PJC Malpractice 2024

PREFACE TO THE 2024 EDITION

The Committee for Texas Pattern Jury Charges — Malpractice, Premises & Products submits this 2024 edition to the bench and bar of Texas. There are a number of enhancements to the 2022 edition. There are new instructions for the court to give the jury regarding deposition testi mony and when there will be translations of witness testimony or depositions for multi lingual jurors. The Committee made substantive changes in the commentary for medical malpractice regarding loss of chance, disfigurement, willful and wanton negligence, and abandon ment of patients. With damages, there are changes in the commentary for periodic pay ments, exemplary damages, and separate submission recommendation for physical pain and mental anguish in relevant cases. There is a caveat noted in broad form damages which the practitioner should review for proper preservation of error, particularly where there may be incorrect liability theo ries charged to the jury. We updated commentary in premises liability cases on the definition of open and obvious. The members of this Committee have given great quantities of their time, talent, and intellect to review countless new cases, law, and issues presented in litigation. The impact of having participation by members of the bench and stakeholders from both sides of the aisle is visible in the solutions to challenging problems displayed in this book. The work of the Committee continues, and as always, suggestions and feedback from the members of the bench and bar are requested. This helps us to meet ongoing jury charge changes with new cases and legislation, and helps us improve the practice of law. The Committee especially wants to thank Jim Norman, Derek Smith, and the staff of the Texas Bar Books Department of the State Bar of Texas for keeping us on task and for their exceptional guidance and persistence in keeping the train on the tracks. We dedicate this volume to the Rule of Law and the founders and protectors of the American judicial system who gave us the Seventh Amendment and the right to trial by a jury of our peers.

—Laura Bellegie Sharp, Chair

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