Spotlight

• In case that led to tougher DWI law, counsel secures settlement for child hit by drunk driver

Recent Cases

Admiralty

• Barge worker injured on tugboat is seaman entitled to bring suit under Jones Act
• Negligent maintenance of tugboat engines leads to injury

Attorneys

• Plaintiffs in medical negligence cases can waive contingency fee cap imposed by amendment
• Contract clause requiring forfeiture of stock upon departure is subject to reasonableness test
• Attorney is not liable for client’s chiropractic bills absent signed agreement

Automobile Accidents

• Improper lookout, vicarious liability
• Improper lookout, vicarious liability
• Failure to maintain control of vehicle
• Negligent hiring, entrustment of driver who loses consciousness
• Failure to keep proper lookout, yield right-of-way

Aviation

• Negligence claim against airport authority is preempted by Federal Aviation Act

Civil Rights

• False arrest, malicious prosecution where man was wrongly arrested, detained
• Muslim inmate’s suit may proceed against officials who punished him for refusing to handle pork

Commercial Litigation

• Schools may sue companies that use their colors, logos, and designs for unfair competition
• Constructive fraud, breach of fiduciary duty where controlling stockholders mismanage company

Consumer Protection

• Lemon law violations where high-performance car breaks down repeatedly
• Credit reporting agency had duty under previous version of FCRA to reinvestigate dispute

Damages

• Plaintiff who witnessed fatal fire could assert claim for bystander emotional distress

Employment Law

• FMLA, Pregnancy Discrimination Act violations where pregnant manager fired from restaurant
• Agreement with release and covenant not to sue was not written in plain language as required by ADEA
• Military, race discrimination where army reservist was not compensated by employer for military leave

Evidence

• Intentional spoliation of evidence recognized where destruction prevents establishment of claim

Family Law

• Man is estopped from denying paternity where he represented himself as child’s father
• Military housing, subsidy allowances are gross income for purposes of child support

Government Liability

• Failure to keep proper lookout where city bus knocks man down, runs over his arm
• Suit against state for mismanagement of land trust may proceed

Insurance

• Laws extending prescriptive period for claims for damages caused by hurricanes are constitutional
• FAA does not preempt state laws prohibiting carriers from requiring binding alternative dispute resolution
• Bad faith, breach of contract where insurer refuses to pay homeowners for hurricane damage

Intentional Torts

• Malicious prosecution where police arrest woman whose ATV was stolen
• Relators did not demonstrate that Iraq contractor presented false claims to U.S. government

Medical Negligence

• Failure to assess fetus’s gestational age
• Improper treatment of heart attack patient
• Improper pre-LASIK screening
• Late diagnosis of stroke
• Failure to prevent, control serratia epidemic
• Louisiana lower appellate court finds state’s medical negligence damages cap is unconstitutional

Negligence

• Parental pre-injury waiver of child’s potential claims against recreational facility is against public policy
• Use of inadequate sling where crane drops trailer on man

Practice & Procedure

• Plaintiffs’ voluntary dismissal of lawsuit and subsequent refiling of action was not claim-splitting

Premises

• Failure to install safety float rope in apartment swimming pool
• Failure to properly maintain premises where tenant was attacked in hallway of apartment building

Products Liability

• Failure to warn of dangers of asbestos
• Pretrial publicity about circumstances leading up to lawsuit did not justify intra-district transfer
• Defective fuel system in pickup truck
• Lack of grounded hose in sandblaster
• Inadequate warnings of over-the-counter infant cold medicine’s dangers
• Defective design of driver’s seat, integrated child seat in minivan

Professional Negligence

• Claim arising out of repressed clergy abuse accrued when damages were sustained and ascertainable
• Private treatment center must adequately supervise and care for client with mental retardation
• Claims against attorney who drafted prenuptial agreement accrued at time of marriage
• Virginia medical negligence law was inapplicable to claim of inadequate security at nursing home
• Unsanitary conditions in nursing home
• Misfilled prescription by pharmacist under influence of controlled substance

Railroads

• FELA safe workplace violations where engineer operated “rough riding” trains

Schools

• Title II of ADA validly abrogates states’ Eleventh Amendment immunity in public education arena
• Officials who banned T-shirt depicting drugs, alcohol as political statement violated student’s rights

Toxic Torts

• Canadian smelter may be liable under CERCLA for failing to remediate pollution of U.S. river

Utilities

• Statute of limitations bars property owner’s claim for damages caused by gas explosion

Workplace Safety

• Estates of deceased worker, spouse are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits
• Failure to warn, provide respiratory protection where pipefitter was exposed to asbestos

In this Issue

• Articles
• Updates
• Court Documents
• 2006 Annual Index