The New York Personal Injury Law Blog brings you the week that was:

We start, as usual, with pre-litigation issues:

TortsProf Bill Childs discusses a man who died on the Coney Island Cyclone this summer. Or did he?

The failed tort “reform” experiment in Michigan was in the Detroit Free Press, and Tort Burger – Hold the Reform has the details;

But another type of “reform” has been percolating along, where state court actions get “preempted” by the federal government. Perlmutter and Schuelke have the details of tort “reform” by preemption. (Ironically advocated by those who usually argue about keeping the federal nose out of the state business. But political ideology often disappears when Fortune 500 companies have the checkbook out at election time.)

An article in the National Law Journal ponders whether the Bush administration is now targeting plaintiffs’ attorneys;

John Day (Day on Torts) reports on the tough jury climate in a case where a jury awarded zero dollars for pain and suffering despite a herniated disc with surgery and the defendant was at fault; But Ronald Miller (The Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog) has a different view, as seen through the eyes of a 28-year old article he was reading on the same subject;

And since we are talking herniated discs, if you need a refresher course or haven’t dealt with the subject before, David Gottlieb’s No Fault Paradise points to this site on disc anatomy;

Ted Frank at Overlawyered writes about lawsuits where the passenger was injured while sitting in a reclined seat. The comments section goes wild since the story doesn’t say how far reclined the seat was, giving everyone a chance to spin the story any way they want;

Moving on to the numerous recalls of painted children’s toys that originated in China, the New York Times reports that lead was used because (surprise!) it helped to increase industry profits;

Still overseas, Howard Erichson at MassTorts discusses a new article on suing Saudi Arabia for terrorism activities;

Before moving to litigation, doctor/attorney Dainius A. Drukteinis (NY Emergency Medicine) analyzes the conflicting issues of a patient in handcuffs that has swallowed crack cocaine and a cop that wants his stomach pumped;

Of course, to have a trial you need a judge, and as readers of this space know, New York’s judges are woefully underpaid. And while New York’s Chief Judge Judith Kaye had threatened suit, she then backed down much to the disappointment of her judicial flock. But as Daniel Wise now reports from the New York Law Journal, that didn’t stop four other judges from suing this week for that pay raise, with Chief Judge’s Kaye former Associate Judge on the court, George Bundy Smith, acting as plaintiffs’ counsel. Matthew Lerner has a copy of the Complaint.

Now on to litigation:

Evan Schaeffer starts us off with practice tips on readying your trial notebook;

The Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog reports that a man shot to death by the cops (with 42 bullets) has been sued by one of them;

Showing up for trial is pretty important. And Hans Poppe has this legal malpractice story regarding a car accident, a $1.7M verdict, and the failure by the insurance company lawyer to even contact the defendant to let him know the trial was happening.

Michael Jeffcoat reports on a whopping $55M verdict for a 10 year-old girl catastrophically injured by a U.S. gov’t vehicle, awarded by a U.S. District Court judge;

In the Settlements Department, the ABA Journal reports that Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego has agreed to pay $198 million to settle claims of clergy sex abuse by 144 alleged victims, following another settlement for $660M for 508 cases in July;

The ABA Journal also brings us this unusual $1.8M settlement from a Washington city, when a drunk driver they mistakenly released from jail killed a man in a hit-and-run accident;

Turning to legal fees, the Legal Pad reports some California courts are capping contingency fees on minors at 25%, a one-size-fits-all judicial rule that seems really bizarre since some cases may settle pre-suit and others may go to verdict, appeal and re-trial.

And finally:

• Blawg Review # 125 was hosted by Kevin O’Keefe at his newly re-designed blog, Real Lawyers Have Blogs, with tips about law blogging;
• Grand Rounds, the medical equivalent to Blawg Review, was hosted by The Efficient MD, for those of you whose practices straddle the medical-legal world;
• The Cavalcade of Risk was hosted this week by David Williams at his Health Business Blog;
• Scott Greenfield (Simple Justice) ruminates on the 9/11 anniversary, from his vantage point in my old stomping ground at The Woolworth Building, just steps away from the towers, and discusses a case of gross incompetence in the courthouse;
• Paul Levy (Running a Hospital) tells us that some people will check their Blackberry most anywhere…and I do mean anywhere;

And to those celebrating the New Year, L’Shana Tova Tikatevu.

