Free Republic

Disgraced lawyer Melvyn Weiss violated his parole by drinking and driving but a federal judge isn't sending the sad sack back to jail as reported by Dana Feldman and Nate Raymond for Reuters: "Weiss, 77, reached a deal with federal prosecutors on the eve of a Friday hearing in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on whether to revoke his release following an arrest in December for driving under the influence in Boynton Beach, Florida. The agreement came after Weiss pleaded guilty to the DUI charge on April 18 in Florida and was sentenced to 12 months probation and 50...

The Association of Corporate Counsel is challenging the apparent practice by at least some plaintiffs' firms of using temporary attorneys as profit centers in class actions as reported by Daniel Fisher for Forbes. The 30,000-member trade group has filed a letter with a Manhattan federal court which must approve a $100 million fee request by trial lawyers who negotiated a $590 million settlement in a securities action against Citigroup, and contends that the high rates sought for the temporary lawyers are "beyond what a reasonable, paying client would be willing to pay." In class action lawsuits a substantial portion of...

A man who has spent more than four decades in prison for a Tucson hotel fire that killed 29 people, including some who jumped from windows to escape the searing heat, is expected to be released Tuesday as part of a deal with prosecutors. Louis Cuen Taylor of Tucson was convicted of murder as a teen but has maintained his innocence in the December 1970 fire at the Pioneer Hotel. The fire came during a Christmas party for employees of an aircraft company and left many guests trapped in their rooms. The building had no sprinkler system, exits were locked...

Houston trial lawyers Steve and Amber Mostyn say they’re giving $1 million to a gun-control group formed by former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly. Steve Mostyn is a major Democratic campaign contributor, backing candidates in Texas and nationally. He gave $3 million to Priorities USA Action, a super PAC aiding President Obama’s re-election. He’s perhaps best known in Texas for launching a media campaign against Rick Perry two years ago in which he chided the Republican governor for his reluctance to debate in his 2010 reelection race with a full-page newspaper ad depicting Perry and...

The nation’s largest gas can manufacturer has closed its doors due to frivolous lawsuits at a time when Hurricane Sandy victims urgently need the containers. The company's closure has resulted in a shortage of gas cans for purchase or use in the disaster areas of the northeast, and in the US as a whole. The company, Blitz U.S.A., is a 50-year-old American business that has closed its doors and laid off all 117 employees. Blitz U.S.A. provided 75% of all gas canisters to the US, a feat which industry insiders say is only possible when a company does everything right....

Just saw this in breitbart.com. You may want to check your gas can supply.

George Louie is a West Sacramento man who has sued hundreds of Northern California cities and businesses for failing to comply with the federal Americans with Disability Act. This week, Yuba City announced it has agreed to pay Louie $15,000 to leave the city and its businesses alone for good. Louie's lawsuits targeting local governments and small-business owners have usually ended in out-of-court settlements in his favor, because the cases are expensive to fight, said Cris Vaughan, a Loomis attorney who has defended dozens of clients against Louie's lawsuits. Critics have called the suits "frivolous," alleging that they are motivated...

Ain’t that America! A greedy New Jersey woman is trying to cash in on a clutzy Little League catcher — claiming he intentionally beaned her in the face with a baseball during a warm-up session with his pitcher.

The family of a Georgia man who died when his heart couldn’t take a three-way sex romp was awarded a hefty $3 million payout by a jury, according to reports. William Martinez’s estate was originally seeking $5 million in a medical malpractice case that claimed a cardiologist failed to warn the 31-year-old to stay away from physical activity. While Gwinnett County jurors sided with the family Tuesday, they agreed to a lesser amount after finding Martinez was 40% liable for his own death, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday. Martinez, a husband and father of two, was engaged in a threesome...

The last few years have revealed an ugly underbelly to the plaintiffs’ bar, and some of the biggest trial lawyers across the country have been brought down in criminal prosecutions for their sharp practices. Bill Lerach and Mel Weiss, two legal eagles who made a fortune in bringing security fraud class actions against publicly traded companies, pleaded guilty in October 2007 and April 2008, respectively, for their roles in an alleged decades-long conspiracy pursuant to which serial plaintiffs were paid kickbacks from their court-awarded attorneys’ fees in the cases. The Milberg Weiss firm at which both men once were partners...

A handful of Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) subscribers have asked a federal appeals court to overturn a $27.2 million class-action settlement that they say unfairly gives plaintiffs' lawyers over $8 million in fees for bringing suit over the marketing agreement the movie service company entered into with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).

