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US top court upholds $270 million award to smokers
Headline Topics |
2011/06/28 12:30
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div class=entrydiv class=articlepThe US Supreme Court rejected an appeal request made by American tobacco companies on Monday in a class-action lawsuit that awarded 500,000 smokers a total of $270 million in damages./ppWithout comment, the highest US court dismissed the appeal of a 2009 Louisiana court decision that ruled the tobacco companies must pay hundreds of millions for programs to help the smokers quit./ppThe tobacco companies contested the lawsuit and argued that the class-action lawsuit brought together a number of disparate and individual complaints that spanned more than 50 years./ppThey said that by allowing the class-action suit, the companies were deprived of their right to investigate the individual plaintiffs and they could not all prove that they had suffered harm./p/div
/div |
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N.Y. governor signs gay marriage into law
Industry News |
2011/06/25 11:32
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed New York's gay marriage bill, starting what is expected to be a crush of gay weddings starting in 30 days.
The Democratic governor signed the measure shortly before midnight Friday, following up on a promise to put his name on the legislation as soon as he received it rather than wait the usual 10 days to sign it for it to become law.
New York lawmakers narrowly voted to legalize same-sex marriage, handing activists a breakthrough victory in the state where the gay rights movement was born.
New York will become the sixth state where gay couples can wed and the biggest by far.
“We are leaders and we join other proud states that recognize our families and the battle will now go on in other states,” said Sen. Thomas Duane, a Democrat.
Gay rights advocates are hoping the vote will galvanize the movement around the country and help it regain momentum after an almost identical bill was defeated here in 2009 and similar measures failed in 2010 in New Jersey and this year in Maryland and Rhode Island. |
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Toyota class action suit to start with Utah case
Headline Topics |
2011/06/24 22:31
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The first lawsuit to go to trial in a massive class action against Toyota Motor Corp. over acceleration problems that led the company to recall 14 million cars will involve a crash that killed two people in western Utah, a federal judge said Friday.
U.S. District Judge James Selna told attorneys the case of 38-year-old Charlene Jones Lloyd and 66-year-old Paul Van Alfen, whose Toyota Camry slammed into a wall in Utah in 2010, is scheduled to go to trial in February 2013.
The case - Van Alfen v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. - will be the first of several bellwether lawsuits, intended to determine how the rest of the litigation will proceed.
Selna wrote in a tentative order that he hoped the selection would markedly advance these proceedings.
The Court believes that selection of a personal injury/wrongful death case is most likely the type of case to meet that goal, Selna said.
Toyota said it welcomes the Utah case as the first suit to reach court.
We are pleased that the initial bellwether will address plaintiffs' central allegation of an unnamed, unproven defect in Toyota vehicles, as every claim in the multi-district litigation rests upon this pivotal technical issue, the company said in a statement.
Toyota has previously argued the plaintiffs have been unable to prove that a design defect in its electronic throttle control system is responsible for vehicles surging unexpectedly. It has instead blamed driver error, faulty floor mats and sticky accelerator pedals. |
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Pa. appeals court upholds $188M Wal-Mart verdict
Industry News |
2011/06/24 22:31
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A $188 million class-action verdict against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Sam's Club over payment to employees for rest breaks and off-the-clock work was upheld Friday by a Pennsylvania appeals court.
A three-judge Superior Court panel said there was sufficient evidence at trial to conclude there had been a breach of contract, unjust enrichment and violations of state labor laws.
The judges also ruled in a 211-page opinion that the presiding Philadelphia judge erred in determining some of the plaintiffs' legal fees, and sent that part of the case back for recalculation.
The 2006 trial, which lasted 32 days, resulted in a finding that Wal-Mart did not pay employees for all the work they performed and did not let them take their paid, mandatory rest breaks, the judges wrote. The court awarded $46 million in attorneys' fees.
Wal-Mart spokesman Greg Rossiter said the retail giant believes the court decision was wrong in a number of respects and looks forward to additional review in the courts. |
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Va suit settled over coalbed methane rights
Headline Topics |
2011/06/23 22:31
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Southwest Virginia landowners have reached a $3.4 million tentative settlement in a class-action lawsuit over coalbed methane rights.
The Bristol Herald Courier reports Wednesday's settlement would be split among 1,850 landowners.
The federal lawsuit alleged that Chesapeake Energy Corp. subsidiary Chesapeake Appalachia underpaid royalties to landowners for decades.
The settlement will be made final at a hearing Oct. 4.
Other similar class-action lawsuits are pending in federal court in southwest Virginia involving CNX Gas Co. and EQT Production Co. |
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2011 Chambers USA Guide Ranks 9 Greenberg Traurig Phoenix Attorneys
Press Release |
2011/06/22 22:31
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Chambers and Partners, an annual guide featuring the leading U.S. lawyers and law firms, announced that 9 attorneys from Greenberg Traurig’s Phoenix office have been selected for inclusion in its Chambers USA 2011 guide. Chambers and Partners selects attorneys based upon thousands of interviews with practicing lawyers and with clients around the world. This stringent research and review process yields an exclusive compilation of the leading attorneys in their respective fields.
The following Greenberg Traurig Phoenix attorneys have been honored by Chambers USA in its 2011 Guide:
nbsp;nbsp; Brian H. Blaney - Corporate/Mamp;A
nbsp;nbsp; Rebecca Lynne Burnham - Real Estate
nbsp;nbsp; Robert S. Kant - Corporate/Mamp;A
nbsp;nbsp; Leslie Klein - Labor amp; Employment: Employee Benefits amp; Compensation
nbsp;nbsp; Bruce E. Macdonough - Corporate/Mamp;A
nbsp;nbsp; Daniel B. Pasternak - Labor amp; Employment
nbsp;nbsp; Lawrence J. Rosenfeld - Labor amp; Employment
nbsp;nbsp; Lesa J. Storey - Real Estate
nbsp;nbsp; Quinn Williams - Corporate/Mamp;A
About Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, full-service law firm with approximately 1800 attorneys serving clients from more than 30 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. In the U.S., the firm has more offices than any other among the Top 10 on The National Law Journal’s 2011 NLJ 250. In the U.K., the firm operates as Greenberg Traurig Maher LLP. Greenberg Traurig has a strategic alliance with the independent law firm, Studio Santa Maria in Milan and Rome. The firm was Chambers and Partners' USA Law Firm of the Year in 2007 and among the Top 3 in the International Law Firm of the Year at the 2009 The Lawyer Awards. For additional information, please visit http://www.gtlaw.com. |
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Kansas court system works to improve efficiency
Topics |
2011/06/21 10:33
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Judges and court workers have completed the data-collection part of a study aimed at making Kansas' court system more efficient.
The Wichita Eagle reported that the data will be analyzed by the National Center for State Courts. That national nonprofit group works to improve the justice system and lobbies on behalf of courts at the federal level.
The results of the $200,000 consultant study of how judges and other court workers spend their time will go to a panel that will recommend changes if they are needed.
Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss said the panel also is gathering public input on ways to improve the courts. The two initiatives are called Project Pegasus, after the winged horse in Greek mythology.
The goal is to prevent situations like last year when courts were closed four days.
When our budget is cut or when we don't have enough money, it is our people who suffer, they're the ones who have to get sent home, Nuss told members of the Wichita Pachyderm Club, a Republican group, this past week. Unfortunately that also comes at the expense of Kansas citizens, because when we have no money and we have to close the courts, the citizens no longer have access to justice.
Nuss said most of the consultant study is being paid for mostly from salary and benefit savings accrued after appellate Judge Jerry Elliott died in April of last year and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Davis died last August. |
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