A plaintiff in a slip and fall case in New York was permitted to testify as an expert on pigeon droppings. The plaintiff in Stewart v. New York City Tr. Auth. 2011 NY Slip Op 01593 (NY 1st App. Div. Mar. 3, 2011) slipped and fell on pigeon poop at…
is an article by Larry Beinhart explaining how and why Corporate America seeks to limit access to our courts by pushing so-called "tort reform" legislation. Here A sample: Big business hates lawsuits. They hate being made accountable. They hate having to pay. So what can they do about it? They…
The California Supreme Court has ruled that a truck driver may be held liable for parking his vehicle along a freeway to have a snack where regulations permitted only emergency parking. The entire opinion has a fascinating discussion of the law of duty, but the following gives you a flavor…
What happens when a personal injury plaintiff files a bankruptcy petition? What happens if that plaintiff fails to disclose in the bankruptcy petition that he has a personal injury claim that has not yet been filed? How does a bankruptcy court discharge affect the plaintiff’s rights to later file…
A recent opinion from the Alabama Supreme Court reminds us that many things – even obscure things – can cause a reversal of jury verdict. In Ford Motor Co. v. Duckett, No. 1090833, (Ala. 2/11/2011) a unanimous Alabama Supreme Court reversed a multi-million dollar verdict in favor of a…
Yesterday I shared data on auto negligence cases from Shannon Ragland’s Tennessee Jury Verdict Reporter Year in Review 2010. You can order your own copy of the publication here. Here is some other data of interest: There were 33 medical malpractice jury trials in the covered one-year period. The patient…
Shannon Ragland from Louisville, KY has a company called Jury Verdict Publications. Shannon gathers jury verdict data in several states and publishes a monthly report for each state. He also publishes an annual review for each state, which includes all of the jury verdicts for the prior year and analyzes…
Experienced trial lawyers – heck, people with experience in life – know that when people have a valid point to make they don’t have any reason to misrepresent facts. So when Justin Owen of Tennessee Center for Policy Research talks about the need for tort reform, you would think…
From Reuters: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal regulations setting vehicle safety standards do not bar lawsuits seeking damages from automakers for installing lap-only seat belts. The unanimous ruling held that a California lawsuit against Mazda Motor Corp. over a fatal 2002 collision involving a 1993 Mazda minivan could…
The Arizona Supreme Court has reversed prior law and held that a claim for medical expenses arising out of a personal injury to a child may be asserted by the child or the parents, but not both. The case is Estate of Madison Alexis Desela v. Prescott Unified School District, No.…