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 Succession Of Lawsuits Is The Only Power The People Have Left
There's a myth — promoted by vested interests — that the United States is a free market economy. Don't believe it. Even in the smallest of transactions, monopoly power still rules, dutifully skimming its unearned share. "How Visa, Using Card Fees, Dominates a Market": Competition, of course, usually forces prices lower. But for payment networks like Visa and MasterCard, competition in the card business is more about winning over banks that actually issue the cards than consumers who use them. Visa and MasterCard set the fees that merchants must pay the cardholder’s bank. And higher fees mean higher profits for ... Continue Reading
Conservative Judicial Activists On The Federal Court of Appeals for D.C. Dismiss Abu Ghraib Lawsuit
In a stunning display of judicial activism, two conservative judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia re-wrote several recent Department of Defense regulations, a sixty-year-old Act of Congress, a basic principle of federalism upheld by dozens of Supreme Court opinions, and millenia of common law to dismiss the Saleh v. Titan Corporation and Ibrahim v. Titan Corporation lawsuits brought by more than a dozen Iraqis who "were beaten, electrocuted, raped, subjected to attacks by dogs, and otherwise abused by private contractors working as interpreters and interrogators at Abu Ghraib prison." Dissent op., p.1. The ... Continue Reading
Medical Malpractice Liability and Access to Care Debate In Emergency Physicians Monthly
The print edition of September's Emergency Physicians Monthly features a debate between yours truly and WhiteCoat, EPM's in-house blogger on the subject, "Does Medical Malpractice Liability Impact Access To Emergency Care?" I've posted the debate below, with footnotes added to show my sources. I believe WhiteCoat will update his with sources when he gets a chance; you can find his post here. Opening Argument - Max Kennerly A 2006 American College of Surgeons report[1] concluded, "the single most important factor shaping the [emergency] surgical workforce today is declining reimbursement," a euphemism for cutthroat health insurer tactics. Last month, Bayonne Hospital ... Continue Reading
Never Lie To The Jury: $1.92 Million Verdict Against Woman For 24 MP3s
After four days of trial, and a few hours of deliberations, the AP reports: A federal jury ruled Thursday that Jammie Thomas-Rasset willfully violated the copyrights on 24 songs, and awarded recording companies $1.92 million, or $80,000 per song. Thomas-Rasset's second trial actually turned out worse for her. When a different federal jury heard her case in 2007, it hit Thomas-Rasset with a $222,000 judgment. Under our absurd (and possibly unconstitutional) copyright laws, the award per violation can range from $750 to $150,000, and the jury here roughly split the difference at $80,000 per song, about the same amount as a ... Continue Reading
“Investing in Lawsuits” – The Free Market Counterpart to Liability Insurance
I've written before about Contingent Fee Business Lawyers As Venture Capitalists and Lawyers Who "Don't Take Possible Losers," so I was thrilled to read the NYTimes yesterday: Richard W. Fields says he has come up with a win-win financial strategy for the downturn. He is investing in lawsuits. Not in trip-and-fall cases, mind you, but in disputes that are far larger, more costly and potentially more lucrative, often pitting major corporations against each other. Mr. Fields is chief executive of Juridica Capital Management. which runs a fund that invests in one side of a lawsuit in exchange for a share ... Continue Reading
Can I Set Up An LLC To Avoid Personal Liability In A Lawsuit?
Among the many creative “legal” ideas floating around on the internet is: If you set up an LLC for yourself and conduct all your business through it, the LLC will be liable in a lawsuit but you won't. Last week, I was asked if this "asset protection strategy" worked. No, it doesn't. Conducting your personal business through an LLC provides no protection against a tort verdict, the type of liability that most people are worried about. The use of corporate forms -- like LLCs, S-Corporations, or Incorporation -- has many important purposes, but avoiding personal tort liability for your own conduct ... Continue Reading
W.D.Pa District Court Denies Interlocutory Appeal to Kellogg, Brown & Root In Green Beret Electrocution Lawsuit
The case filed by the family of Staff Sergeant Ryan D. Maseth (an Army Ranger, Green Beret and combat veteran) got a lot of press when it was first filed: On Jan. 2 of this year, Sgt. Maseth, of Shaler, stepped into the shower at his quarters in Baghdad's safe Green Zone and was electrocuted. ... According to the Army Criminal Investigation Division, Sgt. Maseth died when the electricity in the shower facility short-circuited because an electric water pump on the rooftop was not properly grounded. ... Yesterday, in a quest for someone to be held accountable, Sgt. Maseth's parents sued ... Continue Reading
A Word On Simpson Thacher, Cozen O’Connor, and The “Worst Advice Any Lawyer Ever Gave a Client”
You may have seen this article in The American Lawyer: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett partner Barry Ostrager isn't exactly mincing words in his assessment of the counsel that guided Chubb Insurance to the U.S. Supreme Court, where on Monday it will square off against Ostrager's insurance company client, Travelers Indemnity. "Whoever has been advising Chubb," he told the Litigation Daily on Friday, on a train en route to Washington, "gave them the worst advice any lawyer ever gave a client." ... Way back in 1986, Manhattan federal bankruptcy court judge Burton Lifland confirmed the Chapter 11 reorganization plan of the ... Continue Reading
Most Popular Posts as of March 3, 2009
New to the site? Haven't been here in a while? Here are some of the most popular posts over the past few weeks. Litigations and Trials: Managing Expectations in Defamation Cases: A Legendary Trial Lawyer Faces His First Malpractice Suit $120 Million In Hourly Billing For A Single Trial: What Happened In Robertson v. Princeton? How Not To Spend $120 Million In Hourly Fees On A Single Trial: A Few Questions for Robertson v. Princeton The Watchmen Movie Ruling: How Typical Lawyer Obstructionism Can Destroy Your Case "Quinn Emanuel Hit With Malpractice Suit" -- More Business Contingent-Fee Madness Law Practice: ... Continue Reading
No One Wants To Be A Plaintiff: The Tragedies of The Santa Gunman
From the Associated Press: Pardo's downward slide ended Christmas Eve, when the 45-year-old electrical engineer donned a Santa suit and massacred nine people at his former in-laws' house in Covina, where a family Christmas party was under way. He then used a homemade device disguised as a present to spray racing fuel that quickly sent the home up in flames. Pardo had planned to flee to Canada following the killing spree but suffered third-degree burns in the fire — which melted part of the Santa suit to him — and decided to kill himself instead, investigators said. His body, with ... Continue Reading
