Tort Law

Study of Pa. Surgeons Finds One-Fifth of Tests Ordered Because of Lawsuit Fears

A new study confirms the conventional wisdom: Physicians order unnecessary tests because they fear lawsuits. The study asked 72 orthopedic surgeons in Pennsylvania to check a box indicating whether the medical tests they ordered were needed for clinical care or done for defensive purposes, the Washington Post reports. One-fifth of…

Feb 17, 2011 1:32 PM CST

Ex-Ohio AG Files Bank Class Action, Responds to Unrelated Call for Potential Attorney Discipline

A former attorney general of Ohio was in the news for two reasons today. Now a Cleveland practitioner, Marc Dann filed suit against the Bank of America contending that it had failed to comply with contractual duties to help struggling homeowners modify their mortgages under a federal program, reports WKYC.…

Feb 17, 2011 1:04 AM CST

How Gal Pal’s Lawyer Got Mel Gibson Offer to $16M (Refused), Up From 1 Year Rent and Dodge Charger

When Oksana Grigorieva moved in with Mel Gibson, a 2009 cohabitation agreement provided that she would get one year’s free housing in a home he owned and a Dodge Charger if the couple split. But after she had the actor’s child, and especially after she taped him in an embarassing…

Feb 17, 2011 12:04 AM CST

Sued by Ousted Teen Beauty Queen, Pageant Fires Back with Diminution-of-Value Claim

Did Domonique Ramirez really get too fat and attend only lackadaisically and insubordinately to her duties as Miss San Antonio? Or, as the 17-year-old beauty queen claims, did organizers of the pageant apply too strict a standard in claiming that she and her mother failed to meet their contractual obligations?…

Feb 16, 2011 9:46 PM CST

Judge Asks to Seal Own Depo in Libel Suit He Filed; Defendant Lawyer, 2 Top Judges Argue Against Him

Updated: A battle between a Texas judge and others in the legal profession who he has accused of ganging up against him in an effort to force him off the bench apparently continues in court, even after the judge nonsuited a defamation complaint he filed against a local lawyer. As…

Feb 16, 2011 8:40 PM CST

Ex-Inmate Sues 7 Lawyers in Brooklyn DA’s Office, Says He Was Framed in Rabbi’s Murder

Convicted in 1995 of murdering a rabbi, Jabbar Collins was freed from a New York prison last year after a key witness told a federal court that a prosecutor in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office had threatened him with jail if he didn’t testify against Collins. Shortly before the accused…

Feb 16, 2011 6:31 PM CST

As Man Is Dying in Hospital Parking Lot, Police and Ambulance Get There Before ER Staff

Seemingly, 61-year-old Birgilio Marin-Fuentes shouldn’t have had to look far for help when he apparently had a heart attack as he was driving his car erratically into the garage of a Portland, Ore., hospital and crashed into a wall there earlier this month. But he got more assistance from city…

Feb 16, 2011 12:04 AM CST

Affiliate of Once-Mighty Foreclosure Firm Lays Off 96 More Workers, May Close Within 60 Days

Once a massive back office for Florida’s busiest mortgage foreclosure law firm, DJSP Enterprises appears to be on its last legs. Another 96 layoffs there were announced today, bringing the total tally of workers laid off since last fall to approximately 1,000, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. At one point,…

Feb 15, 2011 8:43 PM CST

Parents Whose Son Died of Rare Bacteria Spot Recall Notice, Leading to Lawsuit Against Wipes Maker

Two-year-old Harrison Kothari seemed to be recovering well from surgery to remove a benign cyst near his brain and spinal cord. But then he died suddenly at a Texas hospital late last year, of a rare infection, a day before he was supposed to be discharged, msnbc.com reported. Staff of…

Feb 15, 2011 7:54 PM CST

Jailed Ex-Spouse, Accused in Lawyer’s Kidnapping and Arson, Can Sue Fire Insurer, Appeals Court Says

Imprisoned and awaiting trial on charges that he kidnapped his attorney ex-wife at gunpoint, held her hostage in her Connecticut home in July 2009 and torched it after she fled, a former public relations executive can pursue an insurance coverage case over another home he allegedly set afire in 2007,…

Feb 15, 2011 7:16 PM CST

Ex-Staffer Agrees to Repay $131K to Owens Clary, Gets Probation

Both a criminal case and a civil lawsuit against a former employee of a Texas law firm have been resolved by the woman’s agreement to repay $131,000 to Owens Clary & Aiken. Rena Gallagher pleaded guilty to second-degree felony theft on Dec. 30, agreed to make restitution and was sentenced…

Feb 15, 2011 6:13 PM CST

Chevron Fined $8.6B By Ecuador Court in Environmental Case

Chevron Corp. says that there has been an adverse ruling against the oil company today in an environmental case in Ecuador, and a lawyer there who represents the plaintiffs tells Reuters that the amount was $8 billion. That is only a fraction of the $113 billion the plaintiffs reportedly had…

Feb 14, 2011 7:52 PM CST

Internet Retailer Limits Negative Online Reviews in Its Terms and Conditions

An Internet retailer called Full House Appliances expressed its displeasure when a customer posted a negative review on the ResellerRatings website. The company dispatched an e-mail to the commenter warning that libel is a prosecutable offense in Washington State where it operates, and it intends to pursue legal action absent…

Feb 14, 2011 5:39 PM CST

Suit Accuses Coach Inc. of Improper Crackdown on eBay Handbag Sellers

A woman who tried to sell her Coach handbag on eBay is suing the company after its lawyers accused her of selling counterfeit goods and threatened her with a $2 million penalty. Gina Kim says she purchased the $428 handbag with her employee discount when she worked at a Coach…

Feb 11, 2011 5:51 PM CST

Now That 5 Shelter Beds are Available, San Diego Can Ticket Those Who Snooze on City Streets

The homeless can still sleep soundly in San Diego at night. But now it will have to be in a shelter bed or a jail cell, unless they can find an alternative snooze spot out of sight from police. Under a settlement of litigation brought by advocates for the homeless,…

Feb 11, 2011 12:51 AM CST