Defense Counsel Journal articles from July 2004

Defense Counsel Journal archives from July 2004

A gem of the IADC.(International Association of Defense Counsel)(President's Page)
July 1, 2004... THIS IS my last opportunity to write a President's Page for Defense Counsel Journal. Opportunity of a lifetime What a wonderful opportunity being the president of the International Association of Defense Counsel has been for me, and...

Punitive damages after Campbell: a mixed bag awaiting definitive resolution: while courts have paid attention to the Campbell guideposts, there have been successful efforts to justify high punitive damages awards.
July 1, 2004... LAST YEAR in State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Campbell, (1) the U.S. Supreme Court gave new force and meaning to the broad, fundamental principles of constitutional law that constrain punitive damages. Although Campbell was an...

West Virginia asbestos mass trial: efficient innovation or constitutional violation? Aside from denying due process, the concept has unintended consequences by attracting more cases and draining court and damage resources.
July 1, 2004... ASBESTOS litigation has spurred innovations in civil procedure as courts and parties have struggled to manage the number of claims pouting into the courts. (1) The West Virginia judiciary attempted to deal with the "elephantine mass of asbestos...

Whither medical monitoring claims? Last few years give reasons for optimism: courts are critically examining whether these claims can be independent actions or remedies and whether they are suitable for class action status.
July 1, 2004... THE reporters on the Restatement of Torts (Third): Product Liability, James A. Henderson Jr. and Aaron D. Twerski, wrote in 2002: To respond to [medical monitoring] claims, it is necessary to provide medical surveillance for...

The uninjured plaintiff: new frontiers of liability: defense counsel must prepare for tort claims based on theories that are not part of the traditional history and requirements of tort law.
July 1, 2004... IT HAS long been a fundamental tenet of American tort law that a cause of action requires an injury. In recent years, however, many courts have loosened this requirement significantly, so that a host of causes of action are recognized now in...

Privacy-confidentiality in England: courts don't go West in high-profile cases; England proposes to avoid pitfalls of a privacy law through strengthening the law of confidentiality and a new human rights law protecting private information.
July 1, 2004... In October 2002, the law of privacy in England, if there ever was one, appeared to come to an abrupt halt in Campbell v. Mirror Group Newspapers plc. (1) Despite earlier successful claims for privacy in cases that settled before trial, the...

Shifting the causation burden of proof in legal malpractice actions: courts are applying doctrines taken from other types of cases and placing the burden on defendant attorneys on the basis of public policy considerations.(California)
July 1, 2004... THE well-known elements of a cause of action for legal malpractice are: (1) the attorney's duty to use the skill, prudence and diligence that others in his or her profession commonly possess and exercise; (2) acts that constitute a breach of...

Defending managed earnings cases by understanding revenue recognition: protecting clients means that defense counsel must be prepared to traverse a jungle of accounting rules and standards in order to avoid catastrophe.
July 1, 2004... IN RESPONSE to the infamous Enron debacle, securities law reform legislation was enacted in the United States in 2002 by way of the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act, better known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002? In...

Conning the IADC Newsletters.(International Association of Defense Counsel)
July 1, 2004... 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...

Reviewing the law reviews.(Bibliography)
July 1, 2004... This is a selective bibliography of current law review literature of interest to defense counsel. Main articles are identified by naming the author or authors. The designations "Note," "Comment," etc. are as listed in the publication, with the...