at the Biker Law Blog was all about Memorial Day and our veterans. Since it was updated during the week, it’s worth going back even if you’ve seen it once.

Enjoy the weekend.

(Submissions for next week’s edition may be made to blog[at]TurkewitzLaw.com)