Tort Law

Courts can’t order Yelp to take down negative review of law firm, California Supreme Court rules

The California Supreme Court has ruled that Yelp can’t be required to remove negative reviews of a San Francisco law firm.

Jul 5, 2018 7:10 AM CDT

Judge awards $5 to Charlottesville rally organizer who said cursing woman violated anti-dueling law

A judge in Charlottesville, Virginia, awarded $5 on Friday to the organizer of last summer’s “Unite the Right” rally of white supremacists in a suit against a woman who cursed at him.

Jul 2, 2018 12:22 PM CDT

Court tosses disbarred lawyer’s suit over newspaper article on his ethics case with a ‘crime’ header

An appeals court in California has tossed a suit filed against the San Francisco Chronicle by a now-disbarred lawyer who claimed the newspaper defamed him partly by putting a “crime” header caption on a story about his ethics case.

Jul 2, 2018 7:00 AM CDT

Suspect in Capital Gazette shooting lost pro se case; court said he misunderstood defamation law

A Maryland man who was a losing pro se plaintiff in a defamation suit against the Capital Gazette newspaper chain has been charged with five counts of murder in the Thursday shooting deaths of five newsroom employees. Jarrod Ramos of Laurel is accused of firing a shotgun through the doors of the newsroom and opening fire, killing two editors, a reporter, a community correspondent and a sales assistant, report the Washington Post and the Capital Gazette in stories here and here.

Jun 29, 2018 9:03 AM CDT

Hedge funds clamor to finance mass tort cases; some call for disclosure

Hedge funds and private equity firms are jumping into another aspect of litigation finance with loans that finance mass tort cases against drug companies and medical device manufacturers.

Jun 27, 2018 7:00 AM CDT

Federal judge tosses nuisance suits seeking to hold oil companies liable for climate change

A federal judge in San Francisco has dismissed lawsuits by two California cities that seek to hold five of the nation’s largest oil companies liable for climate change.

Jun 26, 2018 4:29 PM CDT

Texas lawyer’s wife settles suit claiming woman seduced her husband and induced money transfers

The wife of a Texas lawyer and the family’s limited partnership have settled a lawsuit targeting a woman said to have seduced the lawyer and induced him to transfer more than $2 million in assets to her. Sheila Umphrey and the Umphrey Family Limited Partnership filed a notice with a…

Jun 21, 2018 7:05 AM CDT

Court: Law firm accused of having an on-site bar not liable for death of intoxicated paralegal

A Florida law firm accused of having a bar on its premises to encourage employees to work longer hours isn’t liable for the death of an intoxicated paralegal, a Florida appeals court has ruled. The Gladstone Law Group isn’t liable because paralegal Susan Salerno was killed by a train while…

Jun 14, 2018 7:05 AM CDT

Woman who sued lawyer over injuries from flung pasta is awarded more than $85K

A Connecticut woman has been awarded more than $85,000 in her lawsuit claiming she was hit in the face with pasta in a spicy sauce flung by a lawyer during an argument with another man at a restaurant.

Jun 11, 2018 7:05 AM CDT

Sending a flashing GIF to provoke a seizure can constitute battery, federal judge rules

Sending a tweet with an animated flashing strobe light to a journalist with epilepsy can constitute battery, a Maryland federal judge has ruled in a civil suit.

Jun 7, 2018 7:00 AM CDT

Judge sets deposition deadline in defamation suit against Trump by former ‘Apprentice’ contestant

A New York judge on Tuesday set a Jan. 31, 2019, deadline for the parties to give depositions in a defamation suit against President Donald Trump by former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos. Judge Jennifer Schecter refused to put the case on hold while lawyers for Trump ask New York’s top…

Jun 5, 2018 3:17 PM CDT

New suit is filed against dancing cosmetic surgeon, this time for alleged privacy violation

An Atlanta-area dermatologist who posted videos of herself singing and dancing during cosmetic surgery has settled four malpractice suits, including one by a woman who suffered permanent brain damage following surgery. Susan Witt, a lawyer representing the the injured woman and two other former patients, told CNN that she has…

Jun 5, 2018 1:55 PM CDT

$4 award to family of black man fatally shot by cop is reduced to zero

Florida jurors awarded $4 last week to the family of a black man shot and killed in his garage by police who were called to the home to investigate a noise complaint. The $4 award to the family of the slain man, Gregory Vaughn Hill Jr. of Fort Pierce, consisted…

Jun 1, 2018 10:28 AM CDT

Law firms hire company to send ads to ER patients’ cellphones; is it a HIPAA violation?

Some personal injury law firms plan to use a technology called “geofencing” to send ads to cellphones of patients in emergency rooms, pain clinics and chiropractor offices.

May 30, 2018 1:37 PM CDT

Federal judge scolds slow-moving BigLaw lawyers, enforces oral agreement to settle class action

A federal judge in New Jersey is requiring Samsung Electronics America to abide by an oral agreement to settle two would-be class actions involving drain pumps in washing machines.

May 23, 2018 7:00 AM CDT