In the latest defeat for government officials using the awesome power of the state to suppress political speech with which they disagree, a federal judge yesterday permanently blocked California Attorney General Kamala Harris’s efforts to “out” the donors who support a free-market-minded nonprofit that has had the First Amendment audacity to weigh in on a variety of policy issues
Points of LightFederal trial Judge Lucy H. Koh last month continued her laudable, seemingly one-judge stand against consumer class action abuse in the Northern District of California
Points of LightA Florida judge who had been charged with ethics violations for repeatedly seeking Major League Baseball tickets from a plaintiffs’ law firm is “Out!”
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightA 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 LightFlorida 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 LightManhattan 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 LightFor the second time in a week, the litigious animal rights activists at PETA have had a specious lawsuit tossed out of court
Points of LightAs 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 LightA Cook County Circuit Court judge has vacated a $25 million settlement hurriedly reached with the defendants’ insurer after the plaintiff’s lawyer had been tipped off about a jury note that suggested things weren’t going his way
Points of LightAs reported by autonews.com, a California Court of Appeal reversed its own past ruling about the validity of arbitration provisions. This course reversal follows a ruling by the California Supreme Court in a different case which found a nearly identical arbitration provision to be enforceable.
Points of LightAs the pool of potential claimants who’ve truly been sickened by exposure to asbestos dwindles, along with the pool of still solvent defendant companies, personal injury lawyers have filed increasingly speculative lawsuits. But many judges, to their credit, are holding the line against such claims
Points of LightAmong many others, the Wall Street Journal today heralded Alabama lawmakers’ slap-down earlier this week of recent state supreme court decisions that embraced the both ridiculous and dangerous legal theory peddled by the plaintiffs’ bar as “innovator liability”
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightAn editorial in Charleston, West Virginia’s leading newspaper offers kudos to lawmakers and the governor for enactment of a tort reform law that effectively overturns a notoriously bad state high court decision that a dissenting justice said explains why the state is known as a Judicial Hellhole
Points of LightOn February 17th and 19th, Judge Staci M. Yandle for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois granted seven motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction for defendants involved in a large multi-defendant asbestos case. In each claim, the plaintiff, a former Navy worker, fell far short of alleging sufficient contacts by the defendants to the state of Illinois to satisfy constitutional due process requirements.
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightIn deciding not to hear a plaintiff’s appeal, Pennsylvania’s high court has upheld application the state’s 12-year statute of repose to asbestos claims
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