Daniel Fisher News
Plaintiff lawyers win again; Court awards fees in dispute over case they dismissed
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A clothing manufacturer’s strategy of suing labor lawyers for malicious prosecution failed badly, as a California appeals court ordered the company to pay them additional legal fees on top of the tens of thousands of dollars they obtained after settling the underlying wage-and-hour lawsuit.
Used condoms and skunks: Lawsuit alleging apartment complex was far from 'luxurious' gets second chance
SANTA ANA, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - A California apartment complex may have to defend itself in a lawsuit over claims of false advertising and allowing the property to be littered with dog feces and used condoms after an appeals court reversed a judge’s refusal to certify a class action by disgruntled former tenants.
Lemon law attorneys in California fail to convince court to boost damages, fees
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A man who leased a Dodge Charger and sought restitution under California’s lemon law may be able to recover insurance premiums and registration costs after defects emerged in the car, but he can’t win the entire residual value of the vehicle, an appeals court ruled.
Judge blocks Prop 65 lawsuits over acrylamide, citing 'unresolved scientific debate'
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - A federal judge has blocked lawyers from suing companies under California’s Proposition 65 over the presence of acrylamide in food, saying it is far from settled science the naturally occurring chemical causes cancer in humans.
Court delays $1.1 million payment to lawyers until class redeems coupons
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - In a victory for objectors who complain that class-action settlements too often feature cash fees for the lawyers but worthless coupons for their clients, a federal judge has put a law firm’s million-dollar fee on hold until he sees how many coupons consumers actually redeem.
California asbestos ruling a boost for companies facing punitive damages
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A California appeals court has sharply limited the ability to obtain punitive damages against corporations, ruling in an asbestos lawsuit that the plaintiff had failed to identify specific employees who engaged in behavior deserving such punishment.
California court lets teacher claim wi-fi burns her skin in lawsuit against L.A. schools
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A California appeals court restored a teacher’s lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District, saying she adequately claimed the district failed to accommodate her disabling sensitivity to microwave radiation.
Public intoxication arrest of disoriented man turns into $6.3 million verdict against San Diego County
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - A California appeals court recently affirmed a $6.3 million verdict against San Diego County in the case of a man who suffered permanent brain damage after sheriffs’ deputies waved off paramedics and took him to jail for public intoxication.
Paraplegic on the lookout for ADA violations loses two of his many lawsuits against hotels
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A serial plaintiff and his lawyers lost a pair of cases that could indicate more defeats to come, as a federal judge in California dismissed claims hotels violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to include detailed descriptions of their ADA-compliant features on internet reservations systems.
Opioid judge has second thoughts, rejects class of drug-addicted infants
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) - The federal judge who approved a nationwide class of plaintiffs to try to settle opioid litigation appears to have had a change of heart when it comes to a nationwide class of parents caring for children who were born addicted to narcotics.
Judge throws out asbestos case over lack of evidence showing talcum powder is unsafe
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - A federal judge in California dismissed a proposed class action against Johnson & Johnson and Bausch over talcum powder products, saying plaintiff lawyers failed to show the products were unsafe or that their clients were misled into buying them.
Plaintiffs lawyers spent $50 million on JM Eagle case to win $162K; Company says outcome not worthy of reward
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Plaintiff lawyers who spent 14 years and tens of millions of dollars pursuing a whistleblower case only to win less than $200,000 for their clients shouldn’t be able to collect multiples of that amount from the defendant, pipemaker JM Eagle said in a filing calling the fee request “patently unreasonable.”
Lawyers seek millions in fees for long-running 'whistleblower' case that fizzled
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Lawyers who spent more than a decade pursuing a whistleblower case that was almost entirely obliterated by a judge’s ruling earlier this year are now chasing after the real payoff: Tens of millions of dollars in fees for a lawsuit that has yielded their clients $192,000.
Live Nation can be sued over concertgoer's drug overdose
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Concert promoter Live Nation can be sued by the parents of a young woman who died after overdosing on drugs during its “Hard Fest” electronic music festival, a California appeals court ruled, rejecting Live Nation’s argument it had no duty to protect the woman from the consequences of ingesting illegal substances.
Reporting employee's guilty plea on FINRA form costs Allstate $4.3M in defamation lawsuit
SAN DIEGO (Leal Newsline) - A California appeals court ordered Allstate to pay some $4.3 million, including $2.6 million in punitive damages, to a top-performing salesman who was fired after he pled guilty to disorderly conduct related to a loud dispute with his girlfriend.
Law of the sea bars daughter from seeking damages for father's diving accident in French Polynesia
SANTA ANA, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - A California appeals court has deep-sixed a Hawaii woman’s attempt to sue a movie production company over injuries her father suffered while diving in French Polynesia, saying maritime law doesn’t allow her to collect money for loss of consortium or punitive damages.
Jury awards $2.6 million In Zoom asbestos trial
ALAMEDA, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - A California jury awarded $2.6 million to a former Navy admiral in an asbestos case that featured a trial over Zoom that the defendant tried to stop after the plaintiff engaged in an online conversation with jurors.
Court affirms $9.3M verdict for unauthorized penis surgery
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - A California appeals court on Sept. 10 upheld a multimillion-dollar damage award to a man who was left impotent by surgery on his penis that he never authorized, finding the state’s $250,000 cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases doesn’t apply to claims of intentional misconduct.
Ninth Circuit breathes new life into climate change lawsuits of San Francisco and Oakland against Big Oil
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has reversed a federal judge’s dismissal of climate change lawsuits against oil companies including ExxonMobil, BP and Chevron by the cities of Oakland and San Francisco, setting the stage for them to be tried in a more favorable California state court.
Opioid judge approves `negotiation class’ over objections of state AGs and defendants
In a move that appeared preordained after his comments at an August hearing, U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster approved an unprecedented “negotiation class” of every city and county nationwide to try and reach a global settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors.