Arbitration Agreements in New Jersey Need More Details
11/16/18
By: Chris Curci On November 13, 2018, the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, issued an important decision holding that an arbitration agreement between the employer and employee was not enforceable. Flanzman v. Jenny Craig, Inc., Docket No. L-6238-17. The arbitration agreement read: Any and all claims or controversies arising out of or relating to…
Something Rotten: Spoliation Claims Against a Plaintiff
6/15/18
By: Sean Ryan The Georgia Supreme Court recently clarified that same duty and standard applies to a plaintiff as to a defendant in assessing potential spoliation claims. In Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. v. Koch, 303 Ga. 336 (2018), the Georgia Supreme Court stressed that the duty to preserve relevant evidence is “defined the same…
The Hearsay Exception for Market Reports
7/15/16
By: Ryan Babcock The hearsay exception for “compiled information” or market reports is an important tool that allows for the admission of such evidence notwithstanding the hearsay rule, but it is generally strictly applied by the courts. For that reason, counsel must carefully consider whether the rule permits the admission of such evidence in developing…
Can You Hear (or See) Me Now? No, and that May Constitute Spoliation
2/24/16
By: Andy Treese The Georgia Court of Appeals recently held that a municipality may be subject to sanctions for failure to preserve audio recordings of a police pursuit when the recordings were destroyed in the ordinary course of business before it received ante litem notice or other actual notice of contemplated litigation. Last year we…
New Georgia Court of Appeals Case Affirms Spoliation Sanctions Against Plaintiff
8/1/13
By: Wayne S. Melnick One of the largest areas of developing Georgia law in recent years is regarding spoliation of evidence and under what circumstances a court can and should sanction a party for allowing spoliation to occur. Generally, spoliation refers to any party’s destruction or alteration of evidence. Contrary to popular belief, sanctions based…
Cumulative Does Not Always Mean Harmless
5/8/13
By: Scott Rees In Thomas v. The Emory Clinic, Inc. (March 26, 2013), the Georgia Court of Appeals addressed the issue of a trial court improperly allowing hearsay evidence during a trial when that improper evidence is cumulative of other evidence in the case. Typically, allowing inappropriate, but cumulative, evidence is not harmful in terms of…
Does the Fourth Amendment Allow for a Forced Blood Draw after a DUI? – Part II
4/22/13
By: Sun Choy In a previous post, I posed this question in light of the oral argument in Missouri v. McNeely. This week, the Supreme Court answered by holding that requiring a warrant under the Fourth Amendment “must be determined case by case based on the totality of the circumstances” confronting the officer. In doing so, the Court…
Supreme Court Update: Drug Dog’s Sniff is “Up to Snuff”
2/21/13
By: Brian Dempsey In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court concluded that an “alert” by a well-trained narcotics detection dog establishes probable cause for the search of a vehicle’s interior for further evidence of illegal drugs. Florida v. Harris, Docket No. 11-817 (Feb. 19, 2013). Emphasizing that probable cause is a practical, commonsense standard, the…
11/5/12
By: Mike Flint and Laura Broome In 2005, the tort reform passed by the Georgia legislature included a statute that changed the standard for suing emergency room health care professionals in medical malpractice actions. The statute in essence states that no health care provider who provided emergency medical care in a hospital emergency department, or…