Free Republic

Trial attorneys use obscure labor law that sees retailers facing millions in damages. Retail store operators may want to sit down for this one — if they can find a chair. Nearly every national chain is under legal attack in California for failing to provide “suitable seating” for cashiers and other employees who are expected to spend most of their work day on their feet. Enterprising trial attorneys by the dozen are using an obscure California labor law requiring retailers such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Target to have enough seats on hand for their workers.

Calif. Wildfires Drive Lawyers From Homes, Offices As fires sweep across seven counties, attorneys and staff scramble to set up shop -- or just find shelter for a night Kellie Schmitt The Recorder October 24, 2007 As a brown haze shrouded Southern California on Tuesday, law firms in San Diego's Carmel Valley region remained shuttered, and more and more local attorneys were forced to leave their homes. At Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps, the chief operating officer and a partner have already lost their homes, and dozens of attorneys have been displaced -- including managing partner Robert Bell. "It's pretty...

Dr. Greg Nayden still chafes at the memory of a call from his brother, informing him that a highly critical Dallas newspaper story posted on the Internet told how Nayden had made $1.2 million in just two years by diagnosing every person he saw with asbestos-related lung disease. That's one of the many reasons, Nayden said, that he now wishes he'd never worked for American Medical Testing Inc., a now-defunct Mobile firm. "I've been made out to be a real crooked, unscrupulous doctor," Nayden said during one of several telephone interviews while spending a short vacation in Fort Morgan. In...

TALLAHASSEE -- The quality of the smiles Friday told who won Florida's months-long political standoff over medical malpractice lawsuits. Gov. Jeb Bush approached the podium set up in the center of the Capitol rotunda with a tight grin as he praised legislative leaders for the deal that let him announce that he was calling the House and Senate back to Tallahassee Tuesday to begin the third special session of the year devoted to medical malpractice insurance reform. Behind him, top GOP senators could scarcely contain their glee: Finally, five and a half years into Bush's tenure, they had stared down...

AMA strongly supports medical liability reform legislation based on 25+ years of experience For immediate release CHICAGO – The American Medical Association today announced its strong support for the Patients First Act of 2003 (S. 11), important medical liability reform introduced by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.). The Patients First Act of 2003 is modeled after common-sense reforms that have worked in California since 1975. "There are 18 states in a full-blown medical liability crisis, and the Senate now has a historic opportunity to support proven reforms to protect patients’ access to care," said AMA President Donald J. Palmisano, MD. "We...

Tort reform is on the agenda in the Florida legislature. It has passed in the Florida House. That's the good news. The bad news is that it is being blocked in the Senate by a REPUBLICAN (!) Senator Jim King. Any comments, suggestions or help out there would be greatly appreciated, since physicians are packing up and leaving florida in droves. Maybe some FreePers could help us physicians during our next demonstration in Tallahassee. Also, any dirt on Senator King (payoffs from trial lawyers, etc. ) would be helpful. Thank you.

Doctors riled up for rally in Trenton By Chris Gosier, Daily Record Three months after rallying in Trenton to protest the high cost of malpractice insurance, doctors say the Legislature is still failing to address the problem. So they're going back on Thursday. "Doctors are becoming extremely frustrated by the inaction of the Assembly" on a bill that would cap noneconomic damages awarded by juries to injured patients, said Irvin Bonder, a Denville urologist and president of the Morris County Medical Society, which is helping organize the one-day rally by doctors around the state. "The longer we wait, the more...

North Florida Surgeons and the medical liability crisis At-a-glance • Not a protest, but our only option: North Florida Surgeons’ decision to close its doors May 2 was not our way of protesting, but the result of crushing economic realities – soaring claims, losses and premiums are threatening our survival. • A high-quality, experienced practice: North Florida Surgeons was formed in 1996 by combining the practices of about 20 established general surgeons with a combined 140 years of surgical experience. We are a good, veteran practice caught up in this crisis. • Filling a community need: In its eight years...

Senator paid firms for private flights WASHINGTON -- Money from lawyers has helped U.S. Sen. John Edwards get his presidential campaign off the ground. But it's their jets that keep him in the air. During the first three months of the year, the North Carolina Democrat's campaign paid more than $83,000 to five law firms for use of their private planes, according to a report filed this week with the Federal Election Commission. related  How will John Edwards fare against the other presidential candidates? The compensation doesn't always cover the full cost of the flights, however. Under FEC rules, candidates...

Times-Union staff writers In a verdict with potential implications for professional sports, a Jacksonville jury yesterday awarded $5.35 million to former Jaguar Jeff Novak, finding that team doctor Stephen Lucie's negligence cut short Novak's football career. Though the verdict can be appealed, the case could prove to be a watershed, encouraging future malpractice claims by professional athletes against their team doctors. As the clerk read yesterday's verdict against Lucie and the Jacksonville Orthopedic Institute, Novak held his wife's hand while she looked at the jurors and nodded. Lucie showed little emotion and silently exited the courtroom. "I think Dr. Lucie...