Allegations of faulty car design are at the center of a lawsuit by an injured Fresno teen against Ford Motor Co. Shaela Warkentin, 16, suffered serious head and facial injuries a year ago when the 2000 Ford Mustang she was riding in was rear-ended by a pickup. Shaela's head was pinned against the rear edge of the car's roof, and rescuers had to cut the roof from the car to free her. The injuries cost the girl her eyesight and left her hospitalized for weeks. Fresno attorney Warren Paboojian filed the suit Friday on behalf of Shaela and her sister,...

A lawyer for the Washington Legal Foundation said the Obama administration "tends to favor the interests of plaintiffs' lawyers who want more opportunities to sue corporations." Richard Samp made the remarks following the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection ...

PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - A roundtable of federal and state judges from across the country will convene at the posh Ritz Carlton on Feb. 9 to address topics such as "Can MDL's keep up with state court trial settings;" "Priority of deposition examination;" "State and federal cooperation;" and "Forum non conveniens." Sponsored by Mass Torts Made Perfect, the event is open to plaintiff and defense lawyers. It is not, however, open to the media. Since public servants are convening to discuss public issues (mass torts dramatically affect the economy and the court systems), should the conference be open to the...

PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - Pennsylvania is known as the Quaker State and Philadelphia as the Quaker City because both were founded by William Penn, who was a member of the Society of Friends - also called Quakers. Quakers hold to "a belief in the possibility of direct, unmediated communion with the Divine." Some would suggest, however, that Philadelphia's courts are anything but divinely inspired. The January edition ...

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Friday that attorneys fees in a class action lawsuit against Kia Motors America were inappropriate. Kia Motors America, an automobile manufacturer, lost a class action lawsuit for breach of express warranty. The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the ...

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Independent scientific research institutes whose work influences the policies of the U.S. government as well as governments abroad, also impacts litigation in the states, an economics professor says. "The information from these think tanks does bubble up," said Professor Alex Tabarrok, chair of the Economics Department at George Mason University in Virginia. And one such organization is the Collegium Ramazzini, an independent international academy founded in 1982 by Irving J. Selikoff, Cesare Maltoni and other scientists. Selikoff is credited as a pioneer in field of asbestos research, having established a link between the inhalation of asbestos...

In New York, they call it the Bronx Jury Effect. Here, it's called the South Philadelphia Jury Effect, which looks something like a wealth redistribution scheme, according to a legal observer. "Philadelphia's courts have been bad for years," said James Copland, Director of the Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Reform. Copland said the effect is a net result of juries that will award exorbitant amounts to plaintiffs who are suing anyone - such as doctors or large corporations - they perceive as being able to pay and that they believe should pay out large amounts. Empirical data exists that indicates...

With so much at stake for businesses weighted down by litigation costs, can juries in asbestos cases be trusted to render fair and just verdicts? While there is general agreement on some pieces of the scientific puzzle - for example there's no dispute that amphibole fibers cause mesothelioma - there are differences among highly regarded scientists about the effects of chrysotile fibers. Two Philadelphia lawyers, one a plaintiffs attorney the other a defense attorney, were asked how they address asbestos science in the courtroom.

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - There are some who say all forms of asbestos are unsafe and to be exposed to any amount is hazardous, while others say that one form of asbestos can be handled safely. Then there are some who are not sure. Some of the leading scientific researchers, experts in the field of mesothelioma research and occupational medicine, have divergent opinions on the nature of the hazards caused by asbestos. Four scientists were asked four questions about asbestos. Each one of them has distinguished ...

Buried in the text of President Obama’s jobs bill is a provision named the “Fair Employment Opportunity Act,” which would make it illegal for employers to discriminate against the unemployed. At a recent town-hall event, the president singled out this provision as a much-needed federal safeguard against businesses’ reluctance to hire, in the words of one softball questioner, “really good candidates that suffered from a downward trend in their credit history due to lack of job opportunities.” Like many of the policies outlined in the president’s plan, the measure sounds like a well-intentioned effort to help the 9 percent of...

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Asbestos litigation has become a multibillion-dollar industry -- bankrupting large corporations, enriching lawyers and courts and providing much needed relief to victims of the deadly diseases that exposure to some types asbestos in specific amounts will cause. Asbestos has been called by U.S. Rep. Trent Franks "the worst occupational health disaster in U.S. history." But Franks, R-Ariz., condemned much of the legal process of those who are suing to recover damages caused by some of these substances. There is much about asbestos that is unknown. It is not all settled science. There is general scientific concurrence...

