John O'Brien News
Beasley Allen fights new votes to approve J&J's $9B talc bankruptcy
HOUSTON - Lawyers opposing a $9 billion plan that keeps ovarian cancer lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson out of the hands of juries and judges are upset other firms have clients now voting to approve it.
Case featuring rogue AI has late-breaking settlement, judge ordering sides to pay jury fees
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Legal Newsline) - The judge handed a mistake-laden brief crafted by a plaintiffs firm's AI machine is issuing more penalties, this time for putting him and jurors through a pointless nine-day trial.
Lawmaker wants climate cost study, while Big Oil preps for big hearing in Bucks County case
HARRISBURG - As the oil industry urges a Pennsylvania judge to toss a climate change lawsuit that Bucks County hopes will provide money for updates, one Pennsylvania lawmaker wants to commission a study on the costs associated with global warming.
Fourth Circuit: Carefully worded PFAS cases still go to federal court
RICHMOND, Va. (Legal Newsline) - States that crafted lawsuits against 3M over chemicals called PFAS in a way they hoped would keep them out of federal court have lost a key ruling.
South Carolina Supreme Court puts punitive damages on the table in waxy floor slip-and-fall
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - Punitive damages are now a possibility for a woman who slipped on a waxy floor, thanks to a ruling by the South Carolina Supreme Court.
$59 million later, Wisconsin's supreme court candidates are tied
Now officially the most expensive judicial race in America's history, Wisconsin's April 1 election appears to be tied.
Ex-chair's data breach probe of MGM dropped by new FTC
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - MGM Resorts' fight with the old Federal Trade Commission has been dropped by the new FTC, which features a new chair and an empty seat following the election of President Donald Trump.
Weak prison sentences from liberal candidate a hot topic in Wisconsin's Supreme Court saga
MADISON, Wis. (Legal Newsline) - Ahead of a debate that will help Wisconsin voters decide the future of its supreme court, conservative candidate Brad Schimel says his opponent has a "troubling history" of giving felons weaker prison terms than what prosecutors suggest.
Resistance to South Carolina's tort-reform bill comes from lawyer-senators
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - A proposed tort-reform bill in South Carolina has hit its first snag, as three senators, two of whom are personal injury lawyers, threw up a roadblock of an amendment that guts the legislation.
American Airlines hopes for SCOTUS help after DOJ antitrust suit blocks JetBlue partnership
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - American Airlines is looking to the U.S. Supreme Court for aid as it fights allegations its partnership with JetBlue is bad for customers.
South Carolina's governor hopes plaintiff lawyers don't derail tort-reform bill
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - South Carolina lawmakers are on notice to pass a bill that Gov. Henry McMaster says will help businesses struggling with insurance premiums at the expense of the state's powerful trial lawyer machine.
FTC's monopoly case against Amazon set for 'Economics Day' hearing
SEATTLE (Legal Newsline) - The new-look Federal Trade Commission will be in Seattle federal court March 7 for a special event in one of the Biden Administration's biggest lawsuits - an antitrust case against Amazon.
Insurer gets bad news in carbon monoxide wrongful death lawsuit
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Legal Newsline) - An insurance company will be brought into a wrongful death lawsuit after the Alaska Supreme Court found carbon monoxide doesn't fall under a "pollutants" exception in its policy.
Lab has 'whistleblower' settlement in place in Zantac case
PHILADELPHIA - The product-testing lab whose research has created tens of thousands of lawsuits still works to settle a case it brought itself and received no support from the federal government and more than two dozen states refusing to participate.
Voters should pick the Supreme Court, not lawyers, Kansas Chamber says
TOPEKA, Kan. (Legal Newsline) - Kansas lawmakers recently moved one step toward letting voters pick the state's Supreme Court justices, though associations from both sides of civil courts oppose doing so.
As J&J's talc trial goes on, Beasley Allen wants the whole thing moved to a different court
HOUSTON - As a Houston federal bankruptcy judge conducts a lengthy trial over whether to approve Johnson & Johnson's plan to effectively settle tens of thousands of ovarian cancer claims, lawyers against that strategy are fighting to move the issue to a different court.
Senate passes Ga. tort-reform bill, passes it on to House
ATLANTA (Legal Newsline) - Georgia lawmakers are one step closer to addressing their state courts system's reputation as unfair to defendants, as a tort reform measure awaits approval by its House.
AI woes: Judge boots Morgan & Morgan lawyer for citing nonexistent cases
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Legal Newsline) - A personal injury lawyer who fell victim to the shortcomings of artificial intelligence will be booted off a case as it heads to trial.
Class action that followed lab's study on benzene in dry shampoo looks to be settled
HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - Rather than continue to fight in court, Unilever will settle a class action lawsuit spawned by the testing lab Valisure, whose testing of consumer products has been criticized by the federal government in the past.
New York ticket-fees law leads to $2.5M settlement with Regal Cinemas
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - Regal Cinemas will settle a class action lawsuit alleging a $1.80 booking fee for movies violates New York law.