Daniel Fisher News
Jury of one: Asbestos judge fattens verdicts when she wants
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - A South Carolina judge criticized as overly generous to plaintiffs in asbestos cases is making defendants pay whatever she feels, despite what juries and federal courts say, and was just given approval to do so by the state Supreme Court.
Winner of $63M talc verdict worked in asbestos-filled building but jurors never knew
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - A man who won a $63 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson over what he claims was asbestos-contaminated talcum powder worked in a building later condemned for being “full of asbestos” and told his doctor about his suspected exposure to the deadly fibers.
Zantac lawyers bought the evidence, now they're spending big on ads for lawsuits
Plaintiff lawyers massively increased spending on ads soliciting clients to sue over Zantac after a Delaware judge ruled there was enough evidence to proceed with more than 70,000 suits claiming the once-popular heartburn medicine causes cancer.
Bucks County cut corners to file climate change lawsuit, oil industry says
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (Legal Newsline) - Picturesque Bucks County, Pa., decided to do something about climate change itself earlier this year when it hired private lawyers on a contingency-fee basis to sue 14 of the world’s largest oil companies.
Fla. trial lawyers want GOP lawmaker to FAFO, spending millions on a Trump-approved primary opponent as payback for reforms
A Florida state Senate election is "Ground Zero" for a revenge plot by Florida trial lawyers furious at a GOP lawmaker who cost them money by pushing reform measures - and their campaign of spending millions of dollars on one of 40 Senate seats got a boost from the country's most popular Republican, Donald Trump.
Norfolk Southern bondholders one step closer to big ruling on East Palestine train derailment
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - Investors who bought some $3 billion in senior notes from Norfolk Southern can sue over claims the railroad failed to disclose the risks behind a job-cutting performance improvement plan they say led to a disastrous 2023 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
Ruling on bone in boneless wing hard to swallow for some Ohio SC justices
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - A diner who suffered complications from swallowing a chicken bone that was hiding in a supposed “boneless wing” has no case against the food supplier, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled, because chicken bones aren’t foreign to chicken meat.
COVID order saves Georgia med-mal case from being filed too late
ATLANTA (Legal Newsline) - A judicial order handed down during the early days of the COVID pandemic suspended all deadlines in civil lawsuits including the statute of repose, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled, reviving a medical malpractice suit by a woman who claims a hospital misdiagnosed sepsis that cost her parts of her fingers and toes.
Fried chicken remark doesn't justify firing, Vermont court rules
MONTPELIER, Vt. (Legal Newsline) - A Vermont corrections department worker was unjustly fired for a 30-second exchange in which he asked if a Black colleague was cooking fried chicken, the state Supreme Court ruled, rejecting the state’s argument the firing was justified for his “very racist” remark.
No expert, no case for man who sued over wandering blood filter
LINCOLN, Neb. (Legal Newsline) - A trial judge was justified in dismissing the lawsuit of a man who accused his trauma surgeon of improperly implanting a blood filter but had no expert to testify about the local standard of care, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled.
'Whistleblower' can't regain job for reporting her own incompetence
HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - Connecticut’s whistleblower law protects public employees who report mismanagement and incompetence – even their own – but workers must prove they were retaliated against and not merely disciplined for poor performance, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled.
Money well spent: Research from lab costs plaintiff lawyers $2M but drives thousands of Zantac cases
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - A commercial laboratory that the judge overseeing thousands of Zantac lawsuits acknowledges lies at the core of the scientific debate over whether the heartburn medicine causes cancer was paid $2 million for its work, court filings show.
Some weedkiller-causes-cancer cases canned in Delaware
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - Weaving through a maze of different state laws, a Delaware judge dismissed some of more than 150 claims that Syngenta’s paraquat weed killer causes Parkinson’s disease, although other claims remain intact.
Not bad for government work: Opioid lawyers average almost $700 per hour
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Private lawyers working for state and municipal governments will be paid almost $700 an hour for their work in negotiating some $26 billion in settlements with the opioid industry.
Del. judge departs from federal ruling, allows experts to tell jurors Zantac causes cancer
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - Saying it was not her role to “step into the heart of technical debate between opposing scientists,” a Delaware judge refused to exclude plaintiff expert witnesses vital to some 75,000 lawsuits claiming Zantac causes a variety of cancers.
Fatal fire in Philippines won't spread to Connecticut courts
HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - Families of 29 call-center employees who were killed in a fire in the Philippines must sue the Connecticut company that employed them in their home country, an appeals court ruled, rejecting arguments the case would be dismissed overseas.
Del. AG can sue DuPont trust to get half its money spent in her state
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings can sue over the administration of the Florida-based Nemours Foundation established by the DuPont family, an appeals court ruled, upholding a decades-old settlement under which Nemours is supposed to expend half its money in Delaware.
Clinic could be in trouble after doctor uses medical records to advance dating goals
INDIANAPOLIS (Legal Newslne) - A medical clinic must defend itself against claims a doctor accessed the medical records of dozens of women, tracking them down in bars and on social media, hugging them and badgering them to go out with him, an Indiana appeals court ruled.
Student conduct chief reinstated after domestic violence arrest
HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - A Connecticut state university must reinstate the director of student conduct, who was fired after he was arrested for domestic violence in an incident where he allegedly threatened to kill himself and his wife and refused to allow police into his home.
Adult children can sue for loss of parents - who are still alive
HONOLULU (Legal Newsline) - Adding a new path for collecting damages in personal injury lawsuits, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled children, including adult children, can sue for the loss of consortium of a parent who is severely injured but still alive.