Thank you for choosing to receive The Jere Beasley Report, a comprehensive summary of national and state political and legal news. Penned by Beasley Allen founding shareholder Jere L. Beasley, The Report offers opinion, facts and analysis of the issues that are shaping the world today, both inside the courtroom and out. In this issue: Alabama Supreme Court rules for drug companies Court rules that ford can be sued for airbag failure The Toyota recall fails to address all safety concerns B... Read Full Story

Our firm will once again host the largest conference for Alabama lawyers in private practice this month when we present the 2009 Legal Strategies Conference & Expo. This event used to be called the Beasley Allen Retreat, but the name has grown to reflect the changing nature of the event. Last year, the conference welcomed more than 900 lawyers to Montgomery for continuing legal education. Thus far registration for the year has already topped that figure. We now expect more than 1,000 lawy... Read Full Story

In a shocking development, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed three of the State of Alabama’s Medicaid fraud lawsuits that were on appeal. The Court refused the state’s multiple requests for oral argument in the cases, considered to be among the most important cases to be heard by this Court in years. To say the least, that was more than just unusual. The case against AstraZeneca, one of the Defendants, had been on appeal for 13 months. By refusing to allow oral argument, the Court did not al... Read Full Story

The Coalition against Bayer Dangers, a consumer watchdog group, has demanded a ban of “third generation’ contraceptive pills with increased rates of side effects. Studies recently published in the British Medical Journal found that pills which contain the hormones drospirenone or desogestrel carry twice the risk of potentially fatal injuries than the second generation medication first used in the 1970s. The studies showed that contraceptive pills such as Yaz and Yasmin, manufactured by Bayer,... Read Full Story

My good friend Chette Williams, who serves as the Chaplin for the Auburn University football team, sent in some good news recently. On the second Wednesday of this month, students around the country will get together on their school’s athletic field to hear fellow students share their testimonies and challenge each other to read the Bible and to come to faith in Jesus Christ. The Josiah challenge is based on the following: The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence ... Read Full Story

The following is the third in the series by Dr. John Ed Mathison. Not surprisingly, we have received lots of good comments about the first two messages. I really appreciate John Ed taking time to do this for our readers. Catch It – Spread It With the recent outbreak of Swine Flu, people are taking a lot of measures to keep from spreading that particular deadly disease. Here in the Montgomery area we saw high school athletic events cancelled, multiple instruction sheets from businesses and... Read Full Story

I am sure that most all of our readers have read Alabama native Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird or perhaps some may have seen the play at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival based on her best-selling book. There were several fascinating characters in this book and one would be described as a role model. I read an interesting column recently by Rhea Grimsley Johnson in the Montgomery Advertiser which discussed one of these characters. This article made me realize that even lawyer... Read Full Story

We didn’t get many Bible verses for this month, but the two we did get are both good and most timely. My longtime friend Corky Hawthorne, a lawyer from Montgomery, sent in this verse: Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will... Read Full Story

The following is the monthly message from Tom Methvin, who is serving as President of the Alabama State Bar Association. Alabama Celebrates National Pro Bono Week The Alabama State Bar will celebrate National Pro Bono Week, Oct. 25-31, 2009. This celebration recognizes the valuable work lawyers do throughout the year to represent those who cannot afford civil legal assistance. The event provides a time to reflect on this core value of our profession, celebrate the achievements of pro bono a... Read Full Story

Governor Bob Riley has presented the Alabama Commendation Medal to 47 Alabama National Guard soldiers whose quick, selfless actions saved a number of lives in July. The soldiers were on a bus returning to Alabama from drill at Camp Shelby, Mississippi on July 12th when a bus in front of them carrying members of the First Baptist Church of Shreveport suffered a tire blowout and rolled over three times. As soon as they could, after stopping, the Alabama Guard members lifted the 30-passenger bus... Read Full Story