Amanda Robert News
As Monsanto prepares for 2019 Roundup trials, legal expert suggests choosing Ph.D-type jurors
SAN FRANCISCO - As Monsanto appeals a closely-watched case over its leading weed-killer Roundup, and readies several more cases for trial in both federal and state courts, a looming question is whether the company’s conduct is truly worthy of large punitive damages, one legal expert says.
Critics: Computer era 'intruding' on bail decisions, producing 'devastating results'
As the use of risk assessment to make pre-trial decisions like bail increases across the country, concerns over the tools used and their potential to hinder judicial discretion and perpetuate racial biases have also grown among criminal justice researchers, leaders and organizations.
Lead paint amicus: Slumlords rewarded, low-income tenants stiffed if public nuisance decision stands
SACRAMENTO - As the Supreme Court of California considers whether to review a ruling that holds major paint companies responsible for remediating lead paint across the state, it will weigh several amicus letters filed by community and business organizations that also request a different outcome in the case.
New book details attorney’s frustrations with MDL: Handling of cases becoming ‘more and more deplorable’
TAMPA, Fla. (Legal Newsline) – Nearly 40 percent of civil cases pending in federal courts across the country are consolidated into multidistrict litigation, resulting in “a shift away from the rule of law to a system of arbitrary justice,” says Tampa attorney Brian Donovan in his new book on his experience and frustrations with MDL.
‘Problematic’ lawsuits pose danger to science, researcher says
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) – Sometimes making a scientific discovery is only half the battle, as Dr. Aaron Carroll found out after researching and writing an article on the effects of artificial sweeteners.
Calif. Lawmakers creating due process concerns, group claims
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - The leader of a California legal reform group sees “situational due process” as a growing concern in Sacramento.
Space travel laws need to balance 'competing interests'; Experts weigh in
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - How does one establish proper policy and regulation without stymying innovation in the space travel industry? That’s a question scientists, legal experts and lawmakers from around the world have been working to answer since the 1960s.
States bet on spaceports, future economic benefits
Spaceports are popping up over the country as private companies bet on a surge in commercial spaceflight and equally eager states maneuver to make room for them.
Commercial spaceflight industry faces uncertain legal, regulatory environment
MIDLAND, Texas (Legal Newsline) - The idea of buying a ticket to space seems like something that would play out in a summer blockbuster movie.
D.C. decision, expected in fall, could reverse CFPB's actions, change structure
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - A highly anticipated decision from the Washington, D.C., federal appellate court in a dispute between the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and a New Jersey mortgage company may not only affect that particular industry, but also significantly impact the actions of the federal agency, attorneys say.
J.G. Wentworth hoping to keep CFPB out of its industry
PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has again infiltrated an area where its jurisdiction may be questionable, despite a reprimand in a recent case involving the accreditation of for-profit colleges.
History not a guide for possible Chicago Public Schools bankruptcy
Only four school districts have declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy in the past 62 years, and two of those abandoned the process, says a municipal bankruptcy expert asked about the possibility of Chicago Public Schools doing the same.
Court checks CFPB's authority to investigate for-profit college accreditation
For the first time, a court has ruled the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau attempted to exceed the power given to it by Congress -- but the ruling may not prevent it from continuing an investigation into the accreditation of for-profit colleges.
Attorney: Judge would put Chicago Public Schools' bankruptcy on 'short leash'
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - Should the historic budget cuts being planned by Chicago Public Schools not prevent it from going bust, the idea of bankruptcy looms as a possibility.
In Illinois, some push bankruptcy as solution to troubled public budgets
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - In Illinois, increasing pension obligations are consuming more of its taxpayers’ dollars, pushing cities and towns to cut core services and raise property taxes just to keep up with the payments, policy experts say.
Judges handling ADA website lawsuits not waiting on DOJ regulations
While companies continue a years-long wait for guidance from the Department of Justice on how to make their websites compliant with federal disabilities law, judges aren’t hitting the pause button on a growing area of litigation.
Attorneys: DOJ's years-long delay on regulations hurting companies facing disabilities lawsuits over their websites
The Department of Justice’s recent activity is pushing private attorneys to file more lawsuits alleging companies’ websites aren’t accessible to the disabled, while its overall inactivity is creating uncertainty for businesses facing those lawsuits, attorneys say.
Plaintiffs bar, blind clients increasingly targeting companies’ websites with disabilities lawsuits
Defense attorneys say there has been an “explosion of activity” from payment-seeking plaintiffs lawyers and their blind clients who are alleging violations of federal disabilities law in lawsuits over companies’ websites – particularly in three jurisdictions.
Lawyers' ‘inappropriate’ solicitation and 'ubiquitous' advertising have racked up cases in pelvic mesh MDL, defense memo claimed
Plaintiffs’ lawyers in the pelvic mesh multidistrict litigation have been competing for claims because of their tremendous monetary value, according to a memorandum filed earlier this year by one of the seven defendants in the massive MDL.
Litigation funding can drive early settlements, legal scholar says
As the size and complexity of transvaginal mesh MDLs continue to attract considerable attention, so do the details of how some of their claims made it to court.