Daniel Fisher News
California: Lawyers get $518K in fees for winning client $70K
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Lawyers who won their client $70,000 in an employment dispute can collect half a million dollars in fees, but no additional interest, a California appeals court ruled
Utah won't take in lawsuit that already lost in New Jersey
SALT LAKE CITY (Legal Newsline) - A man who claims a defective safety harness caused him to fall 37 feet to the ground can’t sue the distributor in Utah after his case was tossed out for lack of evidence in New Jersey, the Utah Supreme Court ruled.
Social worker with PTSD from murder by client can collect Workers' Comp
ST. PAUL, Minn. (Legal Newsline) - A social worker who claimed crippling post-traumatic stress disorder after hearing about the “horrific” murder committed by one of her clients can continue to collect benefits for PTSD, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled.
Google seeks to end government's 'doomed' antitrust case
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Legal Newsline) - Google has asked a federal court to end the Biden Administration’s lawsuit accusing it of monopolizing the Internet advertising market, saying the government is using “made-up markets” to build its case and ignoring robust competition throughout the online ad business.
Lebanese bank bought terrorism liability along with assets
ALBANY, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - A Lebanese bank that paid $580 million for the assets of Lebanese Canadian Bank also bought New York jurisdiction over lawsuits claiming LCB financed terrorism, the state’s highest court ruled.
Nevada 'ghost gun' ban is constitutional, court rules
CARSON CITY, Nev. (Legal Newsline) - A Nevada statute banning the sale of unfinished gun parts that can be assembled into untraceable “ghost guns” is constitutional, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled, even as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a similar ban at the federal level.
COVID could be occupational disease, as split Nebraska SC rules for nurse
LINCOLN, Neb. (Legal Newsline) - The Nebraska Supreme Court overturned the denial of a woman’s claim for workers compensation over a COVID-19 infection early in the pandemic, although dissenters including the court’s chief justice said the opinion misinterpreted the law and may not have any legal effect.
Law firm must defend claim it botched case over non-compete agreement
DOVER, Del. (Legal Newsline) - A law firm that was fired midway through litigation over an insurance broker’s non-compete agreement must defend itself against claims the case could have been won absent the malpractice of the attorneys, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled.
Supreme Court wrong, California right: Worker with no claim can sue on behalf of others
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Stating a U.S. Supreme Court decision “is not binding on California courts,” an appeals court restored a worker’s lawsuit under the state private attorneys general law on behalf of hundreds of fellow employees although she didn’t file an individual claim for herself.
Criticized by FDA and DoD contract still a mystery, but drug-testing lab has possibly spawned another mass tort
In what has become a familiar pattern, a testing lab called Valisure last month told the Food and Drug Administration that Clearasil and other widely used acne medications contain potentially cancer-causing benzene.
Washington hospitals could be liable for malpractice by contractor physicians
OLYMPIA, Wash. (Legal Newsline) - Hospitals may be liable for the actions of contractor physicians working in their emergency rooms, the Washington Supreme Court ruled, reversing the dismissal of a case involving a woman who died after an ER doc allegedly failed to diagnose flesh-eating bacteria in her shoulder.
Iowa HR exec can't use harassment reports in her own lawsuit
DES MOINES, Iowa (Legal Newsline) - The State of Iowa doesn’t have to pay a $790,000 jury award to a state employee who claimed a hostile work environment based mostly on secondhand reports she received as an administrator overseeing social workers in the Iowa Department of Human Services.
FTC's 'gerrymandered' market claims at heart of Meta lawsuit
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - The Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuits against Amazon and Facebook owner Meta share one essential – and both companies say, legally shaky – claim: That they monopolized their “relevant markets.”
The 'right to food' in Maine doesn't mean you can hunt on Sundays
PORTLAND, Maine (Legal Newsline) - A “right to food” enshrined in the Maine Constitution includes the right to hunt but not on Sunday, the state’s highest court ruled, upholding a ban on Sabbath activities dating back to the 1800s.
No cash for woman in case of exploding showerhead
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newline) - A woman who claimed she was injured by an exploding shower nozzle failed to muster any evidence a hotel was to blame, an appeals court ruled, rejecting her argument a maid must have damaged the device while she was out shopping.
Jury has to decide if low blood sodium, or something else, caused woman's fall
RICHMOND, Va. (Legal Newsline) - A woman who blamed her fall on an emergency physician’s failure to treat low blood sodium will have to go back to trial, after the Virginia Supreme Court reversed her $1.6 million jury verdict based on improper jury instructions.
State AGs say Hawaii case is 'unique opportunity' for SCOTUS to halt climate lawsuits
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - A group of 20 state attorneys general has joined the oil industry in calling for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a Hawaii lawsuit over climate change, saying the case offers a “unique opportunity” to decide whether state courts have the power to effectively drive national energy policy.
Connecticut court dodges decision on whether blog is 'news media'
HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - The Connecticut Supreme Court has delayed, for now, a decision on whether the state’s media shield law protects a blogger who published anonymous comments that a Hartford police officer considers defamatory.
Nevada Supreme Court tosses Steve Wynn's defamation suit against AP
LAS VEGAS (Legal Newsline) - The Associated Press was exercising its First Amendment rights to report on a decades-old rape allegation against casino mogul Steve Wynn even though the reporter told a colleague one of the complaints “is crazy,” the Nevada Supreme Court ruled, affirming the power of news organizations to end lawsuits under the state anti-SLAPP statute.
$4 million for kids, nothing for mom's suffering after they pulled the plug
SALT LAKE CITY (Legal Newsline) - The Utah Supreme Court upheld a $4 million jury verdict for children who claim doctors misled them into removing their mother from a ventilator, but threw out a $450,000 judgment to compensate them for their mother’s suffering in the eight hours after they pulled the plug.