Consumer Law

New Calif. Law Lets Individuals Rent Cars to Strangers, Via ‘Green’ Nonprofit

Tempting though it might be to pick up a few bucks by letting a friend or acquaintance rent your car in tough economic times, doing so runs the risk of invalidating your personal auto insurance policy and being held responsible for an accident. But a new California law that took…

Jan 12, 2011 5:06 PM CST

Associate AG to Testify that Florida Foreclosures are in ‘Total Disarray’

An associate state attorney general is expected to tell state lawmakers today that the state’s foreclosure system is in “total disarray.” According to her prepared testimony, Patricia Conners will tell the Senate Banking Committee of a “virtual morass” of fake and faulty documents, to which so-called “foreclosure mill” have contributed…

Jan 11, 2011 7:50 PM CST

Testing Seat Belt Law, Kansas Man Buckles Up in an Unusual Manner

Kansas law requires motorists to buckle up. But it doesn’t say their seat belts have to be attached to their vehicles, Paul Weigand argues. Due to a phobia about being trapped by a seat belt during an accident, he developed a special freestanding seat belt that he wears even when…

Jan 6, 2011 11:54 PM CST

Toyota Proclaims Victory, Says Arbitrator Ruled Ex-Counsel Must Pay $2.6M for Whistle-Blowing

A former in-house lawyer for Toyota Motor Corp. has been ordered by an arbitrator to pay the automaker $2.5 million plus $100,000 in punitive damages for publicly revealing confidential information, according to a company press release. Although attorney Dimitrios Biller portrayed himself as a whistle-blower informing the public about his…

Jan 5, 2011 9:59 PM CST

Federal Judge OKs RICO Conspiracy Class Action Against Law Firm in ‘Sewer Service’ Case

A federal judge in New York has given a green light to a racketeering conspiracy class action filed against a law firm. The suit contends that the firm and a client consumer debt purchaser, along with a process serving company, schemed to obtain thousands of default judgments in state court…

Jan 4, 2011 8:44 PM CST

Small Firm Offers Pay-As-You-Go, A La Carte Legal Services

Paying an attorney on an a la carte basis, only for the specific legal services that you can afford, may not be ideal for a client. But it’s better than going without representation altogether because you can’t afford standard legal fees of nearly $300 per hour, say two young lawyers…

Jan 4, 2011 12:20 AM CST

Subway Passengers Stranded in Snowstorm Plan to Sue NYC

Passengers who say they were stranded for seven hours on the A Train when New York City was hit by a blizzard last week plan to sue. Represented by attorney Aymen Aboushi they are seeking a Metropolitan Transportation Authority policy to prevent others from undergoing the same experience, according to…

Jan 3, 2011 6:06 PM CST

The Lawsuit Guide for Dolts

With the proliferation of simplified guidebooks on the market, perhaps The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Lawsuits was inevitable. Bloomfield Hills, Mich., attorney Victoria Green penned the 320-page guide, which was published in September. Green, who also teaches business law and political science at Baker College, says the book is intended…

Jan 1, 2011 9:10 AM CST

WaPo Explains the ABCs of MERS, Which Struggling Homeowners Are Leveraging in Loan Negotiations

When financial industry representatives initially talked about creating a national electronic system for registering who owned mortgages 16 years ago, the plan was to have a central depository of paper documents. But the Mortgage Electronic Registrations Systems that was adopted left lenders responsible for safeguarding original deeds and notes. Similarly,…

Dec 30, 2010 11:17 PM CST

Fla. Appeals Court OKs Class Action Against Stern Law Firm Over Foreclosure Fees

A Florida appeals court has given the green light to a class action against an embattled foreclosure king and his Plantation law firm alleging that it charged at least 2,000 homeowners excessive reinstatement fees. The 4th District Court of Appeal agreed with a state circuit court judge that the homeowners’…

Dec 30, 2010 12:11 PM CST

Husband Says Wife Cheated, But He’s Charged With Felony After Reading Her E-Mail

A Michigan man is facing a felony trial for admittedly reading his wife’s e-mail in an effort to determine whether his suspicion that she might be having an affair was justified. By doing so, Leon Walker says, he found out she was indeed having an affair. But he also wound…

Dec 28, 2010 5:42 PM CST

Breast-Enlargement E-Mail Spurs Marketer Into Law School and Anti-Spam Practice

Daniel Balsam was working as a marketer when too many spam e-mails about breast enlargement drove him beyond the delete button and into what turned out to be a new career. In addition to venting his aggravation by creating an anti-spam website, he went to law school and now has…

Dec 28, 2010 11:40 AM CST

Lawsuits Say Unique Apple iPhone and iPad IDs Let Advertisers Profile & Track Users Via Apps

Updated: By giving each iPhone and iPad a so-called Unique Device Identifier or UDID, Apple Inc. has made it possible for advertisers secretly to track which applications individuals download and how frequently they use them, in violation of federal and state computer, consumer and privacy law, two federal lawsuits contend.…

Dec 28, 2010 11:16 AM CST

For Those Teetering on the Edge, Street Outreach Court Offers a Push in the Right Direction

For those already teetering on the edge of financial disaster, even a relatively minor court case can push them over the edge into homelessness or the loss of a job. But a Michigan court billed as unique in the Midwest is trying to push defendants working to better themselves onto…

Dec 28, 2010 11:00 AM CST

Judge Nixes Secrecy Pact in High-Profile Fatal Toyota Crash Settlement; Automaker Paid $10M

Although Toyota Motor Corp. and the plaintiffs agreed to keep secret the amount the automaker paid to settle a lawsuit over a fiery high-speed crash that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and three family members, a state-court judge held the settlement couldn’t be confidential. Ruling earlier this week on…

Dec 23, 2010 10:37 PM CST