Tort Law

Man’s suit over nudity-ordinance arrest at gay-pride event revived by 9th Circuit

Admittedly, Will X. Walters wasn’t wearing much when he was arrested by San Diego police in 2011 at a beer garden following a gay-pride event at Balboa Park. The “gladiator kilt” Courthouse News said he had on, along with a harness and a black thong, was described by an earlier…

Apr 8, 2016 10:50 AM CDT

9th Circuit: Jury must decide suit over police dog who bit woman as she slept in her office

A civil rights lawsuit brought by a woman who was bitten by a police dog as she was sleeping in her office one night in 2010 was dismissed by a federal trial court three years later. Granting a summary judgment motion filed by the city of San Diego, the court…

Apr 8, 2016 10:20 AM CDT

Top Texas court says city’s possession of stray dog didn’t end owner rights

Ruling in a case near and dear to the hearts of animal lovers, the Texas Supreme Court has strengthened the ability of owners to reclaim a stray pet. Siblings Alfonso and Lydia Lira did not lose their property rights in Monte, a German shepherd, simply because the dog had, for…

Apr 6, 2016 1:05 PM CDT

Beachgoers’ suit seeks gang injunction against alleged territorial surfers

Lawyers say they are hearing from additional beachgoers who want to join a federal lawsuit seeking a gang injunction against California surfers accused of intimidating others who want to use a public beach. Two beachgoers and a coastal protection group filed the would-be class action against the so-called Lunada Bay…

Apr 6, 2016 5:45 AM CDT

Punitive verdict for carbon monoxide poisoning was ‘excessive and arbitrary,’ 10th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has embraced a 1-to-1 ratio of compensatory-to-punitive damages in a Wyoming renter’s lawsuit over a brain injury due to carbon monoxide poisoning. The April 1 decision by the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cuts the punitive verdict for Amber Lompe from $25.5 million against…

Apr 5, 2016 1:50 PM CDT

Lawyer whose midtrial DUI setup by opposing counsel made headlines wins related malpractice suit

Three years ago, attorney C. Philip Campbell not only represented the losing party in a high-profile Florida defamation case but made headlines when the trial was interrupted by his drunken-driving arrest—due, as authorities later determined, to an unethical setup by his opposing counsel. Since then, the drunken-driving case against Campbell…

Apr 1, 2016 1:20 PM CDT

Plaintiffs in California asbestos cases feel they’re being questioned to death

Grainy video shot last August shows 75-year-old Nader Kordestani lying in a padded recliner at his home in Calabasas, California, near Los Angeles. Off camera, a defense lawyer asks him whether it's true his health is failing.

Apr 1, 2016 3:20 AM CDT

April 16, 1947: Deadly ship explosions lead to first class action

Even before the end of World War II, the U.S. began to repurpose its wartime manufacturing for peacetime, and one of the first industries targeted was munitions production. As early as 1943, some factories previously devoted to the development of explosives began conversion to the manufacture of fertilizer for large-scale agriculture.

Apr 1, 2016 12:30 AM CDT

Suit by laid-off lawyers says Reilly Pozner jettisoned 17 at law firm to avoid sharing $391M verdict

One of the top trial law firms in Colorado laid off 17 workers last year in order to avoid sharing with them a $391 million verdict they helped win a few months earlier, a lawsuit contends. Filed by husband-and-wife attorneys Wendy and Eric Fisher in Denver District Court, suit alleges…

Mar 30, 2016 4:45 PM CDT

In first GM ignition-switch case to go to verdict, jury awards zip, saying defect didn’t cause crash

Both sides proclaimed victory Wednesday after the first jury verdict in a General Motors ignition-switch case. That’s because the jury, while finding a 2007 Saturn Sky unreasonably dangerous because of an ignition-switch defect, also found that the defect did not cause the plaintiff driver to lose control on an icy…

Mar 30, 2016 3:20 PM CDT

Ex-inmate’s $40M suit against Northwestern and former journalism professor OK’d by federal judge

A $40 million lawsuit alleging that Northwestern University, a former star journalism professor and a private investigator conspired to frame a man for a 1982 double murder was OK’d on Tuesday by a federal judge in Chicago. The defendants had sought to dismiss the case and everyone agreed that a…

Mar 30, 2016 11:25 AM CDT

Posner says Bluebook is ‘560 pages of rubbish,’ suggests changes to improve jury trials

Judge Richard Posner acknowledges his reputation as a “naysayer” and “faultfinder” yet proceeds to find fault with The Bluebook (it is “560 pages of rubbish”) and the uneven quality of trial lawyering. Lawyers often differ greatly in quality, and that distorts the trial process, according to Posner, a judge on…

Mar 29, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

Is association of office-sharing lawyers liable for member’s alleged malpractice? Maybe, judge says

An unincorporated association of lawyers who share an office isn’t entitled to summary judgment in a suit claiming it is liable for a member’s alleged malpractice, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp of Nashville ruled against the association of three lawyers in a March 11 decision,…

Mar 28, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

Lawsuit seeks R-rating or higher for movies depicting tobacco use

A class action lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco contends that movies using tobacco imagery should get at least an R rating. The would-be class action suit (PDF) says Hollywood studios have known since at least 2003 that tobacco imagery in films rated G. PG and PG-13 contribute…

Mar 25, 2016 6:00 AM CDT

Jury rejects law grad’s case over claim that Thomas Jefferson job stats were inflated

A California jury on Thursday rejected a claim by a 2008 graduate of Thomas Jefferson School of Law that she was entitled to damages because the San Diego institution inflated job-placement data concerning its alumni. Plaintiff Anna Alaburda said she has been unable to find full-time work as a lawyer…

Mar 24, 2016 4:15 PM CDT