Tort Law

Suit: Comcast Web Service Lightning-Slow

Contrary to its advertising claims, a cable television company provides Internet service that not only isn’t lightning swift but intentionally slows to a snail’s pace on certain applications, a lawsuit filed this week in California state court contends. Comcast Corp.’s interference with Internet file-sharing thus contradicts the Philadelphia-based company’s advertising…

Nov 15, 2007 10:33 PM CST

Richard Scruggs Wins Venue Change in Contempt Case

A renowned Mississippi personal injury lawyer defending a criminal contempt case after allegedly defying the instructions of an Alabama federal judge to turn over insurance company documents has scored an apparent victory in a wide-ranging ongoing court battle related to insurance coverage for Hurricane Katrina. Federal district court judges in…

Nov 15, 2007 8:20 PM CST

Loan Company Targets Vioxx Lawyers

A New York-based loan company is targeting Vioxx lawyers in an ad on law.com. Counsel Financial Services is touting the $4.85 billion Vioxx settlement in the bright-red ad that announces, “We fund Vioxx attorneys.” Counsel Financial offers credit lines of up to $25 million, Portfolio.com reports. Interest rates usually range…

Nov 15, 2007 12:31 PM CST

Counterfeit Case Against eBay May Raise Web Policing Requirements

A federal judge in Manhattan has begun to hear a closely watched case between a renowned jeweler and an Internet auctioneer accused of turning a blind eye to the sale of fakes on its Web site. If Tiffany & Co. is successful in its trademark infringement claim against eBay, not…

Nov 14, 2007 9:46 PM CST

More Law Firms Seek to Sue Banks

After the subprime mortgage meltdown in the U.S. and a resulting worldwide credit crunch worsens, a traditional law firm taboo against suing banks has been relaxed as related litigation looms. A growing number of well-known law firms in the U.S. and U.K. are now ready to take such cases despite…

Nov 14, 2007 7:52 PM CST

Brooks & Dunn to Headline PI Lawyer’s Holiday Party

Country music stars Brooks & Dunn will headline this year’s holiday party hosted by Houston lawyer Mark Lanier. The plaintiffs lawyer invites thousands of people to his annual bash at his 20-acre estate, including judges, politicians and legal journalists, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports. This year’s invitation was…

Nov 14, 2007 3:14 PM CST

Illinois Judge Axes Med-Mal Damages Cap

In a test case that is expected to go farther, an Illinois trial judge ruled today that a 2005 state statutory cap on noneconomic damages in some medical malpractice cases should not be applied to a specific plaintiff. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Diane Joan Larsen held that the law…

Nov 13, 2007 7:56 PM CST

Payouts Unclear in $4.85B Vioxx Settlement

The expected payout to plaintiffs in a $4.85 billion Vioxx settlement may not be high enough to satisfy some of their lawyers. The deal allows Vioxx maker Merck & Co. to pull out of the settlement if 85 percent of the plaintiffs do not agree to it. Boosting that prospect…

Nov 12, 2007 2:44 PM CST

Teen Sues Cardinals for ‘STD’ Text Message

An Illinois teen is suing the St. Louis Cardinals for displaying a text message on its scoreboard that claimed she had a venereal disease. The message falsely claimed the 16-year-old plaintiff “has an STD! Eww!” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The team introduced a program last year to allow fans…

Nov 9, 2007 2:24 PM CST

$4.85B Vioxx Settlement to End Merck’s $600M Annual Legal Fees

Merck has agreed to settle 27,000 lawsuits over its pain medication Vioxx for $4.85 billion. The settlement is one of the largest ever in a civil suit, the New York Times reports. Merck had pledged never to settle, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.), but its legal defense fees…

Nov 9, 2007 11:34 AM CST

Are Planned Facebook Ads Illegal?

Innovative new advertising planned on the Facebook social networking Web site could be illegal, depending on how far it goes in linking targeted individual advertising to what the recipient’s friends do and say online. And the campaign certainly creates privacy issues, whether or not it creates potential causes of action,…

Nov 9, 2007 12:31 AM CST

$60M Ford Rollover Verdict Overturned

A Florida appeals court has overturned a $60 million verdict against Ford Motor Co. in an SUV rollover case. The 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled (PDF) the judge improperly allowed jurors to hear about rollover accidents involving Ford Explorers without establishing similarities to the case they were hearing, the…

Nov 8, 2007 4:20 PM CST

Former Freddie Mac CEO Settles for $16.4M

A few weeks into what was expected to be a lengthy trial before an administrative law judge, a former chairman and chief executive of Freddie Mac has agreed to settle his case for $16.4 million, without admitting liability. While a stunning sum, the $16.4 million is a fraction of the…

Nov 8, 2007 1:33 AM CST

Executed Man’s Wife Sues Judge Who Closed Courthouse Door

Updated: Already facing a legal ethics complaint, a Texas appellate judge who refused to accept an eleventh-hour late filing in a death penalty appeal is now being sued by the executed man’s wife. The federal suit accuses Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller of violating Michael Richard’s…

Nov 7, 2007 11:49 PM CST

Bad-Faith Treble Damages Win in Wash. Vote

In a big-bucks lobbying battle that pitted trial lawyers against the insurance industry in Washington state, the attorneys have prevailed. Voters have approved a referendum upholding a state law passed earlier this year that calls for courts to award treble damages to policyholders when their carriers refuse, in bad faith,…

Nov 7, 2007 10:46 PM CST