Tort Law

Federal Judge Steps Aside, Allows Del. Court to Decide Claimed Cravath Conflict Issue

A federal judge in Philadelphia has stepped aside from a lawsuit seeking to disqualify Cravath Swaine & Moore from serving as counsel to a company seeking to take over a former client of the law firm. Because Delaware Chancery Court is to address the same conflict issue on an expedited…

Feb 24, 2010 12:17 AM CST

PI Lawyer Takes ‘Honest Services’ Plea; Case Once Thought ‘Massive’ Fizzles

A Nevada personal injury lawyer accused of settling cases to his clients’ detriment has taken a plea, on the eve of a second trial in a federal “honest services” medical insurance fraud case once thought potentially to involve hundreds of professionals. Attorney Noel Gage has agreed to plead guilty on…

Feb 23, 2010 10:02 PM CST

School District in Laptop-Spying Case Ordered to Shut Off Webcams

Seeking to prevent a repeat of the alleged use of a school-issued laptop computer to spy on a suburban Philadelphia student at his home, a federal judge has approved a consent order intended to put a stop to the potential invasion of privacy. It prohibits Lower Merion School District from…

Feb 23, 2010 9:00 PM CST

Man Punched on ‘Jersey Shore’ Episode Sues to Block DVD Release

A man who was beaten on an episode of Jersey Shore is suing to prevent Tuesday’s planned DVD release of the first season as well as any re-airings of both that episode and a subsequent one in which cast member Ronnie Ortiz-Magro “brags about the beating.” Stephen Izzo Jr. filed…

Feb 22, 2010 7:08 PM CST

Cravath Fires Back in Conflict Case, Says Ex-Client is Doing Battle in Wrong Court

Responding to a former client’s claims of a conflict of interest that could potentially derail Cravath Swaine & Moore’s representation of a current client in a hard-fought $5.1 billion corporate takeover battle, the law firm says in a reply brief that ex-client Airgas Inc. is pursuing the issue in the…

Feb 22, 2010 2:00 PM CST

Attorney John O’Quinn’s Museum-Quality Cars to Be Auctioned to Pay Some $50M in Debts

The 1911 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost used in the filming of the Titanic is being held back. But a 1966 replica of the Batmobile made famous by the Batman television series and a 1938 armor-plated Cadillac used as a parade limousine by three presidents are among the museum-quality vehicles that…

Feb 19, 2010 7:26 PM CST

Accused of Spying on Student at Home Via School Laptop, District Says It Didn’t

An upscale suburban Philadelphia school district accused in a lawsuit of spying on a student at home via the webcam in his school-provided laptop computer says it didn’t do it. The Lower Merion School District only activated the webcams when it was looking for a missing laptop among the 2,300…

Feb 19, 2010 6:56 PM CST

Injured Luger Considers Suit, While Father of Killed Olympian Dismisses the Idea

The father of the Olympic luge athlete killed in an accident last week is dismissing the idea of a lawsuit. But a luger injured in a November accident is considering the possibility. Georgian athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a training accident Feb. 12. His father, David Kumaritashvili, bristled when a…

Feb 19, 2010 2:46 PM CST

Peeved By Google Buzz Privacy Issue, Harvard 2L Files Suit

Annoyed by an automatic e-mail contacts-sharing feature in the new Google Buzz social network unveiled for Gmail users last week, a second-year student at Harvard Law School expressed her frustration to a fellow student. That classmate works as a research assistant to a professor who focuses on civil procedure and…

Feb 19, 2010 2:33 AM CST

7th Cir Stays Infomercial Pitchman’s Jail Term for Crashing Judge’s Computer

A federal appeals court has stayed an infomercial pitchman’s 30-day jail term for urging fans to send e-mails that crashed a judge’s computer. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave no reason for the stay, and will hear arguments on Kevin Trudeau’s case on Tuesday, reports the Chicago Tribune.…

Feb 18, 2010 11:54 PM CST

Suit Says School Spied on Student at Home Via Laptop Webcam, Seeks Class Action Status

A lawsuit filed by a the parents of a teenage student contends that his upscale suburban Philadelphia high school spied on him via a webcam on the laptop computer it issued to him that could be remotely activated. The suit, which was filed last week in federal court by Michael…

Feb 18, 2010 10:00 PM CST

EEOC Hit with $4.5M Legal Fee Award in Losing ‘Pattern & Practice’ Case, Plans Appeal

A federal judge has ordered the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to pay an Iowa trucking company’s $4.56 million legal bill after dismissing what she characterized as a pattern and practice sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the federal agency in 2007 on behalf of female drivers. Although “not unprecedented,” a fee…

Feb 17, 2010 10:56 PM CST

Infomercial Pitchman Gets 30 Days for Crashing Federal Judge’s Computer

Updated: During a criminal contempt hearing in Chicago last week, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said he was inclined to sentence infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau to a jail term for unleashing a flood of fan e-mail that crashed the jurist’s computer. And today, calling the deluge of some 300 e-mails…

Feb 17, 2010 9:34 PM CST

Ex-Client of Cravath Battles Firm’s Current Client in Conflict Case Venue War

Updated: Today was the day that a Pennsylvania state-court judge was supposed to conduct a hearing on a former client’s claim that Cravath Swaine & Moore is conflicted out of representing a competing company in a $5.1 billion takeover bid. But that didn’t happen, because Cravath and its current client,…

Feb 16, 2010 11:28 PM CST

Top NY Court Reinstates Felony Charges Against PI Firm Over Retainer Filings

In the latest twist in an unusual criminal case against a law firm, New York’s top court has reinstated felony charges brought against Silverman & Taylor over alleged factual misstatements in filed retainer agreements. Initially convicted in 2005, following a two-week bench trial, of filing a false instrument, Silverman &…

Feb 16, 2010 9:54 PM CST