- Lawyer for Mothers Against Drunk Driving: better not call yourself Mothers Against Anything Else without our say-so [Phoenix New Times]
- Ohio insurer agrees to refund $51 million in premiums, but it’s a mutual, so money’s more or less moving from customers’ left to right pockets — except for a big chunk payable to charity, and $16 million to you-know-who [Business First of Columbus; Grange Mutual Casualty]
- Sources say Judge Pearson, of pants suit fame, isn’t getting reappointed to his D.C. administrative law judge post [WaPo]
- Between tighter safety rules and rising liability costs, more British towns are having to do without Christmas light displays [Telegraph]
- So strong are the incentives to settle class-action securities suits that only four have been tried to a verdict in past twelve years [WSJ law blog]. More: D&O Diary.
- It’s so cute when a family’s small kids all max out at exactly the same $2,300 donation to a candidate, like when they dress in matching outfits or something [WaPo via Althouse]
- Idea of SueEasy.com website for potential injury plaintiffs [Oct. 19] deemed “incredibly stupid” [Turkewitz]
- New at Point of Law: med-mal reports from Texas and Colorado; Lynne-Stewart-at-Hofstra wrap-up (more); immune to reason on vaccines; turning tax informants into bounty-hunters?; and much more;
- $800,000 race-bias suit filed after restaurant declines to provide free extra lemons with water [Madison County Record]
- Settling disabled-rights suit, biggest card banking network agrees to install voice-guidance systems on 30,000 ATMs to assist blind customers [NFB]
- Think twice before publishing “ratings” of Pennsylvania judges [six years ago on Overlawyered]
Posts Tagged ‘Ohio’
More managers being sued personally
It’s not just organizations and enterprises who have to worry about these things, as the National Law Journal takes note in a trend story:
An increasing number of executives, managers and other company leaders are being sued personally for their work-related decisions….
“State laws are constantly being broadened and liberally construed by the courts to allow for potential lawsuits against individuals,” said Thomas Lewis, chairman of the employment litigation group at Stark & Stark in Lawrenceville, N.J. In the last five years, Lewis has seen a 50 percent increase in his own practice defending executives in personal lawsuits.
“[Plaintiffs’ attorneys’] desire is to strike fear into the executive to try and force a settlement,” he said.
Plaintiffs attorneys don’t see it that way. “Sometimes you’ve got to hit the executive between the eyes with a lawsuit,” said S. David Worhatch, an employee rights attorney in Stow, Ohio, who is currently handling a half-dozen employment-related lawsuits targeting individuals directly….
“Individuals will think twice before engaging in such conduct if they realize they can be personally exposed to liability.” he said….
Ginger McRae, an employment law expert who testifies in employment lawsuits and consults businesses on employment practices… noted that “[i]n the past few years, I’ve definitely seen more of a trend to this, and definitely in the state cases where there are state tort claims. That is where the plaintiffs lawyers really have the most freedom to name who they want.”
Plaintiffs attorneys note that state courts are easier venues in which to try personal lawsuits, largely because state discrimination and employment laws are looser than federal ones and allow for individuals to be held personally liable for various workplace violations.
Query: where the story reads “Plaintiffs attorneys don’t see it that way,” wouldn’t it make more sense for it to have read “Plaintiffs attorneys see it exactly the same way”? (Tresa Baldas, “Employment Litigation Gets Personal for Company Managers”, National Law Journal, Aug. 16).
Bloomberg gun lawsuits will go on
Last year, New York City Mayor Bloomberg filed federal lawsuits against bunches of gun stores across the country; we’ve covered these suits extensively. (See, e.g. May 2006, Jun. 2006, Sep. 2006). NYC sent people to stores in places such as Georgia, Ohio, Virginia and South Carolina; these city agents then conducted “stings” in which they made supposedly illegal firearms purchases. Bloomberg then sued these stores, claiming that the guns were ending up in New York City and that the stores should for some reason be liable for this.
Somehow, despite the fact that whatever illegal sales took place did so in Georgia, Ohio, Virginia and South Carolina, the suit ended up in the Brooklyn courtroom of federal Judge Jack Weinstein, the man who has never seen a products liability case he couldn’t endorse. The gun stores moved to dismiss the suits on the grounds that New York courts have no jurisdiction.
Last week, Weinstein rejected the gun stores’ motion in a 99 page opinion (PDF) replete with anti-gun rhetoric (about criminals who “terrorize” the city and descriptions of guns as “Saturday Night Specials”) and citations to his own decisions in previous gun-litigation cases (Jul. 2003) So the suits will continue; a trial date has been set for January.
Republican presidential-non-candidate Fred Thompson doesn’t think much more of these suits than we do.
