Injury & Accident Law

Judge: Gov’t Lied, Must Pay Attorney Fees

In more than 30 years of practice, New Hampshire lawyer Steve Gordon says he’s never before tried to get a judge to award attorney fees against the federal government due to bad faith. But that’s the approach that he’s taken—successfully—in a tort case over a murdered government informant whose identity…

Sep 21, 2007 6:26 PM CDT

Trial of Miami PI Lawyer Gets Under Way

Attorneys for a Miami mass-torts lawyer going on trial for stealing client money want to question potential jurors about their views on personal injury lawyers. Jury selection in the trial of asbestos lawyer Louis Robles gets under way tomorrow, the Daily Business Review reports. Robles was willing to accept a…

Sep 17, 2007 1:00 PM CDT

Big-Firm Alumni Have Van, Will Practice

Three former big-firm attorneys in Atlanta have made a name for themselves in a way that would have been hard to predict years ago. Jamie Hernan, Christopher Taylor and Jerome Lee have not only left King & Spalding and formed their own firm but bought a van in which they…

Sep 11, 2007 11:47 PM CDT

Shackled Fen-Phen Lawyers Seek Release, Judge Says No

Shackled and attired in faded gray-and-white-striped jail uniforms, three personal injury attorneys involved in mega-bucks fen-phen litigation attended a federal court hearing in Kentucky today to seek their release. Accused of bilking clients out of $64 million from a $200 million litigation settlement in 2001 concerning the diet drug combination,…

Sep 11, 2007 8:10 PM CDT

Releasee’s Car Crash Costs City $1.8 M

A city in Washington state has agreed to pay $1.8 million to the widow of a man killed eight years ago in a hit-and-run accident. That’s because the driver should have been incarcerated, but was released prematurely from jail in an Algona drunken driving case, reports the Seattle Times. Tracy…

Sep 11, 2007 7:29 PM CDT

‘TB Lawyer’ Fights to Regain Practice

Less than six months ago, life seemed good for Andrew H. Speaker, even though he’d been diagnosed with tuberculosis. The young personal injury lawyer was getting married, and about to start his own practice in Atlanta. Then he became the subject of international disapprobation for allegedly endangering others by taking…

Sep 10, 2007 10:17 PM CDT

$13.5 M Settlement in Nightclub Fire

Four companies sued in connection with a 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire that killed 100 people have agreed to a $13.5 million settlement. A special master would determine how to distribute the money, the New York Times reports. About 300 plaintiffs are suing for injuries or deaths of family members…

Sep 6, 2007 2:45 PM CDT

Stop Sign Issue Halts Divorce Case

There were some unexpected legal developments today in a long-running divorce battle in South Florida. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Paul Siegel apparently blew a stop sign and drove into a local intersection, colliding with a vehicle driven by former Miami Mayor Joe Carollo. Carollo had been scheduled to appear before the…

Aug 30, 2007 12:18 AM CDT

Did ‘Kid Nation’ Abuse Children?

It almost sounds like a law school exam question. Forty children, ages 8 to 15, are reportedly transported, without their parents, to a ranch in the New Mexico desert near Santa Fe. There they live and work together for 40 days, building a town and a society, supervised only by…

Aug 27, 2007 5:31 PM CDT

Scruggs, Firm in Criminal Contempt Case

A well-known Mississippi plaintiffs attorney and his law firm have been charged with criminal contempt by special federal prosecutors after they defied a federal judge’s order to return internal claims documents to an insurance company. Appointed by U.S. District Judge William M. Acker Jr. after the local U.S. attorney in…

Aug 22, 2007 4:44 PM CDT

Bankruptcy Legal Bill is $18 M

Lawyers who represented the Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., and its creditors in bankruptcy proceedings triggered in 2004 by clergy sex abuse claims have submitted their final bill. It is a little over $18 million—$18,842,506.13, to be precise, reports the Oregonian. “It’s not clear how they figured the 13 cents,”…

Aug 21, 2007 10:33 PM CDT

Relief for Lawyers in $20 M Lender Bounced-Checks Case

There is relief in sight for lawyers in Georgia and elsewhere who covered perhaps $20 million in bounced checks issued by a mortgage lender. After hearing from Edwin R. Neel, a veteran Atlanta real estate attorney who said he put up his own home to pay for HomeBanc Mortgage Corp.’s…

Aug 21, 2007 6:46 PM CDT

Web Site Lists Product Recalls

A new Web site created by Missouri’s attorney general offers consumers a comprehensive list of product recalls announced by federal government agencies. The Web site lists recalls and safety alerts from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the U.S. Department of…

Aug 21, 2007 6:25 PM CDT

Pitts: Constitution Protects Pedophile

Jack McClellan is a reprehensible freak, says Leonard Pitts. A self-admitted California pedophile, McClellan puts parents on edge by talking publicly about how he likes to look at little girls. He’s also upset a California judge, who recently issued a temporary injunction ordering him to stay at least 10 yards…

Aug 21, 2007 5:15 PM CDT

Proposed Laws Target Abusive Bosses

Nobody wants to work for a jerk. But unless abusive bosses violate specific prohibitions, such as discriminating against someone because of race or gender, treating employees badly generally isn’t illegal. That could be changing, however. At least four states are considering legislation that would give workers a right to sue…

Aug 21, 2007 4:37 PM CDT