Tennessee Medical Malpractice Law Blog

Did you know that many hospitals will now allow you to order a complete copy of the x-rays taken of your client during their hospital stay on CD for a very reasonable fee (sometimes less than $100). The CD enables you to easily take copies of the films to meetings with experts or testifying treating physicians. We also often incorporate the xrays into powerpoint to use as an exhibit during a mediation or trial. Another option is to make a positive print (essentially a copy of the xray image printed on paper)of key films and then mount them on poster board to use as exhibits at trial or during depositions. For a few hundred bucks you will have really impressive exhibits of your client's injury.

For a refresher on the procedure to follow when objecting to a peremptory challenge which may have been exercised on the basis of race, in violation of a party's constitutional rights, see the recent western section Court of Appeals opinion Zakour v. U.T. Medical Group, Inc., et. al., Batson's three step process requires that the objecting party first make a prima facie showing that the other party has exercised peremptory challenges on the basis of race. If this initial burden is satisfied, then the burden shifts to the party asserting the peremptory challenge to articulate a race-neutral explanation for excluding the venire member in question. Finally, the court must resolve the issue. The court must articulate specific reasons for each of its findings. Link here to case.

Although using computer animations and simulations at trial is less heard of in medical malpractice cases than other types of tort cases, it is not out of the realm of possibility. Moreover, chances are, if you are looking at this site you handle other types of cases in addition to med mal. For that reason, I wanted to bring to your attention a series of Tennessee cases which address the hurdles you must cross in order to introduce at trial a visual animation or simulation. Take a look at State v. Farner, 66 S.w.3d 188 (Tenn. 2001); State v. Hall, et. al., 2005 WL 292432 (Tenn. Crim. App.); and State v. Drake, 2005 WL 1330844 (Tenn. Crim. App.) As you will be able to tell from review of these cases, getting this type of evidence in at trial requires careful planning to make sure that you can lay the proper evidentiary foundation. It is advisable to work closely with testifying fact witnesses and the person who prepares the animation or simulation to ensure that factual liberties are not being taken in the creation process. Also, although you must lay a proper factual foundation to get the animation or simulation into evidence, you don't want to wait too late in the case to use the animation or simulation because the court may find the evidence cummulative and exclude it on that basis. Put simply, computer animations and simulations are amazing and can be instrumental in proving your case, but not if the jury never sees it.

I am preparing for trial. Over the years, our firm has compiled a series of checklists to assist us in that process. The checklists are not mandatory. Each case is unique and must be considered and prepared on its own merits, but these lists are a great place to start in making sure that everything is in order. I hope you will find these lists as helpful as we do. Download file.

From our Tennessee Business Litigation Blog:

Video cameras in the courtroom are a growing trend here in Tennessee. I am referring not to TV crews, but closed circuit cameras recording an entire trial. The Davidson County Circuit courtrooms have cameras set up to record witness testimony, even in the courts' temporary Metro Center home. At the end of each day in the trial, lawyers can purchase CD-roms of the videos.

An article over at Law.com looks at lawyers using trial video during closing argument. This is hard work. Any attorney who has worked closely with clipping a videotaped deposition knows how time-consuming it is. Now magnify by the stress of a lengthy trial, and fit it in your schedule to pick out clips during your "free hours" in the middle of trial. You also need a great deal of pre-trial planning, in terms of having staff available to get the videos loaded onto your computer, clipped, reviewed by a knowledgeable attorney, and ready to play back at trial. The result, though, can be extremely worthwhile.

We have used trial video of witnesses in cases, and been very happy with the results. Just like a videotaped deposition versus reading a transcript, a picture is worth a thousand words.