Overlawyered » asbestos

Illinois court: don’t blame railroad for asbestos delivery

Walter Olson — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:43:21 +0000

“This January, the justices stopped [attorney James] Wylder’s argument dead in its tracks once again, concluding that the McLean County Circuit Court should have dismissed his three negligence suits against Illinois Central Railroad. Wylder had argued that Illinois Central was responsible for the alleged asbestos-related injuries of workers at an asbestos plant because the asbestos had arrived there by rail.” [Chamber's Madison County Record, more; background on "asbestos conspiracy" line of Illinois cases, LNL]

Tags: asbestos, deep pocket, Illinois, Madison County, railroads

February 6 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:02:14 +0000

“A 4-Page Playdate Waiver? Is This the New Normal?” [Lenore Skenazy, Free-Range Kids; our 2000 post on "Rise of the High-School Sleepover Disclaimer"]
Spirit Airlines sets what it calls DOTUC fee, for “Dept. of Transportation Unintended Consequences” [Stoll]
How fairly are fathers treated in family court? [Nina Shapiro, Seattle Weekly via Alkon]
“‘Insider’ Trading by the Representative Plaintiff in Shareholder Litigation” [Bainbridge]
“Donation controversy focuses attention on Madison County asbestos litigation” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Chamber-backed LNL]
Update: Appeals court reinstates Duluth doc’s defamation claims [DNT, earlier here, here, here; "bedside manner" criticism]
U.K.: “‘Psychic’ Sally Morgan Sues Critics for £150,000 After Refusing $1 Million to Prove Her Powers” [D.J. Grothe, HuffPo] “She’ll be calling witnesses such as ‘an uncle, or father, or a man… with a b in his first name’.” [@thegagthief]

Tags: airlines, asbestos, divorce, family law, libel slander and defamation, Madison County, recreation, Seattle, securities litigation, United Kingdom

January 31 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:06:21 +0000

Latest of periodic Towers Watson (formerly Towers Perrin/Tillinghast) surveys: tort costs fell in 2010 excluding oil spill liability [Towers Watson]
“Will Newt Neuter the Courts?” [James Huffman, Defining Ideas] Obama’s high court appointees are fortunately friendlier toward civil liberties than he is [Steve Chapman]
Unanimous Cal Supremes: companies not legally responsible for other companies’ asbestos products used as replacement for theirs [Cal Biz Lit, Jackson, Beck, Mass Tort Prof]
Claim: jurors considered policy implications of verdict and you can’t have that [On Point; defense verdict in Baltimore, Maryland school-bullying case]
Airfare display mandate: “‘Protecting’ Consumers from the Truth About the Cost of Government” [Thom Lambert, TotM]
Critical assessment of AP-backed new copyright aggregator “NewsRight” [Mike Masnick] Promises not to be “Righthaven 2.0″ [Cit Media Law]
Restatement (Third) of Torts drafters vs. Enlightenment scientific views of causation [David Oliver in June]

Tags: airlines, asbestos, Baltimore, Barack Obama, bullying, California, deep pocket, juries, Newt Gingrich, RightHaven, taxes, Tillinghast, toxic torts

“Mississippi Court Reverses $322 Million Asbestos Verdict”

Walter Olson — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 05:08:15 +0000

“A Mississippi court has reversed a $322 million asbestos verdict against Union Carbide — believed to be the largest in U.S. history — after the judge failed to disclose his own father had pending asbestos litigation against the same company. … The jury ruled for Brown even though nine treating physicians, an independent medical examiner and an X-ray technician all testified that the plaintiff had no symptoms of asbestos-related disease.” [Daniel Fisher, Forbes; earlier here, here and here]

Tags: asbestos, jackpot justice, Mississippi, recusals

“Madison County judge reassigned after receiving campaign contributions”

Walter Olson — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:14:35 +0000

“Madison County Circuit Judge Barbara Crowder was dropped Tuesday from hearing all asbestos cases less than a week after her campaign committee received $30,000 in contributions from three metro-east asbestos law firms.” [Belleville News-Democrat, followup (says she'll return money); Chamber-backed Madison/St. Clair Record, followup]

Tags: asbestos, Illinois, judicial elections, Madison County

November 2 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 05:08:25 +0000

A request for anti-SLAPP lawyers in Maine and Maryland [Popehat]
“Gallup: Government Regulation the Top Concern Among Small Business Owners” [NRO Corner] Almost as if in rebuttal to claims from Treasury economist [Business Roundtable]
Foreclosure law firm in upstate NY under fire after pics posted of its Halloween party [Nocera, Mystal]
“GAO Report Details Secrecy Of Asbestos Trusts” [Dan Fisher, Forbes] Crown Cork & Seal seeks successor-liability bill in Massachusetts [Eagle-Tribune]
Case against FMCSA’s rule change on truckers’ hours-of-service [Marc Scribner, CEI]
Richard Epstein on John Paul Stevens as justice and, now, author [Hoover]
Feds say lawyer who advised giant theft ring was partly paid in chic shoes and other designer gear [ABA Journal]

