Afternoon Briefs: MLB faces federal lawsuit for moving All-Star Game; entertainment lawyer starts singing career at 92
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Atlanta business group sues MLB for moving All-Star Game
Job Creators Network, a conservative organization that represents small businesses, is suing Major League Baseball for moving the July All-Star Game out of Atlanta. In a 21-page complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Monday, Job Creators Network seeks the return of the game to the Georgia capital, $100 million in damages to local and state small businesses, and $1 billion in punitive damages. The group referred to events that caused the league’s decision, including Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s signing of a new voting law in March. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Fox Business, Newsweek, Law.com, the May 31 complaint)
Los Angeles entertainment lawyer launches singing career at 92
Bert Fields, a 92-year-old Los Angeles lawyer who has represented the Beatles, Tom Cruise, Madonna and other iconic artists, has officially launched his singing career. On May 14, the Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger partner debuted his own rendition of “Back in the Saddle” on YouTube. When asked why he chose the Gene Autry song, Fields said: “Somehow, the lyrics and music got to me.” (The Hollywood Reporter)
SCOTUS rejects Johnson & Johnson appeal over $2 billion award in baby powder case
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear Johnson & Johnson’s appeal over a $2.12 billion damages award to women who claimed that their ovarian cancer was caused by asbestos in the company’s baby powder. Last year, the Missouri Court of Appeals quashed Johnson & Johnson’s challenge to the compensatory and punitive damages awarded to the 22 plaintiffs whose claims were held in one trial but decreased their total from the $4.69 billion originally decided by a jury. The company had argued that the consolidation of disparate baby-powder-related claims and the size of the jury’s damages award violated its due process rights. (Reuters, Forbes, the June 1 order)
Lawyer suspended for 90 days after making false claims about judge
On Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board suspended Sioux City, Iowa, attorney Harold K. Widdison for 90 days for his behavior during his post-divorce litigation and trust account management. The board alleged ethical violations arising from separate events during the litigation, including a modification proceeding in which Widdison falsely claimed that a judge told parties that “she was suffering some form of brain cancer, and that the court’s decision will take a long time to issue.” The board also alleged that Widdison repeated the false claims. “Although all of us in the judicial branch must be prepared for criticism, fair and unfair, the unsubstantiated attacks on a judicial officer from an Iowa lawyer in this case are beyond the pale,” the board wrote in its opinion. (The Legal Profession Blog, the May 28 opinion)
