Free Republic

Once again, what's good for the plaintiffs' lawyers is bad for everyone else, including those who need the latest medical breakthroughs to help save or improve their lives.

All the plaintiffs’ bar really needs is a single precedent-setting victory with a public nuisance case. This means that even confronted with long-shot odds, firms like Motley Rice are willing to gamble on the outcome because the ultimate payoff would be astronomical. In Rhode Island, they rolled the dice and they lost. However, those tempted to think that this nearly decade-long pursuit of former lead paint manufacturers ends in the Ocean State, think again. There are numerous “elsewheres” for Motley Rice and other plaintiffs’ firms to look for mega payouts.

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline)-Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's views on a bevy of national issues remain unknown, not the least of which is her take on the nation's legal landscape. Leading tort reform advocates told Legal Newsline that they know little to nothing about the first-term Alaska governor's view on legal reform. "I am not aware that Governor Palin has any record," said Philip Howard, founder and chair of Common Good, a bipartisan coalition that advocates for legal reform. Palin's public comments on national legal issues have been limited to her comments blasting the U.S. Supreme Court for reducing the...

An atheism-promoting organization has withdrawn its lawsuit demanding that Christian baptisms of children be banned in Italy, after a U.S.-based legal team took on the defense of a bishop and the Roman Catholic Church there."This was a preposterous lawsuit, and we are pleased that it has been dropped," said Joseph Infranco, senior counsel for the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund.However, he said, "Americans should be aware that such lawsuits may seem far-fetched, but they really are happening … foreign legal decisions are increasingly cited in American courts."The ADF battled back when the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics filed a...

A state workers' union filed a lawsuit today in an effort to reverse more than 10,000 layoffs ordered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to save money until he and state lawmakers are able to negotiate a budget. The lawsuit, filed in Sacramento County Superior Court by Local 1000 of the Service Employees International Union, was one of at least three actions employees took in the wake of the governor's Thursday order. SEIU and CASE, a union representing state attorneys, administrative law judges and hearing officers, each filed a compaint, called an unfair practice charge, with the state's Public Employment Relations Board....

A New York woman has filed a $10 million lawsuit stemming from her arrest at Washington's Reagan International Airport last year, an arrest she says was unwarranted and abusive. Police say 31-year-old Robin Kassner was obstructing justice. Security cameras captured the incident and the video has now been made public. Surveillance video from inside Reagan National Airport shows Robin Kassner standing with a TSA agent who sorts through her bag. Moments later, a Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police officer steps in and pulls Kassner to the ground. Robin Kassner says "I was thrown across the room, into a metal chair...

SAN FRANCISCO (BP)--If the major homosexual activist groups have their way, there won't be and outbreak of "gay marriage" lawsuits nationwide now that California has legalized such unions--at least not yet. Nine of the nation's largest homosexual activist organizations have issued a joint six-page statement urging couples not to sue in their home states or in federal court. The reason? Losses in such lawsuits could set the "gay marriage" movement back for years.

Restaurants in New York City with 15 or more outlets nationwide now must conspicuously post the nutritional content of each item on their menus. Similar legislation is coming to San Francisco and Seattle, and is under consideration in about a dozen other cities and state legislatures. At first blush, this seems like a good idea. Why not force restaurants to let their consumers know the nutritional value of what they're about to eat? If we're to believe what the public health world says about our bulging waistlines, perhaps a little more information would be a good thing. The American Prospect's...

A tray of asymmetrical chocolate lumps balances on the counter behind the espresso machine, where owner Jean-Marc Gorce is slinging a cappuccino. Scotch-taped to the walls, clippings about the mom-and-pop truffle shop display accolades from Gourmet, the New York Times and 7 x 7. At the window, a few stools share a high counter; outside, two tables perch on the sidewalk. Cluttered but quaint, off-kilter but authentic, XOX Truffles is just the sort of place that one might associate with North Beach's motley character. Yet one of its design anomalies - a step from the curb into the shop -...