August 10 roundup
- Resolving dispute over author Pearl Buck’s lost manuscript was easier once we locked the lawyers out of the negotiating room, heirs say [Phila. Inquirer]
- After U.K.’s Channel 4 ran explosive show documenting pro-beheading, anti-Western rants at some leading mosques, government mulled race-incitement prosecution against… the network [Guardian via Reason “Hit and Run”]
- Breach-of-contract claim: 1-800-FLOWERS told his wife about the flowers he bought for his mistress, after promising not to [Lat, Houston Chronicle]
- “What are you going to do about lawyer jokes?” bar association demands of press-agent hopeful [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
- You can buy fake doctor’s excuses on the web these days, not that anyone would ever abuse the Family and Medical Leave Act of course [Associated Press]
- Federal judge flays Qualcomm for “gross litigation misconduct” in defending patent suit, orders it to pay opponent’s fees [WSJ Law Blog]
- Jersey regulators keen to shutter eatery whose cook was dealing cocaine without owner’s knowledge, reminding Ralph Reiland of the fate of a restaurant whose manager “should have known” of sex harassment [Press of Atlantic City; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
- Dropped out of Congressional race after domestic-violence arrest, now suing former father-in-law for lost salary she’d have earned on Capitol Hill if elected [Dayton Daily News]
- New at Point of Law: Atul Gawande says our malpractice system’s a “disaster”; Katrina canal-breach sense restored; Ohio Supreme Court rules against governor on product-liability veto; Paul Minor sentencing hearing (see also); and much more;
- Sacramento law firm that boasted of women’s advancement was itself a den of sleazy male behavior, complainants say [The Recorder]
- Craigslist roommate classifieds tripped up by “fair housing” law [two years ago on Overlawyered]
Next stop for boys’ team-cutting: high schools?
The quota pressures of the federal Title IX law have resulted in the axing of hundreds of men’s college sports teams, and now activists are preparing to intensify their legal campaign at the high school level, reports Jessica Gavora:
At the center of the pro-quota activists’ marching orders for Congress today is something called the “High School Sports Information Collection Act.” It’s modeled after the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA), which for a dozen years has forced colleges and universities to annually report their athletic participation and expenses — broken down by sex — to the feds. The EADA was meant to be, and is, a one-stop-shopping list for trial lawyers and activist groups looking for schools to sue for failing to meet the Title IX quota. Now, courtesy of Senators Olympia Snowe and Patty Murray, they are about to have the same litigation hit list of high schools.
In a year in which Rutgers, James Madison, Ohio University, Butler, Clarion, Slippery Rock, and Syracuse have eliminated hundreds of men’s roster spots in full or in part due to Title IX, we have yet to see — thankfully — boys’ high-school teams eliminated under the law. But we are beginning to see boys athletic opportunities be limited due to Title IX quota creep in high schools.
(Jessica Gavora, “Title IX Trickle-Down”, National Review Online/CBSNews.com, Jun. 20)(broken link now fixed).
June 8 roundup
- Litigation as foreign policy? Bill authorizing U.S. government to sue OPEC passes House, and is already contributing to friction with Russia [AP; Reuters; Steffy, Houston Chronicle; earlier here, here, and here]
- Albany prosecutors charge boxing champion’s family with staging 23 car crashes, but a jury acquits [Obscure Store; Times-Union; North Country Gazette]
- New at Point of Law: Bill Lerach may retire; Abe Lincoln’s legal practice; Philip Howard on getting weak cases thrown out; “Year of the Trial Lawyer” in Colorado; and much more;
- Multiple partygoers bouncing on a trampoline not an “open and obvious” risk, says Ohio appeals court approving suit [Wilmington News-Journal]
- Skadden and its allies were said to be representing Chinatown restaurant workers pro bono — then came the successful $1 million fee request, bigger than the damages themselves [NYLJ]
- Who will cure the epidemic of public health meddling? [Sullum, Reason]
- Turn those credit slips into gold, cont’d: lawsuits burgeon over retail receipts that print out too much data [NJLJ; earlier]
- Lawprof Howard Wasserman has further discussion of the Josh Hancock case (Cardinals baseball player crashes while speeding, drunk and using cellphone) [Sports Law Blog; earlier]
- “Women prisoners in a Swedish jail are demanding the ‘human right’ to wear bikinis so they can get a decent tan.” [Telegraph, U.K.]
- Disbarred Miami lawyer Louis Robles, who prosecutors say stole at least $13 million from clients, detained as flight risk after mysterious “Ms. Wiki” informs [DBR; earlier at PoL]
- Indiana courts reject motorist’s claim that Cingular should pay for crash because its customer was talking on cellphone while driving [three years ago on Overlawyered]
Kentucky fen-phen follies: Abbott v Chesley and Bonar v Chesley updates
Earlier: May 11, May 8, Apr. 5, Apr. 4, etc.
- Barbara Bonar gets supporting testimony in her claims against Stan Chesley, but loses bench trial in case she brought over questionable settlement over Catholic church sex abuse. Bonar, the next president of the Kentucky Bar, will appeal. In the meantime, she faces trumped up ethics charges for representing class member opt-out settlements. (Andrew Wolfson, “Covington lawyer loses fee dispute case”, Louisville Courier-Journal, May 12).
