Tort Law

Reed Smith can implead other law firms in defense of malpractice suit, appeals court says

Sued by a former client over its handling of a gin trade-name issue, Reed Smith has won a round in the ongoing litigation. The law firm can implead three other law firms that also allegedly provided bad advice to Millennium Import concerning its Belvedere brand, a New York appellate court…

Jan 25, 2013 9:28 PM CST

Subway agrees size does matter, says ‘footlong’ sandwiches should be 12 inches

After Internet complaints and at least two lawsuits contending that its “footlong” sandwiches don’t measure up to their billing, Subway issued a statement Thursday saying that the company will work harder to ensure that all of the chain’s 1-foot products are actually 12 inches long. While declining to comment specifically…

Jan 24, 2013 8:38 PM CST

Lance Armstrong faces class action re autobiography

At first, news that cyclist Lance Armstrong had admitted using performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions to boost his career and help him win consecutive Tour de France titles was followed by jokes that his books would be moved to public library fiction sections. Now, after his confession last week to…

Jan 24, 2013 4:40 PM CST

Subway suit says ‘footlong’ sandwiches don’t measure up

A viral Facebook post that purportedly shows a Subway “footlong” sandwich doesn’t measure up to its 12-inch billing has created new problems for the national chain. Two men in New Jersey have filed suit over the issue, seeking damages and a change in practices in the Tuesday filing. And the…

Jan 23, 2013 7:35 PM CST

Sandusky shower incident victim sues Penn State

Corrected: Despite efforts by Pennsylvania State University to settle with boys targeted by former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, now serving a hefty sentence after being convicted in a child sex-abuse case last year, the victim of a 1998 campus shower incident has filed a federal lawsuit against the university…

Jan 23, 2013 6:06 PM CST

Man who was denied epilepsy medication while in prison awarded $12M by federal jury

A man who said staff at an Illinois prison denied him his prescribed epilepsy medication while he was an inmate there was awarded $12 million on Friday by a federal jury in Chicago. Raymond Fox suffered permanent brain damage from an aneurysm caused by a series of seizures and now…

Jan 22, 2013 6:15 PM CST

Testimony: Lawyers promised then-judge big bucks to ‘make sure things came out OK’

When some local lawyers in South Texas wanted to “make sure things came out OK,” they used to steer their personal injury cases to Abel Limas, the former judge testified in federal court in Brownsville on Thursday. Then a 404th state district court judge, he now admits he ran his…

Jan 18, 2013 7:09 PM CST

Fan’s privacy suit over Joan Rivers documentary nixed by 7th Circuit

Affirming a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit against Joan Rivers, a federal appeals court in Chicago on Thursday held that a fan did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy concerning a brief backstage chat with the raunchy comedian, in the presence of others. The fan, Ann Bogie, sued…

Jan 18, 2013 4:42 PM CST

Why Internet imposters are difficult to prosecute

The phenomenon has become so common it has a name: catfishing. Someone creates a fake online persona and uses it to lure the victim into an Internet romance. According to Notre Dame, its star linebacker Manti Te’o got catfished. In interviews, he told of losing his girlfriend to leukemia, but…

Jan 18, 2013 1:46 PM CST

Was Lance Armstrong a lawsuit bully? Cyclist admits ‘major flaw’

Lance Armstrong quickly admitted to doping in the first portion of his interview with Oprah Winfrey aired on Thursday. He also admitted that he had sued journalists, friends and colleagues who accused him of doping, report the Associated Press, the Washington Post and Reuters. Here is Oprah’s question: “You’re suing…

Jan 18, 2013 12:38 PM CST

Two Toyota sudden acceleration cases are settled; terms and evidence are secret

Toyota has settled two bellwether sudden-acceleration cases in recent weeks, including a personal injury suit involving a Utah crash that killed the driver and a passenger. Terms of the settlements are confidential, and much of the evidence in the cases is sealed, the Los Angeles Times reports. The settlements follow…

Jan 18, 2013 11:30 AM CST

Fan didn’t assume the risk of injury by airborne hot dog, appeals court says

A Kansas City Royals fan who suffered a detached retina after he was hit by a flying hot dog is getting a new chance to take his negligence case to a jury. Fan John Coomer was hit with a foil-wrapped hot dog flung by the Royals mascot Sluggerrr at a…

Jan 17, 2013 5:19 PM CST

Ex-Dewey partner’s fraud claim re Citibank capital loan gets green light from federal judge

A former partner of Dewey & LeBoeuf has won a round in an unusual legal case against the bank that made him a personal loan to finance his capital contribution to the now-defunct law firm. A federal judge in New York on Wednesday nixed a summary judgment motion by Citibank…

Jan 17, 2013 4:42 PM CST

Columnist who is injured by an immersion blender finds other mishap stories, and a lawsuit

A columnist who Googled “immersion blender” learned she is not the only one who suffered a mishap while trying to pry food out of the blades. Writing in the New York Times, writer Alexandra Jacobs tells how she injured her fingers with the hand-held blender. It’s important to unplug the…

Jan 17, 2013 2:59 PM CST

Lawyer not liable for $80K put in client trust account—and stolen—by his secretary, judge rules

An Alabama judge has ruled against the plaintiff in a lawsuit that seeks to recover from a Saraland lawyer an $80,000 payment that was put into a client trust account—and subsequently stolen—by the attorney’s longtime secretary. Because the payment was a private deal between the plaintiff, Daniel Burrage, and legal…

Jan 16, 2013 4:52 PM CST