Daniel Fisher News
Plastic surgeon who sued over bad Yelp review loses verdict
TOPEKA, Kan. (Legal Newsline) - A plastic surgeon who won a jury verdict against a former patient who submitted bad Yelp reviews under a fake name failed to prove his reputation took a hit, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled, affirming the reversal of a finding of defamation.
Court protects ADA lawyers from shakedown allegations brought by L.A., S.F. district attorneys
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A law firm accused by district attorneys in San Francisco and Los Angeles of filing shakedown lawsuits against immigrant-owned businesses will live to sue another day after an appeals court ruled the litigation privilege protects lawyers against civil suits over virtually anything they do or say in connection with pending litigation.
The FTC is attacking the 'very essence of competition,' according to Amazon
SEATTLE (Legal Newsline) - The Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust suit against Amazon attacks sales practices that are the “very essence of competition,” the online retailer said in a motion to dismiss the government’s case.
Friend of angry ex will face lawsuit after smear campaign cost student a spot at Dartmouth
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A student who claims he fell victim to a “vengeful smear campaign” by a spurned ex-girlfriend can sue over emails to Dartmouth College officials that led the prestigious school to rescind his offer of admission.
Wrong lawyer may have approved dead man's settlement
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Legal Newsline) - An insurance company that paid out $15,000 to settle claims over the death of an Alabama man may have to relitigate the case after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled the lawyer who negotiated the deal may not have been authorized to do so.
Firefighters pursue lawsuit over safety gear standard they once supported
BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - The largest union of firefighters is suing a standard-setting organization it says conspired with the manufacturer of Gore-Tex fabric and others to require chemicals known as PFAS in safety clothing - a standard the union itself supported for more than a decade and still requires in many of its collective bargaining agreements with municipal governments.
RICO lawsuit: Psychiatrist and law firm conspired to swindle defendants in discrimination lawsuits
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - A law firm with a history of judicial sanctions against it now faces a proposed class action by alleged victims of a scheme in which the firm paid a psychiatrist flat fees to churn out cookie-cutter reports supporting claims of emotional trauma.
Lawyers not liable for failing to sue South Dakota over car accident
PIERRE, S.D. (Legal Newsline) - Lawyers who represented a man who was injured in a car accident with a vehicle driven by a South Dakota employee didn’t commit malpractice by failing to sue the state, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled, rejecting arguments there was evidence the driver at fault was on duty at the time.
Handwritten business agreement drafted in coffee shop is valid, court finds
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A two-page, handwritten document drafted in a coffee shop is a valid contract between men who discussed buying a collection of gas stations for more than $12 million, a California appeals court ruled, reversing a trial court that found the document was too imprecise to enforce.
Dispute over Lyme disease guideline no basis for lawsuit, Fifth Circuit says
NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) - A medical society’s recommendations for the treatment of Lyme disease aren’t facts subject to claims of misrepresentation, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, throwing out a long-running lawsuit by plaintiffs who claimed infectious disease doctors had been bribed by insurance companies to deny care for chronic Lyme.
School district avoids liability for student hurt in TikTok challenge
JACKSON, Miss. (Legal Newsline) - A Mississippi school district isn’t liable for injuries suffered by an eighth-grade boy after two girls tricked him into a TikTok challenge called “Skull Crusher” in which they undercut the student after he jumped into the air.
Colo. court upholds $40 million verdict over newborn's sepsis
DENVER (Legal Newsline) - A Colorado appeals court upheld a $39.9 million jury verdict in a lawsuit over a newborn baby’s injuries from sepsis, nearly 40 times the statutory limit of $1 million in most malpractice cases.
New rules force judges to expel 'junk science' experts from court
It’s labeled a “clarification,” but an amendment to the Federal Rules of Evidence going into effect today is intended to end the widespread practice of judges allowing paid experts to peddle unscientific theories in their courts.
Indiana law eliminating COVID class actions is constitutional, court rules
INDIANAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) - An Indiana law that retroactively prohibited students from suing state universities over COVID pandemic measures like distance learning is constitutional and doesn’t prevent a Ball State student from suing the school on his own, the state’s highest court ruled.
Long window in Colorado for minimum-wage lawsuits
DENVER, Colo. (Legal Newsline) - Workers can wait up to six years to file claims over alleged minimum-wage violations under Colorado law, an appeals court ruled, even though federal labor law has a shorter statute of limitations and employers are only required to keep payroll records for three years.
Sixth Circuit tosses massive PFAS class action that would've included everyone in Ohio
CINCINNATI (Legal Newsline) - The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed what lawyers once hoped would be a class action on behalf of everyone in the country exposed to PFAS “forever chemicals,” saying the lead plaintiff failed to identify which companies made the compounds detected in his blood.
Ethics board takes on the millions given to New Mexico's opioid lawyers
SANTA FE, N.M. (Legal Newsline) - Responding to inquiries sparked by a Legal Newsline investigation, the New Mexico State Ethics Commission said a $148 million contingency fee paid to private lawyers out of an opioid settlement was subject to a procurement law governing all expenditures by state agencies.
Overpriced monopoly or good deal? Even FTC chief Khan buys diapers at Amazon
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, in a recent interview, acknowledged that even she buys baby diapers on Amazon.
Parents can sue over baby's death they blame on 911 dispatcher
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Legal Newsline) - The parents of a five-week-old infant can sue a West Virginia county for what they claim is a 911 dispatcher’s bad advice to drive the baby to a hospital instead of waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
Ala. court upholds record verdict after thumb injury leads to opioid overdose
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Legal Newsline) - The Alabama Supreme Court upheld a record $10 million in punitive damages against a hospital where a carpenter who went in for a severed thumb ended up dying after being administered dangerously high doses of intravenous opioid painkillers.