Injury & Accident Law

Personal injury lawyers turn to neuroscience to back claims of chronic pain

Personal injury lawyers see neuroscience as a way to document their clients’ pain if and when it might be contested. The problem, many scientists say, is that the research, while showing much promise, is still in its nascent stage. Read this ABA Journal feature recently honored by the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

Mar 1, 2016 4:30 AM CST

Woman who OK’d $900K settlement in phone call with her lawyer is bound by it, federal judge rules

The mother of a 22-year-old man shot to death in 2014 by police in a Utah city is bound by her oral agreement to a $900,000 settlement, a federal judge has ruled. Susan Hunt initially agreed to the pact in a recorded phone call with her lawyer. But she then…

Feb 23, 2016 1:05 PM CST

Sued over fatal shooting, Chicago cop files $10M emotional distress counterclaim

A lawsuit filed by the father of a slain 19-year-old college student said the young man posed no threat to the Chicago police officer who fatally shot him in December. But in a counterclaim filed Friday, the officer gave a very different account of what happened and sought $10 million…

Feb 9, 2016 12:10 PM CST

Appeals court nixes Florida suit over fatal Italian shipwreck of Costa Concordia

Although the parent company of a sunken ocean liner is based in Miami and five plaintiffs are U.S. residents, a Florida appeals court last week nixed a U.S. lawsuit over the fatal 2012 shipwreck. Because the Costa Concordia struck a coral reef off the Italian island of Giglio, the 3rd…

Feb 2, 2016 1:50 PM CST

Is grievance filed over lawyer’s blog post a ‘lightweight defamation claim’?

A Michigan psychiatrist who is a member of the state’s attorney discipline board is seeking investigation of a lawyer’s blog post that questioned whether her expert testimony used “hatchet job tactics.” The lawyer blogger, Steven Gursten, has posted at his Michigan Auto Law blog the request for investigation (PDF) filed…

Feb 1, 2016 5:45 AM CST

Officials sue estate of man who shot at assessor, killed himself in courthouse

Officials who helped tackle a man who fired a shot at an Iowa tax assessor and then killed himself at the Jackson County courthouse in 2014 are pursuing individual lawsuits against his estate. The gunman was former Maquoketa City Manager Francis “Gus” Glaser, 71, and the incident took place during…

Jan 22, 2016 3:45 PM CST

New evidence of possible plaintiff fraud derails GM bellwether case; voluntary dismissal is filed

A real-estate agent who contacted General Motors last week has derailed a bellwether case against the automaker over an ignition switch defect. A notice of voluntary dismissal (PDF), with prejudice, was filed on Friday after GM sought to add the real-estate agent and a forensics technology expert as witnesses. The…

Jan 22, 2016 7:39 AM CST

Judge nixes $25M settlement because plaintiff’s lawyer was told of jury note before defense counsel

A Chicago-area judge tossed a $25 million settlement agreement Tuesday because the plaintiff’s lawyer in the case was told by a court clerk about the contents of a jury note before the defense heard about it. In the half-hour interim, attorney Mark McNabola settled the case, committing fraud by not…

Jan 20, 2016 12:55 PM CST

Sued for battery by Uber driver, passenger cites YouTube video in $5M counterclaim

Sued for assault and battery and emotional distress by the Uber driver he allegedly attacked from the passenger seat last year in Newport Beach, California, a now-former Taco Bell corporate manager has tried to turn the tables. Passenger Benjamin Golden filed a $5 million counterclaim over a YouTube video of…

Jan 19, 2016 3:45 PM CST

Woman traumatized by finding human face on car wash floor sues trucking company

It all began with a September 2013 hit-and-run accident involving a semitrailer truck, the plaintiff in a Montana lawsuit says. The victim, Elgie Bedford, 81, who had been on foot after his car went off the road, was struck by other vehicles, investigators believe, Courthouse News reports. The driver of…

Jan 14, 2016 2:40 PM CST

Virginia state senator sues mental health agency and state over suicide and stabbing by his son

A Virginia state senator has sued the state and a local mental health agency for the wrongful death by suicide of his son, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. R. Creigh Deeds, a Democrat from Bath County, said his son Austin “Gus” Deeds was improperly denied treatment by the Rockbridge Area…

Jan 6, 2016 5:10 PM CST

Corporate defense lawyer’s suit against DuPont exposed decades of pollution and redefined his career

Rob Bilott had a good job at Taft Stettinius & Hollister in Cincinnati. As an associate in the firm’s environmental division, he defended large chemical companies from litigation. In 1998, he was about to make partner and was supporting a stay-at-home wife and an infant son. Then a neighbor of…

Jan 6, 2016 4:00 PM CST

Chipotle investigated by federal grand jury over norovirus at Southern California restaurant

The Chipotle restaurant chain is under investigation for a norovirus outbreak at one store, Reuters reported Wednesday. A Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows that the Denver-based chain is under criminal investigation for a norovirus outbreak traced to a Chipotle restaurant in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Norovirus causes vomiting,…

Jan 6, 2016 1:30 PM CST

Judge tosses $21.5M verdict for cruise-ship door injury, cites deleted emails

A federal judge in Seattle has vacated a $21.5 million verdict awarded to a man injured by a closing cruise-ship door in 2011, saying he deleted emails that should have been produced in discovery. U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein tossed the verdict for James Hausman on Monday and ordered a…

Jan 6, 2016 7:45 AM CST

‘Lion of the trial bar’ Joe Jamail dies at 90

Houston personal injury lawyer Joe Jamail, famous for his $10.5 billion judgment against Texaco in 1985, has died at the age of 90. Jamail represented Pennzoil in the case against Texaco, which alleged Texaco interfered with Pennzoil’s deal to buy part of Getty Oil, the New York Times reports. The…

Dec 28, 2015 7:09 AM CST