Tort Law

Joke May Be on Toyota re Online Prank: Lack of Consent Voids Arbitration Pact, Appeals Court Says

It looks like the joke could be on Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc., concerning an unusual Internet advertising campaign the automaker developed with Saatchi & Saatchi North America Inc. to market its Matrix automobile. The campaign, which was targeted at young men, encouraged them to provide Toyota with the name…

Sep 12, 2011 11:19 PM CDT

Sept. 11 Survivor Who Claims US Allowed Attack Has Sued Cheney, Bin Laden and American Airlines

April Gallop is leaving no stone unturned in her effort to recover money after surviving the Sept. 11 attacks on the Pentagon. Gallop has filed suit against Dick Cheney alleging the United States allowed or arranged the Sept. 11 attacks. She has also sued Osama bin Laden, a bank and…

Sep 12, 2011 1:27 PM CDT

Patent Overhaul Sent to Obama; WilmerHale Gets $214M Clarification

The U.S. Senate has approved patent legislation that adopts a “first to file” system and gives WilmerHale protection from $214 million in malpractice damages. The legislation, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, is the most sweeping patent overhaul in decades, the National Law Journal reports. Small business groups had criticized the…

Sep 9, 2011 11:31 AM CDT

Armed Pharmacist Who Foiled Robbery and Was Fired Sues Walgreens

When a would-be armed robber hit a Walgreens in southwestern Michigan early one morning in May, the pharmacist was ready to rumble. After a masked man vaulted the pharmacy counter at around 4:30 a.m., surveillance footage attached to an Associated Press article shows, Jeremy Hoven drew on him and reportedly…

Sep 8, 2011 5:41 PM CDT

Donald Trump Can’t Sue over Claims He’s Not a Billionaire, NJ Appeals Court Rules

Donald Trump has lost a defamation lawsuit he filed over claims that he’s not a billionaire. A New Jersey appeals court ruled (PDF) on Wednesday that Trump can’t sue because he is a public figure and he had not shown actual malice by author Timothy O’Brien, the New Jersey Law…

Sep 8, 2011 1:03 PM CDT

WilmerHale Could Save $214M Due to a Deadline Provision in the Patent Bill

Critics are labeling a patent reform bill “The Dog Ate My Homework Act” for the protection it gives WilmerHale and its client the Medicines Company. The bill would award patents to inventors who are “first to file” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, rather than those who are “first…

Sep 8, 2011 12:08 PM CDT

Actor Randy Quaid’s Suit Over His Ex-Lawyer’s Alleged Postings on Entertainment Website Is Dismissed

Actor Randy Quaid and his wife, Evi, waited too long to file suit over alleged postings by a former attorney on his website, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled today. Granting a motion to dismiss by attorney Lloyd Braun based on the statute of limitations, Judge Kevin Brazile nixed…

Sep 6, 2011 7:24 PM CDT

FDA to Review Safety of Osteoporosis Drugs as Lawsuit Begins in Bellwether Trial

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to review the safety of osteoporosis drugs taken over the long-term amid growing concerns about side effects. The drugs, known as bisphosphonates, add bone mass by inhibiting a bone renewal process called resorption, the New York Times reports. The fear is that long-term…

Sep 6, 2011 5:02 PM CDT

Judge Sets Mandatory Civility Course for Lawyers on Holiday Weekend Sunday, Says to Bring ‘Jammies’

It didn’t take long for another jurist to top a mandatory “kindergarten party” invitation made by a federal judge in Texas to apparently squabbling attorneys. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks scheduled the kindergarten party (since canceled) in his Austin courtroom on Sept. 1, a Thursday. But Del. Superior Court Judge…

Sep 2, 2011 7:57 PM CDT

Teacher Allowed to Sue Software Company for Sending Her Explicit Photos to Cops

A federal judge has refused to dismiss a privacy lawsuit filed by a substitute teacher in Ohio that contends a software company accessed the woman’s sexually explicit photos and sent them to police investigating a stolen computer. U.S. District Judge Walter Rice refused last week to grant a motion for…

Sep 1, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

The Anti-Terror Attorney: Andrew Hall’s Life Is a Story of Survival Against Tyranny

Photo by Helen Ashford/Getty Images One could say that for Andrew C. Hall, life has always been a battle against terror. Hall, founder of Hall, Lamb and Hall in Miami, is credited as the first attorney to win a case in the United States against a country labeled a state…

Sep 1, 2011 9:20 AM CDT

Juror Held in Contempt, Gets Community Service for Effort to Friend Defendant on Facebook

In what a prosecutor in Tarrant County, Texas, says is the first such matter of its kind there, a juror in a civil auto accident case has been held in contempt for trying to friend the defendant on Facebook and discussing the case on his Facebook page. Jonathan Hudson, 22,…

Aug 29, 2011 7:55 PM CDT

Judge Blocks Ban on Student-Teacher Online Chats and Facebook Friendships; Mo. Gov Calls for Repeal

Calling a Missouri law that bans students and teachers from communicating online “staggering” in its overbreadth, a state court judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction preventing it from taking effect until a hearing on a permanent injunction is held early next year. However, after Cole County Circuit Judge Jon…

Aug 29, 2011 6:52 PM CDT

Bratz Doll Maker Drops Malpractice Claim Against O’Melveny

Bratz doll maker MGA has dropped a malpractice claim against O’Melveny & Myers, filed after the law firm sued for $10.2 million in unpaid fees allegedly owed in MGA’s copyright litigation with Barbie maker Mattel. MGA announced it was dropping the claim last Thursday, less than a week before a…

Aug 29, 2011 1:43 PM CDT

NY Lawyer Sues Ex-Girlfriends, Including a Roller Derby Queen, for Posts at Liarscheatersrus.com

A Manhattan lawyer says he has lost clients because of online posts claiming he is a cheating “scum” who dumped his girlfriends. Matthew Couloute Jr. is fighting back with a federal lawsuit filed against two ex-girlfriends, including former roller derby queen Stacey Blitsch, the New York Post reports. Couloute, who…

Aug 29, 2011 12:14 PM CDT