Tort Law

Australia’s publicly traded Slater & Gordon raising $64M to buy more UK personal injury firms

In its continuing drive to dominate the global personal injury and consumer legal market, Slater & Gordon is raising $63.9 million to expand its British personal injury practice. The plaintiff megafirm has struck deals to buy three United Kingdom law firms at a total cost of about $35 million, according…

May 7, 2013 6:15 PM CDT

Can remote texter be liable if driver is distracted by message? Appeals court mulls novel theory

It’s common knowledge that texting and driving is a bad idea and, in a number of jurisdictions, illegal. New Jersey is one of them. But what about sending a text to someone you know is behind the wheel? In addition to moral responsibility, could there be any civil liability for…

May 6, 2013 10:32 PM CDT

With $1B fee unpaid, plaintiff lawyer who won $18B enviro case is now pro se against Chevron

Attorney Steven Donziger could earn $1 billion, his opposing counsel says, if an $18 billion foreign judgment against Chevron Corp. concerning environmental damage in Ecuador is upheld. Meanwhile, Donziger is unable to afford to pay his own counsel as Chevron continues with a bruising U.S. district court counterattack against the…

May 6, 2013 8:15 PM CDT

Fertilizer explosion caused some $100M in damage; plant had ‘pathetic’ $1M in insurance

As state and federal officials look into an apparent lack of regulatory scrutiny of a Texas fertilizer facility that exploded in a fiery blast last month, killing 15 people and injuring another 200, a further issue has come to the attention of outside lawyers representing victims of the disaster. The…

May 6, 2013 5:15 PM CDT

Should this toy be saved?

After a 6-year-old Canadian girl swallowed 19 superstrong, pea-size magnets in March, she told her mother she thought they were candy. The magnets failed to pass through naturally, and a surgeon removed them three days later, finding a perforated small intestine, ulcerations in the stomach and two small holes in…

May 1, 2013 10:10 AM CDT

Soda-order spat, claim of unflushed toilet leads to police involvement and lawsuit against airline

An airline passenger who says his refusal to order a soda on a computer touch screen led to his being detained and questioned by authorities after the plane landed has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit over the April 2012 incident. Salvatore Bevivino says he was falsely accused of swearing…

Apr 30, 2013 6:29 PM CDT

Did shock jock defame man with Down syndrome by R-word alteration of his photo? Suit seeks $18M

A Tennessee couple is suing over the online alteration of a photo of their son who has Down syndrome. The $18 million defamation suit filed by Pamela and Bernard Holland targets a shock jock radio show, the “Sign Generator” website, and an individual who posted the photo with a caption…

Apr 30, 2013 12:20 PM CDT

Big-bucks jury question: Did concert promoter select or supervise Michael Jackson’s personal doctor?

Opening arguments began Monday in a small Los Angeles courtroom in a wrongful death case that could involve millions, or perhaps even billions, of dollars in damages. At issue is whether concert promoter AEG Live had a role in hiring or supervising Dr. Conrad Murray, who served as Michael Jackson’s…

Apr 29, 2013 9:05 PM CDT

Dangerous desk toy Buckyballs voluntarily recalled by retailers

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, stymied in attempts to get a manufacturer to foot the bill, persuaded several prominent retailers to voluntarily join the agency in a recall of Buckyballs, the super-magnet desk toys which have seriously damaged the intestines of children who swallow them. The CPSC sought the cooperation…

Apr 29, 2013 4:50 PM CDT

Feinberg begins evaluating how to compensate Boston Marathon victims

Lawyer Kenneth Feinberg will have a tough task as he decides how to apportion money from a compensation fund for victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. Feinberg plans to develop a sliding payment scale for the One Fund Boston that is based on the severity of the injuries, the New…

Apr 24, 2013 11:00 AM CDT

Appeals court says client must pay law firm’s fees unless there is a finding of misconduct

An appeals court in Michigan has agreed with a lower court that a law firm and its attorney did not commit malpractice by signing a settlement agreement on behalf of a group of clients, even though one client objected to the pact. Defendant IGC Management Inc. had appealed the lower…

Apr 23, 2013 6:40 PM CDT

Credit-ratings firm seeks dismissal of US suit, says its statements about independence were puffery

In a motion to dismiss a civil suit by the U.S. Justice Department, Standard & Poor’s is arguing that its statements about independence and objectivity were classic puffery. The agency said such statements were too general and vague to form the basis for a fraud claim, report the Wall Street…

Apr 23, 2013 12:18 PM CDT

Law firm, 2 attorneys sued by FDIC, accused of helping bank make $82M in illegal loans

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has sued a Florida law firm and two of its attorneys, contending that they failed to take note of “glaring red flags” when representing Orion Bank in making $82 million in illegal loans in 2009. Nason, Yeager, Gerson, White & Lioce, as well as a…

Apr 18, 2013 7:42 PM CDT

Lawyer who turned down $8M settlement wins $130M in retrial

A New York lawyer says he feels vindicated after winning $130 million for a medical malpractice client in a third trial of the case. Lawyer Thomas Moore had turned down an $8 million settlement before the first trial in 2009 and then lost the case, the New York Post reports.…

Apr 18, 2013 2:14 PM CDT

‘Shocked’ by $3M legal fee in fatal car-crash case, judge tells lawyers to pay plaintiff lawyer $50K

Grappling with hard-fought litigation over the claimed inability of two defendants to pay a $3.2M judgment in a fatal car-crash case, a South Florida judge on Wednesday ordered the defendants’ lawyers to pay $50,000 to a plaintiff’s attorney. Despite not having gotten all that he sought in a sanctions motion…

Apr 17, 2013 9:52 PM CDT