Ted has the latest on the unfolding silicosis-diagnosis scandal over at Point of Law. (The quoted phrase is from federal judge Janis Graham Jack, reacting to revelations about doctors’ mass misdiagnosis of workers.) Also, umpteen more posts about medical malpractice — lots of reaction is still coming in to our critique of the New York Times on the subject.
Archive for February, 2005
Forum-shopping your defamation case?
Consider scenic New Mexico, which runs an extra-long statute of limitations and thus will welcome claims extinct elsewhere. The tactic didn’t work, however, for ex-Congressional wife Carolyn Condit, who went there to sue USA Today to escape other states’ limits on stale claims. Unfortunately for her case, she could offer no evidence that the allegedly libelous article had circulated in N.M., “since only the first edition of USA Today was distributed in the state and the story appeared only in the second edition,” as AP noted; a federal judge accordingly threw out her suit last August for lack of jurisdiction (“Judge dismisses libel suit by wife of Gary Condit”, AP/North County Times, Aug. 5, via CalBlog, Jan. 14 and Jan. 26). For New Mexico forum-shopping by the plaintiffs in the “Dazed and Confused” case, see Ted’s Oct. 12 post (also Dec. 8). For more details on the lack of connection of that case to New Mexico, see the memorandum of defendants in support of motion to dismiss (courtesy Courthouse News (PDF)).
New York’s wasted waterfront
It’s a tale of malzoning and government misuse (Julia Vitullo-Martin (Manhattan Institute), “Blight by law”, New York Post, Feb. 28).
Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf!….
A federal jury in Detroit has awarded $300,000 in punitive damages and $14,209 in actual damages to Joyce Grad, saying the Royalwood cooperative apartment association in suburban Royal Oak violated her rights under the federal Fair Housing Act when it declined to waive its no-pets policy to permit her to bring in an emotional-assistance dog. Grad suffers from mental and emotional ailments that include severe depression. One of the services on which Ms. Grad has come to rely on the dog is in making sure she gets up in the morning: “I’ve trained her that if I don’t get up by 7, she is to go to [the] door and bark until help arrives.” Perfect for the neighbors! (David Ashenfelter, “Disabled woman’s dog has its day”, Detroit Free Press, Feb. 23). For more on the steady expansion of demands that legally protected status be accorded to “emotional-assistance” animals, see Oct. 25 and Dec. 2, 2004. For more cases in which disabled-rights-in-housing have led to noisy results, see Aug. 21-22, 2000 and Apr. 5-7, 2002.
“N.C. Judge Throws Out All Malpractice Charges in Attorney Free-for-All”
“A federal judge in North Carolina has thrown out all attorney malpractice charges exchanged in a free-for-all battle in which a woman hired a new lawyer to sue her previous two sets of attorneys and those law firms accused the new attorney — and each other — of negligence.” (Frank Reynolds, Professional Liability Litigation Reporter, Feb. 24).
Updates: Heikkinen v. Archdiocese of Milwaukee; Drypen
Roundup of fallout from the Heikkinen $17 million verdict. Sam Heldman writes me to defend the decision and express concern that I did not adequately convey that the jury found that Morse was acting on behalf of the church; I think that’s inherent in the jury’s verdict and my use of the term respondeat superior, but now readers have that explicit statement. A follow-up newspaper article quotes: “‘The purpose of the [Legion of Mary], and no one really disputed this, was that it was to assist the clergy in the work of the clergy,’ said Don Prachthauser, Heikkinen’s attorney.” (But isn’t that common goal true for any religiously-oriented volunteer organization?) Philip Howard and the jury forewoman are also interviewed about the size of the damages award for an elderly man. And a Baptist notes that the hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church makes it especially susceptible to deep-pocket searches. (Derrick Nunnally, “$17 million verdict has many concerned”, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Feb. 23). Jon Coppelman explores the ramifications for workers’ compensation; Professor Martin Grace comments. There are still post-trial motions and an appeal to be had, and settlement negotiations are likely.
Also, I’ve updated our Feb. 22 post on Drypen v. Oakland County and its $4 million settlement with a couple of more recent press accounts that have previously unreported details about the defense’s side of the story.
Beating the clock in class-action-land
The scene in certain counties of Southern Illinois shortly before the signing of the Class Action Fairness Act: “Class-action business was busy last week in Madison and St. Clair counties in anticipation of the new law. Thirty-four class actions were filed in Madison County, and 51 in St. Clair County, with some lawyers making sure Friday morning to get their suits stamped before the Bush signing.” (Paul Hampel, “Where the suits are”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Feb. 20).
NYC tort bill last year: $570 million
New York City shelled out a record $570 million last year to resolve personal injury claims against its taxpayers, up $12 million from last year. Medical liability claims made up nearly a third of the total. A fast-growing variety of payouts were those over schoolyard beatings and other violence on school premises, for which the city paid $6.9 million, bringing the three-year total for that category to $17.7 million. (“City paid $570 million in personal injury lawsuits in 2004”, AP/Newsday, Feb. 20; David Andreatta, “School Suit $$ Soars”, New York Post, Feb. 25). More on NYC liability: Jan. 26, Jan. 6 and links from there, Jul. 31, 2003 and many others.
Mohr v. Daimler Chrysler – $53 million
A jury found Chrysler about 45% responsible for an accident where “an inexperienced 17-year-old driver fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into the Mohr’s vehicle at a devastatingly high speed.” Said Steve Hantler, assistant general counsel of DaimlerChrysler Corp, “To impose any punitive damages in these circumstances, let alone $48 million, is an especially egregious miscarriage of justice.” Plaintiffs claimed the Dodge Caravan was unsafe in offset collisions; Chrysler notes that the Jeep overrode onto the minivan, so IIHS offset testing was irrelevant, aside from the fact that the Caravan doesn’t perform worse than other minivans in that test. Plaintiffs also blamed a second death in the accident on a faulty seatbelt, which Chrysler denies. Press accounts are still too sketchy to tell you more; we’ll have a follow-up down the line. (Bloomberg, Feb. 24; Mohr v. Daimler Chrysler Corp., No. 03-2433 (Shelby County, TN)).
Family neglects 3-year-old, wants cash for her death
“Lawyers for the estate of Porchia Bennett blame the city for the 3-year-old child’s death at the hands of abusive caretakers in a squalid South Philadelphia row house. … [I]f the estate’s lawsuit is successful, some taxpayer money could go to the dead child’s allegedly abusive mother, an often-homeless drug abuser who left Porchia with the child’s alleged killers a year before Porchia was slain.” Tiffany Bennett, the mother, is awaiting trial on charges of child endangerment. Also standing to benefit financially will be Lester Trapp, the girl’s father, who hadn’t seen her since she was a year old, according to a lawyer. Both Trapp and Tiffany Bennett “are listed as ‘beneficiaries’ of the estate in documents filed with the Register of Wills office.” The suit was filed by attorney Alan Denenberg, whose partner Thomas Bruno was appointed administrator of the child’s estate last year. (Jim Smith, “Suit faults city, DHS for Porchia’s death”, Philadelphia Daily News, Feb. 25; Jill Porter, “Family’s lawsuit over tot’s death is an obscenity”, Philadelphia Daily News, Feb. 25)