Personal Injury Law

Shapo: Experimenting with the Consumer

Posted on December 12, 2008
Marshall Shapo (Northwestern) has a new book available from Greenwood Publishers: Experimenting with the Consumer: The Mass Testing of Risky Products on the Public. Here's the abstract: Experimenting With The Consumer exposes the hazards of the mass-market experimentation in which...

Personal Injury Roundup No. 18 (12/12/08)

Posted on December 12, 2008
As I sit amid the bluebooks, here's what's new in torts... Reform, Legislation, Policy New Trucking Regulations Aim to Increase Safety (Day on Torts) Is CAFA Unconstitutional in Some Applications? Mark Moller (DePaul) says yes (Wolfman/Consumer Law & Policy Blog,...

Canadian Class Action Invokes Rylands, Alternative Theories

Posted on December 11, 2008
A group of neighbors in Ontario have filed a class action against multiple parties for loss of property values due to water contamination. The Timmins Daily Press reports plaintiffs allege defendants are ?liable in negligence, nuisance, trespass and pursuant to...

Too Much Drug Safety Information?

Posted on December 09, 2008
Today's Wall Street Journal reports on whether the large amount of drug safety information available to the public could be harming consumers: Too much information about drug safety -- disseminated through media, online alerts from consumer watchdog groups and even...

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Why Bad Hospitals Stay Open

Posted on December 09, 2008
In the latest article in its "Evidence Gap" series, The New York Times examines why bad hospitals stay open, pointing to a lack of national oversight as a culprit: Unlike some other nations, including France, the United States has no...

Pools Race to Reconfigure Drains

Posted on December 08, 2008
The local paper has an article about public pools' efforts to get into compliance with the impending federal requirement for safer drains. The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act is administered by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,...

First Payments in Valdez Litigation

Posted on December 06, 2008
Only nearly twenty years after the oil spill, plaintiffs are starting to get damages. --BC

Personal Injury Roundup No. 17 (12/5/08)

Posted on December 05, 2008
On this day in history, prohibition ended as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment. On to the week's news in the world of torts: Reform, Legislation, Policy Manhattan Institute...

Hyman on Damage Caps

Posted on December 05, 2008
David Hyman (Illinois) is doing a series of posts at Volokh on non-economic damage caps. --BC

Miller on the Wal-Mart Suit

Posted on December 04, 2008
Ron Miller comments on the five-minutes-after concept in high-profile cases, where suits are filed immediately. It seems to me that having the suit filed has (at least) one benefit: it potentially gives the decedent's family's lawyer discovery powers that much...

Welcome to the Blogosphere...

Posted on December 04, 2008
Alberto Bernabe (The John Marshall Law School) has started a blog aimed specifically at his students, but also applicable to general readers interested in torts. The link is here. --CJR

Williams Punitives, Round Three

Posted on December 03, 2008
SCOTUSBlog has a preview of Wednesday's argument -- the third! -- relating to the Oregon state court tort litigation against Philip Morris and the punitive damages awarded in that litigation. --BC

Wal-Mart Sued by Family of Trampled Temp Worker

Posted on December 03, 2008
Reuters has the story. Damour's death was caused by "the carelessness, reckless negligence, wanton disregard for public safety and gross negligence" in the "staging, conducting and advertising for sales events," said the lawsuit, filed in Bronx Supreme Court...

DRI Web Seminar on Defending Medical Monitoring Claims

Posted on December 02, 2008
DRI is hosting a web seminar on "Defending Medical Monitoring Claims - Recent Developments and Best Practices" on Tuesday, December 16th. Sean Wajert (editor of Mass Tort Defense and a partner at Dechert) will be one of the speakers. (Via...

Chevron Wins Nigerian ATCA Case

Posted on December 02, 2008
The LA Times reports that a federal jury found in favor of Chevron in the Alien Tort Claims Act case brought by Nigerian villagers. The Wall Street Journal Law Blog and Am Law Daily both have more on the verdict....

