Rader v. Greenberg Traurig, 715 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 26 (App. Div. I, June 23, 2015) (J. Thuma) ARIZONA DOES NOT RECOGNIZE EQUITABLE TOLLING OF AN ACTION WHERE PLAINTIFF OPTS OUT OF CLASS ACTION FILED IN ANOTHER JURISDICTION A class action was brought in Arizona Federal District Court against defe...
Schmidt, Sethi & Akmajian Blog
Electronic Medical Records Are Threating Your Health and Frustrating Your Doctor
I have been practicing in the medical malpractice field for over twenty years. In that time, I have seen many trends that effect patient health. The transition to electronic medical records (EMR's) is one of the biggest changes to modern medicine in the last 50 years, and not in a good way. ...
Important US Supreme Court Cases: Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)
The Gist: Before this decision, some states allowed same-sex marriages, while others banned it, defining marriage as between a man and a woman. These bans kept same-sex couples from receiving the substantial government benefits that married couples receive involving things like taxes, adoption an...
Legislators Were Hoodwinked by the Myth of “Defensive Medicine” To Pass Laws Harmful To Patients
Forbes Magazine is a business magazine. It takes the side of business. Nonetheless, it could not help but report on a New England Journal of Medicine article that blew the doors off the idea of “defensive medicine.” Defensive medicine is a term coined by the insurance industry to describe the ...
Civil Procedure: Arbitration Award is Not a Judgment
Phillips v. Garcia, 714 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 13 (App. Div. I, June 9, 2015) (J. Gemmill) ARBITRATION AWARD IS NOT AN APPEALABLE “JUDGMENT” Plaintiff sued defendant for breach of contract and bad faith. The trial court assigned the case for compulsory arbitration and plaintiff obtained an award fr...
Discharge Instructions Confusing? Make Sure You know Your Next Step
A recent blog by Dr. Suneel Dhand, MD, about the confusion created by discharge paperwork from the Emergency Department got me thinking about several of my medical malpractice cases where this was a recurrent problem. Much of the confusion comes from some Emergency Doctor's misconnection with t...
Evidence: Attorney Client Privilege Re Documents Inadvertently Disclosed
Burch & Cracchiolo, P.A. v. The Honorable Robert D. Myers, __Ariz. Adv. Rep. ___ No. 1 CA-SA 15-0013 (App. Div. I, June 4, 2015) (J. Jones) ATTORNEY CLIENT PRIVILEGE NOT WAIVED REGARDING INADVERTENTLY DISCLOSED DOCUMENTS BY VIRTUE OF PARTY BRINGING MOTION TO DISQUALIFY ATTORNEY INADVERTENTLY...
Workers’ Comp/Insurance: Bad Faith Exhaustion of Remedies
Merkens v. Federal Ins. Co., 713 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 28 (App. Div. I, May 21, 2015) (J. Portley) WORKER MUST FIRST SEEK ADJUDICATION OF DENIAL OF COMPENSATION BENEFITS FROM INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION BEFORE BRINGING LAWSUIT FOR BAD FAITH/ATTYS' FEES UNDER ARS §12-341.01(A) The plaintiff alleged injury...
Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure: Interest on Judgments
Flood Control Dist. Of Maricopa County v. Paloma Investment Ltd. Partnership, 713 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 31 (App. Div. I, May 26, 2015) (J. Thompson) INTEREST ON JUDGMENTS IS GOVERNED BY THE INTEREST RATE IN PLACE WHEN THE JUDGMENT IS ENTERED AND PARTIAL PAYMENT ON JUDGMENT APPLIES TO INTEREST BEFORE P...
Tools for Finding the Right Hospital or Doctor
Hospitals and doctors are like any other kind of professional: there are great ones, there are awful ones and those that are somewhere in between. Because a hospital or doctor is responsible for your health or life, it is important to find the one that best fits your needs. Here are some tools to...
Tools for Finding the Right Hospital
Hospitals and doctors are like any other kind of professional: there are great ones, there are awful ones and those that are somewhere in between. Because a hospital or doctor is responsible for your health or life, it is important to find the one that best fits your needs. Here are some tools to...
Torts: State Immunity for Felonious Acts of Employee
Gallagher v. Tucson Unified School District, 712 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 22 (App. Div. II, May 12, 2015) (J. Vasquez) SCHOOL DISTRICT IMMUNE FROM CLAIM OF NEGLIGENT HIRING EMPLOYEE WHO COMMITS FELONIOUS ACT ABSENT ACTUAL KNOWLEDGE Plaintiff parents and child sued the Tucson Unified School District [TU...