Thompson says You don't know Jack Jack Thompson, the infamous attorney that has been a factor in multiple anti-video game lawsuits, reportedly walked out of a hearing before the Florida Bar Association today. Thompson’s hearing went on without him and the Florida Bar Association recommended Thompson be disciplined with an “enhanced disbarment” stipulating that Thompson can’t apply to practice law again for a decade. ***** Thompson filed a massive and rambling 14 page document he titled “Thompson’s Formal Objection to June 4 Sanctions “Hearing””. Thompson points out in the opening lines of his objections that, “I depart from the traditional...

Do guns kill people or do people kill people? This is the question that will be kicked around Queen's Park for the next few weeks as the provincial government debates a Private Member's Bill, introduced by Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn, which would attempt to make firearm manufacturers and importers more responsible for the actions of their products. If passed, the Handgun Manufacturers' and Importers' Liability Act 2008 proposed by Flynn would allow the victims of handgun shootings, or their families, to bring legal action against the handgun's manufacturer or importer in cases where negligence could be proven on their part....

snip- For decades, malpractice lawyers and insurers have counseled doctors and hospitals to “deny and defend.” Many still warn clients that any admission of fault, or even expression of regret, is likely to invite litigation and imperil careers. But with providers choking on malpractice costs and consumers demanding action against medical errors, a handful of prominent academic medical centers, like Johns Hopkins and Stanford, are trying a disarming approach. By promptly disclosing medical errors and offering earnest apologies and fair compensation, they hope to restore integrity to dealings with patients, make it easier to learn from mistakes and dilute anger...

Taylor-area residents Dan and Margaret Byfield hope to become the Trans-Texas Corridor’s worst nightmare. The married couple head up two land rights organizations, the American Land Foundation and Stewards of the Range, that aim to keep rural communities from having land encroached upon by state and federal agencies through eminent domain. Both organizations operate across the U.S., in Wyoming, California, Colorado, South Dakota and Nebraska, but their current main goal is to challenge TxDOT in hopes of completely eliminating proposals for the quarter-mile wide superhighway. Currently they offer advice to residents of small towns and rural communities on how to...

City: Mom's claim stinks By Alexandra Fenwick Staff Writer NORWALK - A New York woman who took her family to visit the Maritime Aquarium has filed a $100 claim against the city, saying her child's shoes, along with the entire outing, were ruined when her 1-year-old stepped in dog feces early last month outside the Maritime Garage. Norwalk officials will deny the claim, city attorney M. Jeffry Spahr said. "The official response is her claim is denied and poop happens," he said.

NEW YORK - At least two major oil companies said late Wednesday they have agreed to settle lawsuits over the use of the gasoline additive MTBE, a potential carcinogen that has been found in drinking water. Representatives of Valero Energy Corp. and Chevron Corp. said they had joined the settlement, although a number of other oil companies are also named in a memo supporting the deal that was obtained by The Associated Press. The companies confirmed their involvement after The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site that several oil companies agreed to pay $423 million plus cleanup costs...

The state has agreed to give 21 families of the Virginia Tech massacre $11 million in blood money to avoid lawsuits that would attempt to assign responsibility to anyone other than the lone nut job. This reflects the grievance-minded culture of the day and unscrupulous lawyers ever willing to sue businesses, institutions and private citizens over the flimsiest reasons. People are killed each day, each loss of life as painful as the next, none more financially worthy than the next, unless apparently you are related to one of the 32 dead and 24 wounded on the Blacksburg, Va., campus. Then...

Book Review: Aspire Higher: Winning on and off the Court with Determination, Discipline, and Decisions. Written by Avery Johnson with Roy S. Johnson. Published by HarperCollins, 2008. On page four of his book, Avery Johnson tells the story of a young player that he recently had in training camp that was very good at numbers, but not so good at basketball. Avery's assessment was that the guy “needed to be on Wall Street, not in the NBA.” He summed up his assessment of the potential player by saying that “Basketball wasn't his gift – numbers were.” Unfortunately, a similar assessment...

