Ron Motley—asbestos and tobacco ‘class-action pioneer’—has died

South Carolina lawyer Ronald L. Motley who led billion-dollar suits against the asbestos and tobacco industries died Thursday. He was 68. “Ron was a true giant of the legal profession. A trail blazer and innovator,” Motley’s longtime friend and Motley Rice co-founder Joe Rice said in a statement. Rice described…

Aug 22, 2013 10:43 PM CDT

Judge OKs $1.6B pact in Toyota class action as trial begins in first wrongful death case

A record $1.6 billion settlement approved last week by a federal judge in Orange County, Calif., is only part of the potential liability that Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc. is facing as the first trial begins in more than 80 state court suits filed over alleged sudden-acceleration defects in the…

Jul 22, 2013 7:57 PM CDT

Apple’s lack of porn filter caused my addiction, lawyer says in product liability suit

A Tennessee lawyer has filed a federal products liability lawsuit against Apple Inc., contending that the company is strictly liable for selling “unreasonably dangerous or defective” electronic devices that lack pornography filters and do not adequately warn consumers about the dangers of surfing the Internet. Chris Sevier says in the…

Jul 16, 2013 4:40 PM CDT

City sues both owner and supplier of fertilizer plant that exploded

The city of West, Texas, has filed a product liability lawsuit against both the owner of a fertilizer plant where a fiery explosion detonated with the force of an earthquake in April and the chemical company that supplied it with ammonium nitrate, Courthouse News reports. Defendant CF Industries and two…

Jun 26, 2013 7:30 PM CDT

Lawyer celebrates 50 years at same law firm, the only employer he’s ever had

When Bill Oliver started work on June 1, 1963 at Martin, Pringle, Oliver, Wallace & Bauer, there were only seven attorneys at the Kansas law firm. The Internet didn’t exist, legal research was done in law libraries and attorneys dictated their work to legal secretaries for whom shorthand was an…

May 30, 2013 10:06 PM CDT

Should this toy be saved?

May 1, 2013 10:10 AM CDT

Dangerous desk toy Buckyballs voluntarily recalled by retailers

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, stymied in attempts to get a manufacturer to foot the bill, persuaded several prominent retailers to voluntarily join the agency in a recall of Buckyballs, the super-magnet desk toys which have seriously damaged the intestines of children who swallow them. The CPSC sought the cooperation…

Apr 29, 2013 4:50 PM CDT

Treble damages requested against two lawyers in RICO asbestos fraud case

CSX Transportation has asked a federal court to treble the damages a jury awarded the company in January in a case against two Pittsburgh plaintiff lawyers and a physician found liable for fraudulent claims in asbestos-related injury matters, according to a report by the West Virginia Record, a legal publication.…

Feb 7, 2013 6:05 PM CST

Spit-laced burger is grounds for emotional distress suit, state supreme court says

A sheriff’s deputy who claims he was served–but did not eat–a spit-laced burger can sue the burger maker under state product liability law for emotional distress, the Washington Supreme Court has held. The court, in a 6-3 decision (PDF) Thursday, said state law permits relief for emotional distress damages, in…

Feb 4, 2013 7:09 PM CST

Two Toyota sudden acceleration cases are settled; terms and evidence are secret

Toyota has settled two bellwether sudden-acceleration cases in recent weeks, including a personal injury suit involving a Utah crash that killed the driver and a passenger. Terms of the settlements are confidential, and much of the evidence in the cases is sealed, the Los Angeles Times reports. The settlements follow…

Jan 18, 2013 11:30 AM CST

Columnist who is injured by an immersion blender finds other mishap stories, and a lawsuit

A columnist who Googled “immersion blender” learned she is not the only one who suffered a mishap while trying to pry food out of the blades. Writing in the New York Times, writer Alexandra Jacobs tells how she injured her fingers with the hand-held blender. It’s important to unplug the…

Jan 17, 2013 2:59 PM CST

Baltimore Judge to Consider Plan to Revive Backburner Asbestos Cases

A law firm whose name partner bought the Baltimore Orioles with money earned from asbestos suits has a new plan to push more cases through the court system. The plan by the Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos would revive the cases of 13,000 people who claim they became ill…

Dec 17, 2012 4:28 PM CST

Federal Judge: Goodyear, Lawyers Must Pay Plaintiff’s Legal Fees, Provide Sanctions Order to Others

Finding that a major corporation and two lawyers representing the company blatantly ignored or evaded their discovery obligations and comparing a hard-fought products liability action to the endless Jarndyce and Jarndyce case described in Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, a federal judge in Arizona has ordered Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.…

Nov 16, 2012 3:45 PM CST

Around the Blawgosphere: Ideas on Fixing Long Lines at Polling Places; America’s Funniest Lawyer

How Should Obama ‘Fix That’? University of Califorina, Irvine, law professor Richard Hasen wrote at Election Law Blog about how he thinks President Barack Obama could make good on his promise to ‘“fix” the problem of outrageously long lines at polling places. “I am thinking that a bipartisan commission should…

Nov 9, 2012 2:30 PM CST

More Than 100 Suits Filed over Pradaxa Warnings

More than 100 lawsuits have been filed in federal courts over alleged bleeding risks from the blood thinner Pradaxa. The medication has been on the market for two years, generating $1 billion in sales, the New York Times reports. The drug has been linked to more than 500 deaths in…

Nov 6, 2012 12:00 PM CST