Neighbors Sue Stinky Pig Farm

Posted on December 02, 2008
Looking for a hypo for your final exam? Look no further. Residents of Richland Township, Missouri, have sued the local pig farm alleging that the smell and "toxic gases" from the farm have caused physical illness such as nausea, vomiting...

"Son of Engle" Starts Soon

Posted on December 01, 2008
The first of 8,000 individual tobacco cases that resulted from the decertification of the Engle class will start soon. They were to start today, but flooding in the Broward County Courthouse delayed the trial. The plaintiffs in these cases will...

Civil Liability for Wal-Mart Worker Death?

Posted on December 01, 2008
Eric Turkewitz has brief thoughts. --BC (Forgive the delayed posting; let's just say that I spent a lot more time in the Philly airport yesterday than is desirable.)

New Trial for UT Frat

Posted on December 01, 2008
A little ways back, a frat at UT-Austin lost by default a wrongful death suit, with judgment entered for over $16 million. The trial judge has now granted a new trial, finding that the failure to respond was an oversight....

On Melamine and the FDA

Posted on December 01, 2008
Some thoughts at EnviroBlog. --BC

AALS Torts and Compensation Section's "Foreign Tort Law: Beyond Europe"

Posted on November 29, 2008
Ellen Bublick (Arizona) has announced the Torts and Compensation Section's panel presentation for the 2009 AALS Annual Meeting in San Diego. The panel will be held on Friday, January 9th at 10:30 a.m. A list of presenters is here. A...

Goldberg on Solomon's "Judging Plaintiffs"

Posted on November 28, 2008
John Goldberg (Harvard) has responded to Judging Plaintiffs by Jason Solomon (Georgia) in Vanderbilt Law Review En Banc. Here is the abstract: Jason Solomon?s very interesting Article Judging Plaintiffs argues that neither efficient-deterrence theories nor corrective justice theories adequately explain...

Happy Thanksgiving from TortsProf

Posted on November 27, 2008
Enjoy the holiday! --CJR

Jury Begins Deliberations On ATCA Claims Against Chevron

Posted on November 26, 2008
A San Francisco jury heard closing arguments yesterday in an Alien Tort Claims Act case against Chevron. The suit alleges that Chevron aided and abbetted the deaths of two Nigerians who were protesting Chevron's oil production in Nigeria. One World...

Lloyd's of London's "Litigation and Business: Transatlantic Trends"

Posted on November 25, 2008
Lloyd's of London has issued its latest report "Litigation and Business: Transatlantic Trends" (pdf). In this report, Lloyd's predicts that class action litigation will grow in Europe, and notes that Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden already have mass litigation...

Sebok on Obama's Effect on Tort Law

Posted on November 25, 2008
In his latest Findlaw column, Tony Sebok examines President-elect Obama's impact on tort law and the civil litigation system generally. Sebok predicts "very few changes" and "few rollbacks" of tort reforms accomplished during the Bush Administration. In support of this...

A Final (?) Note on the Kentucky Kingdom Settlement

Posted on November 24, 2008
As I noted last week, Six Flags settled with the Lasitter family regarding their daughter's injuries. As of the initial reports, it was not clear whether the park chain had settled its suit against Intamin, the ride's manufacturer; InsuranceJournal.com reports...

Vaccine Program: A Failure?

Posted on November 24, 2008
An activist and founder of the National Vaccine Information Center, Barbara Loe Fisher, thinks so, as she said in a recent speech to the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines. She contends that the no-fault approach has still precluded recovery for...

Barker Files Suit in Airplane Crash

Posted on November 22, 2008
Rocker Travis Barker is blaming pilot error and faulty equipment for the September crash in which he was severely injured and four others were killed. The suit focuses on the pilots' decision to abort the takeoff and the condition of...

Personal Injury Roundup No. 16 (11/21/08)

Posted on November 21, 2008
One scheduling note: there will be no Roundup next Friday; happy Thanksgiving! Reform, Legislation, Policy Massachusetts doctors say they're practicing defensive medicine out of fear of lawsuits [MassLive.com] Allegations of misconduct against FDA scientists [NYT] New Lawsuits Wrestlers sue college...

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