Chimpanzee attack victim St. James Davis (update)

(For background and more detail, see previous entry, Mar. 8). Davis has had surgery to reattach his nose and lips, a tracheotomy, and more facial surgery Monday, while he fights off a lung infection. The Davises’ attorney, Gloria Allred, says “the family had not ruled out legal action against the sanctuary’s owners.” Mrs. Davis also implied that there would be further negotiation or litigation to have their pet chimpanzee, Moe (not involved in this attack, though he’s bitten others) returned to live with them in their California suburb. (Claudia Zequeira, “Chimp Attack Survivor Struggles With Recovery”, LA Times, Mar. 16; AP, Mar. 15).

Richard Kreimer rides again

New Jersey: “A homeless man who sued and received $230,000 after being ejected from a library in Morris County is now suing NJ Transit for kicking him and other homeless people out of train stations.” Richard Kreimer, who has filed many suits over the years, is asking for $5 million. (“Homeless man who sued library takes on NJ Transit”, AP/Asbury Park Press, Mar. 15; John Cichowski, “Some riders wear suits, some file them”, Hackensack Record, Mar. 15; Ronald Smothers, “Homeless Gadfly Returns, Warming Up Lawsuits”, New York Times, Jan. 21). “‘As soon as you walk into a train station and you look like a bum, the cops come right over to you,’ Kreimer said.” (“Homeless Man At Home In Court”, New York Post, Mar. 15). For more background, see John Cichowski, “Duffel-bag lawyer takes on the City of Brotherly Shove”, Hackensack Record, Feb. 26, 2004. Update Feb. 25, 2006: Kreimer obtains settlement from bus company.

HIPAA and small towns

What were once thought of as neighborly acts of kindness now pose too great a risk of medical privacy violations under federal law (Joe Ruff, “Communities Adjust To Medical Privacy Laws”, AP/ABC News, Mar. 12; via KevinMD). For more on the Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act, see Feb. 5, 2004 and links from there. More: the Michigan Medical Malpractice blogger says the hospitals are overreacting and a little gathering of permissions from patients/families should fix most of the problems (Mar. 17).

“Family of protester killed by bulldozer suing Caterpillar”

“The parents of a 23-year-old activist killed while trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home have sued Caterpillar Inc., the company that made the bulldozer that ran over her. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court here [in Seattle], alleges that Caterpillar violated international and state law by providing specially designed bulldozers to Israeli Defense Forces, knowing the machines would be used to demolish homes and endanger people.” Cindy and Craig Corrie, parents of the late Rachel Corrie, live in Olympia, Wash. (Elizabeth M. Gillespie, AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Mar. 16). Update Mar. 25, 2006: family appeals judge’s dismissal of lawsuit.

Welcome Small Business Advocate listeners

I was a guest on Jim Blasingame’s national radio program “The Small Business Advocate” yesterday, discussing class actions and other topics. You can listen to the show live on the web; one way to find the link is from his archive of law-related shows. Jim Blasingame was kind enough to call The Rule of Lawyers “one of my favorite books”; you can find a copy on Amazon (hardcover or paperback). For more information on how employment lawsuits have watered down strength prerequisites for law enforcement jobs (such as those guarding courthouses in Atlanta and other places), check this Point of Law post.

Atlanta courthouse shootings

Over on Point of Law, I have a short piece on the small contribution employment law developments made to Brian Nichols’s escape and resulting murder of three or four people. Michelle Malkin’s readers debate the issue. Certainly, there were other contibuting farcical errors, including a weak prosecution that resulted in a mistrial the first time Nichols’s rape count was tried, the shocking underreaction to Nichols trying to smuggle shanks into the courtroom, nobody monitoring the cameras that showed Nichols overpowering Cynthia Hill, and police overlooking for thirteen hours that a Honda thought to be an escape vehicle was still in the garage where it had supposedly been carjacked.

Rest assured, though, that the Fulton County judicial system appears to have at least as many snafus as its security system:

Read On…

“Doctor fights, wins; lawyers aren’t swayed”

Dr. Zev Maycon has been sued four times in three years; he’s been dismissed before trial each time, but has missed weeks of work as a result, to the detriment of his patients. The only time he’s been able to recover his expenses for these meritless lawsuits is the one time an attorney was impolitic enough to acknowledge the lack of evidence and explicitly demand settlement money as a precondition for dropping the suit. Though none of the press mentions it, a meritless suit in Ohio state court isn’t considered “frivolous” unless there’s evidence that it’s brought in bad faith. The sanctioned attorney, Catherine Little, is appealing, the costs of which may end up exceeding the $6,000 sanctions if the appeal isn’t also considered frivolous. (Tracy Wheeler, Akron Beacon-Journal, Mar. 14; Medpundit, Mar. 13; OSMA press release).

Today’s police chase lawsuit round-up

In Connecticut, the town of Norwalk is paying $1.5 million in a settlement with pedestrians hit by a drunk driver fleeing police. Plaintiffs had sought millions. “[Julia] Johnson’s estate sought additional compensation for her death from cancer in August 2001. The estate argued that Johnson’s injuries caused her to miss a scheduled mammogram that would have caught the cancer in its early stages.” The settlement seems to be a “moral hazard” artifact of the insurance policy, which covered negligence, but not recklessness; the judge had ruled the city couldn’t be held liable for negligence, and the city worried that a jury sympathizing with the plaintiffs would’ve simply found the quantum of recklessness needed so they could award damages. This is a useful example about the inefficacy of immunity statutes that protect against “negligence” but not “gross negligence.” (Brian Lockhart, “City pays $1.5M to settle suit with hurt pedestrians”, Stamford Advocate, Mar. 14). Unrelatedly, Norwalk is also the defendant in a suit by Linda Gorman. Gorman took a job in the town clerk’s office , interacting with the general public, but complains that the town isn’t doing enough to deal with her sensitivity to fragrances and perfumes. (Brian Lockhart, “Norwalk City Hall employee files lawsuit over perfume”, Stamford Advocate, Mar. 1).

Thousands of miles away, a jury found Hawaii County 34% responsible for the death of Ellison Sweezey, who was killed when Richard Rosario, a 20-year-old crystal meth addict fleeing police, ran a red light and struck her car. Cost to taxpayers: $1.9 million. If there were joint and several liability, the county would also be on the hook for Rosario’s share. (Rod Thompson, “Jury awards $5.6M in death from car chase”, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Mar. 9; “$5.6M awarded to family of Big Island crash victim”, Honolulu Advertiser, Mar. 9). Hawaii police have undergone training to limit their willingness to chase suspects, with the expected counterproductive result (which we discussed Sep. 21, 2003) that criminals are now more likely to flee because their chances of escape have increased. (Rod Thompson, “Car theft suspect flees after slow-speed pursuit”, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Mar. 10). Other car-chase lawsuits: Jan. 3; Feb. 18, 2004 (& letter to the editor, Apr. 12).