Consumer Law

FCC Mulls Cell Phone ‘Bill Shock’ Regs as Family Fights $18K in Download Fees

Unexpected cell phone charges are a common problem—and, as a Massachusetts man found out, can suddenly ring up tabs of as much as $18,000 for unwary consumers. In Europe, though, the worst of the problem is routinely forestalled by text messages from mobile carriers notifying users that they are perhaps…

May 12, 2010 5:25 PM CDT

Law Firms Hire Physicians to Help Defend Medical Billing Cases

It isn’t just plaintiffs lawyers who are looking to hire professionals with medical expertise to help point the way toward high-value tort claims. A number of well-known law firms have recently hired nonlawyer physicians to bolster their defense practices, the On the Docket blog of Forbes magazine reports. Among them…

May 11, 2010 5:09 PM CDT

Deja Brew? Lawsuit Alleges Too-Hot Starbucks Tea; Observers Riff on ‘94 Mickey D Coffee Case

Remember the furor over the famous $2.9 million jury verdict in 1994 concerning McDonald’s serving too-hot coffee? It seems that Starbucks may have brewed up a sequel. The lawsuit news of the week, garnering international headlines, had to be Zeynep Inanli’s complaint that she had been served unreasonably hot tea…

May 7, 2010 7:29 PM CDT

ABA Offers Refunds to Those Boycotting Arizona Conference

The Equal Justice Conference to be hosted by the American Bar Association next week is being held in Phoenix. And that has put the ABA on the hot seat as individuals and organizations unhappy about the state’s controversial new immigration law call for a boycott of the event. ABA President…

May 6, 2010 10:27 PM CDT

AG Cuomo Sues Lawyer for Fraud, Says He Sold His Name to Debt Collector for $141K

The state attorney general has sued a New York attorney for fraud and violation of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, contending that John Nicolia sold his name for $141,000 for to a debt collector who used it to bolster its illegal collection tactics during 2008 and 2009. The…

May 6, 2010 7:38 PM CDT

Restaurant Requires Liability Waiver for Drinkers of Super-Hot Cocktail

The owner of Mercadito probably doesn’t really believe anyone is likely to sue the Chicago restaurant over its super-hot cocktail, the Vato Loco. But in an apparent marketing ploy to promote the $12 drink as the “Hottest Cocktail on Earth,” those who order it must sign a liability waiver, reports…

May 5, 2010 8:26 PM CDT

Malpractice Cases Keep New Firm Busy; ‘We Even Have a Case Against a Psychic’

Three years after it was launched, Armstrongs Solicitors is the fastest-growing law firm in Liverpool, England, due in part to its booming professional negligence business, reports Click Liverpool. Prior to venturing out into the new practice area six months ago, Armstrongs expected to find plenty of plaintiffs interested in pursuing…

May 4, 2010 5:35 PM CDT

Insurers Outraged at Law Firm’s Suits to Collect Very Small Amounts of Money

A Florida law firm doesn’t have many friends amongst insurance companies with a presence in Broward County. That’s because LaBovick & LaBovick has been suing them. Since forming its own collection agency last summer, it has filed more than 1,200 such lawsuits in the Fort Lauderdale-based court, most of them…

May 3, 2010 10:41 PM CDT

Know Your Facebook Friends: Fake-Account Fraud Is on the Rise

Most people probably know better than to send money or provide sensitive personal information to strangers via the Internet. But a Facebook friend may be a different story. That is the reason why hackers create fake accounts for nonexistent individuals or phish for data that lets them steal actual Facebook…

May 3, 2010 8:31 PM CDT

Attorneys General Target Two Companies Selling Pricey Auto Service Contracts

Attorneys general from nine states have filed suits claiming marketers are using misleading tactics to sell expensive automobile service contracts. Nine attorneys general have sued U.S. Fidelis, and five of them have also sued the Credexx Corp., which does business as Auto One Warranty Specialists, according to a press release.…

May 3, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Fla. AG Probes Large Foreclosure Law Firm re Possible ‘False & Misleading’ Mortgage Docs

The attorney general’s office in Florida is investigating a law firm with a high-volume foreclosure practice to determine whether it was in involved in “fabricating and/or presenting false and misleading documents in foreclosure cases,” reports the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). A spokeswoman for the Tampa-based firm Florida Default Law…

Apr 29, 2010 10:59 PM CDT

‘Tip of Iceberg’: Inspector Never Tested 200 Properties for Lead & Asbestos

A guilty plea yesterday in Manhattan federal court by a 68-year-old safety inspector who reportedly never looked at more than 200 properties he certified to be free of asbestos and/or lead contamination is only “the tip of the iceberg,” an unidentified “official” tells the New York Times. Authorities are now…

Apr 27, 2010 10:46 PM CDT

Lawyer Holds Boot Camps to Teach Secrets of Debt Collection Litigation

A Minneapolis trial lawyer sees opportunity in debt collection litigation—and in teaching others how to pursue it. Lawyer Peter Barry holds several debt collection “boot camps” each year to help other lawyers interested in pursuing litigation against debt collectors and the attorney fees that winning cases can bring, the New…

Apr 27, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

Anonymous Speech Case Among Supreme Court’s Final Four Arguments

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider the right to anonymous speech in one of four cases that will be argued this week in the term’s final days of argument. The case, Doe v. Reed, pits the right to anonymous speech against access to government, the National Law Journal reports. Under…

Apr 27, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Lawyers Ask to Exit Toyota Whistle-Blower Case Brought By Former In-House Counsel

Citing a “breakdown in the attorney-client relationship” that has made it “unreasonably difficult” to represent a former Toyota Motor Sales USA in-house counsel in a whistle-blower suit against the embattled automotive manufacturer, lawyer Jeff Allen is seeking to withdraw from the case along with his partner, Joseph Wohrle. The two…

Apr 26, 2010 8:23 PM CDT