Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich has filed a $150,000 lawsuit against the cafeteria in the U.S. House of Representatives, claiming an unpitted olive in a sandwich wrap caused “serious and permanent dental and oral injuries,” even though C-SPAN video shows him five days later looking and talking normal
Judicial HellholesColorado legislators introduced a bill last Friday that would correct a state supreme court ruling that results in awards that significantly overcompensate plaintiffs and their attorneys in personal injury lawsuits.
UncategorizedTaking aim at lawsuit loan industry lobbyists and investors now pushing to have their pernicious and parasitic racket legalized in several states, which, in some cases, are home to Judicial Hellholes, ATRA scored a hit with a letter to the editor published in the New York Times
Judicial HellholesThe District of Columbia’s highest court has rejected two claims that threatened to make the nation’s capital a magnet for consumer lawsuit abuse. The alternative, the Court recognized, “would open our courts to any person from anywhere who decides to lodge a complaint labeled as a ‘representative action’ . . . even though that person has suffered no injury-in-fact related to a District of Columbia merchant’s unlawful trade practice”
Points of LightAt least one Los Angeles-area personal injury lawyer will be held accountable for abusing the civil justice system and contributing to California’s well-deserved reputation among the nation’s worst Judicial Hellholes
Judicial HellholesAs many of the ambulance-chasers driving this latest wave of phony-injury insurance scams submit bills for 26-hour days, meetings with the dead, or meetings that otherwise never took place, regulators say “the filing of [such] lawsuits is out of control”
Judicial HellholesWith “Drug Shortages: A Deadly Problem with No End in Sight,“ online news source Daily Finance reports that Teva, the drug maker unjustly targeted by a half-billion dollar Judicial Hellholes verdict last summer in Clark County, Nevada, has ceased production of its safe and effective sedative propofol
Judicial HellholesJudicial Hellholes® reporters stand by the decision to include California at #2 in their recent rankings of the least fair civil court jurisdictions in the nation. But they admit to missing a laudable appeals court decision there last fall when researching the latest Judicial Hellholes report and now wish to give credit where credit is due
Points of LightNews of a Canadian personal injury lawyer’s class action against the province of Newfoundland, demanding that the government there step up its moose-killing efforts, invites attention
UncategorizedThe shameless class-action coupon settlement approved by a plaintiff-friendly St. Louis judge last year and cited among Dishonorable Mentions in the latest Judicial Hellholes report is being appealed. Crusading lawyer Ted Frank, of the Center for Class Action Fairness, has filed
Judicial HellholesRobert Eglet, the personal injury lawyer who, with plenty of help from notoriously plaintiff-friendly Clark County District Court Judge Jesse Walsh, engineered what is arguably the most egregiously senseless civil verdict in Nevada’s history, has, believe it or not, been named by Lawyers USA as one of its “Lawyers of the Year 2010.”
Judicial HellholesIf you were too busy shoveling out from the Mid-Atlantic’s big post-Christmas blizzard, you may have missed Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell’s outburst, calling the NFL “wimps” when the decision was made to postpone a Philadelphia Eagles game due to the storm. “We’re becoming a nation of wussies,” Rendell blustered. But had the NFL and Eagles decided to go ahead with the game, where would the governor have stood on the lawsuits that almost certainly would have resulted?
Judicial HellholesThe Nevada Supreme Court denied a motion for rehearing of case in which it had upheld imposition of the “civil death penalty” against Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., eliminating all of its defenses and resulting in a $30 million judgment against the company.
Judicial HellholesThe Sacramento Bee reports the latest small business closure resulting from yet another abusive disability access lawsuit. The San Francisco small bookstore owner who was forced out of business said of the wheelchair-bound professional plaintiff, he ” is picking off small business owners like grapes on a vine.”
Judicial HellholesA federal appellate court today reinstated a lawsuit brought against a Pittsburgh personal injury firm for allegedly engaging in a scheme designed to generate fraudulent asbestos claims. ATRA had filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief, urging the court to take such action. The Fourth Circuit ruling clears the way for the case to move forward.
UncategorizedA federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by a man who got into a shootout at a bar, then sued the bar owner for his medical expenses, mental anxiety, inconvience, and pain and suffering. Although his federal case is dismissed, he could refile in a Pennsylvania state court. It wouldn’t be the first time that a bar patron succeeded in such a lawsuit in Pennsylvania state courts.
Points of LightThe California State Bar has announced that two of the state’s most prominent plaintiffs’ lawyers will face no further discipline for allegedly attempting to enforce an invalid $489 million judgment obtained in Nicaragua against the Dole Food Company.
Uncategorized“Seven businesses that constantly defend asbestos suits in Madison County have urged Circuit Judge Barbara Crowder to curtail the county’s
Judicial HellholesNew York’s highest court today affirmed dismissal of a case brought by one golf buddy against another that was cited as an example of the litigiousness for which New York City gained a mention on this year’s “Watch List.”
Points of LightA Washington-based interest group bent on limiting food choices has chosen California as the place to bring its latest lawsuit, which attacks McDonald’s for “the most powerful, unfair, and deceptive practices – tempting kids with toys to get them to nag their parents to buy Happy Meals.”
Judicial HellholesA ruling by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday shows why the state is no longer named ATRA’s #1 Judicial Hellhole and provides an encouraging sign for further improvement of the state’s civil justice climate.
In White v. Wyeth, the state’s highest court recognized the basic principle that an individual who sues under a consumer protection statute must show that he or she actually relied on the allegedly deceptive advertisement or practice to recover damages.
Points of Light