News from August 2019
Private lawyers stand to make $90 million as judge hits Johnson & Johnson with $572M opioid ruling
NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) - A state judge in Oklahoma has blamed Johnson & Johnson for the state's opioid crisis and ordered it to pay $572 million in damages, extending public nuisance law beyond its traditional boundaries into what may become an all-purpose tool for government lawsuits against product manufacturers.
Maryland attorneys face September 10 deadline for compliance submissions
All active Maryland attorneys are required to meet specific compliance requirements by September 10, as mandated by the court.
$61M decision against Dish for conduct of other company 'distorts the law of agency,' PLAC attorney says
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) – A federal appeals court decision affirming a $61 million class judgment against Dish Network over alleged Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations has made product liability law murkier, an attorney for a corporate advocacy group said.
Class action says Cali Bamboo floors don't last as long as advertised
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) – An Ohio consumer alleges a San Diego flooring company misrepresents the lifetime of its bamboo flooring.
PEPPER HAMILTON LLP: Robert Hertzberg of Pepper Hamilton Brings Dow Silicones Corporation's Decades-long Litigation to Closure
After 22 years of litigation, Dow Silicones Corporation – formerly Dow Corning Corporation – today agreed, subject to court approval, to pay $172 million in default interest on loans made to Dow before it filed its bankruptcy case.
U.S. court asked to enforce $4 billion ruling for mining company over halted Pakistan project
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – A company registered under the laws of Australia involved in a dispute with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan over a mining agreement has asked a U.S. district court to enforce a more than $4 billion arbitral award.
Landlords have duty to protect infants from radiator burns, some New Jersey Supreme Court justices feel
TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) – New Jersey landlords had a duty to protect an infant who was severely burned by a hot radiator in 2010, two dissenting justices said in a state Supreme Court decision issued last month in which the majority of justices ruled that the landlords did not.
Ohio Supreme Court determines when class action defendant can raise arbitration issue
COLUMBUS (Legal Newsline) – The Supreme Court of Ohio recently reversed and remanded a ruling from the Portage Court of Common Pleas and the 11th District Court of Appeals in an arbitration dispute between an employee and his former employer regarding whether the employee could proceed with his suit as a class action.
Utah Supreme Court says legal malpractice suit filed against attorney who missed filing deadline was timely
SALT LAKE CITY (Legal Newsline) – The Supreme Court of Utah reversed a lower court's decision in a malpractice suit filed against an attorney by two clients who alleged they lost the opportunity to collect more than $700,000 in a bankruptcy proceeding because the attorney failed to file the claim in a timely manner.
Montana Supreme Court affirms verdict in doctor's favor in medical malpractice lawsuit
HELENA, Mont. (Legal Newsline) – The Supreme Court of Montana recently affirmed a 2018 verdict in favor of a doctor in a medical negligence suit in which lower courts found he was not negligent.
Judge: Class actions used as threats by man with 'more than unusual' history of litigation
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has denied a consumer's motion for a class action certification and granted in part a motion to file under seal a civil complaint against My Pillow over privacy concerns.
New Jersey appeals court reverses $1.3 million fee reduction, finds Ocean County Judge lacked jurisdiction
TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) – An Ocean County judge was out of line when he knocked a plaintiff's attorneys fees from about $1.7 million down to $359,000 in a fee-dispute between an Illinois-based law firm and its former client, a New Jersey appeals court ruled earlier this month.
The trial bar continues spending on its new favorite Republican in Mississippi
Pennsylvania firms join other plaintiffs lawyers around the country in hoping Lynn Fitch becomes Mississippi's attorney general
Cab company could be liable for taxi stolen by teenagers who struck woman
HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) – A woman severely injured in a hit-and-run involving a stolen cab almost 10 years ago can take the taxi company back to court following a Connecticut Supreme Court ruling that the company can he held liable for her life-altering injuries.
Mississippi Supreme Court rules sand company 'has a right to be heard' in dispute over private road
JACKSON, Miss. (Legal Newsline) – An easement dispute over almost 100 acres in Warren County, Mississippi, is on its way back to a chancery court after the state's highest court ruled an Arkansas-based sand company had not been properly heard during a preliminary hearing.
Newark rent-control law can prohibit 'additional rent' collected by landlords
NEWARK, N.J. (Legal Newsline) – Late fees, attorney’s fees and other costs collected from tenants as “additional rent” can be barred in New Jersey's rent-controlled cities, according to a recently published superior court decision.
Camping World shareholder claims top execs made false statements about company to inflate stock prices
WILIMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) – A Camping World shareholder has filed a lawsuit against the national retailer and its top executives claiming they made false and misleading statements about the company in order to inflate the company's stock prices and profit from their stock sales.
Facing $102M legal malpractice case, N.J. law firm permitted to represent itself
TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) – A New Jersey appeals court ruled earlier this month that a law firm can represent itself in a malpractice case in which a former client claims she lost a $102 million child-abuse verdict on appeal over its allegedly bad advice.
Major plaintiffs firms that snagged states as opioid clients have been shut out of settlement talks by judge
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Recognizing the growing conflict between states and municipalities that are separately suing the opioid industry, U.S. District Judge Dan Polster has removed lawyers that represent both states and cities from any role in negotiating a potential class action settlement of opioid claims.
Former NYC restaurant investors claim litigation was part of scheme to make them pay tax liabilities
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (Legal Newsline) – A Connecticut couple who were investors in a company that operated a pizzeria and bar in New York City are claiming a New York attorney and other fellow investors attempted to illegally seize control of the company and file vexatious suits against them as part of a years-long vendetta.