Daniel Fisher News
Ruling reached in dispute over Law & Order cast trailers
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Legal Newsline) - A company that provided trucks and cast trailers to production crews filming “Law and Order” and other shows must pay the firm that owned the vehicles more than $100,000 after breaking a revenue-sharing agreement, a Tennessee appeals court ruled.
Court decides whether Louisville will face lawsuit over alleged sexual assault by cop
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Legal Newsline) - The Louisville Police Department can’t be sued over an officer’s alleged sexual assault of a woman, a Kentucky appeals court ruled, rejecting the plaintiff’s attempt to overcome the sovereign immunity of local governments against tort lawsuits.
Court makes ruling in case of 4-year-old who shot himself with cop's gun
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Legal Newsline) - A Kentucky city can’t be sued over the death of a toddler who got his hands on an off-duty policeman’s gun and shot himself, an appeals court ruled, rejecting plaintiff arguments the city failed to properly train and supervise the officer.
Bellwether jury wants pharmacies to pay for opioid mess; Walmart says trial was riddled with mistakes
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - A federal jury has found three of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains liable for causing a public nuisance by filling too many opioid prescriptions in two Ohio counties, reviving a legal theory that was recently rejected in two other closely watched cases.
Disney cruise worker hit by car in Bahamas sees court strike $4M verdict
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - A Florida appeals court reversed a $4 million jury award – including $1 million in punitive damages -- to a Disney Cruise Line employee who was hit by a car in the Bahamas, finding punitive damages were unjustified and her economic expert presented an unreliable estimate of future medical expenses.
Bad news for construction company and insurer in multimillion-dollar mess over rogue forklift
CARSON CITY, Nev. (Legal Newsline) - A plaintiff who suffered neck injuries when a construction company forklift punched through the window of his car can collect millions of dollars in attorney fees on top of a $5.9 million jury verdict, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled, in a decision also enforcing severe penalties on the defendant for telling jurors it was bankrupt.
'Inflammatory' closing argument should cancel key opioid trial, defendants argue
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - National pharmacy chains called for a mistrial after the lawyer representing two Ohio counties in closing arguments urged jurors to consider the “national ramifications” of their decision and jokingly suggested they “really go after” any member of the panel who refused to find the defendants liable for causing a public nuisance by dispensing opioids.
Judge approves $620M Flint water settlement; Attorneys' cut to be decided later
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (Legal Newsline) - Calling it “a remarkable achievement,” a federal judge approved a $620 million settlement over lead contamination in the Flint water system, reserving until later approval of plaintiff lawyer fees that could consume a third of the money.
California ruling leaves drowning swimmers to save themselves in order to avoid lawsuits
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - The California Supreme Court denied review of an appeals court decision that could prevent lifeguards from driving their jet skis at more than idle speed in pursuit of drowning swimmers, urging the state legislature to fix a “latent ambiguity” in the law.
Bar could be liable for customer's deadly crash - even though he went home and napped first
PHOENIX (Legal Newsline) - A bar’s liability for alcohol-induced car crashes doesn’t end when a drunken patron gets safely home, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled, reversing the dismissal of a lawsuit over a fatal accident that occurred after a man drove home, fell asleep, then decided to get back in his truck again.
Oklahoma Supreme Court throws out $465M verdict, rejects State's theory of 'public nuisance'
OKLAHOMA CITY (Legal Newsline) - The Oklahoma Supreme Court threw out a landmark $465 million public nuisance verdict against Johnson & Johnson over its sale of opioid painkillers, stating in clear terms that public nuisance law can’t be used to sue companies over the sale of legal products.
Loss for opioid lawyers seeking 'public nuisance' payout could apply to climate change cases
A California judge who threw out municipal lawsuits against the opioid industry for supposedly causing a public nuisance could have just as well been speaking about a wave of similar lawsuits against the oil and gas industry.
Attorneys avoid liability for losing couple's lawsuit against home contractor
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A couple whose home remodeling project turned into a multi-year litigation nightmare lost their bid to collect damages from attorneys they accused of botching their lawsuit against the contractor and his insurer.
Lawyer fights lender who advanced cash against NFL concussion fees
PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - A lawyer who represented hundreds of players in a $1 billion concussion settlement with the National Football League is fighting an arbitrator’s order to repay some $2.3 million in high-interest loans from a litigation funder.
Bayer can be sued for failing to anticipate thousands of lawsuits over Roundup weedkiller
Bayer AG can be sued for allegedly misleading investors about its risk from litigation over the weedkiller Roundup, a federal judge ruled, despite Bayer’s arguments the product doesn’t cause cancer – a claim supported by the U.S. government and regulatory agencies around the world – and it couldn’t be expected to anticipate juries would believe plaintiff claims otherwise.
School district can use plaintiff's history of sex abuse by others to reduce its own liability
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A woman who sued a Los Angeles school district over sexual abuse she suffered from her fourth-grade teacher can be required to provide evidence about subsequent abuse she suffered as a teenager, a California appeals court ruled.
Golf course not at fault for crazy cart wreck that broke man's arm
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Legal Newsline) - A Kentucky golf course isn’t liable for an accident that occurred after a golfer swerved to avoid an overturned cart and rolled his own vehicle on top of himself, an appeals court ruled.
California judge rejects public nuisance arguments in opioid lawsuit
SANTA ANA - A California judge eviscerated legal arguments that opioid manufacturers caused a public nuisance by selling their products, dismissing a vanguard lawsuit by Santa Clara County and other municipal plaintiffs because they failed to provide any evidence the companies caused doctors to write medically inappropriate prescriptions.
42 pitchers of beer, a car urinated on, a fight and a lawsuit
DES MOINES, Iowa (Legal Newsline) - A man who was beat up in the parking lot after patrons celebrated their friend’s 21st birthday with 42 pitchers of beer can sue the bar under Iowa’s dram-shop law, an appeals court ruled.
One pharmacy settles, others want claims booted in key opioid trial
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Giant Eagle settled multiple opioid lawsuits against it as fellow defendants in a closely watched trial testing novel public-nuisance theories filed motions to dismiss, arguing the plaintiffs failed to prove their case.