I’m a trial lawyer for injured people and businesses at The Beasley Firm. Founded in 1958, we have recovered over $2 billion for our clients through hundreds of verdicts and settlements in excess of $1 million. We’re listed in Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, U.S. News’s Top Lawyers, [...]
A Lesson for Trial Lawyers from the Bailout Bill’s Failure
As you've heard, even given that rock you've been living under, after President Bush, John McCain, and the Republican and the Democratic leadership of the House announced that an agreement had been reached, the actual vote on it failed, with a caucus of Republican conservatives bailing out on the bailout at the last minute, nominally because their feelings were hurt by Nancy Pelosi's speech. (Realistically, because they and their constituents hated it, and no one wants to run for re-election on an issue like that.) So who is to blame? Treasury Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke. Those two ... Continue Reading
“The Cost of Tragedy” — The Settlement Split in the Great White Nightclub Fire
The Boston Globe details the $175 million settlement of the 200 injured or killed persons who filed civil suits against 75 defendants: An analysis of the tentative settlements in US District Court in Rhode Island reveals a stark fact: Several defendants whom plaintiffs blamed most for the disaster will likely pay relatively little because of negligible assets; other defendants with more tenuous links to the tragedy - but deeper pockets - will pay more. "I don't think there's any logic to it at all," said SuS Longiaru, whose disabled 23-year-old son, John, was killed in the fire, which erupted moments ... Continue Reading
Medical Malpractice: “Too Often, The Names Don’t Change”
At the Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog: We also have a medical malpractice case pending against the same doctor. In April, a jury in Baltimore found this doctor negligent in yet another medical malpractice case. ... ... this doctor underscores that high malpractice rates are not from medical malpractice lawyers filing frivolous lawsuits. Instead, the problem is that 3% of doctors in Maryland are responsible for half the medical malpractice payouts (data from earlier this decade but I suspect it is still holding true). If these doctors are [fill in your own phrase for politely asked to stop treating patients], malpractice ... Continue Reading
Trial!
Jury picked on Friday, opening statements Monday, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Expected to last one week, so posting will be light. ... Continue Reading
Conflicts, Schmonflicks: Big Law Need Not Tell You If They’re Tainting a Judicial Investigation
This story does not make me feel good: The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' special investigative committee investigating alleged misconduct by the 9th Circuit's Chief Judge Alex Kozinski has hired Robert C. Heim, head of Dechert's litigation department, to run the probe. A Dechert spokesperson confirmed that a team from Dechert and Morgan Lewis has been hired to conduct the investigation and has assigned Heim to lead the operation. ... [Dechert] also declined to discuss the number of cases it may have pending before the 9th Circuit or how it would deal with potential conflict. ... [Morgan Lewis] declined ... Continue Reading
“Bloggers Offered Insurance, Legal Training”
Legal Blog Watch points us to an interesting development: A project spearheaded by the Media Bloggers Association will provide bloggers access to first-of-its-kind liability insurance along with free training in media law. The insurance program, called BlogInsure, will provide coverage for claims against bloggers involving defamation, invasion of privacy and copyright infringement. According to the MBA's announcement, its members will be eligible to purchase liability insurance at a "significant discount." Offered through Media/Professional Insurance, a division of AXIS Insurance, the policy will cover costs and damages for claims against bloggers and will parallel coverage offered to tradition media organizations. In ... Continue Reading
Four Proposals That Won’t “Shyster-Proof The Courts”
Over at PhilaLawyer, an anonymous (and largely humor-focused) part of the Rudius blog network, there are four ideas for "Shyster-Proofing the Courts:" 1. Immediate Mandatory Mediation 2. Allow Expert Witnesses to be Deposed 3. Give Frivolous Litigation Claims Teeth and Allow Expert Witnesses to Be Sued in Such Claims 4. Eliminate Referral Fees First, let's keep something important in mind: the bulk of civil cases involve automobile accidents. So in some sense we're really missing the boat unless we're talking about that specifically. That said, I doubt any of these would make a difference. 1. Immediate Mandatory Mediation Because I ... Continue Reading
Pennsylvania Bad Faith in Title Insurance Policies
A Pennsylvania insurance coverage / bad faith question: I bought my home 5 years ago from estate. Now, I'm selling my home, the buyer's title insurance company found 3 problems, including a tax lein of 55.00 plus penalties. My title insurance company offered ademity letter to new title insurance company. They don't want that, they want problems resolved. My title insurance company says too bad. Not worth the money to find my file. They don't know whether claims are valid or not. Will not resolve them or see if they need to be resolved. Won't even look at file! This ... Continue Reading
Federal Treasury Mortgage Bailout Roundup: No Deal
Kevin Drum starts a roundup: Paul Krugman opposes the Paulson/Bernanke bank rescue because there's no guarantee it will work. Atrios doesn't like it because it gives Paulson a blank check with no oversight. Brad DeLong doesn't like it because it lacks necessary reforms to balance the bailout. Sebastian Mallaby, by contrast, just doesn't like it, period. Mark Thoma wants a share of the companies we save, Dean Baker thinks "a poorly designed auction system will be a fiasco, wasting taxpayers dollars and rewarding the most effective liars," and Robert Reich thinks we should just have a big bankruptcy workout (like ... Continue Reading
FDA Releases Names of Drugs on the Adverse Event Reporting System
A victory for open governance and consumer safety — there's no good reason to keep this information from the public. Here's the current list: Potential Signals of Serious Risks/New Safety Information Identified by the Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) January - March 2008 Product Name: Active Ingredient (Trade) or Product Class Potential Signal of Serious Risk/New Safety Information Arginine Hydrochloride Injection (R-Gene 10) Pediatric overdose due to labeling / packaging confusion Desflurane (Suprane) Cardiac arrest Duloxetine (Cymbalta) Urinary retention Etravirine (Intelence) Hemarthrosis Fluorouracil Cream (Carac) and Ketoconazole Cream (Kuric) Adverse events due to name confusion Heparin Anaphylactic-type reactions Icodextrin ... Continue Reading
