Federal Procedure
Category RSS FeedSpecial needs trust protects injury victim’s funds from ERISA reimbursement in 5th Circuit
In recent years we have dealt with increasingly aggressive demands for reimbursement by all manner health insurance and benefit plans when people who are seriously injured recover money from the insurer for the party at fault.
After the injured person’s lawyer fights to get compensation for the client, the health insurance benefit plan to which the … Continue Reading
Supreme Court Justice calls lawyer’s argument “utterly irrational”
Supreme Court Justice David Souter told the Tennessee Assistant Attorney General, “I simply cannot follow your argument because I believe you have just made a statement to me that is utterly irrational.”
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Judicial pay raise scuttled
I noted earlier that a pay raise for federal judges had been included in the bailout bill for the auto industry. Now the judicial pay raise has bitten the dust, at least temporarily, because it was draining votes from the legislation.
Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri announced on the Senate floor she would oppose the bill … Continue Reading
Federal judges pay raise tucked into Detroit bailout bill
Those of us whose livelihood depends upon the decisions of judges almost always genuflect for any suggestion of a pay raise for judges. I have done it before and I will do it again. I genuflect even though in this economy there are countless well-qualified attorneys who would gladly swap places with federal judges who … Continue Reading
Driver of passenger van at fault in death of Kentucky truck driver
At 12:45 AM this morning, the driver of the Somerset Food Service tractor-trailer was killed on I-75 in Kentucky when a Chevrolet van crossed the median into the northbound lanes and stopped. The tractor-trailer and a Ford pick-up truck were in northbound lanes and unable to avoid collision according to media reports.
When representing truck drivers … Continue Reading
Federal judge in Arkansas shells the corn about overreaching federal preemption
As an Atlanta lawyer handling both defective product and motor carrier cases, I have been troubled over the past several years by a trend of federal agencies seeking to block juries from ever getting a chance to consider the evidence against manufacturers through the doctrine of federal preemption, often beyond anything expressly intended by Congress. … Continue Reading
“Super Lawyer” listing still OK in Georgia
Last month there was a news story about the New Jersey Committee on Attorney Advertising, a panel appointed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey ruling that attorney advertisements that tout listings such as the "Super Lawyers" listings violate professional responsibility rules against ads that compare lawyers’ services or create an "unjustified expectation about results." … Continue Reading
Frivolous Daubert motions continue to seek exclusion of routine testimony by treating physicians
Many Daubert motions to exclude opinions of treating physicians are without merit.
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Electronic filing in Georgia’s federal courts
We have observed that a lot of Georgia lawyers are having trouble getting up to speed on electronic filing. See article. Fortunately, I have a good paralegal who keeps me straight on these things.
Here are links to court rules and attorney registration web sites regarding electronic filing:
Northern District (Atlanta, Rome, Gainesville, Newnan) — rule … Continue Reading
A win for the home team in dentist’s disability insurance case
A federal court win for the home team was just published at Giddens v.The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, 356 F.Supp.2d 1313(N.D.Ga.,2004) [Westlaw $$$].
We represented a dentist / real estate developer on a disability insurance claim after he had liver failure requiring a liver transplant at the Mayo Clinic. The insurance company … Continue Reading
