Tort Law

Lawyer May Face Contempt Hearing re His Visit, With Locksmith, to Home His Client Claims to Own

A Florida judge says he plans to schedule a contempt hearing after a lawyer handling civil litigation went with a locksmith to $1 million home in Lakeland that his client, Dorice “DeeDee” Moore, claims to own. Circuit Judge J. Dale Durrance indicated yesterday that attorney Randall O. Reder of Tampa…

Nov 10, 2011 6:19 PM CST

Rapper Pitbull Seeks to Remove Suit Targeting His ‘Locked Up Like Lindsay Lohan’ Lyric

Lindsay Lohan’s emotional distress suit over a lyric in a song by Pitbull should be heard in federal court, according to a removal notice by the rapper’s lawyers. Lohan had filed suit in New York state court, but Pitbull—whose real name is Armando Christian Perez—says Lohan doesn’t live there. According…

Nov 9, 2011 5:11 PM CST

Herman Cain Denies All Claims of Sexual Harassment, Retains ‘Pit Bull’ Celebrity Libel Lawyer

Following reported claims by four women that he sexually harassed them years ago when he headed the National Restaurant Association, Herman Cain continues to say all of the allegations are false. And the Republican presidential candidate has hired celebrity libel lawyer Lin Wood, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’ve been brought…

Nov 9, 2011 2:02 AM CST

Fla. Lawyer and Client Win Ruling That State Law Lets Motorists Flash Lights to Warn of Speed Traps

It isn’t clear that a Florida judge agreed with all of the constitutional arguments advanced by a lawyer and his client concerning a motorist’s alleged right to warn others of a police speed trap by flashing headlights at oncoming cars. But he did side with a ticketed individual who sued…

Nov 9, 2011 1:16 AM CST

Feds Sue Personal Injury Law Firm, Say It Banned Disabled Client’s Service Dog From Its Offices

A federal prosecutor has sued an upstate New York personal injury law firm, contending that it banned a client from bringing her service dog into its offices. A lawsuit filed in White Plains today by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York says Newburgh-based Larkin Axelrod…

Nov 8, 2011 9:24 PM CST

Colo. Supreme Court OKs $10M Award Against Wal-Mart in Truck Driver’s Slip-and-Fall Case

Reversing a lower court’s determination that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was entitled to a new trial, the Colorado Supreme Court today approved a $10 million award to a truck driver who had to have multiple spinal surgeries after slipping on grease while making a delivery at a store in Greeley. A…

Nov 7, 2011 8:15 PM CST

Both Sides Proclaim Victory re $1.3M Award Against 3M in MRSA Test Case

Both sides proclaimed victory today after a British judge ordered 3M Corp. to pay $1.3 million for failing to fulfill a promise to market a test for MRSA, a dangerous bacteria in hospitals. The award to the Porton Group and its partners was far less than the $40 million they…

Nov 7, 2011 8:12 PM CST

Former Idaho County Prosecutor Files Defamation Suit Against Law Firm Rival

A former county prosecutor in Idaho has filed a lawsuit that claims a law firm and other defendants sought to interfere with his prosecution contract and plotted to spread defamatory falsehoods about him. The plaintiff, John Bujak, says in the lawsuit that he was awarded a contract with the city…

Nov 7, 2011 4:36 PM CST

Bankruptcy Trustee Sues Foley & Lardner, Says Legal Work Aided Client’s Massive Ponzi Scheme

Contending that legal work performed by Foley & Lardner helped a former client perpetrate a claimed Ponzi scheme that stripped some investors of their life savings as insiders looted assets, a trustee in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case for that client, DBSI Inc., has sued the law firm. Filed in…

Nov 4, 2011 2:53 PM CDT

Fed’l Judge OKs Ex-Associate’s Suit Saying Sedgwick Forced Him to Quit Over Affair with Court Worker

A federal judge in New Jersey has given the green light to a former Sedgwick associate’s discrimination suit against the law firm. It alleges that Wilson Campbell, who is black, was forced to resign from the firm after he had an affair with a white Jersey City municipal court worker,…

Nov 4, 2011 11:39 AM CDT

Storied Tenn. Law Firm Is Struggling, Sues Ex-Managing Partner Over $225K Removed from Trust Account

Once a mighty force in high-profile government cases, a storied Tennessee law firm is struggling financially after the deaths of its founding partners and has sued a former managing partner. Willis & Knight contends Tyree B. Harris IV wrongfully removed $225,000 from a trust account as part of a scheme…

Nov 3, 2011 5:16 PM CDT

Groom Sues Photo Studio for Re-Creation and Reshoot of ‘03 Wedding; Judge Lets Case Proceed

Back in 2009, New Yorker Todd J. Remis—who married Milena Grzibovska in 2003 and whose divorce from her was final in 2010—sued the photography studio that shot his wedding because he was unhappy with the photographs and the fact that studio failed to take photos of his bride tossing the…

Nov 3, 2011 4:59 PM CDT

Research on Junk Foods and Addiction Could Lead to Tobacco-Type Litigation, Yale Prof Says

Processed foods that contain high sugar and fat and little in the way of nutrients could be changing the brain in a way that resembles addiction, some researchers believe. The findings are leading Yale psychology and public health professor Kelly Brownell to suggest food companies could face lawsuits similar to…

Nov 3, 2011 12:49 PM CDT

Real Estate Lawyer Closes Office Temporarily; Bank Asks Court to Decide Who Gets $473K Trust Account

A well-known Georgia real estate lawyer has temporarily closed his Columbus office amidst an audit, and a local bank has asked a Muscogee County court to determine who should get the nearly $473,000 in his attorney trust account, the Ledger-Enquirer reports. “Our title insurance underwriters have suspended our access and…

Nov 2, 2011 9:48 PM CDT

Chief Pa. Supreme Court Judge Sues Law Firm for Malpractice re Family Court Building Project

The chief judge of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has sued a prominent Philadelphia law firm and a former lawyer there for malpractice, contending that the state paid millions more than it should have for a family court building project. A central issue in the case brought by Chief Justice Ronald…

Nov 2, 2011 8:38 PM CDT