Useful Web Links

http://www.daubertontheweb.com/ for "Daubert on the Web." This is a great site!
http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/ for the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts
http://www.nashville.gov/circuit/ for the Metropolitan Davidson County Circuit Court Clerk's Office
http://www.nashville.gov/chancery/index.htm for the Metropolitan Davidson County Chancery Court Clerk and Master's Office
http://www.uscourts.gov/ for the U.S. Courts: Federal Judiciary website
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/ for the United States Code
http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/ for the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/ for the Federal Rules of Evidence
http://www.ediscoverylaw.com/ for a site on e-discovery
http://www.medilexicon.com/ for an online medical dictionary
http://www.globalrph.com/index.htm for web-based medical research
http://www.llrx.com/features/medical2005.htm for more web-based medical research
http://www.state.tn.us/sos/ for the Tennessee Secretary of State
http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/ for the Pacer Service Center
http://www.wheelessonline.com/ for Wheeless’ Textbook for Orthopaedics
http://www.ama-assn.org/ for the American Medical Association
http://jama.ama-assn.org/ for the Journal of the American Medical Association
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/ for the Vanderbilt University Medical Center
http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/medschool/ for the Vanderbilt Medical Center School of Medicine
http://www.hcahealthcare.com/ for the Hospital Corporation of America
http://www.mmc.edu/ for the Meharry Medical College
http://www.state.tn.us/health/ for the State of Tennessee Department of Health
http://www.healthguideusa.org/index.htm for a great link for looking up information on healthcare providers.

Great Legal Citation Book

Here's a great book that will help you correctly cite the authority you are relying upon, to wit: Prince's Dictionary of Legal Citations, by Mary Miles Prince.

It can be purchased at: http://www.wshein.com

New Peer-Review Case From Tennessee Supreme Court

The Tennessee Supreme Court issued a good opinion clarifying the discoverability of certain information, even if it is provided to a peer review committee, in Stratienko v. Chattanooga-Hamilton Co. Hosp. et al., No. E2005-01043-SC-S09-CV (Tenn. May 14, 2007).

This matter arose out of a dispute between two doctors, however, the discoverability of this information wouldn't (shouldn't) be any different in a medical malpractice case.

Here's the link:

http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/OPINIONS/TSC/PDF/072/StratienkoOPN.pdf

Jury Instructions: Forseeability in Medical Malpractice Cases

The Court of Appeals recently issued a very good opinion dealing with jury instructions in medical malpractice cases (primarily dealing with the element of foreseeability). That opinion is from Adams v. Hendersonville Hosp. Corp et al., M2006-01068-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 18, 2007).

Appellant requested three jury instructions at trial. The trial court declined to give them as requested (one, regarding foreseeability, was a verbatim statement of the law from the Tennessee Supreme Court). The Court of Appeals held that the trial court's refusal to give the jury instruction that was a verbatim statment of the law on foreseeability was reversible error.

Here's the link to the case:

http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/OPINIONS/CURRENT/adamsaOPN.pdf

Medical Illustrations

Merck has a great Web site for medical illustrations.

Here's the link:

http://www.merck.com/mmhe/resources/cp1/index.html

New Case Involving Comparative Fault and Sec. 20-1-119

The Tennessee Supreme Court issued its opinion in Austin v. State of Tennessee, No. M2005-01300-SC-R11-CV (Tenn. May 1, 2007).

Here's the link:

http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/OPINIONS/TSC/PDF/072/AustinOPN.pdf

This case should be read with Brown v. Wal-Mart Discount Cities, 12 S.W.3d 785 (Tenn. 2000).

Both cases involve the allocation of fault and the interplay between that allocation of fault and Tennessee Code Annotated section 20-1-119.

I'm thinking of doing an article on this topic. I'll let you know if I do.