News from October 2018
Prior convictions prevent man from serving as class representative
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A solar panel worker who had class certification denied by a superior court has lost his appeal of the decision.
National Lawyers Guild will have to pay $3K for edited body cam footage from Calif. protest
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – A California appellate court reversed a trial court’s interpretation of the California Public Records Act (CPRA) and found that the language of the statute included defendant and appellant city of Hayward, et al.’s “actual expenditures to produce a copy of the body camera video recordings, including the cost of extracting exempt material from these video recordings with the aid of special computer programming.”
Arizona AG Brnovich pledges to oppose anti-Israel legislation that is being pushed by federal judge
PHOENIX—Arizona's Assistant Attorney General has requested that a federal judge allow the state to continue enforcing prohibition of boycotting Israeli companies through public contracts, despite the judge's ruling that the prohibiting of such action violates First Amendment rights.
California man alleges Kraft Heinz fails to disclose artificial flavoring in Crystal Light products
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A Bermuda Dunes, California consumer alleges Crystal Light is misleadingly portrayed as "healthful fruit juice" instead of "sugar water."
Brnovich-Contreras AG debate scheduled today
Republican incumbent state Attorney General Mark Brnovich is shortly expected to begin debating with his Democrat challenger January Contreras in a live Arizona PBS event.
Consumers allege US-Mattress advertises in-home trial for mattresses and fails to honor it
SANTA ANA, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – Two California consumers allege a bedding company falsely advertises an in-home trial and fails to honor it.
Credit Suisse to pay $10 million to settle fraudulent trading practices charges
ALBANY, N.Y. — Credit Suisse has agreed to pay $10 million to settle charges by the New York State Attorney General's Office of fraudulent electronic trading practices.
Monroe County court orders Rochester home improvement business to pay $102,000 for fraud
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Monroe County Supreme Court has ordered a Rochester-based home improvement contracting business to pay $52,501 in restitution and $50,150 in penalties for defrauding customers.
Essex Superior Court grants permanent injunction to stop illegal development on Massachusetts wetlands
BOSTON -- A civil complaint filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey against a developer allegedly doing illegal work on wetlands and tidelands property in the state, has resulted in the Essex Superior Court granting a permanent injunction.
Boston salon chain to pay more than $45,000 to settle sick time law allegations
BOSTON — A Boston beauty salon chain has agreed to pay about $45,740 to settle charges by the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office of not paying earned sick time to employees.
California joins bipartisan multistate amicus brief for U.S. Supreme Court's Apple case
SACRAMENTO — California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is the latest to join a bipartisan multistate amicus brief in support of consumers in the Apple v. Pepper case that is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Attorney can't be sued by non-client, Colo. court rules; Dispute arose over condo parking spaces
DENVER (Legal Newsline) – The Colorado Supreme Court determined that a non-client plaintiff was barred from suing an attorney because he lacked standing to assert his claim.
Colorado Supreme Court rules conversation with late doctor is inadmissible in malpractice case
DENVER (Legal Newsline) – The Colorado Supreme Court used the state's Dead Man’s Statute to reverse an earlier ruling in a medical malpractice suit.
California court upholds judgment in wrongful death suit against YMCA over AED usage
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) – A California appeals court affirmed that a superior court’s judgment “correctly declined to impose an additional common law duty of care,” which would require the defendant and the respondent YMCA of San Diego County to provide hands-on usage instruction of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) to its employees.
Uber ordered to release due diligence materials in Google's case against former employees who started self-driving car business
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – A California appeals court reversed a superior court’s decision that granted plaintiff and respondent Uber Technologies Inc.’s petition to vacate the arbitration panel’s discovery in its discovery order.
Alabama Supreme Court reverses $20 million malpractice award, orders new trial
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Legal Newsline) – The family of a Gadsden woman who allegedly died as a result of malpractice and negligence had a $20 million decision in their favor reversed.
Ohio Supreme Court sends asbestos case back to trial court to determine if plaintiff is a smoker
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) – On Sept. 27, the Supreme Court of Ohio reversed an appeals court judgment that denied Union Carbide Corp.’s motion for administrative dismissal amid a case that challenges whether a man’s alleged smoking status contributed to his lung cancer diagnosis.
GOP AGs group sues Las Vegas police department after being denied body camera footage involving Dem AG candidate
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – The Republication Attorneys General Association (RAGA) has called out the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department over allegations that a Democratic Attorney General candidate, Aaron Ford, was favored during a police-involved incident because of his status and position, according to RAGA.
N.D. county turns down meeting with opioid lawyers, favors state AG taking lead
A North Dakota county recently declined to pursue a lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, turning down a request for a meeting from five heavyweight law firms based from Texas to Washington D.C.
Facing complaints of excessive fees, Texas counties release billing records of their opioid lawyers for free
Texas counties that demanded tens of thousands of dollars to provide billing records from outside attorneys representing them in opioid lawsuits have mostly agreed to hand them over for free