Lead Plaintiff, Counsel in Latest California Class-Action Asking for ‘Hockey Justice’
As Judicial Hellholes reporters continue to document, the once Golden State has become a Mecca for every two-bit shyster with
Judicial HellholesPennsylvania: Model for Commonsense Tort Reforms?
With its medical liability reforms last decade, enactment of the Fair Share Act last year and judicial reform of Philadelphia’s plaintiff-friendly Complex Litigation Center earlier this year, ATRA counsel Mark Behrens makes the case that Pennsylvania could become the model for commonsense state tort reforms
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightKentucky Legislators’ Failure to Pass Tort Reform Drives Major Nursing Home Provider from State
This past week, a major nursing home chain said it will no longer operate in Kentucky because of increased litigation and the 2012 General Assembly’s failure to pass a law making it more difficult to file lawsuits against nursing homes.
Judicial HellholesDiabetes Drug Maker Fights Pay-to-Play in Once-and-Future Judicial Hellhole
Standing up to Louisiana’s attorney general and his personal injury lawyer pals, the maker of a widely prescribed treatment for Type 2
Judicial HellholesAnother Loss for Mississippi AG Jim Hood
Just days after a related good-government reform bill he fought tooth-and-nail was signed into law, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood got more bad news in the form of a state supreme court decision
Judicial HellholesNew Jersey Facing Physician Shortage Crisis
New Jersey is treacherous ground for physicians and if legislators do not do something to fix the problem, the state will soon see a mass exodus of doctors.
Judicial HellholesDog Bites Man
A recent study performed by the insurance industry says dog bite claims in 2011 cost the industry $478.9 million, a 12 percent increase from 2010. Specifically, State Farm California had 527 dog bite claims and paid more than $20.3 million as a result. This is a 31% increase in claims over 2010
Judicial HellholesThe Time is Now for Louisiana Legislators to Take a Stand against Legacy Lawsuit Abuse
The end of the Louisiana state legislative session is fast approaching. Legislators will adjourn on June 4, 2012, and with only a few weeks left in the session, one cannot help but wonder- how much longer before leaders take action to protect the state from costly legacy lawsuit abuse.
Judicial HellholesATRA Letters Keep Heat on Lawsuit Lovers in California, Pennsylvania
Recent letters to the editor by the American Tort Reform Association have kept pressure on trial lawyer-backed opponents of tort reform, both in Sacramento, California, and Phildelphia, Pennsylvania
Judicial HellholesWith Hellholes Leading the Way, Bogus Slip-and-Fall Claims Rise Nationwide
A just-released report by the National Insurance Crime Bureau shows that questionable slip-and-fall claims rose by 12% from 2010 through 2011, and not coincidentally many past and present Judicial Hellholes are where most of these bogus, bottom-feeding lawsuits are filed
Judicial HellholesCalifornia Legislature Once Again Turns Back on Small Businesses, Defeats ADA Reform Legislation
On May 8, 2012, the California Assembly Judiciary Committee defeated A.B. 1878 (Beth Gaines-R) by a clean party-line vote of 3-7. This bill would have provided businesses much needed relief from frivolous ADA lawsuits.
Judicial HellholesDisgruntled Flyers Fans Take “Passion” to New Level, File Ridiculous Class Action Lawsuit against Organization
On Monday, May 6, 2012, a Jenkintown-based law firm filed a ridiculous consumer fraud class action lawsuit against Comcast Spectacor, the parent company of the Philadelphia Flyers, on behalf of all 2011-2012 full season ticket holders.
Judicial HellholesGood News, Bad News from Mississippi Courts
First the good news. Last week a jury ruled in favor of Union Carbide, the defendant in an asbestos lawsuit that once resulted in a $322 million verdict, the largest asbestos award for a single plaintiff in U.S. history.
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightPotato Chip ‘Labeling’ Suit Latest of Ridiculous Consumer Class Actions in Northern California
Wilson v. Frito Lay is the latest food-related class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, adding to the growing wave of ridiculous consumer class action lawsuits filed there
Judicial HellholesEXTRA! EXTRA! L.A. Judge’s Order of New Trial Can Only Encourage Lawyers to Con Courts
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson has — incredibly enough — just ordered a new trial in Hernandez v. Schaefer Ambulance Service, the details of which are avialble in an earlier Judicial Hellholes post
Judicial HellholesTransparent Tactics by L.A.’s Top Trial Lawyer May Warrant Contempt Charges, Bar Discipline
If it can be demonstrated that Los Angeles’s leading personal injury lawyer is lying to the court about how a $350,000 settlement was reached (or breached), he should be held in contempt and recommended for a severe law license suspension
Judicial HellholesMore Incompetent Parents File Another Pathetic Class Action in California
Like the pathetic excuses for parents who tried to sue McDonald’s because they apparently can’t control their 6-year-olds’ desires for Happy Meal toys, another group of incompetent parents is now suing Apple, claiming certain gaming applications, or “apps,” are “addictive”
Judicial HellholesUngratefully Litigious Has-Been Howard Stern Loses Lawsuit against Sirius XM Radio
The joke was on low-brow bigmouth Howard Stern Monday when a New York judge dismissed his outrageously ungrateful lawsuit against Sirius XM Radio
Judicial HellholesOnce & Future ‘Judicial Hellholes’ Dominate New List of States with Highest Medical Lawsuit Payouts
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
Judicial HellholesSiding with Hamburger and Toy Lovers, Judge Dismisses Incompetent Parents’ Class Action
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
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightWhere is the Obama Administration’s Pledged Commitment to Medical Liability Reform?
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.
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