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Above: Professor King in his office.
At right: Professor King with his book,
“The Law of Medical Malpractice in a
Nutshell.”
King’s torts classes are legendary.
“He has a lesson he calls ‘outrageous torts,’ and he
has this amazing gift for frightening the whole class
when he shouts ‘outrageous!’” Young says. “Everyone
who has ever had Professor King knows what it means
when you say ‘outrageous!’
That’s all you have to say.”
For King it has always been
about the students.
“The students are a joy to
teach,” he says. “Never in
all these years have I had
a class that I didn’t admire
and like. Every class
is different and it seems
that every one just keeps getting better. What more
could a person ask for?”
New Challenges Ahead
King’s plans for the future are unclear. Though he says
he might take a semester or two off and “recharge,”
the noted authority on torts and medical issues also
is considering reading and writing in other areas as
well as the law. “I will probably continue with my legal
scholarship because it will be hard to separate myself
from that,” he said.
His wife, Diane, a middle school math teacher, also
is retiring at the end of the current school year. The
couple would like to travel and spend more time with
their three grown children.
“It will take some getting used to,” King says of retirement.
“I remarked to someone just
the other day, ‘I’m almost looking forward
to the challenge of boredom.’”
foRTy yEARS of
SCholARShiP & hoNoRS
Professor Joe King’s research interests
include torts, especially relating to the
standard of care, causation, and defamation;
medical malpractice; worker’s
compensation; and social security disability.
He is the author of The Law of
Medical Malpractice in a Nutshell, and
his writings have been published in the
law reviews of Alabama, American University,
Washington and Lee, Southern
Methodist, Cincinnati, William & Mary,
Hofstra, Wake Forest, Oklahoma, Memphis,
Baylor, Houston, Tennessee, Ohio State, Kentucky, Pepperdine,
Utah, Vanderbilt, and University of Pennsylvania, as well as in the
Yale and Duke law journals.
His articles have been cited in more than a hundred cases,
including decisions by the British House of Lords and the Canadian
Supreme Court. King has lectured to healthcare providers
and to veterinarians on professional liability. His lectures have
included a presentation at a conference sponsored by Harvard
Medical School.
King has twice received the Harold C. Warner Outstanding Teacher
Award, has received the W. Allen Separk Outstanding Teacher
Award, and has been honored with the Carden Award for Outstanding
Service, the Carden Award for Outstanding Scholarship,
and the W. Allen Separk Faculty Scholarship Award.
18 SPRING 2012 www.law.utk.edu