Tags: asbestos, don't, regulation and its reform, small business, Supreme Court

October 7 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 05:39:50 +0000

Prodded by UNICEF and the Hague Convention, countries cut back on international adoption, leaving kids to future of orphanage life [Reason.tv video, interviewing among others Harvard's Elizabeth Bartholet; more]
Critics: lawyers are main winners in NYC rent settlement [NYDN] NYC rent stabilization rules gave landlords incentive to do luxury conversions [FWIW]
Breast-aurant rivals in court: “Hooters Suing Twin Peaks, Which Previously Sued Grand Tetons” [Lowering the Bar, earlier]
Jonathan Chait: it’ll be “useful” for debate if CEOs “fear for their personal safety” [Matt Welch, related, similar (see "Patterns of Intimidation"), also related to "occupation" as tactic]
Ethics complaint charges that boilerplate affidavits led to fee approval for lawyer in Bronx Surrogate’s Court [ABA Journal]
“Widow allowed to sue tobacco companies [whose products] husband didn’t use” [Florida, DBR] Appeals court: manufacturer not under legal duty to warn of asbestos injury caused by another manufacturer’s products [Business Insurance]
Debit card fee: made in D.C. [Glenn Reynolds; related, Joe Weisenthal]

Tags: asbestos, banks, family law, NYC, product liability, tobacco

September 27 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 05:35:58 +0000

Unauthorized practice of law (UPL) regulation tends to serve interests of lawyers, not consumers [Thomas Morgan, Gillian Hadfield and more, Eric Rasmusen, George Leef, William Henderson, all at last week's Truth on the Market symposium; Bader/Examiner; related Greenfield on "lawyer practitioner" idea] In which I am described as a “voice of reason” on the notion of lawyer-deregulation [Greenfield, Bader/Open Market, earlier]
Trial lawyer stimulus: Obama jobs bill requires states to waive defenses to lawsuits [Joel Griffith, Big Government]
Because it’s done such a great job with drugs: government panel calls for heavier FDA hand in restricting availability of medical devices [Wajert, Beck, FairWarning] Better idea: “Moving to a Safety-Only [FDA] System” [Tabarrok on Boldrin/Swamidass]
“Do we really need a breastfeeding discrimination law?” [Hyman]
Welcome forum-shoppers: “St. Clair County [Ill.] Courthouse overflowing with out-of-towner law suits” [Madison County Record]
Lawyers in black-farmer action deploy Cornell’s Theodore Eisenberg in quest for $90.8 million payday [BLT]
“Ohio Man Sues Coworkers Who Won’t Share Mega Millions Lottery Win” [AOL; more on the evergreen lawsuit genre of co-worker lottery suits]

Tags: asbestos, FDA, forum shopping, lottery, Madison County, unauthorized practice

September 16 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:11:55 +0000

House Judiciary holds hearing on asbestos-claim fraud and abuse, with Prof. Brickman headlining [Main Justice, Legal NewsLine, WSJ law blog, PoL, Brickman testimony]
Endangered species habitat in Nevada: “Elko County wants end to 15-year-old trout case” [AP]
“Why is the Eastern District of Texas home to so many patent trolls?” [Ted Frank/PoL, more] Tech giants say multi-defendant patent suits place them at disadvantage [WSJ Law Blog] Plus: “Patent company has big case, no office” [John O'Brien, Legal NewsLine]
Lawsuit settlement and the lizard brain [Popehat]
“U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Looks Into Eminent Domain Abuses” [Kanner, Somin] U.K.: “Squatters could be good for us all, says judge in empty homes ruling” [Telegraph]
Madison mob silences Roger Clegg at news conference where he releases new study of UW race bias [ABA Journal, Althouse]
Life in Australia: “Another motorized-beer-cooler DUI” [Lowering the Bar]

Tags: asbestos, Australia, Eastern District of Texas, eminent domain, endangered species, Lester Brickman, Nevada, patent trolls, settlement, United Kingdom

Collective asbestos guilt in Illinois

Walter Olson — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 13:27:58 +0000

Illinois courts may finally be tiring of liberal applications of “civil conspiracy” doctrine under which “Asbestos companies bear a sort of collective guilt and thus plaintiffs can sue companies they never actually had any contact with. Jurors in Bloomington have ordered up more than $120 million in damages against companies including Honeywell and Owens-Illinois, even though those companies never sold products to the plaintiffs, or employed them in their factories.” [Daniel Fisher, Forbes]

Tags: asbestos, Illinois

Overlawyered » asbestos

Illinois court: don’t blame railroad for asbestos delivery

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