(Eric Turkewitz is a personal injury attorney in New York)

The New York Personal Injury Law presents the week that was:

Prior to suit, we’ll explore some related issues:

Ronald Miller starts us off with a discussion of medical malpractice caps in Illinois and Maryland at the Maryland Lawyer Blog;

The Consumer Law and Policy Blog picks up a New York Times story on the Consumer Product Safety Commission and how the Bush administration has allowed corporate lobbyists into policy making positions to further the position of big business over consumer protections. The result? Injuries, death and tainted products. They also pick up on the third recall from Mattel. This time it’s Barbie accessories;

David Lowe picks up the story of lung disease from an ingredient in artificially flavored popcorn (which previously was found to affect workers, not consumers, see Round-Up #24). You’ll find the most comprehensive materials on the web regarding “Popcorn Lung” at The Pump Handle. There’s also an interview on the subject with pulmonologist Cecile Rose at the WSJ Health Blog;

Drug safety pops up in a New England Journal of Medicine editorial, and the FDA’s inadequate response to the Institute of Medicine’s 2006 report (via TortsProf);

Last week’s round-up had a small give-and-take on the contingency fee, and David Giacalone continues on at f/k/a with contingency fees and the clueless fiduciary. This part of his post jumped out at me: “Tort lawyers …obtain repayment of substantially all litigation expenses they advance, including expenses advanced in the cases where they do not prevail.” Perhaps in academic theory the expenses can be recouped on a lost case, but not in the real world where many claimants simply don’t have the money. Not only is the risk of laying out many thousands in disbursements real, but from the business end it doesn’t even begin to address the harsh cash-flow problems of funding cases for years before they finally come to trial (see for example, Medical Malpractice Economics);

At Point of Law, Walter Olson points to a New York Times article today that questions the accuracy of some of the data regarding health problems to ground zero workers.

And into the cauldron of litigation we go:

Sheila Scheuerman from TortsProf reports that Greek victims of a Nazi atrocity may sue Germany;

The Kentucky Law Review reports that a trial against an obstetrician accused of unnecessary hysterectomies was continued due to protests (note: Only lawyers use the word “continued” when we really mean postponed). The protests were due, in part, to a letter circulated around the medical community. The eventual verdict is here;

With trials coming up regarding the September 11 attacks, MassTorts prof Howard Erichson tries to figure out exactly what it is that the plaintiff’s want…is it really money?

A trial is starting in Texas over the 2005 BP explosion that killed 15 people and will be about, as TortDeform reports, whether the oil giant put profits over safety;

A partial settlement was reached in the catastrophic Rhode Island night club fire that killed 100 people and injured 200 more in 2003 when the manager for Great White ignited a pyrotechnics display. Four defendants coughed up $13.5M. There are still 93 other defendants. The New York Times (reg. req.) has the story as does the Boston Globe (no reg.):

Mary Whisner from Trial AD notes a $5M medical malpractice verdict in a case where the jury disagreed with a report from the state’s Department of Health that claimed the doctor’s conduct fell within the standard of care. From the comment section of the blog, it looks as if a juror has responded. I let jury blogging guru Anne Reed know, and she followed up at Deliberations with, If Your Juror Were Writing Online, Could You Find It?

And a federal judge has ordered Iran to pay $2.65 billion to the families of the 241 U.S. service members killed in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut. A bit more from PrairiePundit.

And finally:

• George Lenard’s Employment Blawg brings us a Labor Day special, Blawg Review #124;
• Bary Barnett finds out that “trial lawyer” is not a “regular occupation;”
• In case you wanted to ditch that PC for a Mac, The Mac Lawyer has a synopsis of the available business applications an attorney might use;
• While Senator Larry “I’m not gay” Craig tries to take a mulligan on his resignation, his face pops up on a new t-shirt;
• Don’t forget to put your car in park when you get out;
• And a young lady goes back to school after having a blast this summer.

Enjoy the weekend.

(Eric Turkewitz is a personal injury attorney in New York.)

