John O'Brien News
Judge deals blow to the round of white chocolate class actions
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – What lawyers think people assume to be white chocolate chips are actually correctly labeled “white chips,” a judge has ruled in dismissing a class action lawsuit against Ghirardelli.
Berkeley student files class action seeking tuition refund over COVID-19 campus closure
OAKLAND, Calif. (Legal Newsline) — A Berkeley student has filed a class action lawsuit against the University of California alleging students are entitled to spring 2020 semester tuition refunds due to the COVID-19 pandemic campus closure.
Fifteen states to California: Don't tell our farmers how to treat animals
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – California is trying to impose its own animal-confinement agenda on farmers in the rest of the country, say the Republican attorneys general of 15 states.
CalChamber adjusts argument against coffee-causes-cancer lawsuits
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – The California Chamber of Commerce is taking another shot to protect businesses in the state from facing lawsuits over Proposition 65, the state law that requires cancer warnings about hundreds of chemicals – specifically one found in coffee.
Lawyer ads in 2020 are talking less about Roundup, more about coronavirus
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – Personal injury lawyers cut their spending on Roundup advertising by more than half in the first two months of 2020.
Seeing all those Roundup commercials? That's because lawyers have spent $60M on them this year
The search for clients to file cancer lawsuits over the weed-killer Roundup has exploded – even as the EPA says the product does not cause what lawyers are alleging.
‘Business decision’: Former DEA official works for opioid lawyers but set standards for how many pills were made
Now, Rannazzisi is helping private lawyers pin the blame squarely on manufacturers and distributors of opioids, as well as pharmacies. A post-DEA alliance with trial lawyers has been worth six figures for Rannazzisi, who has been hailed as a whistleblower by those cheering attempts to prosecute the opioid industry for the nation’s addiction crisis.
Attack on paint industry spreads to Pennsylvania; Sherwin-Williams asks judge for help
PHILADELPHIA - Pennsylvania will be the next battleground in historically hard-fought litigation over lead paint, as private lawyers seeking one-third of possible multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements are teaming with county officials on lawsuits.
Billionaire mega-donor Steyer picks favorite AG hopefuls; More global warming cases possible
Democrat challengers aspiring to become the top lawyers in their states have received financial boosts from Tom Steyer, a billionaire investor and environmental activist who some feel is a driving force behind the recent string of climate change lawsuits struggling to persuade judges to punish the energy industry.
Boulder got things rolling, but momentum for suing Big Oil lacking in the rest of Colorado
The rest of Colorado seems to have little interest in following the lead of three communities in the state that have sued Big Oil over the alleged effects of global warming.
Climate change roundup: NYC appeals loss, Big Oil attacks Wash. county’s lawsuit
New York City and the private lawyers it hired to sue the fossil fuel industry over alleged effects of climate change will not accept a federal judge’s recent decision to throw the lawsuit out of court.
Losing streak emerges as NYC, hired guns lose climate change case against Big Oil
Federal judges continue to reject the efforts of private lawyers who hold a financial stake in lawsuits brought by government officials against the oil industry over the alleged effects of climate change.
Calif. lawmaker kills bill that punishes lying lawyers after major donor opposes it, group says
A bill that punishes attorneys who mislead prospective clients passed California's Assembly with no opposition, but the state Senate won't even consider it. So, what happened?
Others 0 for 2, but Rhode Island joining climate change litigation anyway
A judge on the other side of the country has ruled that it isn’t an issue for the courts, but that is not stopping Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, and the private lawyers he has hired, from suing the oil industry over alleged effects of climate change.
Judge boots global warming cases of San Francisco, Oakland against oil industry
A California federal judge has rejected the efforts of municipal officials who teamed with private lawyers to seek to hold the energy industry liable for the alleged future effects of climate change.
States against climate change lawsuits ask for dismissal of NYC's
NEW YORK (Legal Newsline) – The top lawyers of 15 states are again asking a federal judge to reject the legal strategy used by public officials and the private attorneys with whom they’ve teamed to sue the energy industry over alleged effects of climate change.
No quit in trial bar after SCOTUS ruling, still filing lawsuits in favorite courts
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – Since last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that dealt a blow to forum-shopping personal injury attorneys, companies threatened with sprawling, 50-state litigation have not been forced into defending cases all over the country.
Trump: Climate change lawsuits interfere with policy, should be dismissed
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – The Trump administration disapproves of climate change litigation initiated by cities and counties in California and the private attorneys they hired on a contingency fee.
Hagens Berman reduces fee for latest government client to sue over climate change
Hagens Berman reduces fee for latest government client to sue over climate change
Hold government to higher standard, former Calif. AG says of climate change lawsuit controversy
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – A Texas judge has decided California officials suing the energy industry over climate change are talking out of both sides of their mouths, and the former top lawyer of the Golden State is disappointed in their actions.