“The Use of Litigation Screenings in Mass Torts: A Formula for Fraud?”
Lester Brickman has a new must-read paper on an under-reported problem: Lawyers obtain the “mass” for some mass tort litigations by conducting screenings to sign-up potential litigants en masse. These...
View ArticleBeaumont justice and the silicosis mass torts
“The first time we ever lost a case in trial, it was 2001. We tried it in Beaumont, Texas, and lost $7.5 million. . . . The judge sat there through the trial reading a newspaper. At one point an...
View ArticleU.S. Silica in the blogosphere
In Mississippi Litigation Review blog, Philip Thomas argues that Kim Strassel’s article (which we discussed Sunday) overemphasizes the role played by U.S. Silica’s CEO. I think that’s more the doing of...
View ArticleCCAF amicus brief in fen-phen fees case
Overlawyered readers are well aware of the sorry history of the fen-phen litigation; those that aren’t are advised to check out Professor Lester Brickman’s summary. In April 2008, the Diet Drugs MDL...
View ArticleApril 4 roundup
Verbal fireworks from Judge Kozinski in Ninth Circuit “stolen valor” case [Above the Law] Measure of artificially contrived scarcity: “NYC Taxi Medallions Approach $1 Million.” Would officials in...
View ArticleJoseph Nocera on the mass-tort business model
The New York Times columnist responds to critics of his coverage (earlier here, here, etc.) of the BP Gulf spill claims bonanza: Until that story [on the silicone breast implant episode], I’d always...
View Article“Judge triples fraud verdict against asbestos attorneys, radiologist”
“A federal judge has tripled the damages awarded against two former members of a Pittsburgh law firm and the radiologist they were found to have conspired with to fabricate asbestos claims in West...
View ArticleBusiness Week: judges blowing whistle on more corrupt litigation
Only three days after Judge Kaplan’s spectacular ruling in the Chevron/Ecuador case, notes Paul Barrett at Business Week, “a state appellate court in California upheld a trial judge’s finding that what...
View ArticleMistaking a dead claimant for a live one
For a lawyer to do that once might seem bad luck, to do it 588 times seems rather like carelessness. [Beck on Eleventh Circuit review of Engle tobacco cases in Florida] Excerpt: The district court...
View ArticleLitigation funding, mass torts, and phantom clients
The Peter Thiel/Hulk Hogan story has brought the topic of litigation finance into the news, and a recent Alison Frankel column notes an alleged secret $10 million investment in the BP gulf spill case...
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