The New York Personal Injury Law Blog brings you the week that was:

From the last, slow days of August, we start with pre-litigation stuff:

New York bar examiners still can’t find complete essay answers for 400 test takers, meaning they face the prospect of taking the exam again;

Smoking by workers at the World Trade Center site at the former Deutsch Bank building has been found to be the cause of a fire that resulted in two firefighter deaths in late June as the contaminated building was being dismantled. A tangled web of owners, leaseholders, construction contractors, subcontractors, the City of New York and the Fire Department, will soon lead to a very messy lawsuit of finger-pointing. Among the many issues will be lack of inspections, lack of experience by the contractors and a broken standpipe that prevented water from being pumped upstairs to the blaze;

Also at the WTC site, Jeff at Tort Burger – Hold the Reform reports on increased rates of asthma for Ground Zero workers; He also responds to yet another attack on judges, this one from Forbes (Courts Gone Wild);

According to TortsProf Bill Childs, the Duke lacrosse players are preparing to file suit;

Moving to legal fees, Perlumtter & Schuelke wrote In Defense of the Contigent Fee as a form of value billing — as opposed to the billable hour with its inherent conflict of interest between client and attorney. David Giacalone at f/k/a didn’t like that, and attacked Perlmutter — OK, not just Perlmutter but attorneys in general who work on contingency — in a post entitled why do lawyers lie (about contingency fees)? Among Giacalone’s complaints, he asserts that “The client rarely is given essential information (such as the likelihood of success, the probable size of a recovery, and the amount of time and money that is likely to be invested by the lawyer) that would allow him or her to place a value on the lawyer’s participation.” There’s probably a good reason for that, being that the information is often unknown at the time the retainer is signed.

With the papers abuzz over tainted products from China, Ann Brown (former Consumer Products Safety Commission chair) and Pamela Gilbert (former CPSC executive director) lets rip in a harsh Washington Post op-ed that discusses, in part, why we have so little oversight (via TortsProf);

TortDeform’s Kia Franklin goes to battle against an article in American Magazine that advocates health courts, dismantling the arguments in: What’s The Real Crisis in Medical Malpractice Law? The Threat to Patient Safety;

Also on tort “reform,” the Chicago Tribune has an article stating that more medical malpractice insurers are coming to Illinois in the wake of litigation caps on recoveries to those most badly injured. Is anyone else shocked that, when corporate profits increase (on the backs of the injured and disabled), profit-seekers will come in? No word yet on whether insurance rates will actually go down (via Point of Law);

Before heading into the litigation section, Progressive decides it would be nice to slip its investigators into a church sponsored therapy group to investigate a car accident, and record the comments made by the group, and Hans Poppe reports on a PBS documentary on why insurance companies deny legitimate claims;

Into the start of litigation:

The Kentucky Law Review reports that the co-pilot in the Comair crash that killed 49 people in Lexington a year ago has brought suit, claiming poorly designed runway lights;

Charles Toutant at the New Jersey Law Journal has a piece on eight class action suits against Shering-Plough for the off-label promotion of some of its drugs, a policy that led to a whopping $435 million settlement of civil and criminal charges last year. Interestingly, they don’t deal with personal injury, but allege fraud under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, unjust enrichment, civil conspiracy, common-law fraud and negligent misrepresentation. From the defense side, Michael Krauss opines on the subject at Point of Law;

Mark McKenna has the story of a $15M verdict from a defective motorcycle tire;

And the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dumps a $52M punitive damages verdict in White v. Ford and orders a new trial against the automaker. A third trial, Barry Barnett of Blawgletter tells us, as the first had been for $150M in punitives. Part of the problem, no doubt is that confusing decision of the Supreme Court in Philip Morris v. Williams that will plague courts for years to come.

At Overlawyered, Ted Frank points to a mere $4,100 in damages awarded by a German court to a man who had to have the top of his skull replaced with plastic because of a faulty hospital fridge, and says in his subject heading: One Reason European Healthcare Is Cheaper Than The American Version. Personally, I’d rather pay the few extra bucks and keep my skull;

And finally:

• Blawg Review #123 is up at Texas Appellate Law blog;
• Grand Rounds is up at Rickety Contrivances of Doing Good, for those with medical interests;
• The Cavalcade of Risk is hosted this week by Health Affairs;
• Food poisoning legal guru Bill Marler is the focus of a long (and flattering) magazine profile;
• Trial Ad Notes reports that B-List and C-List celebrities seek new life on Jury Duty, coming to television;
• And, a little boy (“I’m not little!”) takes in his very first baseball game.

