Tort Law

DNA Poised to Show Its Civil Side

After changing criminal law, tests are ready for workers’ comp, toxic tort cases

Mar 1, 2008 8:55 PM CST

Jury OKs Texas Lawyer’s Focus on Media Strategy in Murder Case

A Texas lawyer who allegedly focused on media strategy rather than the best interests of the client he was defending in a high-profile murder trial in 2003 has won the sympathy of the jury in an excessive-fees case brought by his now-convicted client. By an 11-1 vote, the jury decided…

Feb 29, 2008 8:39 PM CST

Judge Refuses Kidd Accuser’s Request for Anonymity

A federal judge has refused to allow an aspiring model to shield her identity in her sexual battery suit against basketball player Jason Kidd. Judge Carol Edmead ruled that the plaintiff’s desire to avoid embarrassment isn’t enough to overcome the public’s right of access to judicial proceedings, the New York…

Feb 29, 2008 1:32 PM CST

Reports of New Scruggs Influence Payments Surface in FBI Notes

An FBI report says plaintiffs lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs agreed to pay two associates $500,000 to discourage Mississippi’s attorney general from indicting State Farm Insurance Co. A confidential source told the FBI that Scruggs feared State Farm would not settle his civil cases if the insurer also faced criminal charges,…

Feb 28, 2008 4:24 PM CST

Class Action Filed Against Comcast for File-Sharing Slowdowns

A class action lawsuit filed last week against Comcast claims the cable giant misled consumers when it ran ads touting its Internet connection as the fastest and its access to content as “unfettered.” The suit, filed on behalf of Washington, D.C., consumers, claims Comcast blocks or impedes access to peer-to-peer…

Feb 28, 2008 2:57 PM CST

Several Justices Focus on Punitives Cap, Dismiss Liability Precedent in Exxon Case

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg peppered the lawyer for Exxon Mobil with questions during oral arguments yesterday on whether a $2.5 billion punitive damages award should stand. Ginsburg suggested a jury may have concluded the company itself was a grave wrongdoer for failing to fire the captain of the Exxon Valdez…

Feb 28, 2008 1:05 PM CST

Judge Allows Suit Blaming NBC News Show for Prosecutor’s Suicide

A federal judge in New York has refused to dismiss a $105 million lawsuit against Dateline NBC that blames a Texas prosecutor’s suicide on the show’s series about child predators. The suit was filed by Patricia Conradt, whose brother, Louis Conradt Jr., shot himself as television cameras waited to tape…

Feb 27, 2008 2:28 PM CST

Judge’s Widow Can’t Pursue Suit Claiming Overwork Caused His Death

The widow of a Connecticut judge who claims her husband died from overwork can’t sue the state under a special statute that extended the time limit for her to file suit. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Monday (PDF) that the law was unconstitutional because it was designed to benefit just…

Feb 27, 2008 1:09 PM CST

Landmark Mass. Ruling: Subprime Lender Can’t Unfairly Foreclose

In what is being hailed as a landmark ruling, a Massachusetts judge has prohibited a subprime mortgage lender from foreclosing on an entire class of “structurally unfair” loans there before checking with the state attorney general and taking “reasonable steps” to avoid this outcome. Issuing a preliminary injunction sought by…

Feb 26, 2008 11:16 PM CST

Federal Judge Loses Escalator Injury Suit, Lawyer Cites Bias

The lawyer for a federal judge who lost a $21 million lawsuit for an escalator injury is blaming bias against the judiciary for the verdict. California jurors deliberated only two hours before ruling against U.S. District Judge George Schiavelli of Los Angeles, who said he was injured when a shopping…

Feb 26, 2008 2:29 PM CST

Lawyer Dies in Miami After Shark Attack

A lawyer from Austria died Sunday in Miami after being attacked by a shark in waters off of the Bahamas and flown to a local hospital by the U.S. Coast Guard. Markus Groh, 49, was on a diving trip to see sharks, traveling on a 70-foot boat registered to Jim…

Feb 26, 2008 2:48 AM CST

Moldy Courthouses an Issue in Fla.

Mold reportedly may be a problem at a number of Florida courthouses. Among them: the David W. Dyer Federal Courthouse in downtown Miami. As a new courthouse sits across the street unused because of construction delays and cost overruns, workers complain that a documented mold problem may be making at…

Feb 25, 2008 6:08 PM CST

Supreme Court Denies Cert in Consolidated West Virginia Tobacco Cases

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal that sought to stop the consolidation of more than 1,000 lawsuits against tobacco companies in West Virginia. The cert petition by four tobacco companies asked the court to intervene before March 18, the date that the first phase of the…

Feb 25, 2008 4:14 PM CST

Judge Sues Man Who Pleaded Guilty to Shooting at Him

Judge Chuck Weller of Reno, Nev., has sued the man who pleaded guilty to injuring him by firing a shot through his courthouse window in 2006. Weller says in his suit that he suffers post-traumatic stress as a result of the attack, which left him and his secretary with shrapnel…

Feb 25, 2008 1:34 PM CST

Going Public Pays: 56% Profit Increase Follows Law Firm’s IPO

The eye-popping expansion of an Australian plaintiffs firm that went public last year in order to fund its acquisitions of other law partnerships has also led to an eye-popping increase in its revenue stream. Slater & Gordon reports that its overall half-year profits are up 56 percent since it sold…

Feb 22, 2008 5:54 PM CST