Daniel Fisher News
Ex-husband must live with prenup agreement and without wife's millions, court rules
HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - A man whose marriage collapsed after he continued partying while his wife got down to business and cared for their three kids lost his bid to have a prenuptial agreement struck down after the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled he isn’t entitled to his ex-wife’s millions.
Lawsuit over employee's injuries barred by Workers' Comp, court rules in case watched by trial lawyers
SALEM, Ore. (Leagl Newsline) - Oregon law bars a worker from suing over exposure to toxic fumes for which he was already paid under the state’s workers’ compensation system, an appeals court ruled, in a case that previously made its way to the Oregon Supreme Court and drew strong interest from the state’s trial lawyers.
Plaintiff lawyer's threats against defendants were extortion, court rules
SANTA ANA, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - A lawyer’s zealous representation of a man who had been fired from a cannabis company crossed the line into extortion when she interfered with a $200 million merger and threatened to turn over allegations of criminal behavior to state officials, a California appeals court ruled.
Appeals court rejects $685K in lawyer fees on $1 Lemon Law judgment
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - A California appeals court reversed an award of $685,000 in fees for a lawyer who won his client $1 in a complicated dispute over a leased Jaguar.
Parents get extra time to sue over shooting death of son at football game
TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - Parents who sued a New Jersey school district over the shooting death of their 10-year-old son at a high school football game weren’t subject to a strict 90-day deadline after incident for initiating their claim, an appeals court ruled. The deadline for the parents actually began when their son died five days later, the court said.
Woman can sue for hearing loss she blames on ambulance siren
CANTON, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - A woman who at least one person said was already having trouble hearing can sue an ambulance company over hearing loss she blames on an accidental siren blast in the parking lot of the McDonald’s where she worked. The decision by an Ohio appeals court found that ambulance personnel may have been acting in the scope of employment when they drove to the restaurant for lunch, although neither one recalls the alleged incident.
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Millions for tobacco lawyers as 'local market rule' doesn't apply to fees
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - The lawyers who won an $11 million jury verdict for a lung-transplant patient who blamed her illness on smoking are entitled to $3.2 million in fees, a Florida appeals court ruled, rejecting arguments by Philip Morris that they should be paid according to prevailing rates in Jacksonville, where the trial was held.
City's decision to not carry insurance helps it defeat wrongful death lawsuit
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Legal Newsline) - A man who sued the City of Pine Bluff, Ark. over a fatal car collision with a fallen tree has no case because the city didn’t carry liability insurance, an appeals court has ruled.
Lawyers' excuses for botching case: Bad paralegals in Detroit, time spent planning daughter's wedding
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Legal Newsline) - An Alaska woman whose local attorney farmed out her medical malpractice lawsuit to a Michigan law firm lost her bid to revive the case after the Alaska Supreme Court said it should be dismissed because of missed deadlines.
Plaintiff expert can build opinion on assumed facts, Florida court rules
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - A trial court improperly disregarded the testimony of a plaintiff expert who based his opinion on the assumption a hospital had failed to get rid of every vial of contaminated heparin, a Florida appeals court ruled, breathing new life into a long-running lawsuit.
Woman can't remember how she fell but jury can figure it out, court rules
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A woman who sued her sister’s landlord after falling down a pair of bathroom steps can take her case to a jury even though she doesn’t remember what happened, a California appeals court ruled.
PFAS makers fight lawsuits as government still requires its use
CHARLESTON, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - Companies that made firefighting foam that can release trace amounts of the “forever chemical” PFAS are hoping a federal judge will dismiss thousands of lawsuits against them based on the government contractor defense, or as one defense lawyer puts it, “the government made me do it.”
Widow loses bid to revive lawsuit over husband's sepsis death
DALLAS (Legal Newsline) - A woman who argued improper jury instructions were to blame for her loss in a malpractice lawsuit stemming from the death of her husband lost her bid to revive the case, as a Texas appeals court ruled the trial judge’s decisions were correct.
Man ruled to have been on the job when he drowned, dooming family's lawsuit
LANSING, Mich. (Legal Newsline) - A young man who drowned in thick weeds while swimming out to retrieve an errant paddleboat was performing a job for his employer and covered by worker’s compensation, a Michigan appeals court ruled, reversing a trial court that allowed his family to sue over his death.
Two lawsuits, no sanctions for lawyer with electrocution wrongful death client
LANSING, Mich. (Legal Newsline) - The estate of an apprentice electrician who was killed on the job shouldn’t have been sanctioned for filing two wrongful death lawsuits against the church where the accident occurred, a Michigan appeals court ruled.
Man who saw 'gruesome aftermath' of fire - but not wife's body - can recover emotional damages
INDIANAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) - Parsing the fine details of Indiana’s bystander-injury rule, a state appeals court decided that a man who came across the scene of his burning house after a gas explosion can recover for emotional damages even though he never actually saw his wife’s body removed from the fire.
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Campaign contributions didn't require commissioner's recusal, court rules
DENVER (Legal Newsline) - Citing a U.S. Supreme Court decision that established the constitutional boundaries for determining political conflicts of interest, a Colorado court rejected claims a county commissioner should have recused himself from voting on a concrete plant permit because the company’s shareholders contributed several thousand dollars to his campaign.
Nonexistent 'Kill Switch' dooms lawsuit over girl's go-kart accident
SHREVEPORT, La. (Legal Newsline) - A woman who argued the operators of a go-kart track could have protected her daughter from injury if they had activated a “kill switch” stopping all the karts has no case partly because such a device would defy the laws of physics, a Louisiana appeals court ruled.
Opioid plaintiffs suing Rite Aid can't count on insurance money
DOVER, Del. (Legal Newsline) - Insurance companies don’t have to cover defense costs for Rite Aid against opioid lawsuits by governments seeking economic damages, Delaware’s highest court ruled, rejecting one major source of funding that plaintiffs and defendants alike were counting upon to pay out multibillion-dollar settlements.
Texas lawsuit blaming boat-maker for fatal crash into a bridge fails
TYLER, Texas (Legal Newsline) - A Texas family lost their attempt to blame a boat manufacturer for a fatal nighttime collision with a bridge, after an appeals court noted the driver of the boat had consumed alcohol and there was no evidence the boat’s design or illuminated speakers had contributed to the crash.