Comments on: Updates – May 31

By: Dr. Mary Johnson

Dr. Mary Johnson — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 21:07:46 +0000

What David Wilson said squared. My thoughts: http://drjshousecalls.blogspot.com/2007/05/unsettling-end-in-case-of-disappearing.html

By: Deoxy

Deoxy — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 18:07:07 +0000

What David Wilson said, +1.

By: David Wilson

David Wilson — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 15:58:48 +0000

“I consider this to be a major indictment of the civil judicial system in this country. It appears that “Flea” didn’t settle based on an objective standard of culpability, but on entirely superficial matters.”

Joe, I have bad news for you. That’s not an indictment of the civil justice system. That IS the civil justice system.

By: Tom T.

Tom T. — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 12:07:05 +0000

I think David’s probably right about the relevance problem of pure trial-prep material. I suppose there could be something in the blog or the comments that appears to suggest that the doctor was being prepped not to be fully truthful, but that seems unlikely. Also, there may have been some exchange in the comments to the blog that touched upon the substance of the case. Or there could have been some earlier blog entry that was not trial-related but touched upon an arguably relevant issue, like the doctor’s practice habits in general. All this is sheer speculation, of course.

By: T. Bruce McNeely

T. Bruce McNeely — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 03:59:18 +0000

When I was involved with a case I was told to discuss it with NO ONE.
Unfortunately I had PTSD for unrelated reasons and I had to discuss the stress with my therapist. I also had to discuss my stress with my family. Alternative? Discuss with no one and have a nervous breakdown. So I did discuss the problems with my therapist and my father. I would have loved to see some lawyer get my 85 year old father with advanced Parkinson’s Disease on the stand and grill him as to what I talked to him about. He wasn’t one to curse, but I bet he would have had a few choice words for the plaintiff’s lawyer. What are they going to do, throw a crippled 85 yr old doctor into jail for contempt?
Fortunately, there was a settlement which did not involve me.
Of course, none of this has any relationship to the facts as to who is responsible. Surprise, surprise.

By: Catron

Catron — Thu, 31 May 2007 22:12:41 +0000

What irritates me about this case is that it was not settled on the merits. Flea’s poor judgment notwithstanding, a few dumb blog posts should not be the criteria upon which justice is dispensed. I know that seems naive, but it is nonetheless true.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 31 May 2007 21:49:40 +0000

I consider this to be a major indictment of the civil judicial system in this country. It appears that “Flea” didn’t settle based on an objective standard of culpability, but on entirely superficial matters. Worse, it creates the perception, rightly or wrongly, that the legal community circled the wagons and tossed this scoflaw overboard for daring to expose their charade for what it is.

By: David Nieporent

David Nieporent — Thu, 31 May 2007 21:38:00 +0000

Elliot: I understand the theory that some of his posts may have waived attorney-client privilege on some issues… but they didn’t waive the relevancy objection. Questions about the advice the jury consultant gave him might speak to credibility if the judge is feeling generous, but Flea’s opinions of the jurors simply aren’t relevant to a malpractice claim. (And even if they were, the questions would likely be so grossly prejudicial as to outweigh any probative value.)

By: Elliot

Elliot — Thu, 31 May 2007 19:58:10 +0000

although it’s not clear to me how his views of lawyers, jurors, and the legal process would be relevant to a medical-malpractice case.

I didn’t follow Flea’s blog while it was up but, according to the press coverage, he apparently blogged about how his lawyers prepared him to testify. Blogging about that would arguably waive the attorney-client privilege and open him up to cross-examination about those prep sessions. That cross-examination would be relevant and might be quite harmful.

By: David Wilson

David Wilson — Thu, 31 May 2007 19:13:03 +0000

The Flea is squashed. Ouch. What a story. I should mention that Overlawyered commenters were correct in their prediction of what could happen.