Lawsuit Abuse Impact News

April 3, 2013

NM governor signs space travel liability bill

Associated Press | April 3, 2013

Gov. Susana Martinez on Tuesday signed into law liability-waiving legislation aimed at saving the state's nearly quarter-billion-dollar investment in a futuristic spaceport and retaining its anchor tenant, British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic.

Tags: Lawsuit Abuse Impact, New Mexico

April 2, 2013

EDITORIAL: Packing up the Legal Circus

Wall Street Journal | Subscription Required | April 2, 2013

Losers pay in Judge Emmet Sullivan's courtroom, at least when those losers bring a "frivolous, unreasonable and groundless" lawsuit under the Endangered Species Act. This welcome news is contained in a Friday order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Tags: Lawsuit Abuse Impact, Legal Ethics

Judge awards attorney fees in circus litigation

National Law Journal | Subscription Required | April 2, 2013

Animal rights groups that unsuccessfully sued the producer of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus over its treatment of elephants could be on the hook for millions of dollars in attorney fees.

Tags: Lawsuit Abuse Impact, Legal Ethics

Judge Raps Disability-Lawsuit Mill After ‘Client' Disappears

Forbes | April 2, 2013

On Jan. 19, 2011, an Irishman with the delightfully generic name of Mike Costello filed eight nearly identical lawsuits in federal court in New York, accusing local restaurants of violating laws requiring special accommodations for people with disabilities. Costello’s lawyers were New York attorney B. Bradley Weitz and his Florida colleague Adam Shore, who between them have filed more than 200 similar suits in New York courts since 2009, seeking injunctions to fix the alleged violations of disabilities laws and rich, court-ordered fees for themselves.

Tags: Lawsuit Abuse Impact, Legal Ethics, New York

April 1, 2013

Judge Rebukes 2 Lawyers Profiting From U.S. Disability Law

New York Times | April 1, 2013

The lawyers drafted the lawsuits by the dozens, claiming that local businesses had violated federal law by not providing access to people with disabilities — and generating thousands of dollars per case in legal fees for themselves.

Tags: California, Lawsuit Abuse Impact, New York

March 28, 2013

EDITORIAL: Civil injustice prevails in California

Orange County Register | March 28, 2013

Tort-reform groups again cite state’s litigation climate as anti-business.

Tags: California, Lawsuit Abuse Impact

March 27, 2013

Forum: Illinois needs more jobs, fewer lawsuits

Rockford Register Star | March 27, 2013

A statewide legal watchdog group came to town Monday to tout the need for lawsuit reforms to improve Illinois’ economic climate.

Tags: Illinois, Lawsuit Abuse Impact

March 26, 2013

Watchdog group says "frivolous" lawsuits affecting Illinois economy

WREX News | March 26, 2013

People in Illinois are familiar with the word reform and a state-wide watchdog group is now pushing for legal changes. Members want to follow in a border state's footsteps. Illinois Lawsuit Abuse Watch, or I-LAW, members say Wisconsin's civil justice system has a balance this state should strive for.

Tags: Illinois, Lawsuit Abuse Impact

March 25, 2013

Stanley Chesley, Titan of the Plaintiffs' Bar, Crashes and Burns

Bloomberg Businessweek | March 25, 2013

The big-time plaintiffs’ bar justifies its multimillion-dollar fees by claiming to vindicate the “little guy.” Justice ain’t free, according to free-wheeling trial lawyers, and taking on (alleged) corporate villains requires heavy pecuniary incentives.

Tags: Class Action, Kentucky, Lawsuit Abuse Impact, Legal Ethics

EDITORIAL: A Disaster for the Tort Master

Wall Street Journal | Subscription Required | March 25, 2013

Stanley Chesley made a fortune demanding that plaintiffs get their day in court, and this week the class-action kingpin got his when the Kentucky Supreme Court voted unanimously to disbar him. The jurists found that Mr. Chesley "knowingly participated in a scheme to skim millions of dollars in excess attorney's fees from unknowing clients."

Tags: Class Action, Kentucky, Lawsuit Abuse Impact, Legal Ethics