Va. Tech families reach $11M settlement By SUE LINDSEY, Associated Press Writer 44 minutes ago ROANOKE, Va. - Families of the victims in the Virginia Tech shootings have reached a tentative $11 million settlement with the state, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said Thursday. The deal is designed to prevent future lawsuits. Kaine said a "substantial majority" of families of victims of the Virginia Tech shootings agreed to the settlement. Peter Grenier and Douglas Fierberg, who represent 21 families, also confirmed the settlement but would not discuss its terms until final papers are drawn in a few days. Kaine spokesman Gordon...

ADF attorneys represent a Christian photographer being tried under state antidiscrimination laws for declining to photograph a same-sex “commitment ceremony.” “Christians shouldn’t be penalized for abiding by their beliefs. The state cannot force unwilling people to promote a message they disagree with and thereby violate their conscience,” said Lorence. “The state’s prosecution violates our client’s First Amendment rights. The government cannot make people choose between their faith and their job.” A same-sex couple asked Elaine Huguenin, co-owner with her husband of Elane Photography, to photograph a “commitment ceremony” that the two women wanted to hold. Huguenin declined because her Christian...

Do you smoke? Well, you better be careful where. I don't smoke, and I don't like the smell, but what some people are doing to smokers makes me say give me a break. For the last 12 years, Galila Huff has owned Caffé la Fenicé, a restaurant serving Italian food on the Upper West Side of New York City. Smoking there is forbidden. New York state bans it in all restaurants and bars. Huff's apartment is a few blocks away at The Ansonia, an ornate turn-of-the-century building that both Babe Ruth and Arturo Toscanini once called home. Huff lives there...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The term "freedom's watch" is not distinctive enough to warrant a lawsuit over trademark infringement, a federal judge has ruled in a case that pitted a one-time hero of conservatives against former aides and financial backers of President Bush. Larry Klayman, who persistently took President Clinton and his administration to court a decade ago, lost his fight against a well- financed group that is planning to be a major presence in this year's elections and beyond. The group, called Freedom's Watch, is positioning itself as the conservative alternative to liberal organizations such as MoveOn.org and has recently...

A Michigan church filed a federal lawsuit after police officers, led by a local prosecutor, entered the sanctuary at least twice without a warrant, alleging the church's music was too loud. In one instance, they threatened to arrest church musicians for disorderly conduct. Faith Baptist Church, with a congregation of about 10,000 members, is suing local officials in the Township of Waterford, Mich., in a First Amendment case a church attorney said could have national ramifications in establishing what local governments can do in regulating churches. The suit -- alleging the township violated the church's freedom of religious expression, freedom...

Bear Stearns braces for legal battles Johanna Symmons and Cardiff de Alejo Garcia 20 Mar 2008 Bear Stearns has amended its bylaws to prepare for legal expenses as more than a half-dozen law firms have announced plans to file lawsuits on behalf of shareholders and employees, and as US regulators have indicated they might investigate possible violations of securities law. The change to the bank’s bylaws, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, are a provision to compensate Bear Stearns officers implicated in lawsuits for their attorneys’ fees and other legal costs they incur. Since Monday, no fewer than...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - She was an ambitious lawyer and TV commentator who starting going to Atlantic City casinos to relax, and soon was getting high-roller treatment that included limousines whisking her to the resort. Arelia Margarita Taveras says she was even allowed to bring her dog, Sasha, to the blackjack tables, sitting in her purse. But her gambling spun out of control: She said she would go days at a time at the tables, not eating or sleeping, brushing her teeth with disposable wipes so she didn't have to leave. She says her losses totaled nearly $1 million....

