Legal Education
Craft & Sheppard, PLC | Attorneys at Law
The High Court, The Constitution: Ramifications for Plaintiffs' Lawyers
For a generation, the high Court in effect has embraced a tort reform agenda substantively and procedurally, from disturbing lower court damage awards in favor of plaintiffs, to presiding over "constitutionalizing" punitive damage awards to protect large firms. The Court's rulings reveal a distrust of juries in punitive damage cases while praising them in capital cases, and often preempt state law giving ordinary citizens the right to sue for serious injuries. They lean toward privatizing the courts by enforcing one-sided arbitration classes and damage-limiting provisions, and place procedural obstacles before plaintiffs. This seminar discusses these trends and particular high Court decisions, and offers suggestions to avoid pitfalls and traps for plaintiffs' lawyers created by the high Court rulings. Click here to join the webinar ...
Download a PDF of any of the articles listed below
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Supreme Court Review - What the U.S. Supreme Court's 2004-2005 decisions mean to Tennessee Lawyers (First of a two-part series) By Perry A. Craft and Michael G. Sheppard September 2005, Tennessee Bar Journal Vol. 41, No. 9 |
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Framed By The Times – 2003-2004 U.S. Supreme Court Decisions reflect current events (First of a two-part series) By Perry A. Craft and Michael G. Sheppard September 2004, Tennessee Bar Journal Vol. 40, No. 9 |
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2006 Supreme Court Review for Tennessee lawyers By Perry A. Craft and Michael G. Sheppard September 2006, Tennessee Bar Journal Vol. 42, No. 9 |
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2007 US Supreme Court Review for Tennessee lawyers By Perry A. Craft and Michael G. Sheppard September 2007, Tennessee Bar Journal Vol. 43, No. 9 |