The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday delivered good news for those of us nauseated by self-serving promulgators of meritless class actions, and the high court is considering whether to hear still another important appeal that could further rein in class action abuse
Points of LightA unanimous decision last week by the U.S. Supreme Court adds credence to the notion that Circuit Court Judge Kirk Johnson in Miller County, Arkansas may well be the very worst judge in America
Judicial HellholesThe Kentucky Supreme Court has disbarred legendary Ohio plaintiffs’ attorney Stanley Chesley, the latest in a long line of his kind who’ve been undone by greed
UncategorizedUrging justices of Alabama’s Supreme Court to reconsider their January decision that absurdly held a brand-name drug maker liable for the allegedly negative side effects of a generic drug made by a competitor, the Wall Street Journal today adds to the criticism of Wyeth v. Weeks
Judicial HellholesCalifornia’s leading journal for legal news has published a worthwhile story about the growing wave of preposterous consumer class actions that target the packaging and marketing of various food and beverage products, and which have found a welcoming embrace in the arms of judges comprising the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Judicial HellholesArizona’s Supreme Court yesterday unanimoulsy upheld state law that reasonably requires medical liability plaintiffs to adduce expert testimony in support of their claims from physicians practicing within the same medical specialty as defendant physicians
Points of LightIn an effort to protect from speculative lawsuits the thousands of jobs provided by commercial aircraft maker Airbus and its parts suppliers, the Alabama House this week is expected to pass a bill that has already cleared the Senate, limiting product liability years after manufacture
Points of Light, UncategorizedIn a victory for reasonableness, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit this week upheld Mississippi’s $1 million limit on awards for non-economic damages
Points of LightThe federal District Court for the Northern District of California, known increasingly for its plaintiff-friendly embrace of preposterous food and beverage consumer class actions, is where apparently alcohol-obsessed litigants have filed a new, multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch, alleging that the actual alcohol content of various beers is marginally lower than labels indicate
Judicial HellholesPhiladelphia’s Court of Common Pleas had 70 percent fewer mass-tort case filings in 2012 than in 2011, but out-of-state plaintiffs continued to predominate
Points of Light, UncategorizedDespite ongoing legislative reform efforts, Louisiana seems headed for a Judicial Hellholes ranking this year thanks to a recently horrendous state supreme court decision and a continuing pay-to-play shakedown racket known as the “Buddy System”
Judicial HellholesAn unsuccessful former graduate student in Pennsylvania, who was apparently indulged by her professor father, has lost a $1.3 million lawsuit against Lehigh University wherein she alleged breach of contract and sexual discrimination
Judicial HellholesA new analysis of that horrible drugmaker liability decision by the Alabama Supreme Court last month shows that the decision is not only out of step with virtually all of American tort law, but also is predicated on unsound public policy
Judicial HellholesATRA’s chief ally in the Judicial Hellhole known as New York is the author of an insightful letter to the editor in today’s Wall Street Journal
Judicial HellholesThe New Jersey man who has reportedly sued Subway appears in a New York Post photo to need another inch of bread like he needs a hole in the head
UncategorizedThe all too cozy relationships between Louisiana’s attorney general and various personal injury lawyers and law firms that were criticized in the latest Judicial Hellholes report appear to be continuing in the New Year
Judicial HellholesIt only took eleven days for a state supreme court to issue the first outrageous liability-expanding ruling of 2013. The ruling abandons a core principle of law– that manufacturers are liable only for injuries caused by their own products, not the products of others — and replaces it with, what is known in strict legal terms as, the “someone has to pay” approach.
Judicial HellholesShortly before the New Year, the Illinois Supreme Court announced a long-awaited decision that may appropriately serve to limit forum shopping somewhat in a state full of Judicial Hellholes notorious for the practice
Judicial Hellholes, UncategorizedMadison County, Illinois, currently ranked as the #3 Judicial Hellhole nationwide, managed in 2012 to shatter its old record for newly filed asbestos lawsuits
Judicial HellholesThe National Federation of Independent Business’s executive director in Pennsylvania, Kevin Shivers, made the case for venue reform and additional progress in improving the civil justice system during a recent television appearance on Comcast’s “Newsmakers” program, now airing throughout the Keystone State
UncategorizedMiscarriages of civil justice in plaintiff-friendly Miller County, Arkansas are nothing new (see the 2006 Judicial Hellholes report, p. 22), but now they’re the makings of an important case on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court — a case that invites the justices to rein in once and for all the class-action extortionists that continue to thrive, despite the best intentions of a 2005 federal reform law.
Judicial Hellholes