- Angela Ford, who is bringing the lawsuit on behalf of Kentucky fen-phen victims ripped off by their attorneys against their co-counsel, Stan Chesley, is now also facing what seems to me retaliatory political pressure; a Hamilton County, Ohio, judge, apparently unaware of deposition commissions, is complaining that she subpoenaed an Ohio witness without being licensed to practice law in that state. For some reason, a Kentucky judge, Stanley Billingsley, is testifying on behalf of Chesley. An American Home Products witness contradicted defendants’ claims that they “set aside” some settlement money for future Kentucky claimants (who, under the U.S. Supreme Court Amchem precedent, could not be bound by the settlement). And the parties are in mediation tomorrow and Thursday, which, judging by Chesley’s attorney’s complaints about press coverage, implies a confidential settlement is near. Next court hearing is May 31. (Shelly Whitehead, “Fen-phen suit heads to mediation”, Cincinnati Post, Apr. 24; Beth Musgrave and Jim Warren, “Lawyers meet Wednesday to try to reach deal on fen-phen millions”, Lexington Herald-Leader, May 14).
- Angela Ford herself has a website, which is not surprising, but it does include a remarkable resource of publicly-available court documents related to the Abbott v. Chesley case.
Cheating student sues school
Shi (“Carl”) Huang, a senior at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent, Ohio, and a Chinese national in the country on a student visa, hacked his teacher’s computer using a guessed password and obtained test questions. He was caught and given an “F” for the course, having been a straight-A student previously; the school also suspended Huang and is pressing criminal charges which could affect his ability to stay in the country. Now Huang and his parents are suing the teacher, James Zagray, the Kent board of education, and three school administrators, saying the boy was entrapped into the misconduct, that the teacher did not reach out sufficiently as he struggled with the course, and that the district mishandled the disciplinary process. Demands include monetary damages as well as changes to Huang’s grade and other records. (Marci Piltz, “Kent student sues over suspension”, Ravenna Record-Courier, May 3; Vic Gideon, “Honor student might have to leave country after getting caught cheating”, WKYC, May 2).
May 1 roundup
- Jack Thompson, call your office: FBI search turns up no evidence Virginia Tech killer owned or played videogames [Monsters and Critics]
- How many zeroes was that? Bank of America threatens ABN Amro with $220 billion suit if it reneges on deal to sell Chicago’s LaSalle Bank [Times (U.K.), Consumerist]
- Chuck Colson will be disappointed, but the rule of law wins: Supreme Court declines to intervene in Miller-Jenkins (Vermont-Virginia lesbian custody) dispute [AP; see Mar. 2 and many earlier posts]
- Oklahoma legislature passes, but governor vetoes, comprehensive liability-reform bill [Point of Law first, second, third posts]
- Good primer on California’s much-abused Prop 65 right-to-know toxics law [CalBizLit via Ted @ PoL]
- “Defensive psychiatry” and the pressure to hospitalize persons who talk of suicide [Intueri]
- Among the many other reasons not to admire RFK Jr., there’s his wind-farm hypocrisy [Mac Johnson, Energy Tribune]
- “Screed-O-Matic” simulates nastygrams dashed off by busy Hollywood lawyer Martin Singer [Portfolio]
- “Liability, health issues” cited as Carmel, Ind. officials plan to eject companion dogs from special-needs program, though no parents have complained [Indpls. Star; similar 1999 story from Ohio]
- First glimmerings of Sen. John Edwards’s national ambitions [five years ago on Overlawyered]
Mark A. McLeod v. Mt. Sinai Medical Center briefing
We’ve previously reported on this case and the underlying Hollins v. Jordan $30 million trial verdict (in 2004 on Nov. 20, Oct. 11, and Aug. 31) blaming an obstetrician and hospital for microcephaly in a four-pound, five-ounce birth. The case is scheduled to be heard by the Ohio Supreme Court May 23, and the more recent briefing is on line; the Dr. Jordan merits brief is especially interesting. Of note, and not previously mentioned:
- Plaintiffs attorney Geoffrey Fieger has already twice asked the entire Ohio Supreme Court to recuse itself.
- Plaintiffs are seeking $50 million in prejudgment interest.
- The claim that the caesarean was delayed is entirely bogus; plaintiffs’ experts deliberately confused the “emergency” (i.e., non-scheduled) caesarean with a “crash” caesarean.
- Plaintiffs sandbagged the damages claim by claiming before trial they would only seek $4 million, and then changing the estimates on the stand by making hypothetical assumptions not supported by any expert evidence.
- Fieger’s opening argument regularly made references to evidence excluded in limine.
- Fieger had an anesthesiologist opine on neurological matters.
- Fieger’s prejudicial conduct at trial, including race-, religion-, and class-baiting, has to be read to be believed. How there wasn’t a mistrial or a revocation of pro hac vice status is jaw-dropping.
- Counsel of record for two of the co-defendants is Drug and Device Law co-blogger Mark Herrmann.
Again, the lengthy dissent in the appellate court is worth reading.