The speeding freight train carrying toxic waste liability for makers, sellers and purchasers of compact fluorescent lightbulbs, or CFLs, was only faintly audible in the distance last spring when this column first warned of it. Now we’re beginning to see that environmentalist-stoked train speed toward its victims, whom President Bush and Congress just finished tying to the tracks. CFLs and all other fluorescent lightbulbs require special clean-up and disposal procedures because they contain small amounts of mercury, which is neurotoxic at sufficiently high exposures. For example, you’re not supposed to vacuum breakage or toss used bulbs in household trash. Despite...

LOS ANGELES – Famed San Diego class-action attorney William Lerach, a former partner at a prestigious New York law firm, was sentenced Monday to two years in federal prison for his role in a lucrative kickback scheme involving class-action lawsuits against some of the nation's biggest corporations. Lerach, 61, was also sentenced to two years probation, fined $250,000 and ordered to complete 1,000 hours of community service. “This whole conspiracy corrupted the law firm and it corrupted it in the most evil way,” U.S. District Judge John Walter said during the hearing. Authorities said Lerach's former firm, now known as...

A judge has accused Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG’s RIAA of using “gamesmanship” tactics in joinder cases where defendants are linked together. One such is Arista v Does 1-27 in which two of the victims are being officially represented by two University of Maine School of Law’s Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic students. These kinds of cases allow the corporate enforcer to efficiently terrorise a number of people simultaneously, in effect. It also means they’re spared the time and expense of going after their victims one by one and, “it is difficult to ignore the kind of gamesmanship...

Court Case Could Alter Nev. Outcome 2008-01-16 21:31:48 By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY Associated Press Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — A last-minute federal court battle over caucus rules demonstrates just how important a tight three-way Democratic presidential contest in Nevada has become in the battle for momentum headed into Super Tuesday's votes. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards are in a statistical dead heat in polling here before Saturday's caucuses. And Nevada's sizable blocs of Hispanic, union and urban voters could provide an indicator of where the race is headed on Feb. 5, when hundreds of delegates will be awarded...

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Tuesday curbed investor lawsuits against businesses accused of scheming to inflate stock prices. In a 5-3 ruling, the court gave a measure of protection from securities suits to suppliers, banks, accountants and law firms that do business with publicly traded companies. The court ruled against investors who alleged that two suppliers colluded with Charter Communications Inc. to deceive Charter's stockholders and manipulate the price of the cable TV company's stock. Charter investors do not have the right to sue because they did not rely on the deceptive acts of Charter's suppliers, said the majority...

11-Year-Old's Idea May Become Law Boy's Initiative May Be Passed as Law to Help Feed Homeless Jan. 11, 2008— Adults usually initiate the laws, but there's no law that says kids can't too. Jack Davis is only 11, but he had a pretty grown-up idea: He was disturbed to learn that Florida restaurants throw out food that could be given to the hungry and the homeless -- because the restaurant owners could be sued if anyone who ate the food became ill or developed food poisoning. "I thought it pretty disturbing to see pounds, pretty much, of food being thrown...

One of the most significant taxpayer lawsuits is about to go to jury-trial in Austin, but Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has thus far refused to be deposed -- despite being a defendant in the case.

Author and magazine editor Jed Babbin is very concerned about two cases being decided in foreign courts that he believes could have an adverse effect on First Amendment rights in the U.S. Jed Babbin, editor of Human Events, served as a deputy undersecretary of defense in President George H.W. Bush's administration. He explains that a Muslim with possible connections to terrorist funding is using a British court to sue Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, an American author who wrote a book critical of Islam that sold in Britain on the Internet. And in Canada, a similar case has been brought against Mark...

Iraq thanks Bush for vetoing defense billThu Jan 3, 11:56 AM ET BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq thanked U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday for vetoing a defense bill that would have let companies and people win compensation from the new Iraqi government for actions by ousted leader Saddam Hussein. Bush announced his decision to veto the bill last week, after concluding that the provision allowing lawsuits against Iraq would pose a "grave financial risk" to the country. "The Iraqi government has expressed its gratitude and appreciation for the efforts of President George Bush in using his veto against the...

