News from September 2020
Ohio school wins lawsuit over abduction, murder of Alianna DeFreeze
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) – A prep school isn’t liable for the death of a 14-year-old student who was abducted on her way to school in January 2017.
Photo of dying child submitted to jurors not prejudicial, N.J. court rules
TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) – A judge didn’t err when allowing the photograph of a dying child to be shown to jurors in a wrongful death case, a New Jersey appeals court ruled.
Honeywell claims victory in $70M asbestos trial held on Zoom
ALAMEDA, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – A California jury has found for Honeywell in the nation’s first asbestos trial held on Zoom, refusing a plaintiff’s arguments for $70 million.
Appeals court asked to halt asbestos trial after plaintiff's friendly, private chat with jurors
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – An asbestos defendant is appealing the rejection of its request for a mistrial after the plaintiff was left alone in a Zoom chatroom with the jury.
Ninth Circuit OKs $6,700-an-hour attorneys fees over furious dissent in class action
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has approved attorneys fees in a class action over Bank of America overdraft charges that amounts to more than $6,700 an hour, rejecting the objections of a dissenting judge and attorneys general of seven states who said the court failed to consider how much work lawyers put into the case or what the settlement was really worth.
Private lawyers rep local gov't in lawsuit against Netflix, Hulu
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) – Private lawyers are apparently signing up government clients for a new round of litigation against Netflix and Hulu.
Debt collector fights for its right to call debtors more than twice a week
BOSTON (Legal Newsline) – A debt collector is suing Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, claiming an unconstitutional requirement violates its right to free speech.
Big plaintiffs firms circle government clients to score PFAS litigation contracts
MIAMI (Legal Newsline) – A memo from Miami-Dade County shows that the nation’s prominent plaintiffs firms are competing with and aligning to each other in the hopes of grabbing the most important clients – local governments.
Zuckerberg’s massive donation to 'non-partisan' election group not so non-partisan, challenger argues
A group of Democratic campaign operatives organized as a non-partisan good government group, just received a massive $250 million gift from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan.
Settlements cancel showdown in South Carolina over 'unfair' trial practice
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Legal Newsline) - Plaintiffs dismissed a pair of talc lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson before the question of whether they should be combined in a single trial was presented to the South Carolina Supreme Court, postponing a decision on a practice defendants say unfairly prejudices them with jurors.
Fired staffers hit back at Bloomberg's motion to dismiss their lawsuit
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – Staffers fired when Michael Bloomberg discontinued his Presidential campaign earlier this year say they were duped by the billionaire and urge a federal judge not to listen to him.
Shutterfly sued for mailing school pics home
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – Shutterfly is hassling parents with pictures of their children, a new class action lawsuit filed Aug. 27 claims.
Mott's sued over its 100% juice line
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A recent class action lawsuit against Keurig Dr. Pepper and Mott’s complains that their juices are not 100% juice, as they claim to be.
Maryland judges now have more power to keep sketchy science from jurors
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Legal Newsline) – Maryland is the latest state to adopt a more stringent approach to expert testimony.
Green Party candidates booted from ballot in Montana's U.S. Senate race
Dennis Daneke, a U.S. Senate hopeful in Montana known for his peculiar campaign strategy, has drawn a formal complaint accusing him of "knowingly and deliberately failing to register with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) as a federal candidate."
Jurors on Zoom now deliberating $70M asbestos case; Honeywell says evidence lacking
ALAMEDA, Calif. (Legal Newsline)- A former car dealership maintenance worker who is seeking $70 million in damages over his asbestos-related cancer failed to prove he was ever exposed to a Honeywell product, the parent company of a brake manufacturer said in closing arguments in California’s first all-Zoom jury trial.
Polster's pile: Opioid judge should decide if new Motley Rice lawsuit should be added, Walmart says
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Legal Lewsline) – The judge overseeing what plaintiffs lawyers call a “pile” of opioid lawsuits should determine if a recent one filed by two Arkansas counties will be sent back to a state court, Walmart is arguing.
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Judge affirms Minn. city's ban on flavored tobacco
MINNEAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) – Tobacco companies have lost their challenge of a Minnesota city’s ban on flavored tobacco products that was passed when health problems associated with vaping became known.
Court to decide if professor who refuses to use transgender pronouns can be disciplined
CINCINNATI (Legal Newsline) – The professor who was disciplined for not using a transgender student's preferred feminine pronoun and the university that issued the warning letter have made their arguments to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
After 40-year relationship ends, La. firm says Occidental Chemical hasn't paid final bill
NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) – A popular target of litigation in Louisiana hasn’t paid its legal bills, says the law firm that used to represent it.