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, [...]
Poet Laureate Philip Levine On Writing “Where The Poem Leads”
As a lawyer, you're either a conversationalist, a counselor, a writer, a storyteller, or some mixture of them all. I spend a fair amount of my time reading or writing pleadings and briefs, a fair amount of time either preparing a story (through discovery and depositions) or telling a story (at a court hearing or at trial), and the remainder of my time counseling clients. Consequently, I'm a sucker for any advice from writers and storytellers, and have previously referenced the methods of writers like David Mitchell and Philip K. Dick, as well as storytellers like Jay-Z and David Mamet. ... Continue Reading
Lawyer Branding And The Race For Actos Bladder Cancer Clients
Below is a post I wrote for my legal blog, which is ordinarily read by other lawyers and by others interested in the legal industry. If you were diagnosed with bladder cancer after using Actos and are reviewing your legal options, please see my Actos bladder cancer lawsuit page for patients. Personal injury law isn't like running an ordinary business, not even an ordinary law practice, because of the risk involved in taking cases. Defective drug and consumer products lawsuits exemplify both extremes of our work: the cases are enormously expensive to pursue and require a tremendous amount of attorney ... Continue Reading
Why CSX Railroad Sued Successful Asbestos Lawyers For Racketeering
As Rich Lord reported at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The quarry has turned on the hunter in a West Virginia courtroom, and now one of the nation's biggest transportation companies is locked in a bitter fight with one of Pittsburgh's most prominent trial law firms. After years of feeling like they were being railroaded by asbestosis lawsuits, lawyers for CSX Transportation in 2005 sued Robert Peirce & Associates, accusing it of fraud and negligence in the massive cases it brought. The Jacksonville-based corporation lost a 2009 trial, but in court filings in recent weeks it detailed a new theory -- that ... Continue Reading
Recalled Product Lawsuits Getting Harder, Children’s Tylenol Edition
One thing you learn as a personal injury lawyer is that many everyday products are far more dangerous than you thought. Until I became a lawyer and began screening cases and receiving calls, I hadn't a clue that Children's Motrin could cause Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. Tylenol is another example. I've used acetaminophen safely for years without a problem, and I thanked my lucky stars for it when 1,000mg of the stuff brought me back from the delirium caused by a 104+ fever. Every week, though, approximately ten people die and one-thousand are sent to the emergency department by acetaminophen overdosing. Which ... Continue Reading
Examining The Outrageous Aaron Swartz Indictment For Computer Fraud
The New York Times reports: Aaron Swartz, a 24-year-old programmer and online political activist, has been indicted in Boston on charges that he stole more than four million documents from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and JSTOR, an archive of scientific journals and academic papers. (Read the full indictment below.) Mr. Swartz was indicted last Thursday by the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Carmen M. Ortiz, and the indictment was unsealed Tuesday. The charges could result in up to 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine. JSTOR's press statement is here. One of Swartz's companies, Infogami, was funded by Y Combinator ... Continue Reading
NFL Lockout Injunction Reversal: Using Labor Law Against Employees
Big news in the sporting and antitrust litigation worlds — which overlap considerably — on Friday when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (which hears all appeals in federal cases filed in the states between North Dakota, Minnesota, Arkansas, and Nebraska), reversed a preliminary injunction imposed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota prohibiting the NFL owners from imposing a “lockout” on players. The order is posted here; when I reference Opinion and Bye Dissent below, I'm referring to that PDF. Two judges, Colloton and Benton (both appointed by George W. Bush — hold that ... Continue Reading
Lady Gaga Lawsuit: Exposing Fraud Or Advertising Lawyers?
Sometimes, a law blogger has to look for compelling legal issues to write about, and sometimes the issues come to them, like when Lady Gaga gets hit with a class action for fraud: The $5 million class action suit alleges that Gaga and her co-defendants, including Universal Music Group and its merchandising company, Bravado, retained a portion of the wristband proceeds and inflated shipping charges. The Michigan-based law firm claims to have uncovered evidence of racketeering through sources including “a review of publicly available documents and interviews with confidential witnesses,” according to the complaint. The complaint is available here. (It's ... Continue Reading
Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b) And The Second Winklevoss Lawsuit Against Facebook
Facebook, I wish I knew how to quit you. If we're not discussing why Mark Zuckerberg won't sue The Social Network, then we're talking about you unilaterally changing your Terms of Use or your potential patent battle with Google over Foursquare. And now this: Olympic rowing twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are pushing ahead with another suit against Facebook, a day after they decided not to appeal [to the] U.S. Supreme Court [a] ruling [by the Ninth Circuit] upholding their $65 million settlement with Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg. I added the edits above because the original report was just wrong. ... Continue Reading
Third Party Litigation Funding CLE Hosted By The Pennsylvania Bar Institute
You know what’s cool? Apparently a billion dollars isn’t cool, according to Sean Parker, no matter what Justin Timberlake in The Social Network might have to say about it. But what is cool is third-party litigation financing. Don’t believe me? Binyamin Appelbaum at the NYTimes and the Center for Public Integrity did a whole series on it called “Betting on Justice,” (here’s the same piece at the CPI) with a Room for Debate piece on it called “Investing in Someone Else’s Lawsuit.” The American Bar Association, nudged by the series, has set up a working group to examine the issue. ... Continue Reading
The Idiot’s Guide Whistleblowing Under The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act
If you suspect your employer has violated securities, tax, or government contract laws, you can contact our firm for a free, confidential, no-obligation consultation using this form. Corporate Counsel reported yesterday: The new federal whistleblower law is proving a hot item for many plaintiff law firms. Attorneys say that tipsters with visions of becoming millionaires are flooding their offices with calls. "In the last three weeks, I've had many, many more whistleblowing calls than I had in the last three years," said Rebecca Katz, a partner at Bernstein Liebhard in New York. Katz is a former senior counsel in ... Continue Reading
