Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Search


Jumping Through Hoops: Discovery of Records under HIPAA
When medical malpractice defense counsel first heard of the new privacy regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (the HIPAA privacy regulations), most probably thought that these detailed and complicated laws would affect only their regulatory health care colleagues. How great an impact the HIPAA privacy regulations will have on medical malpractice litigation, in general, is yet to be seen, but it is clear that these regulations have immediately affected discovery of medical records in med-mal cases.
GAO Reports Look at Med-Mal Insurance Crisis
In the last 2 months, the General Accounting Office (GAO) issued two reports detailing the findings of its studies into the medical malpractice insurance crisis and its effects on medical care. The studies were conducted at the request of Congress, which wanted to learn what the root causes of the rising medical malpractice insurance premiums were and what effects these rising costs were having on the public's access to health care. With this information, it intends to consider legislation similar to some states' tort reform laws.
Verdicts
The latest cases of interest to your practice.
Med Mal News
The latest news of interest to your practice.
John Gaal's Ethics Corner
Your ethics questions answered by the expert.
A Word to the Wise
Plaintiff seeks to admit testimony relating to a similar claim of sex discrimination raised by a co-worker. She also notes that in a department of 20, there are only five women. Is the co-worker's testimony admissible? Is testimony relating to the office's demographics probative?
Be Wary of Rule 54(d)'s Costs Provision
<b><i>Costs Are Awardable, and Are Being Awarded, Against Plaintiffs</i></b> Plaintiffs' employment lawyers contemplating bringing Title VII or other discrimination suits have long felt secure in the knowledge that, even if they lose at trial or at the summary judgment stage, their client will not be assessed attorney's fees. This may not be the case.
Decisions of Interest
Recent decisions of interest to you and your practice.
Protection under Participation Clause Extended to Alleged Harrassers
Alleged harassers may not be retaliated against for participating in the investigation of harassment against them, according to the Second Circuit in a ruling of first impression. <i>Deravin v. Kerik</i>, 335 F.3d 195 (2d Cir. 2003). In doing so, the court held that "defending oneself against charges of discrimination - to the extent that such defense involves actual participation in a Title VII proceeding or investigation - is 'protected activity' within the scope" of the participation clause of Title VII.
Decisions of Interest
Recent cases of interest to you and your practice.

MOST POPULAR STORIES

  • Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
    There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
    Read More ›
  • Compliance Officers and Law Enforcement: Friends or Foes?
    <b><i>Part Two of a Two-Part Article</b></i><p>As we saw in Part One, regulators have recently shown a tendency to focus on compliance officers who they deem to have failed to ensure that the compliance and anti-money laundering (AML) programs that they oversee adequately prevented corporate wrongdoing, and there are several indications that regulators will continue to target compliance officers in 2018 in actions focused on Bank Secrecy Act/AML compliance.
    Read More ›
  • Artist Challenges Copyright Office Refusal to Register Award-Winning AI-Assisted Work
    Copyright law has long struggled to keep pace with advances in technology, and the debate around the copyrightability of AI-assisted works is no exception. At issue is the human authorship requirement: the principle that a work must have a human author to be eligible for copyright protection. While the Copyright Office has previously cited this "bedrock requirement of copyright" to reject registrations, recent decisions have focused on the role of human authorship in the context of AI.
    Read More ›