Update: Mississippi pharma-suit scandal

Two more guilty pleas, which means all twelve of the Fayette residents arrested have now pleaded guilty. “More arrests are expected in six weeks in the FBI and IRS investigation.” Attorneys’ fees and expenses are said to have absorbed about $100,000 apiece of the $250,000 that each defendant received from the settlement fund, which would make $1.2 million in all reaped by the law firms and their helpers for representing the dishonest claimants. (Jimmie E. Gates, “Fen-Phen case expected to net more guilty pleas”, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Feb. 12). See Jan. 9, etc.

Victory in California

An appeals court has upheld a trial judge’s rejection of the lawsuit by San Francisco and nine other California cities and counties, which had sought to find the gun industry legally culpable for not instituting sales restrictions that go beyond any required by state or federal law. (Bob Egelko, “Court rejects suits against gun makers”, San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 11). See Aug. 30, 2003, and our firearms litigation page generally.

N.Y. tobacco fee fracas

Attorney H. Neal Conolly quit the firm of Thuillez, Ford, Gold & Conolly shortly before it won the right to be part of the team of law firms representing the state of New York in the tobacco litigation. He argues, though, that having been involved in a “work in progress” he’s entitled to a share of the $84.3 million in fees payable to his former partners. “Six firms, including the politically connected Thuillez partnership, received a total of $625 million in fees for their role in negotiating the tobacco settlement. Thuillez Ford has had close ties to the Pataki administration and the administration of then New York Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco.” The fees work out to about $13,000 an hour. (John Caher, “Attorney’s Bid for Share of $84.3 Million Fee Moves Forward”, New York Law Journal, Jan. 12). More on N.Y. tobacco fees: see, among other posts, May 11-13, 2001, Jul. 30-31, 2002, and Aug. 10, 2003.

Senate passes Class Action Fairness Act

By a 72-26 vote, with 18 Democrats and Vermont’s Jeffords joining a unanimous roster of Republicans, the Senate has approved this bill, which would 1) move most interstate class actions from state into federal court and 2) regulate various practices such as the use of coupon settlements. House approval and a Presidential signature are expected in short order, giving the returning Bush administration its first major legislative victory and dealing a rare defeat to the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Such defeats have been so rare that CAFA, though hardly radical and not a little watered down from earlier versions, probably constitutes the most ambitious tort-reform measure to pass at the federal level in recent decades. (New York Times).

For some of this site’s past posts on the bill, see Apr. 25-27, Jun. 12-15 and Jun. 25, and Sept. 28, and Oct. 21, 2003. Jim Copland and others have wall-to-wall coverage of the new developments at Point of Law, including posts on the roll call; background (including links to four past Manhattan Institute studies on the issue); the “magnet-court” problem; and last but not least, a new Manhattan Institute study by Yale law prof George Priest taking a closer look at some widely circulated statistics about class settlements, and opining that CAFA would be a useful if limited first step in addressing the problems raised by such litigation.

Elsewhere on the web, some plaintiff’s-side observers are pointing out that the new rules ushered in by the bill will likely be actively beneficial to the practice of some lawyers who specialize in filing such suits (though detrimental to others’), and that some businesses that get sued are likely to find their position worsened (not only may they find it harder to enter cheap coupon settlements, for example, but they may face a proliferation of one-state-only class actions). See, in particular, Evan Schaeffer and C. E. Petit (“Scrivener’s Error”). Meanwhile, Dwight Meredith perhaps surprisingly “do[es] not oppose the proposed reform of class action suits” but believes its GOP sponsors are being inconsistent, and Bill Childs wonders if there’s more to the debate besides money. Finally, Baseball Crank points out a possibly headache-making technical aspect of the bill.

“What the Doctor Saw”

“The court system through the eyes of a surgeon sued for malpractice/The jury needed just 15 minutes to end the case, but first orthopedist Stephen M. McCollam had to live under its cloud for four years.” Outstandingly reported account of a surgeon’s professional liability trial from the standpoint of the defendant and his family as well as the lawyers on both sides. Long, detailed, and in PDF format, but must reading (S. Richard Gard, Jr., “What the Doctor Saw”, Fulton County Daily Report (Atlanta), Jan. 31). Plus: letters, some very angry, from lawyers and other readers of the Daily Report (Feb. 7); Feb. 7 follow-up from Gard, who’s editor and publisher of the Daily Report as well as the author of the piece (via SymTym).

Able-bodied applicants only? Mr. Trump, you’re sued

Latest disabled-rights suit against a reality TV show: “‘The Apprentice’ may be entertainment, but it also amounts to a protracted job interview, says James W. Schottel Jr., who filed a federal case in St. Louis claiming that audition rules demanding ‘excellent physical’ health are discriminatory.” (Peter Shinkle, “Trump’s show discriminates, lawsuit says”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Feb. 8). In an earlier lawsuit, deaf and blind plaintiffs alleged that ABC violated accessibility rules by requiring the use of a touch-tone phone in the application process for its show “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” (see Jun. 21-23, 2002). Update Mar. 23: case settles.

Billed for 94-hour day

“Norwich, Conn., solo Timothy C. Spayne has paid the federal government $1.24 million to settle allegations that he billed Groton, Conn.-based Electric Boat for up to 94 hours in a single day for representing EB employees in workers’ compensation cases. U.S. Attorney Kevin J. O’Connor called it one of the most egregious instances of government fraud during his more than two years in office.” (Keith Griffin, “Billing for 94-Hour Day Nets Solo $1 Million Fraud Charge”, Connecticut Law Tribune, Feb. 7).

Sues university over B-minus grade

Bob Whitney, 52, is suing the University of Nevada, Las Vegas after getting a B-minus grade from a history professor who Whitney says discriminated against him because of his conservative beliefs. “He seeks at least $10,000 for emotional duress, tuition, books and living expenses.” He also “claimed [Eugene] Moehring’s fast-paced lectures prevented him from taking complete notes,” and says a graduate coordinator humiliated him by yelling at him in front of his wife. (“Student sues university over grade”, AP/CourtTV, Feb. 4).