Tort Law

Hospital Cleared Doc in ‘96 Complaint Who’s Now Charged in 529 Patient Sex Offenses

In 1996, a Delaware hospital conducted an internal investigation of a pediatrician accused of inappropriate conduct with young patients and concluded he had done nothing wrong. Hence, administrators reportedly never informed the state’s medical disciplinary board or law enforcement authorities of the allegations. Now Dr. Earl Bradley has been criminally…

Apr 20, 2010 12:09 AM CDT

Filing: School District Took Thousands of Pics of Students at Home Via Laptop Webcams

When news broke in February that an upscale suburban Philadelphia school district had been accused of spying on students at home via remotely activated webcams on their district-issued laptop computers, officials said the webcams were only activated if a computer had been reported missing or stolen. But that wasn’t true,…

Apr 19, 2010 7:57 PM CDT

Preliminary Plaintiffs Lawyer Team Is Tapped in Consolidated Toyota Case

After news late last week that the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation had decided to consolidate nearly 200 lawsuits against Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. before a single federal judge in California, that judge has now tapped a preliminary team of plaintiffs lawyers to lead the complex case. U.S.…

Apr 16, 2010 9:24 PM CDT

Blank Rome Adds a Texas Lawyer, Looks for Office Space in Houston

Looking to a client’s seasoned in-house counsel for an opportunity to expand its law practice, Blank Rome has brought in a Texas lawyer as a partner and is now apparently making plans to open a new office in Houston. New partner Joseph Speelman has some 35 years of chemical industry…

Apr 16, 2010 6:11 PM CDT

Science Writer Wins Libel Case After Fair Comment Right Is Recognized

In a blow against United Kingdom libel laws that some observers see as too heavily weighted in favor of plaintiffs, a science writer has essentially won a libel case in which he was sued by chiropractors for questioning the accuracy of treatment claims. The British Chiropractic Association today dropped its…

Apr 15, 2010 9:49 PM CDT

Lawyer Plans to Sue Town Over Citizen E-Mail Addresses Given to Others

A Florida lawyer who is a resident and volunteer in Miami Lakes plans to sue the municipality over its policy of treating citizen e-mail addresses as public records. Ceasar Mestri announced his plan to seek a declaratory judgment from a state court on the issue at yesterday’s town council meeting,…

Apr 14, 2010 8:35 PM CDT

Jail Officials Recorded Inmate Threats to Murder Police But Did Nothing to Stop Him, Attorney Says

Jailhouse monitoring of prisoners’ phone conversations has previously ignited controversy from opponents of the practice over claimed violations of attorney-client privilege and inmates’ constitutional rights. But a planned $134 million lawsuit announced today in Washington state contends that officials in Pierce County haven’t been listening closely enough to prisoner phone…

Apr 9, 2010 12:06 AM CDT

Wells Fargo Settles With NAACP, But 2 Cities File New Fair Lending Suits

Wells Fargo has just settled a fair housing lawsuit brought by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. But the bank’s court battle over its alleged discriminatory lending practices isn’t over yet. Two cities filed amended federal fair housing complaints against Wells Fargo this week, in which they…

Apr 8, 2010 11:22 PM CDT

7 Homeowners Awarded $2.6M in Chinese Drywall Suit

In a ruling that is expected to provide guidance for determining potential damages in more than 2,000 similar federal lawsuits filed by other homeowners, a federal judge in New Orleans today awarded $2.6 million to seven homeowners who alleged that their houses were damaged by the installation of drywall manufactured…

Apr 8, 2010 6:14 PM CDT

Judge Sues Newspaper for $50M, Claims Breach of Promised Anonymity re Web Comments

Under fire over anonymous comments reportedly made from her private e-mail account about defendants and at least one lawyer in cases she is overseeing, an Ohio judge has blasted back by filing suit against the Cleveland newspaper that broke the story. Cuyahoga Court of Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold…

Apr 7, 2010 10:19 PM CDT

Photographers File New Suit Against Google Over Book-Scanning Project

Photographers and illustrators who say they were left out of a proposed $125 million settlement by Google concerning its massive book-scanning project have filed suit seeking additional damages. While scanning the books into a searchable database, they contend Google also scanned copyrighted photographs and other images, reports PC Magazine. Among…

Apr 7, 2010 5:21 PM CDT

Effort to Fine Toyota $16.4M Could Speed Up Plaintiffs’ Discovery in Acceleration Cases

A record fine of $16.4 million that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is seeking to impose on Toyota Motor Corp. will probably help the plaintiffs in hundreds of lawsuits filed against the company over alleged sudden acceleration issues and other vehicle concerns, even though the fine isn’t expected to…

Apr 6, 2010 5:53 PM CDT

US Seeks to Impose Record $16.4M Auto Safety Fine on Toyota

Adding to the legal woes of the embattled Toyota Motor Corp. is facing over reported sudden-acceleration problems in its vehicles, the U.S. Department of Transportation today announced that it is seeking to impose a record-breaking auto safety fine of $16.375 million on the company. Federal law requires possible safety defects…

Apr 5, 2010 11:09 PM CDT

Prominent Lawyer Indicted, Accused of Extortion Attempt in Settlement Talks

Charged last year with attempted extortion over his handling of a civil harassment case, a prominent Southern California lawyer has now been indicted, along with his client, for allegedly trying to extort $350,000 from a woman by threatening to smear her in the media. James Toledano, 65, a Newport Beach…

Apr 5, 2010 7:13 PM CDT

7th Circuit Rules Sidley’s Interview Notes in School Probe Are Privileged

Sidley Austin won’t have to turn over its notes and memos from its investigation of alleged sexual abuse at a suburban Chicago school district. The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the documents were protected by the attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, the National Law Journal…

Apr 2, 2010 3:34 PM CDT