Injury & Accident Law

Ruling Clears Way for Testimony by Ex-Toyota Lawyer on Hidden Documents

A ruling by the Texas Supreme Court is expected to clear the way for a former Toyota lawyer to testify about allegations the company failed to disclose information on design defects in its cars. The ruling allows a judge to consider a contempt of court sanction in a case brought…

Aug 30, 2010 4:42 PM CDT

Kentucky Bar Investigates Ohio Plaintiffs Lawyer Stan Chesley

Ohio tort lawyer Stan Chesley is facing an ethics investigation by the Kentucky Bar Association for his conduct in litigation involving fen-phen and priest abuse. The investigations were revealed in legal documents in the separate cases, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. The Louisville Courier-Journal reported last week on one of the…

Aug 25, 2010 3:33 PM CDT

Atlanta Lawyer Is the Go-To Guy for Botched Circumcision Cases

Atlanta lawyer David J. Llewellyn says he came by his unusual practice niche quite by accident. Llewellyn is a plaintiffs personal injury lawyer who specializes in botched circumcisions, which he says accounts for about half of his practice. “I didn’t set out to be a circumcision lawyer,” Llewellyn told the…

Jul 30, 2010 6:40 PM CDT

NYC Settles Sean Bell Case for $3.25M, 2 Other Victims Get $3M and $900K

The city of New York has paid $7.15 million to three victims to settle a civil rights case concerning an unarmed African-American man who was shot to death by police in a hail of bullets outside a Queens night club in November 2006 as he celebrated in anticipation of his…

Jul 27, 2010 11:02 PM CDT

Psychiatrist Had Duty to Warn Patient’s Spouse of Herpes Risk from Doctor-Patient Affair

A psychiatrist allegedly infected with the herpes simplex virus had a duty to warn his patient’s spouse before allegedly having unprotected sex with the patient, a New York judge has ruled. Upholding the husband’s right to bring a negligence suit for the alleged breach of duty by the psychiatrist, Westchester…

Jun 7, 2010 7:59 PM CDT

Lawyers Lower Fees After Judge Rejects 9/11 Settlement

In an effort to salvage a major settlement, lawyers representing thousands of World Trade Center ground zero workers have agreed to lower their requested legal fees. The law firm Worby Groner Edelman & Napoli Bern said it will cap its rate at 20 percent, or $115 million, after a U.S.…

Jun 3, 2010 3:20 PM CDT

BP Facing Familiar Nemesis: PI Lawyer Brent Coon

When BP’s Texas City, Texas, oil refinery exploded in 2005, killing 15 workers and injuring hundreds, company officials came to know Brent Coon very well. Coon, who heads a Beaumont, Texas-based environment and personal injury practice, spearheaded the Texas civil litigation against BP following the accident, which the company eventually…

May 28, 2010 6:39 PM CDT

Vegas PI Lawyers Say Insurers Are Delaying Settlements and Offering Less

A plaintiffs personal injury practice isn’t what it used to be, at least in Las Vegas. Plaintiffs lawyers in the city tell the Las Vegas Business Press that insurers are dragging their feet on settlements and offering less money. Personal injury lawyer Ed Bernstein says a typical claim used to…

May 21, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

iPad a Great Low-Profile Tool for My 4-Day Jury Trial, MacLitigator Says

When a Utah lawyer needed to persuade a jury that an Ogden City golf cart path had been negligently designed, he found his MacIntosh iPad a handy tool. It wasn’t too flashy, simply a low-profile, easy-to-operate tool for presenting the trial documents into evidence, Partner Peter Summerill of Hasenyager &…

May 4, 2010 11:01 PM CDT

Class Action Suits Are Filed Over Gulf Oil Spill; Leak Could Be Gushing 25K Barrels Daily

Updated: Two commercial shrimpers have filed a federal lawsuit in Louisiana against the owner and operator of a oil rig that exploded and sank last week in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in a massive oil leak, and similar actions are being filed in federal court in other states, too.…

Apr 30, 2010 5:33 PM CDT

Sex Abuse Victims Sue Vatican, Claim Officials Knew Year Earlier of Abuse

A new suit filed Thursday against Pope Benedict XVI claims that the Vatican knew at least a year earlier than previously disclosed about the case of a priest who molested deaf boys for some 20 years at a boarding school in Wisconsin. One of the estimated 200 victims wrote a…

Apr 23, 2010 10:28 AM CDT

Effort to Fine Toyota $16.4M Could Speed Up Plaintiffs’ Discovery in Acceleration Cases

A record fine of $16.4 million that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is seeking to impose on Toyota Motor Corp. will probably help the plaintiffs in hundreds of lawsuits filed against the company over alleged sudden acceleration issues and other vehicle concerns, even though the fine isn’t expected to…

Apr 6, 2010 5:53 PM CDT

Burned Ex-Reed Smith Associate Back on Track for Trial After Appellate Win

An ex-associate who said her use of her dominant hand was impaired after it was burned during a Reed Smith trial training program is back in the litigation ballgame against her former employer. A trial court in 2007 had dismissed the 2003 disability discrimination case that Danielle Cesarano brought against…

Mar 4, 2010 10:31 PM CST

DOJ Sues 18 Lawyers, Says $300M PCBs Pact in 2003 Didn’t Include Medicare Reimbursement

The Department of Justice has sued 18 lawyers, as well as law firms, manufacturers and insurers, contending that a $300 million settlement agreed to in 2003 in an Alabama environmental case wasn’t properly allocated to include reimbursement of Medicare costs for 907 of the 3,500 plaintiffs. It isn’t clear exactly…

Mar 1, 2010 11:51 PM CST

Suit: Law Firm, Medical Clinic Made Reciprocal Referrals

A Kentucky woman has filed a suit against a law firm and medical clinic that she says both deceived her and deprived her of her right to treatment by her own doctors. Sharon Langford of Louisville, Ky., went to Tampa, Fla.-based Winters Yonker & Rousselle after she was injured in…

Mar 1, 2010 8:17 PM CST