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LEGAL NEWSLINE

Monday, November 4, 2024

Nicholas Malfitano News


Pa. courts move up to No. 2 ranking on ATRA's annual 'Judicial Hellholes' report list

By Nicholas Malfitano |
WASHINGTON – According to the latest annual report of “Judicial Hellholes” released Tuesday by the American Tort Reform Association, Pennsylvania courts have garnered the No. 2 ranking for jurisdictions considered unfriendly to businesses – moving up two places from the fourth spot on the list, where they had been ranked last year.

Pa. Supreme Court rolls back med-mal venue rules, allowing plaintiffs greater filing leeway

By Nicholas Malfitano |
HARRISBURG – The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Civil Procedural Rules Committee has green-lit standards allowing plaintiffs statewide greater leeway in where to file medical malpractice liability cases, a move cheered by personal injury attorneys and criticized by health care and business interests.

ALI approves controversial Restatement of Consumer Contracts at its annual meeting

By Nicholas Malfitano |
WASHINGTON – At its annual meeting this week, the Philadelphia-based American Law Institute voted to approve a Restatement intended to give legal clarity to consumer contracts – a project which has been subject to controversy, since its foundation is said to diverge from established contract law in some respects.

ALI's Consumer Contracts Restatement may come up for approval vote this year, despite increasing concerns

By Nicholas Malfitano |
PHILADELPHIA – At a virtual meeting this week, the Philadelphia-based American Law Institute is scheduled to continue work on a Restatement meant to give legal clarity to consumer contracts – a project yielding “significant concerns,” according to a member of the legal scholarship organization, especially since it may come up for a final vote at the group’s annual meeting this spring.

Pa. courts drop from the top to No. 4 ranking on ATRA's annual 'Judicial Hellholes' list

By Nicholas Malfitano |
WASHINGTON – According to the latest annual report of “Judicial Hellholes” released today by the American Tort Reform Association, Pennsylvania courts have garnered the No. 4 ranking for jurisdictions considered unfriendly to businesses – falling three places from the top spot on the report, where they had been listed for the preceding two years.

Philly DA Krasner sues AG Josh Shapiro's office in Commonwealth Court over proposed $26B opioid settlement

By Nicholas Malfitano |
PHILADELPHIA – A proposed $26 billion settlement with opioid distributors and manufacturers which would benefit a group of states including Pennsylvania, has come under fire from Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner – who feels the City’s compensation would be undervalued in the agreement, wants to continue litigating and has filed his own lawsuit seeking to preserve that right.

D.C. court rejects Exxon's appeal of order to remand advocacy group's case to Superior Court

By Nicholas Malfitano |
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – A panel of federal appellate judges recently dissolved an administrative stay in an advocacy group’s lawsuit against fuel giant against Exxon Mobil, which claims the company has not done enough to combat climate change, and ordered the case would stay in the D.C. Superior Court.

Judge denies Avenatti's attempt to add defendant and remand defamation case to Delaware state court

By Nicholas Malfitano |
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) – Michael Avenatti will not have the opportunity to add a defendant to his defamation lawsuit against Fox News or remand the case to Delaware Superior Court, per a federal appellate judge.

Philadelphia remains the No. 1 'Judicial Hellhole,' now joined by Pa. Supreme Court

By Nicholas Malfitano |
WASHINGTON – In the latest annual report of “Judicial Hellholes” released today by the American Tort Reform Association, Pennsylvania courts have taken the No. 1 ranking for the second consecutive year – due to high-dollar mass tort verdicts, expanding medical liability litigation and a lower reliability standard for expert witness evidence, among other issues.

Pa. Supreme Court disregards SCOTUS ruling, decides jurisdiction applies in pelvic mesh injury case

By Nicholas Malfitano |
HARRISBURG – A landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the concept of specific jurisdiction in 2017 did not guide the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, when it affirmed a $12.85 million damages award in a pelvic mesh injury matter against a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary.

Decision in TCPA case will give defendants ammo to fight litigation, Pittsburgh lawyer says

By Nicholas Malfitano |
PITTSBURGH – A Pittsburgh attorney says that a recent decision in a Louisiana federal court has resurrected the potential for defendants facing litigation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to claim that the law is unconstitutional in its entirety.

Deadlocked U.S. Supreme Court upholds mail-in ballot deadline extension ruling from Pa. Supreme Court

By Nicholas Malfitano |
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a ruling which will permit Pennsylvania to count mail-in ballots submitted up to three days after Election Day on Nov. 3, in a deadlocked decision of 4-4.

Bayer pays $1.6 billion to settle U.S. injury claims against Essure birth control device

By Nicholas Malfitano |
PHILADELPHIA – Bayer Pharmaceuticals announced Thursday that it agreed to pay $1.6 billion to settle almost all litigation in the United States based upon claims that its Essure birth control tool injured women who used it.

If American Law Institute can't be impartial, judges shouldn't be members, group argues

By Nicholas Malfitano |
WASHINGTON – According to one Washington observer, the Philadelphia-based American Law Institute needs to remain true to its mission of distilling and clarifying law, or else strongly consider whether it is appropriate to have judges as members of its ranks.

Third Circuit to decide whether private lawyers can chase California-style jackpot in the name of government

By Nicholas Malfitano |
PHILADELPHIA – Oral arguments in the extended standoff between the Sherwin-Williams Company and a Pennsylvania county hoping to use private lawyers to sue it over lead paint will take place today before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Tobacco lawyer fighting insurers over coronavirus claims; Industry says pandemics are 'uninsurable'

By Nicholas Malfitano |
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – A plaintiffs lawyer who took part in the tobacco litigation of the 1990s is now at the forefront of the next great litigation wave, leading a group representing restaurant employees affected by the coronavirus quarantine as insurers claim rewriting policies to cover pandemics will wreck the industry.

Coronavirus roundup: States pass lawsuit-protection measures as Pennsylvania resists

By Nicholas Malfitano |
ATLANTA – As the nation continues to persevere through the coronavirus pandemic, more states are continuing to pass legal immunity protections for health care providers and in the ones which have yet do to so, a groundswell of support for such action is building.

Kentucky governor vetoes bill on ALI's controversial Restatement; Override possible amid coronavirus concerns

By Nicholas Malfitano |
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Legislation clarifying that the American Law Institute’s controversial insurance liability Restatement does not constitute law or public policy if it conflicts with established federal, state or case law overwhelmingly passed in Kentucky but was vetoed Tuesday by Gov. Andy Beshear.

Two more states pass measures targeting controversial Restatement issued by American Law Institute

By Nicholas Malfitano |
PHILADELPHIA – Legislation stating the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance does not constitute law or public policy if it conflicts with established federal, state or case law recently passed in the states of Utah and Kentucky.

American Law Institute 'at a crossroads' as it works on newest Restatement, member says

By Nicholas Malfitano |
PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia-based American Law Institute continues its work on a Restatement meant to give legal clarity to the arena of consumer contracts - a project that has been put on the back-burner and serves as a "litmus test" as to how the influential group will be perceived, a member says.