The practice of making duplicate claims from asbestos tort and trust systems was hammered by Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) during a House subcommittee hearing Friday. Franks said that asbestos litigation has long been - and continues to be - rife with deception and exploitation, negatively effecting asbestos victims, the legal system and the employment of American workers. He noted that it has been five years since Congress provided oversight of asbestos litigation. At the time, widespread fraud in mass asbestos screenings was uncovered. "This massive fraud turned the worst occupational health disaster in U.S. history into one of the country's...

If you can judge a political candidate by the enemies he makes, Texas Gov. Rick Perry stands pretty tall. For example, the national tort-lawyer lobby is set to spend millions to try to stop the GOP presidential hopeful in his tracks. No wonder: Perry, in his 10 years as Texas governor, has managed to implement serious tort reform in a state that even a top litigator concedes was once “the golden goose” for high-end jury verdicts. Don’t think for a moment, though, that the tort bar is gearing up in the names of truth, justice and the American Way. As...

Politico: Trial Lawyers Prep for War on Perry Bryan Preston August 22, 2011 Trial lawyers really don’t like Rick Perry, and one whose name should be familiar to PJ readers is gearing up to go after Perry as he runs for president: Democratic Houston trial lawyer Steve Mostyn — who, along with his wife, Amber, donated nearly $9 million to Texas candidates and party committees in the 2010 cycle — said he’s in the process of forming “some federal PACs” to take on Perry. That will likely include a federal super PAC that could take in the kind of massive...

Texas has successfully implemented tort reform on the state level, saving businesses billions of dollars in the long run, and Rick Perry deserves a significant amount of credit for its conclusion. He pushed through a final 2003 reform act that made Texas a model for tort reform, the finale of a long effort to transform the state from a “golden goose� for trial lawyers to a pro-business model. Even trial lawyers admit that the state needed some reform, as Politico reports, but now plan to fight hard against a Perry nomination or candidacy: John Coale, a former trial lawyer who...

America’s trial lawyers are getting ready to make the case against one of their biggest targets in years: Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Among litigators, there is no presidential candidate who inspires the same level of hatred – and fear – as Perry, an avowed opponent of the plaintiffs’ bar who has presided over several rounds of tort reform as governor. And if Perry ends up as the Republican nominee for president, deep-pocketed trial lawyers intend to play a central role in the campaign to defeat him. That’s a potential financial boon to a president who has unsettled trial lawyers with...

Washington D.C., Jun 22, 2011 / 02:37 am (CNA).- The Catholic University of America says its plan to house men and women separately will withstand any legal challenge from John Banzhaf, known for his lawsuits over fast food and women's bathrooms. In a June 21 statement provided to CNA, the university said it “has not received service of any legal proceedings from Professor John Banzhaf regarding the University’s plan to phase in single-gender residence halls.” Earlier this week, a Fox affiliate in the District reported that Prof. Banzhaf had issued the school an “intent-to-sue” notice because of the plan. The...

Leave it to democrats to always push filling the coffers of their biggest contributors. It’s “full employment” antics for both of them. So they collude to find warm and fuzzy labels for draconian legislation. They may as well tell us, “Oh, Joey and Addie are just moving people around to create employment opportunities,” as we collectively recoil from the horrors of Josef Stalin and Adolf Hitler. And, so, the “Sunshine in Litigation Act” has re-entered the legislative calendars of both the House (HR 592) and Senate (S 623).

The powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is expanding its investigation of possible ethics violations by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, including improper "backdoor communications" between the panel and trial lawyers suing major banks over subprime investments, IBD has learned. The Democrat-appointed commission, tasked with examining the "root causes" of the crisis, used its subpoena power to extract millions of pages of confidential memos and emails from banks. Those documents were posted on the Web and are now being used in major litigation against these banks. Some documents posted on the FCIC site include correspondence with federal regulators that...

Trial Lawyers: Why We Love to Hate ThemBy John R. Smith for Bizpac ReviewWhat is it that makes trial attorneys and personal injury lawyers the most despised group, except for career politicians and organized labor? Maybe it's because of the practices they engage in and the morality of their actions.  Let’s sift through the evidence and see if we can find it in our hearts to pity the trial lawyers...Click here to read more.

