Daniel Fisher News
Unhappy client can sue lawyers over punitive damages award, court rules
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Legal Newsline) - Clients who are ordered to pay punitive damages can sue to recover the money from their lawyers, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled, rejecting arguments state law and public policy protect lawyers from being subject to punitive damages awards.
Latest opioid ruling puts MDL judge further out of step on public nuisance
A federal judge soundly rejected the “public nuisance” theory behind most opioid litigation, further isolating the judge in charge of thousands of similar lawsuits who has consistently ruled in favor of plaintiffs on this very question.
Judge dismisses biometric privacy case, saying lawyers `skirted close to the line’ of sanctions
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - A federal judge in Illinois dismissed a would-be biometric privacy class action after the plaintiff disappeared, saying plaintiff lawyers “skirted close to the line” of sanctions by pursuing the case without properly investigating the claims.
After calling watchdog 'notorious,' class action firm says it's practically a compliment
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - A law firm that called Ted Frank of the Center for Class Action Fairness a “notorious professional objector” has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to dismiss Frank’s motion for sanctions, dismissing its description as a “mild flourish.”
Even homeowners could be in danger of lawyers trying to cash in on coronavirus
They’ve already sued cruise ship operators, soap manufacturers and insurance companies, but COVID-19 will give entrepreneurial lawyers plenty more opportunities to make money by targeting nursing homes, hospitals, pharmaceutical manufacturers, retailers and possibly even homeowners over the disease.
Politically generous lawyers poised to take billions from opioid settlement
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Their request for some $3 billion in fees has generated fierce resistance from state attorneys general and defendants, but don’t worry about the financial states of private lawyers who represent thousands of municipal plaintiffs in opioid litigation.
Plaintiff lawyers and their experts push FDA panel to expand definition of asbestos; Pills, chewing gum among products possibly affected
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - A fierce behind-the-scenes conflict is growing as law firms that specialize in asbestos litigation urge the Food and Drug Administration to broaden the definition of mineral particles believed to cause disease while industry representatives try to make it narrower.
Ohio AG to colleagues: Let's limit fees to private lawyers in opioid settlement
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has warned his fellow AGs that a reported $50 billion settlement of opioid claims will fall apart unless the states demand tight controls on fees to private lawyers and make sure the rest of the money is directed toward programs designed to address the opioid crisis, instead of state general funds.
Oklahoma judge feeds the 'monster' with $572M opioid ruling against Johnson & Johnson
Sixteen years ago in a case involving gunmaker Sturm, Ruger & Co., a New York appeals court refused to apply public nuisance law against the manufacturer of a legal product, saying that doing so would transform nuisance law “into a monster that would devour in one gulp the entire law of tort.”
Private lawyers stand to make $90 million as judge hits Johnson & Johnson with $572M opioid ruling
NORMAN, Okla. (Legal Newsline) - A state judge in Oklahoma has blamed Johnson & Johnson for the state's opioid crisis and ordered it to pay $572 million in damages, extending public nuisance law beyond its traditional boundaries into what may become an all-purpose tool for government lawsuits against product manufacturers.
Opioid lawyers propose a global settlement team; Pa. attorney critical, says it's likely a ploy to boost their fees
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Acknowledging it is “likely impossible” to negotiate individual settlements on behalf the nearly 2,000 cities and counties suing the opioid industry, plus thousands more watching from the sidelines, plaintiff lawyers have proposed a unique solution: A “negotiation class” designed to strike a global bargain on behalf of every municipality in the country.
'This doesn't help': Law profs say influential group's take on Internet agreements is based on faulty analysis
PHILADELPHIA - One of the latest projects from a legal group that influences judges relies upon a faulty analysis of case law to support its conclusion that courts have developed new ways to interpret “clickwrap,” “browsewrap” and other standardized consumer agreements, some law professors say in a pair of recent articles.
Legal but illegal: How Illinois shut down a company that played by the rules
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - As of Oct. 29, 2018, a medical sterilization firm called Sterigenics was in full compliance with state and federal regulations over its use of ethylene oxide, a carcinogen. Then on Oct. 30, it wasn’t.
Multidistrict litigation swamps courts as rules struggle to catch up; Is reform on the way?
Multidistrict litigation – sprawling cases sometimes involving thousands of plaintiffs from all over the country – now represents more than half of the civil caseload in federal courts, according to a new survey, yet defendants complain the rules governing them are largely judge-made and haphazardly enforced.
Trump DOJ acts on threat to trial lawyers who sue on behalf of the government
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - The Department of Justice's recent effort to toss lawsuits it says it wasted hundreds of hours investigating is emblematic of a strategy under President Donald Trump to rein in trial lawyers who are using a federal whistleblower law to seek millions of dollars.
Opioid judge rejects dismissal plea, orders first lawsuits to trial
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Opioid manufacturers and distributors lost their long-shot bid to end more than 1,000 lawsuits against them as the federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation rejected their motions to dismiss and ordered the first cases to trial next year.
Opioid plaintiffs: A small percentage of pill shipments were 'suspicious.' Or maybe it's nearly all of them
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - Forced to identify opioid prescriptions they say were “suspicious” and never should have been shipped, Ohio cities and counties came up with a rough estimate. Very rough.
Opioid lawsuits should proceed, magistrate tells MDL judge
A magistrate judge recommended that a bellwether trial against the opioid industry proceed, rejecting nearly all the arguments presented by manufacturers, distributors and retailers in their motions to dismiss hundreds of lawsuits accusing them of causing a national crisis.
Art imitates life: 'Billions' describes six-figure, part-time jobs on asbestos trusts
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) - The third season of the wildly popular show "Billions" premiered in March with a mention of an oddly arcane subject: asbestos bankruptcy trusts. The dialogue coming out of the mouth of prosecutor Chuck Rhodes, played by Paul Giamatti, becomes a little less mysterious when you look at who wrote it, however.
Judge in massive opioid case watching plaintiff lawyer spending, orders them to fly coach
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - The judge overseeing multidistrict litigation against the opioid industry ordered plaintiffs’ attorneys to keep monthly records of the time they spend on their cases down to a tenth of an hour and imposed strict rules on who can collect fees, in an effort to prevent the excesses that have drawn criticism in other class actions and mass tort cases.