Tort Law

Despite Defamation Suit, Courtney Love Twitters On

What a news agency describes as “online rants” have landed singer Courtney Love in court. Love is being sued in California by an Austin, Texas, fashion designer known as Boudoir Queen, for allegedly posting defamatory material about the plaintiff on Twitter and MySpace, reports the Associated Press. The Los Angeles…

Mar 27, 2009 8:45 PM CDT

Covington Returns Yolanda Young Fire, Says Ex-Staff Lawyer Had Lackluster GPA

Sued last month by a former staff attorney who claimed Covington & Burling maintained its staff attorney ranks as a ghetto for minority attorneys, the law firm didn’t hesitate to fire back earlier when Yolanda Young apparently made similar charges in an administrative complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity…

Mar 27, 2009 6:21 PM CDT

Some Madoff Investors Complain Their Lawyers Were to Blame

Some law firms could face liability for advising clients who lost money with Bernard Madoff, according to a Massachusetts state official. Secretary of State William Galvin, who regulates securities brokers in Massachusetts, told the Boston Globe that he is hearing complaints from Madoff clients who may be blaming lawyers for…

Mar 27, 2009 1:17 PM CDT

‘Sexting’ Cases Put Pa. Prosecutor on ACLU’s Litigation List

A Pennsylvania prosecutor’s aggressive approach to so-called teenage sexting of explicit messages on cell phones has put him on the American Civil Liberties Union’s litigation list. Siding with three female high school students and their mothers, in a dispute over the appropriate handling of racy photos being transmitted on teenagers’…

Mar 26, 2009 2:43 AM CDT

Brooklyn Law Student Wins Freeze on Madoff Brother’s Assets

A 22-year-old student at Brooklyn Law School who says he lost nearly $500,000 in purported assets invested with convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff has persuaded a New York judge to issue a temporary freeze on the assets of Madoff’s brother. In a civil suit, Andrew Ross Samuels says Peter Madoff…

Mar 25, 2009 10:24 PM CDT

Lawyers for Woman Injured in Chimp Attack Claim Owner Is Strictly Liable

A Connecticut law firm representing a woman injured in an attack by a pet chimpanzee claims the animal’s owner should be strictly liable for owning a wild animal. Lawyers for the injured woman, Charla Nash, are asking a judge to freeze the assets of the chimp’s owner, Sandra Herold, the…

Mar 25, 2009 2:39 PM CDT

Ex-Client Seeks $10M Legal Fees Clawback Over Ill-Fated Patent Litigation

A former client is suing two law firms in an effort to recapture some $10 million in legal fees and costs from ill-fated patent infringement litigation. E-Pass Technologies is asserting negligent misrepresentation claims against the company’s former counsel in its California lawsuit, reports the Recorder. The defendants are New York…

Mar 24, 2009 6:36 PM CDT

Now is the Time for ‘Life Without Lawyers,’ Says Covington & Burling Partner

New York City-based litigator and legal reform activist Philip K. Howard has been waging a battle to reshape the U.S. legal system for 15 years. Now, with the collapse of Wall Street financial giants and the promise of new regulations by the Obama administration, the Covington & Burling partner says…

Mar 24, 2009 6:16 PM CDT

Golfer John Daly Loses Libel Suit; Newspaper May Seek Defense Costs

After four years of litigation, a Florida newspaper and its columnist, Mike Freeman, have won a libel suit filed against them by pro golfer John Daly over a 2005 column that discussed his alleged “thug-life qualifications.” (They reportedly included that he had been accused of domestic violence and that he…

Mar 24, 2009 5:11 PM CDT

‘Ad Agency’ Law Firm’s Business Booms; $50 Million Campaign Envisioned

Although it’s ubiquitous on the nation’s airwaves, Jim Sokolove’s law firm tries almost no cases. Instead, in a feat of marketing prowess that has earned the firm a feature article in Advertising Age, the Massachusetts attorney makes a living operating his Sokolove Law plaintiffs firm as “almost strictly as an…

Mar 23, 2009 9:59 PM CDT

Female Fla. Prison Workers Sue Over Alleged Inmate Sexual Harassment

More than 100 female prison workers have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections contending that they were routinely sexually harassed by inmates. The employees, mostly nurses, allege that male inmates used graphic language and masturbated towards them, reports the Miami Herald. “The conduct is…

Mar 23, 2009 3:13 PM CDT

Investor Points Finger at Holland & Knight Over Nadel Disclosure Forms

An investor who says he lost $1.85 million in a claimed $397 million fraud allegedly orchestrated by Arthur Nadel is accusing an international law firm of having helped prepare documents for funds Nadel controlled that failed to disclose critical information about his background. In a federal lawsuit filed today, Holland…

Mar 21, 2009 12:59 AM CDT

Detainees Can Sue U.S. Contractor Over Alleged War Crimes at Abu Ghraib Prison

Four individuals who say they were tortured while held prisoner at the Abu Ghraib detention facility in Iraq can sue a U.S. defense contractor whose employees allegedly participated in the claimed war crimes, a federal judge has ruled. In an opinion released today, U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee rejected…

Mar 19, 2009 9:19 PM CDT

Mayer Brown Escapes a Refco Case; No Private Right of Action, Judge Rules

Plaintiffs in a securities fraud case filed over the collapse of Refco Inc. can’t hold an international law firm defendant liable for alleged aiding and abetting, a federal judge in New York City has ruled. Because there is no private right of action under the applicable federal statutory law, Mayer…

Mar 18, 2009 8:35 PM CDT

Obama Says Medical Malpractice Reform Is ‘On the Table’

The Obama administration is considering medical malpractice reform as part of an overhaul of the health care system. Past efforts to cap pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice suits failed in recent years, the Associated Press reports. But now some Democrats and the president himself say costs need to…

Mar 18, 2009 6:50 PM CDT