No Forgiveness for John Edwards The National Enquirer reports that when John Edwards realized that the end was near he begged his betrayed wife for forgiveness, but Elizabeth refused to relent. On her deathbed, a hurt, angry Elizabeth screamed at John, saying ‘You ruined my life — I’ll NEVER forgive you!’ Reports say that John Edwards repeatedly broke down in tears, and actually doubled over with grief at Elizabeth’s bedside. But she showed John no remorse. Nothing he said could change Elizabeth’s mind. The only concession Elizabeth was willing to grant her cheating husband was to pray with him that...

The Michigan Supreme Court has refused to throw out Sheri Schooley's lawsuit against Texas Roadhouse in suburban Detroit. Liberal justices were in the majority in a decision that raises questions about what businesses need to do to protect themselves from liability in strange situations. Schooley, 58, acknowledged it's a "bizarre story." She and her husband were out for dinner on New Year's Eve 2007 when she visited the restroom. "I reached and the cover of the toilet paper dispenser fell down on my hand," the South Rockwood woman told The Associated Press on Monday. "It looked like the dispenser was...

A jury in Delaware on Wednesday awarded $30 million in compensatory damages to a man who said he was sexually abused more than 100 times by a Roman Catholic priest — the largest such award granted to a single victim in a clergy abuse case, victims’ advocates said. Related In an unusual outcome, the jury decided that the parish where the abuse occurred, St. Elizabeth in Wilmington, must pay $3 million of the damages, while the perpetrator is liable for the rest. Parishes have previously been held liable in only one or two cases involving abuse by Catholic priests, according...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A Philadelphia-area school district agreed Monday to pay $610,000 to settle two lawsuits over secret photos taken on school-issued laptops. The Lower Merion School District admitted it captured thousands of webcam photographs and screen shots from student laptops in a misguided effort to locate missing computers....

Smoke and “possible fire” behind a headlamp led Tesla Motors to recall a third of the 1,300 electric sportscars it has sold so far... So far, Tesla has sold about 1,300 of the expensive Roadsters, which cost $109,000 a piece. This recall affects 439 cars.

AUSTIN – For the first time in more than a decade, trial lawyers – a key source of campaign cash for Democrats – are betting big on the party's candidate for governor. Plaintiffs attorneys gave more than $1.9 million through June, the most recent figures available, to Democrat Bill White's campaign. And a Houston lawyer is bankrolling a political committee with $3 million to help beat incumbent Republican Rick Perry.

A proposed special-interest tax break for plaintiffs' lawyers would add billions of dollars in federal spending and jack up costs to consumers. It's nothing more than a direct subsidy from taxpayers to ambulance chasers. That was the message of a strongly worded letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner from the American Medical Association, 42 national medical groups representing specialties such as radiology, cardiology and gastroenterology, and the medical associations of 47 states and the District of Columbia. The Treasury is considering an administrative ruling - as an end run around Congress - that would allow trial lawyers to take...

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 at 2:49 am Ford $131 Million Verdict 9th Largest in U.S. History By Stacy In a landmark ruling going against U.S. automaker Ford, a $131 million verdict was returned by the jury leaving the manufacturer culpable for the wrongful death of Minor League baseball player Brian Cole. The New York Mets hopeful had been driving his Explorer and was thrown from the vehicle when it flipped, suffering terminal injuries. Get the full story, pictures and video below Company spokeswoman Marcey Evans said Cole had been driving over 80 miles per hour when he went off the...

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation agreed to consolidate the litigation over the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in federal court in New Orleans before Judge Carl J. Barbier. "Upon careful consideration, we have settled upon the Eastern District of Louisiana as the most appropriate district for this litigation. Without discounting the spill's effects on other states, if there is a geographic and psychological 'center of gravity' in this docket, then the Eastern District of Louisiana is closest to it," the panel ruled.

CORPUS CHRISTI — Mauricio Celis’ expired reserve deputy credentials were part of the state’s efforts years before to clean its rosters of uncertified deputies, a state official testified Wednesday. Celis, 38, is being tried on a charge of impersonating a public servant, a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison and as much as a $10,000 fine. Prosecutors say he used a Duval County reserve deputy badge in 2007 after his law enforcement commission was suspended in 2003. Defense attorneys have said the badge was issued to Celis by former Duval County Sheriff Santiago Barrera and that...

