Defense Counsel Journal articles from July 1998

Defense Counsel Journal archives from July 1998

Closing the door on junk science.
July 1, 1998... THE OUTCOME of mass tort litigation often hinges on scientific evidence. In recent years, scientific testimony was often permitted without first being tested for the soundness of the science being discussed. Plaintiffs argued that the law need...

International Association of Defense Counsel Tenets of Professionalism.
July 1, 1998... 1. We will conduct ourselves before the court in a manner which demonstrates respect for the law and preserves the decorum and integrity of the judicial process. 2. We recognize that professional courtesy is consistent with zealous...

We, the jury: the IADC-backed National Jury Trial Innovations Project.(International Assn. of Defense Counsel)
July 1, 1998... Most Americans have limited knowledge of the jury system in the United States. When they see a mention of the jury or jury trials, more likely than not the impression is not a favorable one. They read about one group of jurors finding O.J....

ALI approves Restatement of Law governing lawyers.(American Law Institute)
July 1, 1998... After being under consideration for a decade, the Restatement of the Law Governing Lawyers was approved at the American Law Institute annual meeting in May. Defense counsel have been most interested in Section 215 of the Restatement,...

Only one change to civil rules goes forward.(Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence reforms)
July 1, 1998... While a number of substantive changes to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure were sent to Congress by the U.S. Supreme Court on April 24, only minor changes were approved by the Court to the...

Jennifer Panagopoulos New Executive Director.
July 1, 1998... Jennifer Panagopoulos has been named the new Executive Director of the International Association of Defense Counsel, succeeding Richard J. Hayes, who is retiring on August 1 after having served the IADC in that position since 1970. ...

Three Authors Win Yancey Memorial Award.
July 1, 1998... Ian Gallacher, Bruce R. Parker and Donald L. DeVries, all of the Baltimore firm of Goodell, DeVries, Leech & Gray, LLP, have won the Yancey Memorial Award for the best article published in Defense Counsel Journal during 1997. The award was...

Effective strategies for closing the door on junk science experts.
July 1, 1998... The Daubert decision offers defense counsel an excellent vehicle for excluding junk science, but there are many alternatives to consider MUCH has been written about the legal standards announced by the U.S. Supreme Court in Daubert v....

A primer on fen-phen litigation: allegations and defenses.
July 1, 1998... A new wave of class actions targets the appetite suppressant known as Fen- Phen, which is alleged to have caused valvular heart disease in women THE DIET drug known as Fen-Phen was recently implicated as a cause of valvular heart disease...

Lawyer liability to non-clients under the new Restatement of Law Governing Lawyers.
July 1, 1998... Of course, attorneys owe primary duties to clients, but counsel also must be careful to observe the duties of care owed to non-clients IT IS well recognized that the concept of privity is no longer "king of the hill" when it comes to a...

Transferring risk by contractual indemnity: a view from oil and energy.
July 1, 1998... Preparing clear, comprehensive and effective contracts of indemnity is a complex task, but it pays off by reducing litigation and expense THE petrochemical and energy resource industries have traditionally subcontracted a large portion of...

Crediting payments by concurring tortfeasors: the decline and fall of the jury rule?
July 1, 1998... A recent trend deprives defendants of their traditional right to inform juries about amounts already paid in settlement THE tort rule crediting defendants for payments by concurring tortfeasors causes an evidentiary problem. Should this...

"Efficient proximate causation" in the context of property insurance claims.
July 1, 1998... Far from being a novelty, this principle of determining causation in property loss cases is used in most jurisdictions AMONG the issues that most commonly arise in the evaluation of property insurance claims and the defense of insurers'...

Commensurability: understanding jury research and juror information processing.
July 1, 1998... Understanding jurors' pathway to verdict is the first step to discovering how to be most effective in persuading a jury PERHAPS it is a truism by now, but understanding people and how they think and interact in their social environment is...

Annual survey of fidelity and surety law.(part 2)
July 1, 1998... This roundup of recent cases covers public and private construction bonds,fidelity and financial institution bonds, and sureties' remedies I. PUBLIC CONSTRUCTION BONDS A. Bonds under Federal Laws 1. Substantive Claimant...

Drug, device and biotech information.(Web sites)
July 1, 1998... IN THE past several years, the number of websites useful to counsel defending medical drug and device litigation has expanded dramatically. Like the proverbial kid in a candy store, lawyers and medical analysts are confronted by seemingly...

Update on punitive damages.(includes Alabama litigations)
July 1, 1998... ONE OF the most anticipated and notorious cases addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court in recent years was the infamous paint job case--BMW of North America v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559 (1996). Dr. Gore sued BMW in state court for its failure to disclose...

Power of federal courts in multi-district litigations.
July 1, 1998... IN A FEW short pages, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly altered the landscape in multidistrict litigation in Lexecon Inc. v. Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, 118 S.Ct. 956 (1998). The question was whether a district court conducting...

Conning the IADC Newsletters.
July 1, 1998... Recognizing that a wide range of practical and helpful material appears in the newsletters prepared by committees of the International Association of Defense Counsel, this department highlights interesting topics covered in recent newsletters...