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Lawyers in Tennessee SNF fire trial request new judge

LTC Liability Monitor, August 25, 2005

A trial judge presiding over wrongful death lawsuits related to a 2003 Nashville nursing home fire has been asked to step aside because of her role in deciding related cases for 30 other residents, according to the Nashville Tennessean.

The motion for recusal, filed last week by the lawyers for two of the SNF's residents, suggested Davidson County Circuit Judge Barbara Haynes' work in deciding settlements for similar fire cases creates a conflict of interest. The confidential information she was made aware of through those other settlements, the lawyers suggested, is something a trial judge in a wrongful death case would not normally have and could unfairly sway her rulings in future trials.

Thirty-two lawsuits were filed in the wake of a September 25, 2003, fire at Nashville's National HealthCare Corp. nursing home. At least 16 people died because of the blaze, reported the Tennessean.

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