July 2015

hold hands

The “laying on of hands” can resonate powerfully. In my background, it has spiritual and theological implications as a ritual of blessing or of healing. Can this and other senses beyond sight and hearing also be part of legitimate trial advocacy in conveying truth to jurors?

The Georgia Court of Appeals recently said yes in the context of a case where two experts disagreed on whether there was a difference in temperature of the hands of a plaintiff who had a diagnosis of complex regional pain syndrome (also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy), due to medical malpractice.

brain-injury-md

We have known for a long time that young survivors of even so-called “mild” traumatic brain injury (TBI) are more likely than others to develop problems with alcohol and drug abuse than people without TBI. They are also more likely to have problems with irritability or aggressiveness, including explosive outbursts, which can be set off by minimal provocation. This is consistent with research showing that 76% to 88% of prisoners have a history of traumatic brain injury.

That’s why many people define “mild” traumatic brain injury as an injury to anybody who is not in your family.

So

Every few weeks or months, we see news stories about breach of data security in medical centers or health insurance companies. Most people hearing that probably just shrug, figuring it’s not as bad as breach of credit card or other financial data. Earlier this year, for example, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia revealed that as many as 80 million customers of the Anthem Blue Cross had their account information stolen. My family and I were among them.

Most phackereople do not realize that breaches of medical data privacy can be just as expensive as a financial date breach

Ken Shigley of Atlanta, who was president of the State Bar of Georgia in 2011-12, is now chair of the largest practice area section in the American Association for Justice (AAJ), the national organization of plaintiffs’ trial attorneys. Shigley took the helm of the Motor Vehicle Collision, Highway & Premises Liability Section of AAJ and the organization’s annual convention in Montreal on July 14, 2015.

ken_shigley_coverWith over 2,500 members nationwide, the section includes specialized litigation practice groups on Trucking Litigation, Bus Litigation, Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Motorcycle Litigation, Bicycle Litigation, Resort Torts Litigation and