Arkansas News

Arkansas and federal officials filed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM +1.74% on Thursday for allegedly violating pollution laws following the March rupture of an oil pipeline in the state.

The state’s leading business organization and trial lawyers were at odds during the legislative session over tort reform, and their standoff could continue through the 2014 general election.

Authorities in some U.S. states have become more aggressive in accusing drug makers of deceptive marketing, widening the potential liability for an industry that has shelled out billions of dollars to settle investigations led by the federal government.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a homeowner seeking to sue his insurer could not file suit in a state court considered friendly to plaintiffs.

The U.S. Supreme Court put new constraints on class-action lawsuits, siding with a Travelers Cos. unit and undercutting what companies say is a favorite tactic used by trial lawyers to steer cases to friendly courts.

Supreme Court Justice Courtney Hudson Goodson reported late last month that she received a trip worth $50,000 to Italy in 2012 from plaintiff attorney W.H. Taylor, a friend of her class action attorney husband John C. Goodson.

Arkansas lawmakers are weighing competing ballot measures to address rulings that overturned parts of a 2003 tort reform law, including a proposal to give the Legislature the authority to write the rules and practices for the state's courts.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services could face a much higher legal bill than the $5 billion sought by the federal government as more and more states join the battle against the credit-ratings firm. A raft of lawsuits this week from attorneys general from several states, including California and Iowa, is compounding S&P's legal woes over its role during the financial crisis of 2008-2009.

Johnson & Johnson says a $181 million fee awarded last week to attorneys who represented the state of Arkansas in a lawsuit over Risperdal is not reasonable and plans to appeal.

Bailey Perrin Bailey struck gold last week, when a judge in Arkansas awarded the Houston-based plaintiffs firm a whopping $181 million in attorneys fees for representing the state in a Medicaid fraud suit against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., related to the antipsychotic drug Risperdal.