Tort Law

Solo practitioner ‘single-handedly set the stage’ for massive GM recall

Although it had known for years about an issue with ignition switches in some General Motors vehicles, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration didn’t require a recall, lawyer Lance Cooper told Bloomberg. It wasn’t until the Georgia solo practitioner dug for evidence against the automaker in a wrongful death case…

Mar 17, 2014 5:40 PM CDT

Widow of attorney gunned down in parking lot of shopping mall files wrongful death suit

The widow of a 30-year-old attorney gunned down last year in the parking lot of an upscale shopping mall has filed a wrongful death suit against the owners of the mall, contending that a security cutback led to the death of Dustin Friedland. The owners of the Mall at Short…

Mar 17, 2014 4:00 PM CDT

Med-mal damages cap violates Florida Constitution, state supreme court says

The Florida Supreme Court has ruled in a 5-2 opinion that the state’s cap on noneconomic damages in wrongful death cases violates the right to equal protection under the state constitution. In a plurality opinion (PDF), Justice R. Fred Lewis also said the damages cap did not bear a rational…

Mar 13, 2014 7:39 PM CDT

Workers sue McDonald’s in three states over claimed ‘stolen wages,’ seek class-action status

Already under fire from proponents of higher pay for fast-food workers, McDonald’s was the subject of a litigation attack this week that contends the chain and some of its franchise owners have underpaid workers in violation of wage-and-hour laws. Seven lawsuits filed in three states allege that the defendants denied…

Mar 13, 2014 6:45 PM CDT

Why being too handsome doomed Matthew McConaughey’s lawsuit

Being too handsome was a legal impediment for Matthew McConaughey. The story is getting new attention after McConaughey won an Oscar for Dallas Buyer’s Club. Uproxx.com remembers an April 2013 interview on NPR’s Fresh Air in which McConaughey explains why he lost a lawsuit that contended mink oil treatments worsened…

Mar 13, 2014 3:53 PM CDT

See the video: Both $4 plastic cup of beer and taller $7 version hold the same amount, lawsuit says

A YouTube video which seems to show that a $4 cup of draft beer sold at a hockey game in Boise, Idaho, holds the same amount of brew as a “large” $7 cup was quickly followed by a lawsuit. Four other Idaho Steelheads fans filed suit in state court in…

Mar 13, 2014 3:40 PM CDT

Posner: Appeal brief is ‘a gaunt, pathetic document’; lawyer ‘shenanigans’ should have been reported

Judge Richard Posner of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had little patience for a Georgia lawyer and the law firm representing him in an appeal from a contempt order. In a March 12 opinion (PDF), Posner called the appellate brief “a gaunt, pathetic document” and said the…

Mar 13, 2014 3:30 PM CDT

Secret hospital urine test on pregnant woman led to gov’t scrutiny over false positive, suit says

A Pittsburgh woman who says her urine was tested without her knowledge or consent by the hospital where she was delivering her baby has sued the facility for turning over the drug test results to a government agency. Plaintiff Rachel Devore says the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center obtained a…

Mar 12, 2014 10:50 PM CDT

TV’s Judge Judy files first lawsuit, says law firm used her name and photo in ads without her OK

Famed television judge Judith Scheindlin says she has never filed a lawsuit before. But “Judge Judy” said she felt she had no choice but to do so when a Connecticut law firm used her name and photo on television and Internet advertising despite her long-standing decision not to endorse products…

Mar 12, 2014 9:34 PM CDT

Justice Department is reportedly probing GM ignition recall

The Justice Department has reportedly opened a preliminary criminal investigation into General Motors’ delayed recall of cars with faulty ignitions, several news outlets are reporting. Spokespersons for the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York did not comment on the report, the Associated Press reports. Among the…

Mar 12, 2014 1:41 PM CDT

Convicted killer in fast-food massacre is awarded $415K in suit against jail guard; will he collect?

An Illinois inmate convicted in the 1993 murders of seven workers at a Brown’s Chicken restaurant has been awarded $451,000 in a civil suit against a jail guard. James Degorski is serving a life sentence for the murders. In his suit, he claimed Cook County sheriff’s deputy Thomas Wilson beat…

Mar 10, 2014 1:33 PM CDT

BigLaw partner used his briefcase ‘as a weapon’ to bash opposing counsel, lawsuit says

A partner of one of the world’s biggest and best-known corporate law firms used his briefcase “as a weapon” to bash opposing counsel as he left a Brooklyn courtroom conference room after an adverse ruling by a referee in a foreclosure hearing last year, a lawsuit contends. Plaintiff Bruce Richardson…

Mar 5, 2014 9:39 PM CST

Federal judge rules for Chevron in civil-racketeer case, bans collection of $9B enviro award in US

In the latest blow to the plaintiffs and their lawyers in hard-fought litigation against Chevron Corp. over environmental damage in Ecuador, a federal district court judge in New York has issued a blistering ruling in an unusual civil racketeering case. It blocks their ability to collect, here in the U.S.,…

Mar 4, 2014 9:41 PM CST

Man sues moistened-wipes makers over plumbing bills; defendant stands by product’s ‘flushability’

A New York dentist apparently missed news reports that so-called flushable wipes are responsible for massive “fatberg” formations in a number of municipal sewer systems. However, Dr. Joseph Kurtz is now seeking redress in federal court in Brooklyn, contending that manufacturers’ false claims that moistened wipes can be safely flushed…

Mar 4, 2014 7:35 PM CST

Sprint worker uploaded intimate photos from my trade-in phone to my Facebook page, woman’s suit says

A woman is suing Sprint Corp., contending that an employee browsed through her phone—which she traded in for an upgraded model at a Sprint store last year—then posted intimate photos on the plaintiff’s Facebook page through an application on the phone. The woman—who had forgotten those photos were among the…

Mar 3, 2014 9:30 PM CST