A Houston husband-and-wife lawyer team is planning to donate more than $3 million this year toward knocking Republican Gov. Rick Perry out of office and helping Democrats win control of the Texas House. Attorney Steve Mostyn said Tuesday he and his wife, Amber Anderson, are committed to putting a "substantial" amount of money that likely will exceed $3 million into ending hard-right Republican politics in Texas government. The pair already has put $1.3 million into committees that can help Democrat and former Houston Mayor Bill White win the governor's office, making them far and away his biggest benefactors in this...

Payday: Trial lawyers could get major tax cut despite major federal deficit By Chris Moody - The Daily Caller 12:49 AM 07/15/2010 After years of filling Democratic coffers with massive campaign donations, trial lawyers are cashing in their chips with a sweetheart deal from the government that will save the industry billions of dollars over the next few years. According to a Legal Newsline report from the annual meeting of the American Association for Justice, the nation’s lobbying arm for trial lawyers, the industry may get a tax break from the U.S. Treasury Department that would give trial lawyers the...

The nation's trial lawyer group, the American Association for Justice, revealed Tuesday that it expects the U.S. Department of Treasury to soon give its members a tax break on contingency fee lawsuits. The tax break could be similar to proposed legislation that didn't make it through Congress last year. That proposal, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., would have allowed attorneys to deduct fees and expenses up-front for filing contingency fee lawsuits. John Bowman, the Director of Federal Relations for the AAJ, said in response to a question from a state delegate regarding recruiting new members that an administrative...

The Illinois Democrat candidate for Senate, Alexi Giannoulias, wasn't too keen of admitting it but he was in Vancouver, Canada over the weekend at a fund-raiser at a trial lawyer's convention. Along with a dozen other Democrats, the candidate was in Canada to rake in thousands in donations from trial lawyers who know what side of their bread is buttered, for sure. Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lynn Sweet has all the details at her Scoop blog. But suffice to say that the Giannoulias campaign did not report the whereabouts of their candidate until the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out a...

Harry M. Reid needed money, and lots of it. Last spring, the Senate majority leader was looking ahead to a tough reelection fight. Polls showed that the voters back home in Nevada who sent him to Washington four times had tired of him. Republican Party fundraisers had all but declared him their No. 1 target for defeat. Taking them on would be expensive, and he wasn't drawing nearly enough cash from contributors inside Nevada. So Reid did what politicians in his position do: He picked up the phone. The senator began dialing old and new friends across the country,...

Lane v. Facebook, Case No. 08-3845 RS (N.D. Cal.) (Order re Attorney Fees) The lawsuit over Facebook's ill-fated Beacon program generated three lawsuits, a lot of wrangling by class action lawyers, and more than a few blog posts (e.g., "Beacon Class Action Settlement Approved;" "Stop Saying 'We Can Amend This Agreement Whenever We Want'!;" "Texas Class Action Aims to Derail Facebook Beacon Settlement"). Judge Seeborg recently approved the settlement, which included the formation of a privacy foundation funded by Facebook. (Here's an earlier post of mine summarizing the then-proposed terms of the settlement.)The one item pending was the amount of...

If there is one thing we should all be able to agree about health care it's this — health care is an enormously complicated issue. (One of many reasons that I think the government needs to stay far away from health care, by the way). Rising health care costs is also a complicated issue, but that doesn't mean you can't identify some of the main drivers of increased health care costs. Right now in Las Vegas, you can see for yourself one of those drivers — out of control liability lawsuits. A lawyer for a Henderson man infected with hepatitis...

The last month has seen a blizzard of new sex abuse accusations against the Catholic Church from across the United States. Almost all of them--and the intense media attention they've garnered--can be traced to one man: a Minnesota lawyer named Jeff Anderson. Last week, an alleged victim of priest abuse in Wisconsin announced a lawsuit against the Vatican itself. Anderson is representing the alleged victim. A couple of days earlier, a Mexican man who alleged abuse by a priest years ago filed suit against Mexico's top Catholic cleric in a U.S. court. The plaintiff is another Anderson client. And throughout...

A routine morning Metrorail ride turned into a frightening experience for one man on Friday, who said the train doors closed right on his neck while he was trying to exit the train. “I was in shock,“ said passenger Oscar Lujan. “I [was] wondering, ‘Is this actually happening?‘“ Lujan was getting off the train at the New York Avenue station around 8 a.m. when got trapped between the doors. He said the doors closed so fast that he felt he didn’t have enough time to get out of the way. After that, he feared the train would take off while...