School was out this week, and the 95+ degree temperatures remind us that summer is here. My kids are already talking about swimming pools and trips to the beach (though we won’t be roping or rounding up any sharks like the man in the picture --- and please, no plaintiff lawyer shark comments). It’s always a challenge to keep plugging away at the office while they’re off frolicking in the sun, but I’ll do my best.
We’ll start with our traditional look at tort "reform".....
Professor Timothy Lytton has a new book out detailing the positive role that lawsuits played in the Catholic clergy sexual abuse scandals.
Overlawyered’s June 5 roundup touches briefly on the movement to overturn the Feres doctrine.
At TortDeform, Justinian Lane argues that the growing spate of crane accidents illustrates the dangers of preemption. (And it’s great to see Justinian back at it at TortDeform and CorpReform.)
Speaking of preemption, several Congressional Democrats have introduced legislation to overturn preemption in medical device cases.
In the lawyers behaving badly category, a magistrate cut a plaintiff’s fee request by $400k, citing the contentiousness between lawyers for the parties.
UVA law prof Jeffrey O’Connell is pitching an "early offer" form of tort reform. His system is designed to reduce payments for mental anguish and other non-economic damages. Not surprising, the prof found that this system would reduce payouts, but it says nothing about protecting injured plaintiffs.
And on to the litigation news.....
More big news on the Vioxx front as the New Jersey Supreme Court rejected the medical monitoring class action filed against Merck. Merck is on a serious winning streak on these cases.
Tortsprof has a brief look at the NC proposal to require disclosure of medical malpractice payments.
In Virginia, a botched bunion surgery led to a foot amputation and eventually a $3.5 million verdict.
A mention in Bill Marler’s blog is never good. Sadly, his blog is hitting a little close to home as he reports on a Salmonella outbreak from tomatoes in New Mexico and Texas. One of my legal assistants appears to be one of the victims.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows in Hawaii as the City of Waikiki plans to appeal a $3.6 million jury award to a woman who slipped and fell on a sidewalk.
Virginia lawyer Dan Frith has the story of an assisted living facility evicting a 99 year old Medicaid resident.
In Massachusetts, a jury rendered a $6 million verdict after a doctor had a patient over for a social visit, got drunk, and fell on her. The patient later developed RSD from her fractured foot. I think the moral of the story is clear: don’t become friends with your doctor.
Grammy award winning Tejano singer Emilio has been sued for personal injury claims stemming from the band’s bus wreck.
There have been some settlements with suppliers following the 2006 Sago Mine explosion.
In a jurisdiction case, civilian employees may be allowed to pursue claims against KBR stemming from their employment in Iraq. The opinion is available from Texas Lawyer, here.
In Europe, they are conducting the world’s largest study on post-traumatic stress disorder, with an emphasis on personal injury claims.
On the FDA front, there is bad news for nursing mothers. The FDA has issued a warning that Mommy’s Bliss Nipple Cream may harm infants. Since my wife nursed both our kids, I sympathize with nursing mothers, but surely that company could have found a better name for the product.
Finally, I’m not sure if this is personal injury or not, but a judge has approved a $24 million pet-food settlement.
And finally, on to the miscellaneous news....
Ron Miller has an interesting post on the Trial Lawyer Resource Center blog asking "When should a plaintiff’s lawyer name experts in personal injury cases?"
Whatever you do at trial, practice your technology. Justinian Lane returns to Corpreform.com with "Laser pointer too complicated for partner at Skadden." A laser pointer? Are you kidding? I guess they still make copies on a mimeograph machine.
In the ironic suits department, the DOJ has been sued by an employee in the civil rights division who claims that she was the victim of discrimination.
And this week, there were two stories that demonstrate the power of the internet. On Tuesday, an Austin federal judge issued an order this week that is a must read for all college football fans (particularly those from Texas and Arkansas). By Wednesday, I had received copies of the order from dozens of different people, including several out of state lawyers. On Wednesday, a Houston attorney filed an answer (usually a routine form here in state court) that contained obscenities. By Thursday, the pleading had also made the rounds, including appearing on Turkewitz’s blog and on Overlawyered. No doubt thousands of lawyers will have reviewed each of these in a matter of two days.
Thanks again for reading, and have a great week.
Brooks Schuelke
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