Judy Buckles, one of the “founders” of the Astroturf group Victims and Families United (Feb. 20, 2004, Sep. 13, 2004) has suddenly discovered that the prominent plaintiffs’ firms of Madison County may not have plaintiffs’ best interests at heart, and is suing prominent asbestos firm SimmonsCooper for allegedly shortchanging her in its representation of her and her late husband. That she’s represented by the Lakin Law Firm suggests interesting machinations afoot in the county. (Steve Gonzalez, “Victims’ advocate sues asbestos attorneys for gypping her”, Madison County Record, Jul. 13; “Pawn Shop”, Madison County Record, Jul. 16).
Archive for July, 2006
Update: municipal Crown Victoria suits
Class action lawyers were suing Ford Motor claiming to represent Illinois municipalities that regretted buying the popular police model. Then Ford announced that it would decline to sell the car to towns that were suing over it. Now, according to the Illinois Civil Justice League, close to 1,000 municipalities have elected to opt out of the action — one sign among several that it was ill-conceived from the start. More here, here and here (cross-posted from Point of Law).
DVD bonus material captioning
Lawyers filed a class action on behalf of deaf consumers against Hollywood studios that labeled DVDs as closed captioned but failed to note that “bonus material” on the disks lacked captioning. According to the terms of the proposed settlement:
The Settling Companies have denied liability, but have agreed to settle this action to avoid litigation by, in the future, providing captioning or closed captioning of bonus material on major categories of DVDs they distribute over the next five (5) years, paying $275,000 to certain non-profit organizations dedicated to advocacy for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons, and paying attorneys’ fees and costs (including any incentive award to named plaintiff) up to $1,300,000…
More here. Toronto accessibility advocate Joe Clark thinks the settlement doesn’t go far enough, while enriching the lawyers who pursued it.
Chicago subway fire: pay up for terrorism fears
Personal injury lawyers filing the first lawsuits arising from a July 11 fire and derailment on the Chicago Transit Authority’s Blue Line “said their clients’ damages may be greater than normal due to initial fears that the accident was a terrorist attack.” Attorney Dan Kotin of Corboy & Demetrio, representing plaintiffs, “said the timing of the accident might have magnified their emotional distress. ‘Coming just hours after the subway bombings in India, these women were convinced that they were under attack,’ Kotin said.” Kotin’s clients were treated and released at a hospital at the time; how badly hurt are they now? “I think we’re going to learn over the course of time that the emotional suffering is far worse than the physical pain.” Oh. (Michael Higgins, “First lawsuits filed in subway fire”, Chicago Tribune, Jul. 12).
Botched police raids
Radley Balko has a new report out for Cato (press release)(more). Check out a botched raid near you.
“If something went wrong, we could be sued”
In Great Britain, a nursing home spokeswoman explains why visitors are allowed to bring in cakes and other baked goods only when they’re store-bought, not homemade. (Nanny Knows Best (U.K.), Jun. 14)(via Nobody’s Business). Other food menaces averted: Dec. 13, 1999 (homemade pies), Jan. 29, 2001 (cookies), Feb. 1-3, 2002 (figurines in New Orleans king cake), Apr. 15, 2004 (potluck dinners).
Hey mom, got a surprise for you
A federal judge has declined to dismiss a lawsuit by an Illinois woman who “is suing her Wisconsin parents for maintaining an icy driveway that she blames for a fall that broke her ankle two winters ago…. Carriel Louah, 25, visited Darlington, Wis., to surprise her mother on her birthday in January 2005. But the next morning, she was injured when she slipped and fell on her parents’ driveway. …The daughter said that a letter from her mom apologizing months after the fall proves that her parents knew they had a defective gutter for years and did nothing about it.” (“Judge OKs Trial After Daughter’s Surprise Visit Home Ends In Lawsuit”, Channel3000.com, Jul. 13).
Exploding-townhouse suicide: gas co. blamed
Among the first legal actions filed in the wake of the spectacular Manhattan suicide of Dr. Nicholas Bartha is one by neighbors naming energy provider Con Ed (as well as Bartha himself) as a defendant. It alleges that Con Ed failed to install “safety devices” which would presumably have prevented Bartha from deliberately opening a flow of gas to his Upper East Side house for purposes of blowing it up. (AP/MyWay, Jul. 16).
Diet-book author sues Coke over promotion
A St. Louis weight-loss instructor is suing the Coca-Cola Co. over its product loyalty campaign, claiming the program might encourage kids to drink so much of the sugary soft drink that they could die.
The campaign, “My Coke Rewards” gives customers points for buying Coca-Cola products. …
Coca-Cola spokesman Scott Williamson said [Julia] Havey is “horribly misinformed” about the rewards program and the lawsuit is simply an attempt to drum up attention for weight-loss books she writes.
(Christopher Leonard, “Missouri woman sues Coca-Cola”, AP/Springfield, Mo., News-Leader, Jul. 14). Update Aug. 3: she drops suit.