Eleven people who were late for traffic court because they were directed to the wrong courtroom were strip-searched and jailed by a FL judge. The arrests capped a series of complaints of intemperate conduct against the judge. The FL Supreme Court unanimously agreed he was unfit to remain on the bench because of a “lack of proper judicial temperament.”
The OH Supreme Court ruled that hiring attorneys to handle workers’ compensation cases is not required. The Cleveland Bar Association filed a complaint in 2004 with the Supreme Court’s Board on the Unauthorized Practice of Law against an actuary company that used non-lawyers to handle these type of cases. They believe non-lawyers are providing services that should only be performed by licensed attorneys.
The first batch of several weekly BP PLC documents were released publicly as part of a lawsuit settlement involving last year’s Texas City refinery blast. The batch revealed that BP’s upper management was aware of the growing safety issues before the explosion. Such documents usually involve a secrecy agreement as part of the settlement, but this public approach intends to reveal the company’s negligence and is a good example of “why we need to eliminate secrecy agreements.”
The estates of 73 former Wal-Mart employees filed a class-action lawsuit against the retailer to recover life insurance benefits the company wrongfully received upon the employees’ deaths. The suit alleged Wal-Mart had taken out life insurance policies on its employees and made themselves the beneficiary. Wal-Mart settled the case for nearly $5.1 million and about one third of it will go to the plaintiff attorneys while $35,000 to $50,000 will go to each plaintiff.
Investments banks on Wall Street chose to risk a trial rather than make multi-billion dollar payments to settle accusations of manipulating I.P.O prices of for technology companies in the late 1990s. The banks were also accused of cheating small investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars. However, a federal appeals court rejected a class-action lawsuit, which means investors suing will likely have to pursue individual claims.
A FL woman who was paralyzed after a three-vehicle crash has settled all of her claims which total $11 million. The FL Highway Patrol blamed the plaintiff for the accident, but her lawyer did not believe the accident happened the way the FHP claimed. Their report omitted a statement given by an armored car driver who said he cut off the woman, which caused her to swerve and hit two semis.
The MS Supreme Court ruled that car-rental firms are not responsible for accidents that result from them unknowingly renting a car to a driver who lies about having a valid driver’s license. If the driver presents a seemingly legal license, the company can use that to defend itself against a lawsuit. The ruling stemmed from a case in which a driver with a fake license injured another driver as a result of running a stop sign in his rental car.
The IL Supreme Court overturned two lower court decisions by ruling that most mass tort personal injury cases should not be litigated as class actions. The court stated it is inappropriate when the nature and extent of plaintiffs’ individual injuries, not questions of liability, dominate the case. The ruling was issued in a case in which 11 residents sued the railroad after being exposed to dangerous chemicals from a train derailment.
The IL Supreme Court overturned two lower court decisions by ruling that most mass tort personal injury cases should not be litigated as class actions. The court stated it is inappropriate when the nature and extent of plaintiffs’ individual injuries, not questions of liability, dominate the case. The ruling was issued in a case in which 11 residents sued the railroad after being exposed to dangerous chemicals from a train derailment.
Companies that specialize in tracking online activity for employers are experiencing a jump in business. New federal rules require businesses to document all employees’ electronic communications. The CEO of InBoxer, a software company, has been receiving five times as many inquiries for software that can accelerate the search and retrieval of electronic information.