Daniel Fisher News
Long-bankrupt asbestos gasket company revived in search for insurance
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - Saying there was evidence a long-bankrupt manufacturer of asbestos gaskets had valuable insurance policies when it was dissolved, a Delaware judge reversed the cancellation of the company’s corporate status and ordered a receiver to be appointed to investigate further.
Church must face 20-year-old abuse claim in Florida
MIAMI (Legal Newsline) - A man who waited nearly 20 years to sue the Catholic Church over his alleged abuse by a priest can proceed with claims the church committed intentional infliction of emotional distress even though his negligence claim is barred by the statute of limitations, a Florida appeals court ruled.
Nursing home sanctioned over discovery delays it blamed on COVID-19
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - A California nursing home operator deserved more than $50,000 in sanctions for repeatedly missing deadlines to turn over evidence in an elder abuse lawsuit, an appeals court has ruled.
Jury must decide if alcohol or a shoddy railing caused man's fatal fall
LINCOLN, Neb. (Legal Newsline) - Clarifying its opinion that circumstantial evidence is just as conclusive as any other kind of evidence, Nebraska’s highest court reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit by the family of a man who plunged to his death from a balcony, taking the railing with him.
Controversial reforms to Israel Supreme Court would make it look a lot like America's
The proposed reforms to the Israeli Supreme Court that brought tens of thousands of protesters into the streets and even a rare rebuke from President Biden would make the court look a lot more like its U.S. counterpart, one of the chief architects of the changes says.
DOJ's opioid lawsuit not enough to reopen Amerisource Bergen case
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - The fact the Justice Department sued Amerisource Bergen for allegedly fueling the opioid crisis isn’t enough to reopen a shareholder derivative lawsuit seeking money from the company’s officers and directors, a Delaware court ruled.
Johnson & Johnson stuck with $344 million California judgment
Johnson & Johnson has no further avenues for challenging a $344 million judgment in California after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the case, which J&J and other said was based upon an unconstitutionally vague consumer-protection status.
Jailers, city not liable for death of drunk-driving suspect
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Legal Newsline) - An Alabama city and its employees are immune from a lawsuit over the death of a man who was found by his police unconscious in a running automobile, fell asleep during an alcohol breath test in jail and was found dead in his cell the next morning from what doctors described as heart trouble.
Man loses $700K verdict after finding out he wasn't his children's father
JACKSON, Miss. (Legal Newsline) - A man who won a $700,000 verdict over the belated discovery that his two children were fathered by someone else had it taken away after the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled he waited too long to sue and his lawyer submitted the wrong instructions to the jury.
Circuits split on whether Elizabeth Warren's CFPB is constitutional, leaving SCOTUS to decide
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - A federal appeals court ruled the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s funding mechanism is constitutional as the U.S. Supreme Court considers a Fifth Circuit decision that went the other way.
Arkansas city wins class action after sending recyclables to dump
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Legal Newsline) - Fort Smith, Ark., doesn’t owe its citizens anything for deceiving them about a municipal recycling program for several years since it didn’t charge extra for the service, the state’s highest court ruled, overturning a judge’s award of $745,000 in damages.
New Hampshire rejects medical monitoring claims in PFAS lawsuit
CONCORD, N.H. (Legal Newsline) - New Hampshire law doesn’t allow uninjured plaintiffs to collect money for medical monitoring just because they have been exposed to a chemical, the state’s highest court ruled on a question submitted by a federal court hearing lawsuits against manufacturer Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics.
$25 million verdict stands despite judge's ex parte communications
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A California school district lost its bid to overturn a $25 million wrongful-dismissal verdict despite citing communications between the trial judge and a colleague who was an ex-partner of the winning law firm, after an appeals court found no reason to suspect a conflict.
Liberal judge's preference for probation for violent offenders an issue during Wisconsin Supreme Court race
MADISON, Wis. (Legal Newsline) - The sentencing pattern of Milwaukee judge Janet Protasiewicz, a candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court who would create a liberal majority with a victory, reflects a light touch that creates problems in her community, the executive director of a conservative organization says.
Soros-backed fund spends millions to turn Wisconsin Supreme Court liberal
A political committee backed by billionaire George Soros is spending millions of dollars to defeat the conservative candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in hopes of placing Judge Janet Protasiewicz on the bench and flipping the court majority to the liberal side.
Lawyer can continue 'heavy-handed' campaign against client's opponent
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - A man who accuses an insurance brokerage of shortchanging him on commissions can continue to publish false and misleading statements about the firm, a Florida appeals court ruled, largely overturning a trial judge’s injunction against over tactics the man’s lawyer acknowledged could be “heavy-handed” and “relentless.”
Inmate's premature lawsuit over San Quentin COVID outbreak no reason for dismissal, court rules
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - An inmate at San Quentin State Prison can proceed with a proposed class action over an outbreak of Covid-19 he blames on the state’s failure to quarantine prisoners who were transferred from another jail in May 2020, an appeals court ruled.
Court: Losing your foot was notice of possible malpractice claim
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A man who developed gangrene and had to have his foot amputated waited too long to sue a California county for medical malpractice, an appeals court ruled, rejecting the plaintiff’s argument he only discovered he had a potential claim after visiting the Mexican consulate on another matter months after his foot was cut off.
Parents of high school football player who died after concussion can't sue school district
PHOENIX (Legal Newsline) - An Arizona school district can’t be sued over a student’s death after suffering a concussion in a football game, an appeals court ruled, refusing to reinstate a lawsuit by parents who accused the district of failing to implement a proper safety plan.
Court: Bonefish Grill couldn't turn over video that didn't exist
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - A woman who slipped and fell in a Bonefish Grill, then lost her case after a four-day jury trial, also lost her argument the restaurant denied her a fair trial by failing to disclose there were multiple video cameras in the building at the time of her accident.