Tort Law

Little League coach who sued player over torn tendon says he will drop suit after an apology

A California Little League coach who sued the league and a player over his torn tendon says he would drop the suit if the youth apologizes for causing his injury. The coach, Alan Beck, claims his Achilles tendon was torn when he was struck by a batting helmet thrown by…

Feb 3, 2014 1:26 PM CST

Generic drugs leave a bad taste for patients filing tort suits

Even the U.S. Supreme Court agreed that its ruling in 2011’s PLIVA v. Mensing “makes little sense” to people hurt by prescription drugs. Plaintiffs Gladys Mensing and Julie Demahy were prescribed the brand-name drug Reglan, used to treat digestive ailments. Instead, their pharmacists gave each the drug’s generic version. After…

Feb 1, 2014 9:40 AM CST

Dueling lawsuits: Ex-NYPD boss Bernard Kerik and defense attorney do battle

Disgraced former New York Police Department commissioner Bernard Kerik and his high-profile defense attorney, Joseph Tacopina, are officially at war. According to Courthouse News, Kerik filed a malpractice suit last Thursday against Tacopina in Newark., N.J., federal district court, accusing his former defense attorney of colluding with federal prosecutors against…

Jan 30, 2014 11:40 AM CST

K&L Gates OKs settlement of $23.7M in LeNature’s legal malpractice case

A major Pittsburgh-based international law firm and one of its top attorneys have agreed to pay $23.7 million to settle a malpractice lawsuit brought by a bankruptcy trustee winding up the affairs of a former client. The agreement by K&L Gates and Sanford Ferguson did not involve any admission of…

Jan 29, 2014 10:35 PM CST

Judge says nurse fired over kidney trashed before transplant can sue for libel but not job loss

An Ohio circulating nurse fired after another nurse discarded a kidney intended for transplant, thinking it was medical waste, can pursue a libel lawsuit against her former employer. But Melanie Lemay can’t bring a wrongful termination claim against the University of Toledo Medical Center in the Court of Claims in…

Jan 29, 2014 8:25 PM CST

Millionaire convicted of murder is sued again to keep $13.5M unpaid judgment alive

In a lawsuit filed this week in Palm Beach County, Fla., the parents of a woman killed in Atlanta more than two decades ago have sued her millionaire ex-husband in an effort to keep a prior $4 million civil judgment alive. With interest, the judgment against James Sullivan has ballooned…

Jan 29, 2014 6:25 PM CST

Director Quentin Tarantino sues Gawker over hyperlink to leaked screenplay

Quentin Tarantino. Featureflash / Shutterstock.com In a lawsuit likely to explore the parameters of what constitutes news, movie director Quentin Tarantino has filed a complaint against Gawker Media in federal court in Los Angeles. It contends the company violated copyright law, facilitating distribution of an already-leaked screenplay for The Hateful…

Jan 28, 2014 1:05 PM CST

Survey leads to multiple federal complaints of widespread discrimination against deaf renters

A yearlong national survey showed a “disturbing” amount of discrimination against deaf and hard-of-hearing would-be renters and led to the filing of nine federal fair-housing administrative complaints by advocacy groups and calls for better training of those who deal with individuals with hearing impairments. So-called matched-pair testing by the National…

Jan 27, 2014 7:40 PM CST

Judge nixes ex-wife’s civil racketeering claim against billionaire Steven Cohen, but OKs fraud case

A federal judge in New York on Monday dismissed a civil racketeering count in a fraud case filed against billionaire Steven Cohen by his ex-wife, Patricia Cohen. However, U.S. District Judge William Pauley gave a green light to her fraud case against the hedge fund manager even though Pauley nixed…

Jan 27, 2014 6:30 PM CST

SCOTUS overturns pilot’s $1.2M defamation award against airline for mental instability report

The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed a $1.2 million award to a pilot who sued over an airline’s report to the Transportation Security Administration that managers were concerned about his mental stability and he may be armed. The court ruled (PDF) against William Hoeper, who sued Air Wisconsin for making…

Jan 27, 2014 5:10 PM CST

Defense verdict for Courtney Love in ‘Twibel’ case brought by her former lawyer

Courtney Love. Debby Wong / Shutterstock.com A California jury spent three hours deliberating before rendering a defense verdict Friday in a libel lawsuit brought against Courtney Love by her former legal counsel. Lawyers for the plaintiff, attorney Rhonda Holmes of San Diego, has sought $8 million in damages in the…

Jan 27, 2014 4:50 PM CST

Lawyer says he will drop suit alleging website unfairly cast him as a ‘tree mutilator’

A Missouri lawyer says he plans to drop a lawsuit that claims a website and commenters unfairly cast him as a “tree mutilator.” Columbia, Mo., personal injury lawyer Aaron Smith says he will drop the suit so his law firm can devote full attention to its existing caseload, the Columbia…

Jan 27, 2014 11:40 AM CST

Ex-client can sue out-of-state law firm, top Ariz. court rules

Agreeing with an earlier decision by a state appeals court, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday that an out-of-state attorney and his firm could be sued by Arizona residents to whom they provided a tax-shelter opinion letter for a $50,000 fee. In a two-page opinion (PDF), the supreme court essentially…

Jan 24, 2014 8:50 PM CST

Volokh Conspiracy blog now subject to Washington Post’s paywall | Can lawyers use dynamic pricing?

This week, the Volokh Conspiracy (in the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 Hall of Fame) migrated to the Washington Post. The blog was approached by the newspaper, and they accepted the offer in hopes that their blog will now reach a larger audience, blog founder and University of California-Los Angeles law…

Jan 24, 2014 2:45 PM CST

Judge tosses libel counterclaim against legal secretary who criticized her former firm before suing

A legal secretary who criticized her former law firm in a newspaper article was protected by the fair report privilege, a Manhattan judge has ruled. Judge Shlomo Hagler found that Theodora Benedict’s remarks were a fair report of an age and disability claim she made with New York’s Division of…

Jan 24, 2014 11:40 AM CST