Tort Law

Chevron can sue Patton Boggs over law firm effort to collect $9.5B verdict, federal judge rules

In the latest salvo in a hard-fought international environmental case, a federal judge in New York has OK’d a request by Chevron Corp. to sue a law firm representing the oil company’s opponent in its efforts to collect a $9.5 billion judgment awarded by a court in Ecuador. Although Patton…

Mar 31, 2014 9:24 PM CDT

Judge axes first law firm filing over missing Malaysia Air flight

An Illinois judge on Friday threw out a civil court filing by a Chicago law firm over the Malaysia Air flight that disappeared earlier this month. The Ribbeck Law Chartered petition for discovery, believed to be the first court filing concerning the missing plane, is inappropriate because it isn’t supported…

Mar 31, 2014 7:45 PM CDT

Lawyer who sued her client for allegedly misleading her during consultation wins appeal

A Georgia appeals court has upheld a verdict for a lawyer who accused her client of misleading her in an initial consultation and defaming her in online reviews. Lawyer Jan Hinson had alleged the client, Vivek Pampattiwar, lied when she asked him if a divorce action was pending and defamed…

Mar 31, 2014 10:45 AM CDT

Who stalked whom? Ex-Schulte associate and his fiancee claim ex-girlfriend harassed them

A former associate at Schulte Roth & Zabel is firing back against a former girlfriend who claimed in a lawsuit that he was emotionally and physically abusive. The ex-girlfriend, Angela Kovalesky, claimed in a lawsuit filed last month that lawyer Samir Tabar threatened her with a kitchen knife and tracked…

Mar 26, 2014 12:19 PM CDT

Court filing seeks information about missing Malaysia Air flight

AHMAD FAIZAL YAHYA / Shutterstock.com Updated: In an opening salvo in what is expected to be a barrage of litigation over the disappearance of Malaysia Air Flight 370 earlier this month, a Chicago law firm has made an Illinois court filing seeking information that could help explain what happened to…

Mar 25, 2014 10:40 PM CDT

School to pay $70K to teen pressured to provide passwords after Facebook post critiqued staff member

A Minnesota girl has won a $70,000 settlement in a federal civil rights case. Riley Stratton, now 15, contended her First Amendment right to free speech was violated when she was given detention for criticizing a hall monitor on Facebook outside of school and allegedly pressured by school officials and…

Mar 25, 2014 7:45 PM CDT

Potential liability for missing Malaysia Air flight depends, in part, on finding plane

AHMAD FAIZAL YAHYA / Shutterstock.com Updated: More than two weeks after a Malaysia Airlines flight disappeared en route to Beijing, it is now thought to be at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth, Australia. All 227 passengers and 12 crew members are presumed dead. What happened and…

Mar 25, 2014 4:10 PM CDT

Voters may decide whether California’s cap on med-mal damages should be raised

Critics of a California law that caps medical malpractice, non-economic damages at $250,000 say they have enough signatures for a ballot initiative that would raise the limit if passed. A tort liability law enacted in 1975, the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act was borrowed by many other states as well,…

Mar 24, 2014 4:40 PM CDT

Pit-bull owners would get same legal protections as other dog owners under Maryland bill

Lawmakers in Maryland are considering a bill that would overturn a 2012 decision that found pit bulls are inherently dangerous and their owners are strictly liable for attacks by the dogs. The State and House have passed differing versions of the bill, and they will have to pass a single…

Mar 24, 2014 12:20 PM CDT

Denver police chief orders review of gun-mounted flashlights after string of accidental shootings

Alarmed at a spate of accidental shootings by police officers, Denver’s chief of police has ordered more training and a review of policies for the use of gun-mounted flashlights, the Denver Post reports. Typically, the flashlights are mounted under the gun barrel and the light beam is aimed where the…

Mar 24, 2014 11:30 AM CDT

City to pay $3.25M to bicylist injured in pothole crash

A delayed response to complaints of potholes in a California roadway will cost the city of Oakland $3.25 million. In a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, the city council agreed to pay that amount to Dulcey Bower, a 35-year-old bicyclist who was severely injured in an Aug. 2011 crash on Mountain…

Mar 21, 2014 1:00 PM CDT

Las Vegas trial attorney’s new $18M law office is designed like a French Parliament building

More than 200 people, including the city mayor and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, were on hand Wednesday for the opening of a new law office in downtown Las Vegas. Modeled after a French Parliament building, the Robert T. Eglet Advocacy Center cost $18 million to build and features…

Mar 20, 2014 6:19 PM CDT

Report: AT&T poised to pay $1.5M to settle claims rogue workers helped now-convicted private eye

AT&T is reportedly about to shell out some $1.5 million, in payments of $4,000 each, to hundreds of class action plaintiffs who say they were victimized as a result of illegal conduct by so-called private investigator to the stars Anthony Pellicano. The phone company is a defendant in civil litigation…

Mar 19, 2014 10:35 PM CDT

Did Exxon put La. alligators on Miss. oil waste site? Neighbor sues over claimed infestation

Did ExxonMobil put Louisiana alligators on a Mississippi oil waste disposal site to help monitor the cleanliness of the land? Or did wild gators native to Mississippi simply spot a comfortable home and move in? That question could be key to an upcoming ruling by the Mississippi Supreme Court, which…

Mar 19, 2014 7:29 PM CDT

Toyota to pay $1.2B in deferred prosecution agreement related to sudden-acceleration disclosures

Updated and corrected: Attorney General Eric Holder has announced that Toyota will pay $1.2 billion in a deferred prosecution agreement related to its disclosures about sudden-acceleration problems. Holder announced the agreement today, report USA Today and a press release. The criminal penalty is the largest of its kind imposed on…

Mar 19, 2014 12:05 PM CDT