Consumer Law

Chicago Lawyer Sues Southwest, Says Airline Breached Free-Drink Coupon Contract

Updated: Readers holding free-drinks coupons from Southwest Airlines Co. might want to keep them on hand. Although the airline revised its policy in August of last year, notifying customers that such coupons would be honored only on the day of the flight after August 2011, a Chicago lawyer is challenging…

Nov 17, 2011 5:49 PM CST

Bar Group Wins Court Takedown Order re ‘Solicitors from Hell’ Blog

A bar group in the United Kingdom has won a ban on a disgruntled ex-client’s Solicitors from Hell blog. The site had featured a devil in a red suit surrounded by flames on its homepage and purported to “expose these shameless, corrupt, money-grabbing, incompetent specimens of humanity.” However, it now…

Nov 16, 2011 5:59 PM CST

Congress Proposes to Cut FY 2012 Legal Services Corp Budget By 13.9 Percent, to $348M

Grants to organizations that help provide representation to low-income individuals are likely to be cut under a proposed fiscal year 2012 budget for Legal Services Corporation. A joint U.S. Senate-House of Representatives conference agreement calls for a 13.9 percent overall reduction in the interim $398.1 million fiscal year 2012 budget…

Nov 15, 2011 10:19 PM CST

Enterprising Lawyer Snaps Photos of Alleged Air-Vent Cockroaches for Suit Against Airline

A North Carolina lawyer and his fiancée claim in a lawsuit against Air Tran Airways that they spotted cockroaches coming out of air vents and storage areas on their September flight to Houston. The $100,000 suit was filed by Charlotte lawyer Harry Marsh and his fiancée, Kaitlin Rush, WCNC.com reports.…

Nov 15, 2011 4:44 PM CST

Hit with $1.50 Starbucks Fee for Coffee Purchase, a Well-Connected Individual Makes a Difference

An undisclosed $1.50 fee that Starbucks reportedly was charging nationwide to customers who purchased less than a pound of coffee is no more. The coffee company decided to eliminate the fee after a relative brought it to the attention of the undersecretary of the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and…

Nov 14, 2011 10:26 PM CST

American Eagle Fined $900K in First Penalty Levied re Passengers Waiting Over 3 Hours on Tarmac

For those wondering how aggressively the U.S. Department of Transportation intends to enforce a new rule requiring airlines not to keep domestic passengers sitting for more than 3 hours in planes waiting on the tarmac, a $900,000 fine assessed against American Eagle Airlines provides an answer. The penalty resulted from…

Nov 14, 2011 7:15 PM CST

Fake No-Parking Signs Along Calif. Beach Streets Can Result in Real Tickets

It’s often hard to tell whether a multitude of unauthorized no-parking signs posted on roads near California’s best public beaches are legitimate or not. But the result can be double-whammy for those who seek a hard-to-find parking space in order to surf or simply take a stroll on the sand,…

Nov 11, 2011 2:02 AM CST

Twitter’s Privacy Policy Defeats Efforts by WikiLeaks Associates to Keep Info From Feds, Judge Rules

A federal judge in Alexandria, Va., today ruled that three individuals have no reasonable expectation of privacy in their Twitter accounts because they agreed, by clicking, to boilerplate terms of service which include permission for Twitter to provide information to law enforcement. Their lawyer unsuccessfully attempted to argue, according to…

Nov 11, 2011 1:06 AM CST

Fla. Lawyer and Client Win Ruling That State Law Lets Motorists Flash Lights to Warn of Speed Traps

It isn’t clear that a Florida judge agreed with all of the constitutional arguments advanced by a lawyer and his client concerning a motorist’s alleged right to warn others of a police speed trap by flashing headlights at oncoming cars. But he did side with a ticketed individual who sued…

Nov 9, 2011 1:16 AM CST

Freak NE Snowstorm Strands Air Passengers on Tarmac, Testing New DOT Regs, and Closes Courthouses

An unusual October snowstorm wreaked havoc on northeastern states, stranding passengers of multiple airplanes on the tarmac for more than seven hours over the weekend and closing a number of courthouses today. The situation was exacerbated by a record number of power outages, and it is expected to take over…

Oct 31, 2011 6:15 PM CDT

Del. AG Alleges Deceptive Practices in Latest MERS Suit, Seeks Temporary Court-Ordered Shutdown

In an apparent new wrinkle among a growing wave of government litigation over a national electronic registry that circumvented the traditional system of recording mortgage assignments in county offices, the Delaware attorney general has filed suit against Merscorp Inc. alleging deceptive practices by its Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, according to…

Oct 27, 2011 8:29 PM CDT

Top Mich. Court to Decide If Mom Who Saw Biker Son’s Fatal Crash Can Collect on Her Own Auto Policy

Insurance companies write the policies under which they contract to cover customers for automobile accidents and related injuries. So it is a general rule of interpretation that any ambiguity in the policy should be resolved in the customer’s favor. But a Michigan appellate court went too far when it decided…

Oct 21, 2011 6:30 PM CDT

Suit by Nutrition Group Claims Fruit Roll-Ups Are Improperly Promoted as Healthy Snacks

A group promoting better nutrition claims in a potential class action lawsuit that consumers are being misled by claims about Fruit Roll-Ups. The Center for Science in the Public Interest filed the federal suit against General Mills on behalf of a California mother, according to a press release and the…

Oct 20, 2011 11:00 AM CDT

Wis. Bill Would Limit Contingent Attorney Fees to Three Times Plaintiff’s Damages

A bill under consideration by Wisconsin lawmakers would limit attorney fees in most contingency cases to three times the amount of the plaintiff’s compensatory damages, according to the State Bar of Wisconsin. The state senate’s judiciary committee is conducting a hearing today on the proposed law, which has been introduced…

Oct 19, 2011 5:25 PM CDT

Judge Slashes $4.7M Fee Request in Prius Headlight Case, Calls Amount ‘Highly Unreasonable’

Lawyers who obtained a class-action settlement valued at more than $3.8 million in a Prius headlight suit won’t get anywhere near the $4.7 million they requested in attorney fees, according to the federal judge presiding in the case. U.S. District Judge Manuel Real of Los Angeles called the request “highly…

Oct 18, 2011 12:07 PM CDT