Spotlight

• Diligent research, expert testimony on stun guns leads to first verdict linking Tasers to death

Recent Cases

Admiralty

• Failure to properly supervise where offshore mechanic working on oil rig was struck by falling metal pipe
• Defective design where longshoreman was crushed to death under crane’s wheel

Attorneys

• Client claims settlement offer unauthorized
• Attorneys who quoted newspaper articles in firm’s brochures sanctioned

Automobile Accidents

• Negligent entrustment
• Failure to keep proper lookout
• Failure to control vehicle
• Driving at low speed
• Failure to yield right-of-way at stop sign

Aviation

• Federal trial courts have jurisdiction to hear challenges to federal government’s no-fly list

Civil Rights

• First Amendment violations where correctional officer was fired shortly after speaking to newspaper
• Qualified immunity inapplicable where arrestee was strip searched without reasonable suspicion

Commercial Litigation

• Unfair, deceptive trade practices involving vehicle lubricant altered without warrantor’s knowledge
• “Open source” copyright holders may sue in copyright infringement for failure to follow conditions

Consumer Protection

• TCPA allows private suits in state courts even where there is no enabling legislation permitting them

Damages

• Spouse who misses work to care for injured spouse not entitled to lost income

Employment Law

• Fee splitting, discovery limitations in employment arbitration contract are not unconscionable
• Retaliation where employee was fired after filing workers’ compensation claim
• Title VII discrimination, retaliation where white DEA agents were treated differently than minorities

Evidence

• Testimony by homeowner’s expert on chemical sensitivity is admissible
• Circumstantial evidence of driver’s cell phone use at time of crash sufficient to establish inference of negligence

Family Law

• ERISA plan participant may not change surviving spouse beneficiary after retirement
• Plaintiffs alleging transmission of STD must show defendant had constructive knowledge of infection

Government Liability

• No qualified immunity for officer sued for denial of fair criminal trial where he withheld information
• Failure to maintain drainage ditch where jeep strikes vehicle head-on

Insurance

• FCA violations where insurer discourages enrollment of pregnant women

Intentional Torts

• Moral rights violation where government paints over artist’s mural
• Wrongful death where ousted company officer murders ex-partner’s son-in-law

Medical Negligence

• Improper handling of fetal distress
• Negligent administration of chemotherapy
• Negligent dissection of coronary artery
• Unnecessary mastectomy
• Wrongful laceration of bladder during cesarean
• Failure to timely diagnose brain aneurysm
• Misplacement of hose connected to surgical machine

Negligence

• SUV separates from tow dolly, collides with truck
• Unsafe attraction where moving wall in funhouse tunnel drags boy under footbridge
• Negligent serving of alcohol to driver who hit motorcyclist

Practice & Procedure

• Federal rule requiring service within 120 days does not apply to service on foreign defendant
• LLC’s citizenship determined by citizenship of all members for purposes of diversity jurisdiction
• Probate court is wrong venue for suit seeking monetary damages from estate’s representative

Premises

• Failure to conform to building code where worker slips, falls on ramp while making delivery
• Lack of handrails causes woman’s fall down stairs in hotel gift shop
• Children poisoned by ingesting peeling lead-based paint found on apartments’ ceilings, walls

Products Liability

• Defendants may not rely on fraudulent misjoinder as basis for remand in gadolinium dye case
• Dismissal of manufacturer’s parent company for lack of jurisdiction was improper
• Federal law does not preempt smokers’ state law deceptive trade claims over “light” cigarettes
• Manufacturer of name-brand drug may be liable for injuries allegedly caused by generic equivalent
• Failure to warn of asbestos danger in dental tape
• Defective protective systems on excavator

Professional Negligence

• Sexual abuse of teenage Catholic school students
• Opposing client has no private cause of action against law firm for alleged HIPAA violations
• FDCPA’s venue provision requires filing of suit in county where debtor lives or contract formed
• Negligent administration of nursing home roommate’s medication
• Failure to obtain biopsy results
• Improper monitoring of psychotherapy patient

Railroads

• Unsafe workplace where railroad mechanic falls down rickety stairs

Schools

• Failure to properly supervise fraternity alumni party
• University policy prohibiting speech that intends to sexually harass is unconstitutional

Toxic Torts

• Oil refinery that polluted land granted to it by state is liable for public nuisance

Workplace Safety

• Unsafe workplace where worker falls when leaning ladder collapses
• Failure to prevent employees’ drinking and driving where clocked-in coworker causes car accident
• Employers must cover transportation to treatment for pathogen exposure and compensate for time
• Unsafe workplace where worker trips on junk brick, lift runs over foot

In this Issue

• Articles
• Letter to the Editor
• Court Documents