Torts: No Duty to Exercise Reasonable Care Notifying Next of Kin
Guerra v. State of Arizona, 712 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 24 (May 8, 2015) (V.C.J. Pelander) POLICE OWE NO DUTY TO EXERCISE REASONABLE CARE WHEN INVESTIGATING IDENTITY OF DECEASED AND NOTIFYING NEXT OF KIN Plaintiffs were informed their daughter had died in an auto accident by the Arizona Department of P...
Torts: Federal Preemption Under Locomotive Inspection Act
BNSF Railway v. Seats Inc., 712 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 9 (App. Div. I, May 5, 2015) (J. Cattani) STATE LAW NEGLIGENCE CLAIM BASED UPON FEDERAL STANDARD NOT PREEMPTED BY FEDERAL LOCOMOTIVE INSPECTION ACT Plaintiff, sued his employer BNSF Railway and Seats Inc. for injury allegedly caused by a defective ...
Important U.S. Supreme Court Cases: Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)
The Gist: The University of Michigan ranked applicants on a point system. To increase student diversity, the point system included an automatic 20 point bonus if the applicant was a minority. Two bitter white students who were denied admission filed suit against the school, alleging that the scho...
Who And Why Are All These People Taking Care Of Me In A Hospital? A Guide To Modern Hospital Care Delivery
I recently went to Tucson Medical Center to visit a loved one. She is an out of town visitor who, unfortunately, needed urgent medical care and hospitalization. This made me think how bewildering this process is to a patient and their family. Who are all these people coming into the room? Wh...
Electronic Medical Records Mistakes Are Medical Malpractice and Require You Check Your Test Results
Our modern world of technology has its good points and bad. Electronic medical records came with the promise of reduced errors, including increased communication among health care providers, reduction in medication errors, and better coordination of testing and services. This brave new world pro...
Torts—Premises Liability/”Lent Employee” Doctrine
Lee v. M&H Enterprises, Inc., __Ariz. Adv. Rep. __, No. 1 CA-CV 13-0257 (App. Div. I, April 21, 2015) (J. Brown) LANDOWNERS NOT LIABLE FOR INJURY ON PREMISES WHERE CONTRACTOR HAS CONTROL OF EMPLOYEE AND MANNER OF WORK/”LENT EMPLOYEE” DOCTRINE RENDERS CONTRACTOR PROVIDED WORKERS FROM ANOTHER...
What's Your Favorite Legal Movie? Part III
To recap -- Dev Sethi -- Murder on a Sunday Morning Matt Schmidt -- 12 Angry Men Today, Jim Campbell weighs in with his thoughts: My favorite law movie is Twelve Angry Men. It shows us the deliberations of 12 men deciding the fate of a young man accused of robbery and murder. It takes place ...
Joint Commission Releases 2014 Sentinel Event Statistics
What Is a Sentinal Event? A sentinel event is a Patient Safety Event (not primarily related to the natural course of the patient's illness or underlying condition), that reaches a patient and results in any of the following: Death Permanent harm Severe temporary harm and intervention require...
Ted Schmidt Analyzes Phoenix Torch Ride Fatalites
Phoenix media continues to cover the ongoing developments in the deaths of Josh and Miranda Barela who rode from Farmington, NM to Phoenix for the 16th Annual Chester's Torch Ride benefiting Special Olympics Arizona. This ride kicked off Arizona Bike Week. New documents recently released by Sco...
What is Your Favorite Legal Movie? Part II
Over the next few weeks, we all weigh in on our favorite movies. Here is Matt Schmidt's favorite: 12 Angry Men (1957) I think there is a place in everyone's heart for My Cousin Vinny, but 12 Angry Men is a true black and white classic that is preserved in the National Film Registry by the Libra...
What's Your Favorite Legal Movie?
Dev Sethi talks about his favorite legal movie, Murder on a Sunday Morning.
Important U.S. Supreme Court Cases: McClesky v. Kemp (1987)
The Gist: In Georgia, a black man was convicted of murdering a white man and was sentenced to the death penalty. The black man appealed, claiming that the death penalty had a racially discriminatory impact in violation of the 14th amendment because it applied disproportionately in cases where the...
Gov. Ducey Signs Law Easing Speeding Penalties.
The Arizona Legislature has retired for the session, and Governor Ducey is taking action on their bills. This week, the Governor signed a bill that allows drivers to attend traffic school once a year and in the process wipe out a speeding ticket. Previously, Arizona drivers were limited to this...