Tort Law

Top state court rules against public defender who sued ACLU for calling him ‘crooked’

A public defender is a public official who must prove actual malice in his defamation lawsuit against the American Civil Liberties Union for a blog post calling him “crooked,” the Georgia Supreme Court has ruled.

Oct 20, 2021 12:51 PM CDT

In 2 summary reversals, Supreme Court rules for officers who kneed and shot suspects

In two summary reversals Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for police officers who kneed a suspect with a knife and fatally shot another man wielding a hammer.

Oct 18, 2021 10:44 AM CDT

Missing apostrophe in Facebook post leads to defamation suit

An Australian real estate agent is facing a defamation lawsuit because of a missing apostrophe in his Facebook post. The real estate agent wrote the post about his former employer and his alleged failure to pay money into Australia’s retirement system.

Oct 12, 2021 9:40 AM CDT

Lawyer sues Amazon for false imprisonment after delivery van blocks his car

A Massachusetts lawyer is suing Amazon for $150,000 because its delivery drivers allegedly blocked his car, causing “loss of freedom of mobility, anxiety, humiliation.” Matthew Donnelly of Hull filed the pro se complaint on Sept. 24, the Patriot Ledger reports in a story noted by Yahoo Finance. A listing by…

Oct 11, 2021 11:15 AM CDT

Litigants claiming GEICO auto policy covers STD from car sex can’t proceed anonymously, judge rules

A car owner and his sexual partner can’t keep their names secret in litigation over their claim that GEICO’s auto and umbrella policies cover damages for a sexually transmitted disease contracted during sex in the insured car.

Oct 5, 2021 4:18 PM CDT

Infowars host who called Sandy Hook shooting a ‘giant hoax’ loses suits because of discovery abuse

Infowars host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is liable by default in three defamation lawsuits filed over his claims that the December 2012 mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was a “giant hoax.”

Oct 4, 2021 1:02 PM CDT

Costly Collisions: A small-town personal injury case sends a powerful message to the trucking industry

The number of crashes involving large trucks has been rising during the past decade. And as the number of crashes has increased, so has the size of jury awards and settlements, often resulting in what some lawyers call “nuclear verdicts”—multimillion-dollar damages verdicts significantly higher than expected given the injuries in the case, generally in excess of $10 million.

Oct 1, 2021 12:00 AM CDT

Social media companies that posted ISIS content aren’t liable for Pulse nightclub shooting, 11th Circuit rules

A federal appeals court has ruled social media companies can’t be held liable for radicalizing the Pulse nightclub gunman under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act because the plaintiffs failed to show the massacre was an act of “international terrorism.”

Sep 30, 2021 10:20 AM CDT

After several lawyers withdraw from Trump’s cases, a lesser-known lawyer steps in

Former President Donald Trump has turned to a small-firm lawyer to represent him in his $100 million suit against his niece Mary Trump and the New York Times for disclosing his tax records in an alleged breach of a confidential agreement.

Sep 27, 2021 12:18 PM CDT

6th Circuit rules against restaurant seeking insurance coverage for losses after shutdown order

A shutdown order that barred in-person dining was not a direct physical loss or damage to property covered by a "business interruption" insurance policy, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Sep 24, 2021 11:45 AM CDT

Weekly Briefs: DOJ opposes Purdue Pharma bankruptcy deal; California bill bans ‘stealthing’

DOJ seeks to stop Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan The U.S. trustee for the Justice Department has filed a motion to halt a judge’s approval of a controversial bankruptcy plan for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma. The deal allows members of the Sackler family, which own the company, to avoid legal liability…

Sep 17, 2021 4:15 PM CDT

Suppliers of unwashed poppy seeds face suits over overdose deaths and injuries

Lawsuits are being filed around the country on behalf of people who brewed tea with unwashed poppy seeds in search of a home remedy for anxiety, arthritis or diarrhea.

Sep 14, 2021 2:57 PM CDT

Day Pitney lawyers for gunmaker seek report cards, disciplinary records of slain Sandy Hook children

Updated: Day Pitney is raising eyebrows for subpoenas seeking academic, attendance and disciplinary records of five slain Sandy Hook schoolchildren as it defends a lawsuit against gunmaker Remington Arms Co.

Sep 13, 2021 2:07 PM CDT

Agreement giving lawyers ‘sole discretion’ to settle client’s case violates ethics rules, appeals court says

A California appeals court has voided a provision in a contingent-fee agreement that gave personal injury lawyers the “sole discretion” to settle a client’s case.

Sep 7, 2021 4:12 PM CDT

‘I can’t keep up with you on this stuff,’ busy trial lawyer tells Georgia justices in public defender’s libel suit

A lawyer representing an assistant public defender in a libel suit on Tuesday struggled with some oral argument questions about whether his client was a public official, finally telling the Georgia Supreme Court that he would hire someone else to “argue appellate stuff” in the future.

Aug 25, 2021 1:49 PM CDT