Seemingly determined to keep California atop the Judicial Hellholes rankings, an appeals court there last week ignored precedent requiring trial judges to function as “gatekeepers” when it comes to the scientific validity of expert testimony and instead upheld a decision to let jurors play that critical role in their acceptance of a discredited theory of asbestos exposure
Judicial HellholesA California McDonald’s franchisee last month successfully beat back a fraudulent Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) case after a security camera caught the plaintiff’s lawyer visiting the premises and collecting evidence instead of his client
Judicial HellholesA lawsuit by a former partner alleging that a prominent Mississippi plaintiffs’ firm engaged in a kickback scheme to secure work through state Attorney General Jim Hood’s office has been ordered unsealed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York.
Points of LightIn what could serve as the basis for a reasonable reform of frequently abused False Claims Act statutes in other states, a Florida appellate court last month upheld the state attorney general’s authority to dismiss such whistleblower claims, even in cases when the state chooses not to intervene in the lawsuit
Points of LightThe American Tort Reform Association today offered condolences to the family and colleagues of a longtime tort reform ally in California, John H. Sullivan, who lost a courageous battle with cancer last week at the age of 73
UncategorizedFlorida lawyer Jose Manuel Camacho is facing 14 counts of forgery for allegedly signing the names of seven different judges on more than 100 structured settlement documents
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightAnother outlier verdict in the “Show Me Your Lawsuits State” this week serves to further Missouri’s growing reputation among the nation’s worst Judicial Hellholes
Judicial HellholesNew Jersey’s sorest loser, who asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for an en banc rehearing of his proposed class action over high-priced Super Bowl tickets, was finally sacked and put out of the game this week
Judicial HellholesManhattan Institute scholar and ATRA ally James Copland has written a tribute to the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died Saturday at the age of 79
Points of LightA federal judge’s choice this week to toss out of court a lawyer’s plainly fraudulent and frivolous False Claims Act case without also ordering punishing monetary sanctions stands as the latest “poster child” for enactment of the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act, which is now pending in Congress and would mandate sanctions for those who promulgate frivolous litigation
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightA long smoldering class action that sought to make a cigarette maker pay for healthy smokers’ annual chest scans was finally snuffed out yesterday by a unanimous federal jury in Boston
Points of LightThe American Tort Reform Association today criticized elements of the New York State Assembly for pursuing legislation that, at the behest of the politically powerful plaintiffs’ bar, would make fair, quick and relatively inexpensive dispute arbitration more costly and less accessible for consumers and businesses, contrary to federal law
Judicial HellholesFor the second time in a week, the litigious animal rights activists at PETA have had a specious lawsuit tossed out of court
Points of LightJust when you thought self-serving plaintiffs’ lawyers couldn’t sink Florida’s civil justice system any further into the swamp of unethical behavior that makes it a regular Judicial Hellhole, at least one Florida judge has joined their drive to the darkest depths
Judicial HellholesThe American Tort Reform Association today criticized GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump after he threatened during a radio interview to sue rival Sen. Ted Cruz over allegedly untrue comments made by Cruz and his campaign staff, which Trump says cost him a first-place finish in Monday’s Iowa Caucuses
UncategorizedAs a former Judicial Hellhole, Atlantic County, New Jersey continues to show improvement with Judge Nelson Johnson presiding evenhandedly over the county’s mass tort docket
Points of LightStephen Diaco, one of three Tampa, FL attorneys involved in a DUI setup of an opposing counsel, has been permanently disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court. Diaco had previously sought review of a lower court’s recommendation of permanent disbarment but withdrew his request.
Points of LightThe U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, wherein the majority held that a defendant’s mere offer to pay an individual plaintiff’s full claim for damages is not enough to prevent that plaintiff from leading a class-action, appears to be having an immediate impact on litigation strategy
Points of LightMedical device maker Boston Scientific Corp. this week successfully blocked — at least for the time being — a proposed class action that alleges it had smuggled cheap counterfeit material to use in its pelvic mesh products
Points of LightAsbestos defendant John Crane Inc. this week filed motions in federal district court seeking to intervene in the Garlock Sealing Technologies-led fraud litigation against two plaintiffs’ law firms, Dallas-based Simon Greenstone Panatier Bartlett and the Shein Law Center of Philadelphia
Judicial HellholesIn an effort to appeal to “green” car buyers and radical environmentalists within regulatory agencies, Honda switched from wrapping some of its cars’ wiring in slow-to-degrade plastics to a soy-based casing. That’s right, Honda had begun to wrap its wires in tofu
Judicial Hellholes, Uncategorized