Former NY Speaker Sheldon Silver Convicted of Federal Corruption Charges in Second Trial
As reported by the New York Times, Sheldon Silver, former Democratic speaker of the New York State Assembly, was found
Judicial Hellholes5th Circuit Court of Appeals Overturns $502 Million J&J Verdict after Finding ‘Unequivocally Deceptive’ Conduct by Plaintiffs’ Lawyer
On Wednesday, April 25, 2018, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a half-billion dollar verdict against Johnson &
Judicial HellholesIntent on Making State a Judicial Hellhole- Maryland High Court Holds Statute of Repose Does Not Apply to Asbestos Claims
The Maryland Court of Appeals recently overturned the state appellate court’s Duffy v. CBS Corp. decision. In the case, which
Judicial HellholesATRA Disappointed in Massachusetts Supreme Court’s Decision to Adopt Expansive Theory of “Innovator Liability”
On March 16, 2018, in a very disappointing decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Court adopted an expansive theory of civil liability
Judicial HellholesCalifornia Federal Court Finds ‘Insufficient Evidence’ to Require Warning Labels on Roundup Products
On February 26, 2018, a federal judge in the District Court for the Eastern District of California halted a Prop 65 requirement that Monsanto place warning labels on its Roundup products, deciding that there was “insufficient evidence” the popular weed killer causes cancer.
Judicial HellholesAttorney General Sessions Discusses DOJ Efforts to Combat Opioid Abuse
On Tuesday, we heard more about the ongoing efforts to combat opioid abuse and efforts to combat this important public
Judicial HellholesEvidence of Trial Lawyer Corruption Comes to Light in South Carolina
On Sunday, February 11, 2018, the Post and Courier of Charleston, South Carolina reported new email evidence suggesting misconduct regarding
Judicial Hellholes“CREATES Act” is Nothing but a Giveaway to Well-Heeled Personal Injury Lawyers
The United States Senate is currently considering legislation that would benefit trial lawyers at the expense of consumers and innovative drug manufacturers. Proponents claim the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (“CREATES”) Act (Pat Leahy D-VT) would provide a more efficient path for generic drug manufacturers to bring their product to market. In reality, the legislation is nothing but a giveaway to greedy personal injury lawyers and generic drug manufacturers.
Judicial HellholesGarden State’s New Governor Faces Bellwether Choice on ‘Pay Equity’ Legislation
New Jersey, already ranked 6th among the nation’s worst Judicial Hellholes, has a newly inaugurated governor who’s wasted no time signaling his intention to expand growth-stifling civil liability still further
Judicial HellholesHigh Court’s Contempt for Lawmakers’ Authority, Lawsuit Rackets Place Florida atop Latest ‘Judicial Hellholes’ List
The American Tort Reform Foundation issued its 2017-2018 Judicial Hellholes® report today, naming courts in Florida, California, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois and Louisiana among the nation’s “most unfair” in their handling of civil litigation.
UncategorizedATRA Calls out Sen. Graham’s $500 Million Tax-Break for Trial Lawyers in Ninth Circuit
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 4, 2017 – The American Tort Reform Association today questioned South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s thus far effort to strip from tax legislation a provision that would end a significant tax break for wealthy personal injury lawyers pursuing class actions and other potentially lucrative lawsuits on a contingency-fee basis in courts within the U.S. Ninth Circuit
UncategorizedAnother Asbestos Bankruptcy
As deception and outright fraud persist as tactics of that element of the plaintiffs’ bar which continues to enrich itself through asbestos litigation, and as the U.S. Senate dithers over much needed legislation that would bring more transparency to asbestos claims, yet another company has been driven into bankruptcy — at the expense of employees, pensioners and creditors
UncategorizedCordray’s Veto Letter to Trump a ‘Last-Gasp’ Effort to Save Possible Gubernatorial Campaign
Noting that Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray has “sloppily revealed the falsity of long-running arguments against arbitration clauses in financial services contracts,” the American Tort Reform Association today called a newly reported letter from Cordray to President Trump “a desperate attempt to win back plaintiffs’ bar support for his possible gubernatorial run in Ohio”
UncategorizedCan’t Sue God or Nature, So Disaster-Chasing Personal Injury Lawyers Go after Utilities
Parasitic personal injury lawyers have drummed up class actions in the wake of both natural and manmade disasters before, but it’s tough to recall when they’ve been quicker on the opportunistic draw than they’ve been in suing utilities in the Judicial Hellholes states of California and Florida in the wake of recent wildfires and a hurricane
UncategorizedAnother Scientifically Groundless Talc Verdict Falls, This Time in Los Angeles
Just three days after a Missouri appeals court vacated the first of four monstrous, if scientifically groundless verdicts won since 2015 in St. Louis by plaintiffs alleging their use of talcum powder caused ovarian cancer, a trial judge in Los Angles last Friday reversed a $417 million plaintiff’s verdict in a comparable case
Judicial Hellholes, UncategorizedTwo Florida Firms’ Fraudulent Tobacco Claims Draw Nearly $9.2 Million in Sanctions
With at least six Florida personal injury lawyers now facing unrelated criminal charges for defrauding auto insurers and the Sunshine State already in the running for this year’s #1 ranking among the nation’s Judicial Hellholes, a panel of four federal judges last week imposed nearly $9.2 million in sanctions on two Jacksonville-based plaintiffs’ firms for their shameless pursuit of more than 1,200 “frivolous and factually baseless lawsuits” against tobacco defendants
Judicial HellholesMaryland Lawmakers Should Investigate Asbestos Claims, Not Raise Taxes
Prompted by overtures from the politically powerful personal injury law firm of Peter Angelos, Maryland’s Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee last Tuesday conducted a “briefing” for lawmakers on what plaintiffs’ lawyers purport is a “backlog of civil asbestos cases” in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City
Judicial HellholesFirst of Missouri’s Monster Talc Verdicts Falls on Appeal, Others Likely to Follow
A Missouri appellate court yesterday reversed and vacated a $72 million verdict that was the first of four such controversial, multimillion-dollar verdicts rendered in the City of St. Louis Circuit Court in a series of scientifically groundless lawsuits claiming that the use of talcum powder causes ovarian cancer
Judicial Hellholes, Points of LightA More Nuanced Look at the Washington Post’s ‘Bizarre Opioid Story’
Barely a month after the nation’s largest trade association of personal injury lawyers conducted a “Rapid Response: Opioid Litigation Seminar,” teaching attendees how they might cash in on such litigation, the Washington Post and CBS’s 60 Minutes partnered to break Sunday’s big story that alleges the pharmaceutical industry showered members of Congress with campaign contributions in order to pass legislation, adopted unanimously in both the House and Senate and signed into law by President Obama, which effectively restrained efforts by the Drug Enforcement Administration to rein in illicit distribution of federally approved prescription painkillers
UncategorizedRecord-Setting But Totally Bogus FCA Verdict Reversed by Fifth Circuit
A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit last Friday reversed a record-setting federal False Claims Act verdict of $663 million in a case so willfully mishandled by the trial judge that it sunk the Eastern District of Texas into the ignominious rankings of Judicial Hellholes two years ago
Points of LightFraud Arrests of 5 Florida Personal Injury Lawyers Represent ‘PIP’ of the Iceberg
According to reports published last week, at least five Florida personal injury lawyers have been arrested for their alleged roles in a car accident racket known as “PIP” fraud, but we know this represents barely the tip of the PIP fraud iceberg
Judicial Hellholes