Daniel Fisher News
Suspect who rammed pedestrian with car during police chase loses motion
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - A man who was shot at least four times after leading police on a high-speed chase during which he rammed a pedestrian and hit another police officer lost his bid to win a civil lawsuit against the city on summary judgment, after a federal court said there were enough disputed facts to take the case to trial.
Asbestos plaintiff who named 800 John Does gets to add brake company
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A woman who waited to name an air-brake manufacturer in an asbestos lawsuit until after her husband’s death got a second chance to sue the company after a California appeals court ruled her case was improperly dismissed for failure to name the defendant in time.
Ninth Circuit sends big-money global warming cases back to state court
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Three California counties will be able to continue their lawsuits against the oil industry in their home courts, after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments their claims based on global warming raised issues of federal and international law that required them to remain in federal court.
Group pushing coffee-causes-cancer lawsuits makes latest plea after Ninth Circuit ruling goes against it
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - Repeating allegations that led a federal judge to recuse herself from litigation over acrylamide in foods, a lawyer-driven nonprofit group has asked the judge who replaces her to reverse orders that stopped its lawsuits in their tracks.
Employer not liable for wreck caused by supposedly sleep-deprived security guard
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A security company isn’t liable for an accident that occurred when one of its employees fell asleep at the wheel driving home from work, a California appeals court ruled, rejecting arguments for a “special exception” to the general rule protecting employers against accidents caused by employees commuting to work.
Waiver saves Calif. school district from lawsuit over brain injury
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - A California school district isn’t liable for a high-school student’s brain injury, an appeals court ruled, because his parents signed a complete release before the season started and there was no evidence coaches were guilty of gross negligence for failing to notice he was in distress.
Calif. school district must pay $2 million over classroom shooting
FRESNO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - A California school district must pay $2 million over a classroom shooting because employees failed to properly assess the threat posed by an angry student, an appeals court ruled, rejecting arguments state law grants immunity from negligence suits over mental examinations.
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Lawyers may collect $60K in fees and costs over car-loan dispute
FRESNO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - Lawyers who represented a couple who sought to reverse the purchase of a used car that turned out to be a lemon may collect nearly $60,000 in fees and costs from the lender, a California appeals court ruled.
Attempted payoff by class action lawyers to objector rejected by judge
OAKLAND, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - A federal judge rejected a proposal by plaintiff lawyers to pay a man $25,000 to drop his objection to a $114 million antitrust settlement, saying she didn’t want to set a precedent for similar “objector blackmail” in other cases.
Lawyers hoping to cash in on coffee-causes-cancer cases dealt big loss
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal court injunction against lawsuits accusing companies of failing to warn consumers about the cancer risk of acrylamide, agreeing with the trial court that the science was questionable enough that warning labels could mislead consumers.
California judge rejects public nuisance arguments in opioid lawsuit
SANTA ANA - A California judge eviscerated legal arguments that opioid manufacturers caused a public nuisance by selling their products, dismissing a vanguard lawsuit by Santa Clara County and other municipal plaintiffs because they failed to provide any evidence the companies caused doctors to write medically inappropriate prescriptions.
Plaintiff experts escape hearsay trap in talc-asbestos lawsuit
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Plaintiff experts who cited evidence that Johnson & Johnson talcum powder contained asbestos, without actually performing tests themselves, can nevertheless offer their opinions the powder caused a man’s cancer, a California appeals court ruled.
$87 million Roundup verdict stands despite 'clearly improper' conduct by plaintiffs lawyers
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A California appeals court rejected Bayer’s challenge to an $87 million award to a husband and wife who claimed they contracted non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma from spraying Roundup herbicide, saying the jury heard ample evidence to support findings the product not only causes cancer but that the conduct by Bayer’s Monsanto unit deserved punitive damages.
SCOTUS rejects Chevron appeal in revived climate change case that was once tossed by judge
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Chevron’s appeal of a Ninth Circuit decision reviving a climate-change lawsuit by the City of Oakland, ending a short-lived period of hope for the oil industry that they could either have such litigation dismissed or at the very least shift it to more favorable federal courts.
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.
'Courtroom advocacy in a lab coat': Bayer says plaintiffs' Roundup experts not fit to testify
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Bayer AG has asked the judge overseeing multidistrict litigation over Roundup herbicide to disqualify several plaintiff experts who consistently blame non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on Roundup when being paid to testify in court, despite numerous other risk factors that could have triggered the disease.
Plaintiff lawyers to square off in hearing over $800 million Roundup fee
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Plaintiff lawyers leading multidistrict litigation against Bayer AG over its Roundup herbicide are scheduled to face off against dissident lawyers in federal court in California tomorrow as a judge hears arguments for and against an 8.5% “common benefit” fee that opponents call an $800 million “money grab.”
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.
Bayer's Roundup fight: Success in France but paying billions to settle U.S. cases
In a graphic demonstration of the difference between the U.S. legal system and those of other countries, an appeals court in France has rejected the only pending lawsuit there claiming Bayer’s Roundup herbicide causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the common cancer that tens of thousands of Americans blame on the product.
Arbitration clause doesn't protect Lyft from California's private attorney general law
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Lyft can’t prevent drivers who use its app from suing under a California labor law that deputizes employees as private attorneys general, an appeals court ruled, opening the ride-hailing service to lawsuits that otherwise would be barred by agreements requiring individual arbitration.