Enjoy the long weekend.

(Eric Turkewitz is a personal injury attorney in New York.)

The New York Personal Injury Law Blog presents the weeks that were:

Before the lawsuits, let’s look at risks and pre-litigation issues:

We start with the Accident Prevention Department: Less speeding means fewer accidents, and Dr. Wes brings us a rather unique method of reducing speeding. Trust me, you haven’t seen an ad campaign quite like this before;

In the Risk Management Department, a person vents anger at a doctor on a blog (via Kevin, M.D.). Yet another good reason for all professionals to be on their best behavior;

And in a related matter (sort of), Tony Caggiano at the Orlando Injury Lawyer Blog discusses the secrecy surrounding disciplinary actions against doctors;

Ben Glass has a post that touches on personal injury law: How one health insurer not only wastes his premium money, but is violating the law as it does so; While another health insurer refuses to pay surgical bills because it claims its insured was 56 cents short in his payments; (via The Medical Quack);

Perlumtter & Shuelke have a copy of the Baylor Law School study: Straight From the Horse’s Mouth: Judicial Observations of Jury Behavior and the Need for Tort Reform. Ted Frank at Overlawyered thinks the real problem is corrupt Texas judges (“in the pocket of the plaintiffs’ bar,” is the phrase Frank uses);

The New York Sun rips trials lawyers over a medical malpractice commission being formed after a 14% malpractice rate hike (see my prior post, Why New York Medical Malpractice Insurance Jumped 14%), and the New York State Trial Lawyers Association sets them straight in a response.

As we move into litigation:

With dangerous products filling the front pages of the papers — mostly as a result of Chinese manufacturing and the use of lead paing on toys and, perhaps, American importers turning a blind eye to what is going on — NPR does an interview with the Chair of the Consumer Products Safety Commission; And class actions have been filed against Mattel seeking medical monitoring;

Mark R. McKenna has more on the Minneapolis bridge collapse, including pre-collapse warnings; The first suit has already been reported. In addition, Minneapolis firms are teaming up for pro bono representation for the bridge collapse victims.

Who says the law is a boring subject? Not John Day, who reports on whether a husband is liable for injuries his wife inflicts on his girlfriend. Ouch.

Howard Erichson at the Mass Torts Litigation Blog reports on a unique effort to have four simultaneous trials in the Atlantic City courthouse, where Judge Carol Higbee has been overseeing the action;

Oddly, Vioxx litigation also landed on the front page of the New York Times with a story saying Merck hadn’t settled a single suit. Why this was front page news is beyond me since there doesn’t seem to be anything surprising about it. Taking a hard stand was, from a litigation perspective, the only rational thing Merck could have done. In fact, in New York medical malpractice cases the exact same thing occurs. It’s standard operating procedure;

Also in the defense arena, Beck/Herrmann has a blog on how to defend a case if you believe that the plaintiff has used prescription drugs in an illegal manner;

The Cerebral Palsy Blog writes about the $70M verdict in New Jersey that was recently upheld by an appellate court. The blog follows up on this article from the New Jersey Law Journal;

This verdict was for the defense, as Bary Barnett at Blawgletter tells us, where a court refused to ask jury panel members on their feelings about personal injury lawsuits in a personal injury lawsuit (via Point of Law);

And an Illinois lawsuit against Philip Morris over “light” cigarettes, that at one time had been subject to a $10B verdict, has been snuffed out.

And finally:

• From the Worst Attempt At A Bogus Lawsuit Department, see QuizLaw;
• Scott Greenfield on how he fended off a punch in the nose and it impacted a client’s life; and the issue of cameras in the courtroom;
• Blawg Review #122 presented by David Gulbransen as a syllabus;

Enjoy the weekend.

(Eric Turkewitz is a personal injury attorney in New York)

The New York Personal Injury Law Blog brings you the week that was:

Consider this the dog days of August edition, part 1:

Starting with the tort “reform” movement, a bill is proposed in Congress to ban mandatory arbitration agreements entered into before a dispute arises (ABAJournal);

John Day is contacted by a Tennessee Supreme Court judge regarding his posting on the effects of bankruptcy on a personal injury case. I wonder if the judge found Day in the maternity ward?

The collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis may have claims up to $1B, according to Robert Ambrogi at Law.com.

Ambrogi also points out, in the attorneys-acting-badly department, the ambulance chasing going on. This is the same type of conduct that occurred in New York after the 2003 Staten Island Ferry disaster that killed 10 — newspaper ads being submitted before the injured and dead were all taken from the scene — that led to new rules on attorney advertising and solicitation, including a 30-day prohibition on certain conduct. More by Mark Cohen at the Minnesota Lawyer Blog.

In addition, New Jersey has chalked up its first convictions for using “runners” to find clients according to Maria Vogel-Short and his former firm, the winners being Irwin Seligsohn and his firm Seligsohn, Goldberger & Shinrod (New Jersey Law Journal via Law.com). This comes fresh on the heals of last week’s action by the Manhattan District Attorney on the same subject; and three Kentucky Fen-Phen lawyers being forced to cough up $42M (plus interest) in legal fees to former clients. Kentucky blawgers Hans Poppe and the Kentucky Law Review have that story;

And lest you think lawyers-acting-badly is confined to just personal injury counsel: San Diego federal Judge Rudi Brewster accused Qualcomm and its trial counsel of committing “gross litigation misconduct” by withholding crucial evidence in Qualcomm’s patent infringement case against Broadcom Corp. (Jessie Seyfer for The Recorder, via Law.com);

The Big Dig tunnel collapse has resulted in a charge of involuntary manslaughter against a New York epoxy manufacturer. Whether this is just the first, or the last, remains to be seen. Ted Frank of Overlawyered tells us why prosecuting the company is really just a plot to carry water for trial lawyers;

If you get cancer from a kidney transplant, is it malpractice or simple negligence? Thomas Swartz at New York Legal Update lets us know what one of our appellate courts said, and why it was important;

And in other transplant-legal news, Jacob Goldstein reports that a California transplant physician has been accused of hastening death in order to harvest the organs (WSJ Healthblog);

Tom Lamb tackles the latest research paper on the risks of Avandia, at Drug Injury Watch;

Bill Childs notes at TortsProf that not only is the Consumer Product Safety Commission investigating toys, but that attorneys have taken notice;

Doctors and medical malpractice practitioners take note: Theo Francis at the WSJ Health Blog reports that Medicare, recognizing that hospitals actually profit from malpractice because of the need for continued treatment, will stop paying bills to remedy their flubs;

Some matters in litigation…

In tobacco litigation, the daughter and husband of a woman who died of lung cancer can proceed with their lawsuit against Philip Morris and other tobacco companies under a design-defect theory and can seek punitive damages in New York state court (New York Law Journal via Law.com);

In New York the steam pipe blast in NYC has resulted in litigation and yesterday, a temporary restraining order was signed to prevent Con Ed from destroying evidence;

In the popcorn lawsuit department (you didn’t know we had one?) 44 more plaintiffs have filed suit claiming they were suffered lung disease from popcorn flavoring, as per Tort Burger, Hold the Reform [Edit: much more at The Pump Handle, via TortsProf];

Mary Whisner points to an article on whether summary judgment is unconstitutional;

In the jury deliberation department, Sam Yospe at Concurring Opinions discusses blogging jurors. (Edit: I wonder if Brad Pitt blogged his jury duty? If so, QuizLaw might have something in common with him);

When the case is over, will you get paid for your time? Check out this ABAJournal horror story on a contingent fee, involving a cut from 20% to 4% in a case with 35,000 clients and $22M in charged costs;

And finally for the lazy, summer weekend, a mixed bag of law and medicine:

• Medical blogger Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei takes Grand Rounds to his beach house;
• Dr. Wes describes what happens when a fly enters a no-fly zone after the incision is made;
• Professor Kingsfield steps out of the celluloid to present Blawg Review #120;
• The Workers’ Comp Insider hosts the Health Wonk Review;
• And lastly, in the children’s department: Dinosaur Musings points to the lyrics of Tom Chapin (brother of Harry) reflecting on No Child Left Behind, and courtesy of Kevin, M.D., this x-ray shows why you teach your children to carry pencils point down, with the point in their hand.

Enjoy the weekend.

(Eric Turkewitz is a personal injury attorney in New York)