Daniel Fisher News
Social worker caught up in drug test fraud will face lawsuit from victims
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Legal Newsline) - A couple who lost access to their children after a state worker falsified drug-test results can sue the social worker who relied on those tests to restrict their visitation rights, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled.
Baltimore wins lawsuit over worker buried alive
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Legal Newsline) - The City of Baltimore isn’t liable for the death of a worker who was suffocated under tons of dirt while working on a broken pipe, a Maryland appeals court ruled, saying the city had no duty to protect employees of an independent contractor.
Montana Supreme Court says voters can't decide how justices are elected
HELENA, Mont. (Legal Newsline) - The Montana Supreme Court upheld an injunction blocking a statewide referendum that could have replaced statewide voting for court justices to a district-by-district process. The measure would have disenfranchised voters by limiting their power to elect more than one of seven justices, the court ruled.
Asbestos plaintiff corrects memory after 17 years, saving lawsuit
NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) - A onetime dockworker who couldn’t recall asbestos exposure in 2004 but recovered the memory by the time he was deposed again in 2021 salvaged a lawsuit over the death of his wife, who allegedly succumbed to lung cancer caused by asbestos dust the worker brought home on his clothes.
Judge orders pharmacy chains to pay $651 million for opioid `abatement’
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - The judge overseeing federal multidistrict litigation against the opioid industry ordered Walgreens, Walmart and CVS to pay $651 million to fund what he called an “abatement” plan to reduce the level of opioid addiction and overdose deaths in two Ohio counties.
Collection lawyers avoid lending laws in Maryland; Dissenter decries loophole
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Legal Newsline) - A law firm in the business of collecting homeowner association and condominium dues isn’t a “lender” under the Maryland Consumer Loan Law, the state's highest court ruled, answering a central question in a class action in federal court by delinquent property owners.
Would-be judge ordered to accept $500K in Home Depot melee case or risk new trial
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - A lawyer who claimed his judicial career was doomed after he was falsely detained by a Home Depot security guard over an altercation with a female customer had a $1.8 million jury verdict reversed on appeal.
Sex abuse claims against Syracuse, Camp Greylock given new chance
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - A New York appeals court revived lawsuits against Syracuse University and a Massachusetts boys camp dating back more than 40 years, citing a 2019 law that gave plaintiffs two-and-a-half years to file sexual-abuse claims that otherwise would have been extinguished under the statute of limitations.
'Worst-case scenario': Group trusted to handle public opioid money rejects transparency requests
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - An Ohio nonprofit has sued for access to the meetings and records of OneOhio Recovery Foundation, saying the state-established organization is attempting to distribute more than $400 million in opioid settlement money without legally required public oversight.
USA Cycling points to waiver to defeat lawsuit over crash at festival
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - A woman who was injured in a multi-bike crash at a cycling festival can’t sue the race organizers because she signed a release stating she assumed the risk, an Ohio appeals court ruled.
Life insurers face billions in liability for their actions before California changed the rules
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Life insurance companies doing business in California face billions of dollars in potential liability as plaintiff lawyers seize upon a state Supreme Court ruling that applies a 2012 law to tens of thousands of policies sold years before.
Mayor's rant on prosecutor who charged his son leaves city open to defamation case
INDIANAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) - An Indiana city must defend itself against a defamation lawsuit filed by a prosecutor and his wife after the former mayor accused them in an “official statement” of ginning up false drug charges against his son for political reasons.
No immunity after officer wouldn't help shackled inmate on icy step
INDIANAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) - Indiana’s immunity statute protecting police against lawsuits doesn’t extend to a case in which a shackled inmate accused a guard of failing to help him negotiate an icy step into a prison van, an appeals court ruled.
Hospital liable for malpractice by 'apparent agent' in $6.1 million case
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Legal Newsline) - Maryland’s highest court expanded the liability of hospitals by ruling a patient treated by a doctor working as an independent contractor in the emergency room was entitled to a $6.1 million jury verdict against the hospital as well under the theory the physician was an “apparent agent” of the facility.
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No need to smoke it before suing over cigarette's marketing, court rules
CARSON CITY, Nev. (Legal Newsline) - A woman who admits she never smoked an R.J. Reynolds cigarette nevertheless can sue the company for consumer fraud, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled, rejecting the tobacco company’s argument her claim should have been dismissed.
Record $165 million verdict over FedEx truck accident not excessive, court rules
SANTA FE, N.M. (Legal Newsline) - A $165 million verdict against FedEx over a traffic accident that killed a young mother and her child and left a toddler critically injured was neither excessive nor the result of the jury’s sympathy and passion, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled.
Case against Uber over death of highly intoxicated Univ. of San Diego student transferred
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Uber and two of its drivers won a change of venue in a lawsuit accusing them of responsibility for the death of a University of San Diego student who vomited in one vehicle and ran away from a second, dying miles away after being hit by two cars on the highway.
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California court closes door on website-accessibility lawsuits
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A California appeals court may have closed the door on a once-lucrative area of the law for plaintiff attorneys, ruling the websites of internet-only retailers are not “places of public accommodation” under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
In Farmers vs. Lawyers, 10th Circuit rules for lawyers
DENVER (Legal Newsline) - A group of farmers who sued the law firms that represented them in litigation over genetically modified corn -- and then sued the lawyers representing them in that second action – lost at the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals when it rejected all of their claims.
Piano tuner can sue school district for defamation over drinking allegation
SALEM, Ore. (Legal Newsline) - A piano tuner who was accused by a coworker of being drunk can sue the school district that employed him for defamation, after the Oregon Supreme Court refuted a 1976 decision that some interpreted to mean all public employees were shielded from such claims.