By Judge Thomas Wyatt, Nashville It’s not surprising that the subject of working has captured the creative impulses of the poet and songwriter. After all, most of humanity spends a good percentage of our waking hours making a living. And despite all the griping about our jobs and watching the clock for the arrival of … Continue reading Workers’ Comp in Song
Category: Hon. Thomas Wyatt
UR and the ODG–Procedure and Presumptions
By Judge Thomas Wyatt, Chattanooga With apologies to Jerry Seinfeld, what’s the deal with acronyms? I mean, are we so busy that we can’t say we live in the United States? Do we really save time by saying we live in the U.S. of A? And it can be confusing. If you are a college … Continue reading UR and the ODG–Procedure and Presumptions
Protecting Confidential Billing Info–A Road Less Traveled
By Judge Thomas Wyatt, Chattanooga Judge Thomas Wyatt In the past six and a half years, you’d think our twelve judges in seven locations would’ve addressed every conceivable procedural issue. NOT SO! To the contrary, we’re constantly amazed at how many new issues arise out of the clear blue sky. In fact, a week does … Continue reading Protecting Confidential Billing Info–A Road Less Traveled
When less is more
By Judge Thomas Wyatt, Chattanooga Just as doctors rarely have professional relationships with healthy people, judges don’t often see cases where the workers’ compensation system works. From the judicial vantage point, I see the stakeholders in the workers’ compensation system -- injured employees, employers, carriers, medical providers and their attorneys -- as prone to adversarial … Continue reading When less is more
Educational Conference to Spotlight Critically Acclaimed Ethics Film
By Judge Thomas Wyatt, Chattanooga If you were a child of the 1950s and ‘60s, you probably grew up watching Larry, Moe and Curly (or Shemp), otherwise known as the Three Stooges. Younger lawyers may not have enjoyed this enrichment during their formative years since, as I understand it, more modern and enlightened parents banned Three … Continue reading Educational Conference to Spotlight Critically Acclaimed Ethics Film
Be Prepared!
By Judge Thomas Wyatt, Chattanooga I could’ve named this article as I did because I was a Boy Scout. More pertinent to its purpose, however, I gave it this name because I was a trial attorney for 32 years. The motto resonates with me. I recently did a little research about the famous Scouting motto … Continue reading Be Prepared!
If Not Magic Words, Then What?
By Judge Thomas Wyatt, Chattanooga Remember Jack, the beanstalk guy who sold his cow for a pile of magic beans? It got him in trouble. As lawyers, we sometimes want to believe in magic -– especially “magic words.” However, the Appeals Board recently issued a case that dispels that tall tale. As a backdrop, remember … Continue reading If Not Magic Words, Then What?
Learning the Limitations
By Judge Thomas Wyatt, Chattanooga Arnold H. Glasow was a twentieth-century American writer known for one-line descriptions of practices that breed success in business. Among his most familiar quotes is the admonition to “live so that your friends can defend you, but never have to.” Although written for a non-lawyer audience, another of Mr. Glasow’s … Continue reading Learning the Limitations
Why You Gotta Be So Mean?
By Judge Thomas Wyatt In a recent claim, another Workers’ Compensation judge noted that counsel used terms such as “ridiculous,” “asinine,” “fraudulent,” and “untruthful,” in describing their opponent’s positions. This brought to mind that, in one of my first cases, the lawyers exchanged descriptions of “fool” and “idiot” when referring to each other. In my … Continue reading Why You Gotta Be So Mean?
From the Bench 