- The two new heads of the judiciary committees in the Pennsylvania legislature are nonlawyers, and the legal community appears to be fine with that [Max Mitchell, Legal Intelligencer]
- Long after his downfall in one of the worst U.S. legal scandals in years, Stan Chesley was still listed as holding an honored position at a major charity until a reporter started calling [Josh Nathan-Kazis, Forward, I’m quoted; update (Chesley’s name removed)]
- National security restrictions form an important part of regulatory practice these days for international business, discussed at a Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention panel with William J. Haynes II, Timothy Keeler, Randal Milch, Donald Rosenberg, and moderator Eric J. Kadel, Jr.;
- How seeking government intervention backfired on Silicon Valley [Drew Clark, Cato Policy Report]
- Are Baltimore schools underfunded? tales of the gun buyback, local adoption of Daubert, and more in my latest Maryland policy roundup [Free State Notes; plus redistricting updates]
- “Despite Losing Its Copyright Case, The State Of Georgia Still Trying To Stop Carl Malamud From Posting Its Laws” [Mike Masnick, TechDirt, earlier]
Posts Tagged ‘Stan Chesley’
Liability roundup
- “Lawsuit: Licorice Twizzlers caused man’s heart disease” [WDRB; earlier on dismissal of German lawsuit filed by customer who ate nearly a pound a day of the candy]
- Empirical study of how personal injury claims are pursued in Great Britain [Richard Lewis, SSRN]
- How attorney Marc Lanier got that $4.7 billion talc/baby powder verdict [Daniel Fisher, Forbes] “Attorney sees lawyers’ role in judge selection process as helping fuel rise in lawsuits in ‘Sue Me State'” [Devin Watkins on Missouri; Angela Underwood, St. Louis Record]
- “$12.8M suit filed by estate of man killed in WWII tank blast” [AP]
- “Stan Chesley’s law firm admits ‘unjust enrichment,’ agrees to $23 million settlement” [Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati Enquirer; earlier]
- “Sweeping new arbitration study: ‘Enterprising’ plaintiffs’ lawyers adapt” [Alison Frankel, Reuters]
Sixth Circuit: Stan Chesley played “shell game,” court did not err in freezing his assets
Onetime “king of torts” under siege: “Stan Chesley has defrauded hundreds of former clients through a ‘high-stakes shell game’ apparently orchestrated to avoid paying them a multimillion-dollar judgment, a federal appeals court said.” Following the settlement of a class action over diet drugs for $200 million, lawyers connived with a state judge, who has since been disbarred, to steer most of the proceeds into their own pockets. Clients have been pursuing recovery against Chesley for years, but he has dodged paying the resulting $42 million judgment. Thus far, five lawyers have been disbarred and two jailed in the saga. The Sixth Circuit has now ruled that a district court acted properly in freezing his assets. [Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati Enquirer; Daniel Gill, Bloomberg Law; McGirr v. Rehme] “All told, between his personal assets and the firm’s assets (of which he was sole owner), Chesley managed to lose over $90 million in assets over the course of a single year,” the court said. Of transfers raising “red flags,” some were made to Chesley’s wife, a federal judge; Judge Richard Suhrheinrich cited these in a footnote but said the court was not relying on them as a basis for its decision.
A “pattern of misuse of the judicial process…to obstruct collection efforts.”
Update on the long-running Kentucky fen-phen fee scandal: one-time “King of Torts” Stan Chesley has maneuvered for years “to avoid paying a multimillion-dollar judgment to hundreds of former clients. The Enquirer has found that Chesley’s legal maneuverings have led to more than $162,000 in sanctions against Chesley and his attorneys….The Ohio Supreme Court in an October ruling – one of two during the prolonged legal battle – said Chesley has engaged in a ‘pattern of misuse of the judicial process…to obstruct collection efforts.'” [Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati Enquirer, more]
Liability roundup
- “A handful of plaintiffs’ lawyers dominates MDL (multi-district) litigation. Is that a problem?” [Alison Frankel, Reuters]
- “A. 5918: Unconstitutional, Unwise and Futile Effort to Expand N.Y. Courts’ Jurisdiction” [Marc Gottridge and Lisa Fried, New York Law Journal, earlier on would-be end-run around Daimler limits on state court jurisdiction]
- “Hawaii counties threaten to pull lifeguards off state beaches if liability bill dies” [Nathan Eagle, Honolulu Civil Beat]
- No good reason why New York municipalities should be required to pay interest rate as high as 9 percent a year on lawsuit outlays [Adam Morey, Auburn Citizen letter to editor]
- “Ohio Supreme Court orders halt in liquidation of defunct Chesley law firm” [James McNair, City Beat (Cincinnati)]
- “What Should Tort Law Do When Autonomous Vehicles Crash?” [Michael Krauss; Jones Day]
Liability roundup
- In the just-out eighth edition of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, I helped revise and add to the chapter on tort and class action reform, joining Robert A. Levy and Mark Moller as authors;
- Baron & Budd “Preparing For Your Deposition” asbestos memo still being fought over in court 20 years later [David Yates/Southeast Texas Record, my piece back when]
- “Wanted in Kentucky, seemingly immune to arrest in Ohio” [James McNair, CityBeat on Stan Chesley]
- Congress needs to rewrite the law on multi-district litigation or else the lawyerly gamesmanship will continue [James Beck, Drug and Device Law]
- While generally critical of class action reform proposals in Congress, Alison Frankel does find one idea in it — accounting for class action payouts — to be intriguing [Reuters]
- “New Jersey, Allstate sue chiropractors convicted of running ‘personal injury mill'” [Susan K. Livio, NJ.com]
Liability roundup
- Florida convict blames Verizon for letting him steal man’s identity [WFTV]
- Carving the carcass: class-action lawyers’ fee-ing frenzy [Boston Globe, Daniel Fisher]
- Allianz report on state of directors and officers’ liability insurance market;
- Disbarred “Master of Disaster” Stanley Chesley fights paying victims of fen-phen settlement fraud [James Pilcher, Cincinnati Enquirer]
- As we’ve discussed on many occasions, supposed “Winnebago cruise control lawsuit” tale is a great big urban legend, but plenty of others alas are quite true [Bob Dorigo Jones]
- Will liability reform in Illinois ever manage to get around Speaker Michael Madigan? [Daniel DiSalvo, City Journal]
“Federal judge: Stan Chesley’s attorneys tricked me”
Deeper and deeper for the onetime Master of Disaster: “U.S. District Judge James G. Carr ordered Chesley and his attorneys to appear next month and explain why he shouldn’t find they committed fraud on the court. Carr says in court documents that Chesley and his attorneys designed a scheme to avoid paying former clients who successfully sued him because he took far too much compensation in attorney’s fees.” [Joe Rosemeyer, WCPO, Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal; earlier]
Twilight of Stan Chesley
A judge has issued an arrest warrant for disgraced and disbarred Stan Chesley, once “Master of Disaster” of tort cases and a key figure in the Kentucky fen-phen scandal [Cincinnati Business Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer]
Stanley Chesley: the sequel
Disbarred in Kentucky, disgraced in the eyes of many onetime admirers, the veteran mass tort lawyer does not seem to have been disgraced in the eyes of the Cincinnati city council: it just unanimously appointed him to the city’s Human Relations Commission. [WCPO, earlier, background and on Kentucky fen-phen scandal).