Daniel Fisher News
County's ban on drilling for oil, natural gas struck down by California Supreme Court
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - An ordinance banning oil and gas drilling within Monterey County that passed with 56% of the vote is preempted by state law promoting the production of underground hydrocarbons, the California Supreme Court ruled, rejecting comparisons to earlier decisions allowing municipalities to prohibit drilling in certain areas or ban marijuana dispensaries entirely.
No fees for group who sought climate litigation records from Vermont attorney general
MONTPELIER, Vt. (Legal Newsline) - A group that opposes climate-change litigation doesn’t deserve to recover any of its legal fees in a case where it convinced a trial judge to order the Vermont Attorney General’s office to turn over some documents detailing its agreements with other AGs, the state’s highest court ruled.
Family's lawsuit fails after Tea Party leader kills self following arrest in Mississippi scandal
NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) - The widow and sons of a Mississippi Tea Party operative who committed suicide after being arrested for ordering a photo taken of a political rival’s incapacitated wife in her nursing home room have no case against the city that investigated him, a federal appeals court ruled.
Lawyers sued by Florida repair firm for allegedly mismanaging insurance claims
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - A Florida repair firm with a long history of suing insurance companies has turned on its lawyers, seeking to recoup more than $1 million it says it lost after insurers took advantage of new laws and a favorable court ruling to reject claims it filed on behalf of property owners under the state’s since-repealed assignment-of-benefits law.
USC football kicker had no right to confront accuser, California Supreme Court says
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A former USC football kicker who was expelled over a charge he physically assaulted his sometime girlfriend had no right to confront his accuser in person or on video, the California Supreme Court said, overruling an appeals court decision that USC’s Title IX disciplinary process was unfair.
Judge must ask more questions before dropping 'rape shield' in school sex abuse case
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A sex-abuse trial involving a school teacher that was halted after several days can only resume after the judge makes a more thorough determination of whether the plaintiff can be asked about a subsequent episode of abuse, California’s highest court ruled.
Michigan Supreme Court loosens Workers' Comp test for mental injuries
LANSING, Mich. (Legal Newsline) - Michigan’s highest court overruled a test workers’ compensation officials have been using for years to assess whether plaintiffs have proven work-related mental injuries, saying it was biased against claimants and contradicted by state law.
Plaintiff lawyers seek payment for thwarting J&J talc bankruptcy
TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - Plaintiff lawyers who successfully blocked Johnson & Johnson from settling talc claims in bankruptcy sought more than $1 million in fees as a judge for the second time dismissed the Chapter 11 reorganization case of the LTL Management unit J&J set up specifically to pay tort claims.
U.K. Supreme Court outlaws lawsuit-funding practice allowed in America
The U.K. Supreme Court has ruled outside funding contracts for antitrust litigation against truck manufacturers are unenforceable, throwing into question the future of the fast-growing third-party litigation funding business in England.
Labor class actions under PAGA needn't be manageable, California court rules
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - Sticking to its interpretation of the law unless the California Supreme Court decides otherwise, an appeals court ruled that labor lawsuits under the state Private Attorneys General Act needn’t meet the manageability requirements of other class actions.
EPA accused of controlling group that reviewed proposed formaldehyde regulations
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - A chemistry industry association has accused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of controlling an outside group tasked with reviewing the agency’s proposed regulations on formaldehyde by stocking it with friendly scientists and limiting public access and comment on its work.
Heirs of man smothered in grain trailer can sue vacuum manufacturer too
TOPEKA, Kan. (Legal Newsline) - The heirs of a man who was smothered under tons of grain and won more than $12 million in arbitration can also sue the manufacturer of the vacuum he was using, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled, declining to apply the state’s “one-action” rule barring multiple lawsuits over the same accident.
Synagogue shooter's hunting license wasn't valid, court rules in lawsuit against gun shop
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Congregants at a synagogue that was the target of a 2019 fatal shooting incident can sue the gun shop that sold the assailant his gun, a California appeals court ruled, citing a statute passed after the attack that established the shooter didn’t possess a valid hunting license when he bought his gun.
Uber must face labor class action, even though Plaintiff has to arbitrate
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Declaring itself to be the “final arbiter” on California law, the California Supreme Court ruled an Uber Eats driver can pursue a class action on behalf of other drivers even though the U.S. Supreme Court last year held the driver himself must submit labor claims to an arbitrator.
To hire or not to hire: Employers in political bind as AGs duel over affirmative action ruling
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Large employers are caught in the middle as Republican and Democratic attorneys general offer conflicting advice – and outright threats – over how to comply with anti-discrimination laws in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision outlawing race-based college admissions policies.
No antitrust claim for salesman fired after bad-mouthing merger
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - A title-insurance salesman who tried to win customers by warning them about the anticompetitive effects of a pending merger has no case, a California court ruled, saying he wasn’t the right party to make an antitrust claim.
Dogs are property, Wyoming court rules after St. Bernards die in trapper's snares
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Legal Newsline) - A Wyoming family can’t win emotional damages from watching their pet St. Bernard dogs die in snares set by a trapper, the state’s Supreme Court ruled, because state law doesn’t allow emotional damages over the loss of property.
As court losses mount, Khan remakes FTC with like-minded hires
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan will face a hostile audience tomorrow morning when she appears before the Republican-run House Judiciary Committee to explain, as the committee puts it, her “record of enforcement actions and politicized rulemakings.”
Fatal wheelchair accident involved health care, Texas Supreme Court says
AUSTIN, Texas (Legal Newsline) - A lawsuit over the death of a woman who hit her head in the parking lot after her wheelchair tipped over is subject to a Texas law governing malpractice suits, the state’s highest court ruled, reversing an appeals court that held the accident lacked a “substantial nexus” to health care.
New Mexico's fee for opioid lawyers: At least $1,500 per addict
SANTA FE, N.M. (Legal Newsline) - New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez quickly touted his state’s settlement of opioid claims against Walmart, CVS, Johnson & Johnson and other companies last year with a press release, but so far he's not talking about this year's $500 million settlement with Walgreens.