You buy a CD. You rip a digital copy so you can put it on your Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPod or Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Zune. You're not worried; you paid premium price for the CD. You're not some lawless pirate. You wouldn't dream of sharing your music on a P2P network. Well, you may be walking a fine line toward thiefdom in the eyes of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the industry trade association that includes heavyweights like Sony (NYSE: SNE) BMG, Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG), Vivendi Universal, and EMI. Current litigation against Jeffrey Howell of Arizona...

Despite more than 20,000 lawsuits filed against music fans in the years since they started finding free tunes online rather than buying CDs from record companies, the recording industry has utterly failed to halt the decline of the record album or the rise of digital music sharing.

TIME Magazine placed it No. 5 on its top 10 biggest religion stories of the year - The Slow-Motion Episcopal/Anglican Train Wreck. Time did not mince words. The article said the Episcopal Bishops' meeting in New Orleans failed to stem either the ongoing defection of conservatives over the church's position on homosexuals, or the likelihood of a worldwide Anglican split over the same issue. The story was voted 5th following Pope Benedict XVI lifting the ban requiring a bishop's permission to celebrate mass in old-school Latin, but ahead of a story about Green Evangelicals, a group concerned about global warming,...

The family of a California teenager who died awaiting a liver transplant said they would sue the insurer whom they blame for their daughter's death. Nataline Sarkisyan, a 17-year-old from Glendale, Calif., died Thursday just a few hours after her insurer, Cigna HealthCare, approved a procedure it had previously described as "too experimental." Attorney Mark Geragos said that Cigna "maliciously killed her" and that he hopes to press murder or manslaughter charges against Cigna HealthCare for the death of Sarkisyan. District Attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons declined to comment on the request for murder or manslaughter charges, saying it would be...

SAN DIEGO – Environmental groups filed 13 lawsuits Wednesday against the Bush administration, alleging that it fails to protect imperiled species because of political meddling and other inadequacies. Mentioned in the litigation were at least five species with current or former habitat in San Diego County: the spreading navarretia, thread-leaved brodiaea, San Diego ambrosia, red-legged frog and arroyo toad. Dozens of related lawsuits are in the works, signaling a heightened battle with national implications for how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service takes care of plants and animals close to extinction. The agency already was reeling from investigations that found...

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The farm bill approved by the Senate last week moved Congress a step closer to reopening a landmark discrimination case against the Agriculture Department. Like its companion bill in the House, the Senate measure would give thousands of black farmers another chance at seeking compensation over claims that they were denied loans or other crop subsidies because of their race. Critics have charged that farmers had plenty of time to win claims under the original settlement that USDA agreed to in 1999. Reopening the matter now could cost several billion dollars and reward questionable claimants who...

The trial bar, on the defensive when Republicans ran Congress, is moving to make up lost ground on a variety of fronts now that Democrats are in charge, including through a bill-by-bill campaign to keep federal agencies from overriding tougher state consumer protection laws. The bar’s main lobbying group, the American Association of Justice, formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, has already had some successes this year in its effort to block what’s referred to as federal regulatory preemption. The ascension of Democrats in Congress, who receive more than 90 percent of AAJ’s political donations, could...

A label on a small tractor that warns, "Danger: Avoid Death," has been chosen as the nation's most obvious warning label in M-LAW's annual Wacky Warning Label Contest.The Wacky Warning Label Contest, now in its eleventh year, is conducted by Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch, M-LAW, to reveal how lawsuits, and fear of lawsuits, have driven the proliferation of common-sense warnings on U.S. products.

