As John Edwards prepares to face federal charges that he criminally violated campaign finance laws in 2008, some in the media, to whom the former trial lawyer lied repeatedly, nonetheless seem determined, incredibly enough, to potray the defendant sympathetically . . . → Read More: As Edwards’ Trial Begins, Some in Media Portray Shameless Liar, er, Lawyer Sympathetically
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April 12th, 2012
April 10th, 2012
According to 2011 data, the six states with the highest average payouts for medical liability lawsuits are all home to current or recently named Judicial Hellholes. Go figure . . . → Read More: Once & Future ‘Judicial Hellholes’ Dominate New List of States with Highest Medical Lawsuit Payouts April 5th, 2012
In a big win for lovers of hamburgers and cheap toys, and in a stinging defeat for incompetent parents who can’t control the acquisitive impulses of their young children, a San Francisco judge yesterday thankfully disposed of another crazy California consumer class action — this one targeting McDonald’s — like a garbage bag full of stale buns . . . → Read More: Siding with Hamburger and Toy Lovers, Judge Dismisses Incompetent Parents’ Class Action April 4th, 2012
John H. Cochrane’s Wall Street Journal piece, “What to Do on the Day After ObamaCare”, offers up a number of thoughtful, market-oriented health care reform alternatives that could quickly begin to reduce health care costs should the Supreme Court strike down current law. Glaringly omitted from Mr. Cochrane’s proposals, however, is any mention of meaningful medical tort reform. . . . → Read More: Where is the Obama Administration’s Pledged Commitment to Medical Liability Reform? April 3rd, 2012
Louisiana has joined the growing majority of states whose high courts have upheld statutory limits on medical liability damages awarded by juries. These limits provide greater protection for doctors, which decrease the likelihood of doctors fleeing the state, thereby, increasing patients’ access to health care and increasing the standard of care which is available. . . . → Read More: Louisiana Supreme Court Joins Growing Number of State High Courts Upholding Limits on Medical Liability Damages April 2nd, 2012
This past week, ATRA, in conjunction with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Ohio Alliance for Civil Justice and the US Chamber of Commerce, filed an amicus brief in the case of Cullen v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance. The Brief urges the Ohio State Supreme Court to overturn the decision of the Court of Appeals and hold that the trial court was correct to consider the factual and legal merits of the case when determining whether or not to certify the class under Rule 23. . . . → Read More: ATRA Brief Urges Ohio’s High Court to Follow SCOTUS Precedent on ‘Class Certification’ March 30th, 2012
Coming less than six weeks after a potentially game-changing judicial reform order in Philadelphia, the #1 Judicial Hellhole for the past two years, a judge in another perennial Hellhole has issued a comparable reform order that could serve to significantly shrink the nation’s largest asbestos docket . . . → Read More: Madison County Judge Orders Bold Reform March 29th, 2012
A federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas has upheld the constitutionality of the Lone Star State’s 2003 limits on noneconomic damages in medical liability cases . . . → Read More: Good News from the Eastern District of Texas: Reasonable Limits on Noneconomic Damages Upheld as Constitutional March 28th, 2012
After recently asking his political supporters to help him block pending state legislation that would cramp his pay-to-play style, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has stepped in it real good with his latest closed-door hiring of outside counsel, according to Magnolia State media folk . . . → Read More: Back to His Old Pay-to-Play Ways? Mississippi AG Angers Lawmakers with Latest Outside Counsel Hire March 28th, 2012
In a previous Hellholes post, Will Concussion Lawsuits Sack the NFL, we discussed the potential impact that concussion lawsuits may have on the NFL. On March 23, 2012, former Washington Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien became the lead plaintiff in the latest class-action lawsuit against the League. . . . → Read More: Former Redskins Quarterback Leads Latest Class-Action Blitz against NFL March 28th, 2012
In recent weeks, US Senator Dianne Feinstein (D) has taken California legislators to task and urged them to address the excessive amount of “predatory” disability lawsuits that are plaguing the state. . . . → Read More: Senator Feinstein Calls on California Lawmakers to Enact Real ADA Reform March 27th, 2012
ATRA is calling upon New York State to order an “older driver” reevaluation for the 83-year-old plaintiff who’s filed a $1 million lawsuit against Apple after she blindly walked into a glass wall at one of its stores . . . → Read More: ATRA Calls on New York to Reevaluate Driving Skills of Elderly Plaintiff Who Walked into Wall March 27th, 2012
As the spring session heats up, the Louisiana legislature has the opportunity to adopt civil justice reform measures that would drastically change the way latent disease claims are handled in court. . . . → Read More: Civil Justice Reform Package Making It’s Way through the Louisiana Legislature March 27th, 2012
On Monday, March 26, more than 100 attorneys crowded into a Madison County courtroom to listen as 61 asbestos defendants asked Associate Judge Clarence Harrison to revise the court’s 2013 advance trial docket . . . → Read More: Asbestos Defendants Make Case against ‘Reservation’ Docket in Madison County March 19th, 2012
An excellent op-ed by an ATRA ally in New Jersey encourages small business owners to get involved in politics and policy . . . → Read More: Small Business Owners Encouraged to Particpate in NJ Political, Policy Processes March 16th, 2012
Video cameras appear to be on their way to the plaintiff-friendly courts of Madison County as part of a pilot program recently approved by the Illinois Supreme Court . . . → Read More: Will Cameras in Madison County Courts Boost Fairness? March 15th, 2012
Judicial Hellholes California, Florida, New York and West Virginia were home to some of the most absurdly outsized (and costly to us all) medical liability verdicts since 2010. . . . → Read More: Judicial Hellholes Spurring Costly Trend toward More Giant-Sized Medical Liability Awards March 12th, 2012
Madison County’s controversial asbestos litigation system is once again under fire and causing a stir. Recently, presiding Judge Clarence Harrison of Madison County, Illinois, denied a defendant’s motion to dismiss under the doctrine of forum non conveniens regarding a Texas resident who is alleging asbestos exposure in West Virginia and has no connection to Illinois. In the case of Woody v. Air & Liquid Systems Corporation, the Plaintiff and Decedent resided in Texas and the asbestos exposure occurred in West Virginia and Korea. The Defendants’ residences are scattered and the Defendants’ attorneys, both parties’ experts, and Plaintiff’s medical personnel involved in the cases all reside in West Virginia. Judge . . . → Read More: Madison County’s Controversial Asbestos Litigation System Strikes Again March 8th, 2012
A recent $1.25 million plaintiffs verdict in a railway crossing accident case tried in Madison County, Illinois has thankfully been reversed and remanded, but the judge’s conduct of the original trial speaks volumes about why the jurisdiction is a perennial Judicial Hellhole, and why plaintiffs from across the country hurry to board the “Madison County Express” . . . → Read More: More Evidence that Madison County Is a Judicial Hellhole March 8th, 2012
This week, in yet another bad decision, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that the collateral source rule applies to underinsured motorists. . . . → Read More: Yet Another Trial Lawyer-Enriching Decision by Wisconsin’s Supreme Court |
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