News from March 2021
New Mexico Supreme Court affirms cap on non-economic damages in med-mal lawsuits
SANTA FE, N.M. (Legal Newsline) - The New Mexico Supreme Court upheld the state’s $600,000 cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice suits, rejecting arguments the statute violated the constitutional right to trial.
Class action lawyer must overcome defendant's money-back guarantee
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – The maker of pain-relief products that contain curcumin is asking a federal judge to throw out the class action lawsuit that claims the substance does not reduce muscle soreness.
Challenge filed to personal injury lawyer's case over fall off hotel toilet
NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) – An employee of New Orleans’ Boomtown Casino Hotel says the personal injury lawyer suing him over a fall off the toilet is pulling some shenanigans to keep the case out of federal court.
TGI Friday's mozzarella sticks are actually cheddar, lawsuit says
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) – TGI Friday’s is passing off less-healthy cheddar cheese as mozzarella in its bagged snacks, a class action lawsuit says.
Rust-Oleum Restore products fail to protect, lawsuit alleges
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) – Rust-Oleum’s “Restore” products do not coat the surfaces they are intended to protect, a new class action lawsuit says.
Talks between class action lawyers, referral service to be disclosed to 3M
PENSACOLA, Fla. (Legal Newsline) – Facing hundreds of thousands of lawsuits over its ear plugs, 3M has successfully argued for a look inside the machine that generates these and other mass tort claims.
Fish fries, tent revivals and an aunt on the jury: Inside a $10.5 million Mississippi verdict
JACKSON, Miss. (Legal Newsline) - Hyundai Motors won reversal of a $10.5 million verdict in a Mississippi car crash after uncovering a trail of evidence worthy of a John Grisham novel, including a “jury consultant” who staged tent revivals that drew in potential jurors before the trial and a chief justice whose clerk overheard an incriminating discussion in a seafood restaurant suggesting jury tampering.
Suspended plaintiffs lawyer loses bid to disqualify judge he complained about
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Legal Newsline) - An attorney who had his law license suspended over allegations he intimidated courtroom opponents lost his bid to disqualify the judge hearing an unrelated sanctions motion, after a Tennessee appeals court ruled there was no reason to question the judge’s impartiality.
Lawsuit: Crop-dusting killed grass at Arkansas airstrip; Plaintiffs seek $250K
DES ARC, Ark. (Legal Newsline) – An Arkansas couple say a pilot spraying crops with pesticides negligently dumped Parazone on their property.
Legalzoom.com visitors are spied on, class action alleges
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – Legalzoom is facing a class action lawsuit that alleges it uses software to track how visitors use its website.
Questions remain about school's liability for death of student hit by car in gym class, court rules
OLYMPIA, Wash. (Legal Newsline) – A Washington State school district is not off the hook for the death of a student who was hit by a car while on an off-campus walk with his physical education class.
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Conflict emerges over punitive damages in multimillion-dollar Florida tobacco cases
LAKELAND, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - A Florida appeals court recently upheld a $3.5 million verdict against R.J. Reynolds over the smoking-related death of a woman but acknowledged its decision conflicted with another appeals court that would have limited punitive damages under a 1999 law.
NYC school sued after part of stage collapsed during show
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – Drama class became full contact, a new lawsuit in New York City alleges.
Wrongful death case says negligence at Ark. rehab center led to man again breaking hip
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (Legal Newsline) – An Arkansas rehabilitation center is facing a wrongful death lawsuit that says it waited 12 hours after a man recovering from hip surgery fell to get him to a hospital.
Father must establish paternity to sue over daughter's death, Louisiana court rules
SHREVEPORT, La. (Legal Newsline) - A father whose daughter died of sickle-cell anemia at age 20 can’t sue the state of Louisiana for medical malpractice because he failed to establish paternity within a year of her death, an appeals court ruled.
BALLARD SPAHR LLP: Raymond G. Truitt Named Chair of Loyola College of Arts & Sciences' Board of Advisors
Ballard Spahr Real Estate Partner Raymond G. Truitt has been named Chair of the Board of Advisors of Loyola College of Arts & Sciences at Loyola University Maryland.
HOLLAND & KNIGHT: Holland & Knight Adds Former House Armed Services Committee Staff Director Dan Sennott to Public Policy & Regulation Team
Dan Sennott, most recently the Republican staff director for the House Armed Services Committee, has joined Holland & Knight's Washington, D.C., office as a partner in the Public Policy & Regulation Group.
LITTLER MENDELSON PC: Minority Unions - New and Renewed Alternative Organizing Tactics
The COVID pandemic fueled a more virtual, more technology-connected worker base across the nation and across the globe, and labor unions have capitalized both on that connectedness, as well as a general spirit of unrest and worker dissatisfaction to promote labor activism and traditional and nontraditional organizing.
SHOOK HARDY & BACON LLP: Three Shook Attorneys Selected to Colorado Super Lawyers List 2021
Super Lawyers, a division of Thomson Reuters, has chosen three Shook attorneys for the Colorado Super Lawyers list for 2021.
CLARK HILL PLC: Leticia Mederos Joins Clark Hill Government & Regulatory Affairs Practice in Washington, DC as Senior Managing Director
Clark Hill announced that Leticia Mederos has joined Clark Hill as a Senior Managing Director in the firm’s Government & Regulatory Affairs practice in the Washington, DC office.