Mayor Phil Mitman said he grew up sledding in Nevin Park and later watched his children do the same. But we live in such a litigious society that a municipality's primary job today is to find ways to avoid lawsuits, he said. Anyone who headed to Hackett or Nevin parks this week for the season's first snow was greeted by signs banning sledding, tubing, skiing and snowboarding at the risk of a $300 fine. "If people wouldn't sue the city, we wouldn't have to do this," Mitman said Wednesday. "Those signs protect the city of Easton in a court of...

New law tests the limits of tolerance By: SUNANA BATRA - Commentary: I can't help but shake my head at the misguided parents who have once again drunk the California Teachers Association's Kool-Aid and see a new law meant to protect homosexual and transgender students (Senate Bill 777 ) as just another nice attempt to make sure no student is ever made to feel uncomfortable. They are the clueless frogs just getting comfortable in the warmth of a cozy bath that makes them feel oh so good and tolerant. And, as in the parable, it won't be long before that...

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards claims that trial lawyers are the true “philosopher kings” that Plato spoke of as the class best suited to rule. “Trial lawyers are the ‘angels of justice’ in America—taking from those who have and delivering to those in need,” Edwards said. Edwards asserted that under his leadership the lowliest of Americans will be raised up to enjoy the lifestyle heretofore reserved to the productive classes. “Those who have worked hard and invested have taken more than their fair share from the common pot of our economy,” Edwards said. “Not everyone is born with such ability...

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC (AP) - The family of a 14-year-old boy who died after being punched several times at a Bluffton middle school has reached a $200,000 settlement with the school district and local governments. The father of Francisco Belman filed the suit after the 2002 incident. The boy died several months after being punched in the chest by two fellow students as part of a gang initiation. The two teens pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and were sentenced to probation. Court documents show insurance companies for the school board, the state Board of Education, Beaufort County and the...

Democrats in Washington just can't seem to help it. Even when great opportunities arise that would allow them to look like patriots, they sponsor yet another bill to cut off funds for our troops in Iraq. Last week, Democrats in the House of Representatives voted yet again to fix a firm deadline to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. It was their 40th such vote. Luckily, their motion died in the Senate, where the Party of Surrender failed to muster enough votes to survive a presidential veto. Also last week, House Democrats passed a measure, inappropriately titled the RESTORE Act...

America's most gravy-crazy holiday looms on the near-term horizon, so the warning couldn't have come at a better time. Gravy, whether the object of your appetite for breakfast, lunch or dinner, is hot.

The Americans With Disabilities Act, for which the nation has the first President Bush to thank, has produced many bizarre legal claims. One of the latest comes from perfectly healthy people who say they were denied jobs that would have left them disabled. Victor Breehne got the ball rolling when he applied for a "highly wrist-sensitive job" making power tools at a Black & Decker Corp. plant in Tennessee. He was offered a job contingent upon him passing a medical exam that included a nerve-conduction test to determine whether he was susceptible to carpal-tunnel syndrome. Manufacturers whose employees perform repetitive-motion...

It's been three months since the I-35W bridge collapse, and shovels are about to be put into the ground to begin construction of the replacement. And as sure as the Minnesota winter is cold, victims and their lawyers are lining up with their hands out, demanding compensation. Meanwhile, politicians are tripping over each other to see who can shovel the most of someone else's money at these people, the better to claim the mantle of “compassion” and then browbeat anyone who objects with angry cries of how one could be so “cruel” to these poor souls. It's enough to make...

We're old enough to remember when Naderite groups like Public Citizen were embarrassed by their ties to trial lawyers. No more. This week in Washington, the famous "consumer" group, which has long resisted efforts to identify the sources of its funding, is rolling out the red carpet for America's plaintiff attorneys. Attendees of the Consumer Rights Litigation Conference are cordially invited to Saturday night's cocktail reception at Public Citizen headquarters, which a conference brochure describes as "an elegant old Dupont Circle Victorian mansion . . . generously loaned to us for this special event." No word yet on what the...