John O'Brien News
Asbestos lawyers fight fraud lawsuit with anti-SLAPP motion
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - The major asbestos law firm Simmons Hanly Conroy is hoping to SLAPP down a lawsuit that accused it of cheating its way to billions of dollars.
Dancers unite: Showgirl's lawsuit against Miss Kitty's now a class action
EAST ST. LOUIS - A Washington Park adult entertainment club now faces a certified class of dancers who say they were treated unfairly.
Big asbestos law firm accused of cheating its way to billions
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - Fraud drove asbestos lawsuits at the prominent plaintiffs firm Simmons Hanly Conroy, J-M Manufacturing Company is alleging in a new racketeering lawsuit.
In wake of affirmative action ruling, GOP and Democrat AGs split on impact on companies
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Republican state attorneys general recently reminded Fortune 100 companies that considering race during their hiring practices could lead to serious consequences in a letter later condemned by their Democrat colleagues as intimidation.
Dole says nitpicking lawyers - not customers - pushing lawsuits over labels
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (Legal Newsline) – Dole says the class action lawsuit against it is “just the latest” from a cottage industry created by lawyers obsessed with labels on food.
Firms leading Flint water settlement say disgruntled colleague is masking confusion with rage
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Legal Newsline) – A motion seeking to remove them from their leadership positions in the Flint, Mich., water crisis case is an assassination of character, two major plaintiffs firms recently said.
Flint lawyer wants big firms negotiating $600M water crisis settlement stripped of power
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Legal Newsline) – Prominent personal injury firms should lose their leadership positions in the Flint, Mich., water crisis litigation, a lawyer involved in the litigation is arguing as he complains they are trying to "corner the market" on compensation to boost their fees.
Senate Democrats push link between coronavirus and favored political cause
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – Democrats in the U.S. Senate are attempting to link one of their pet projects to the COVID-19 pandemic in the days leading to a vote on a liability-expanding measure they tried to force through last year and failed.
Private lawyers won't be cashing in on contract given to them by former Mississippi AG
JACKSON, Miss. (Legal Newsline) - It doesn’t look like private lawyers who scored a contract with former Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood will get the payday they were seeking when he hired them in October 2015.
Two Republicans file PFAS amendment while others in GOP see no hope for bill
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – The EPA would have six months to declare certain chemicals as hazardous under the federal Superfund law – a measure rejected late last year by Senate Republicans – if an amendment is adopted to a bill that will be the next battleground over the regulation of PFAS.
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.
Sixth Circuit seeks answers from judge as states try to derail opioid bellwether trial
CLEVELAND (Legal Newsline) – The judge overseeing nearly 2,000 opioid lawsuits must address concerns that the cases over which he is presiding are an improper power grab by plaintiffs lawyers who signed up cities and counties as clients.
'Business decision': Did DEA boss leave opioid distributors hanging?
During the boom of the addiction crisis in America, opioid distributors were told to figure out a system for identifying suspicious orders but what they came up with could never be given a stamp of approval from federal regulators – even if they asked.
‘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.
Same day, different verdicts: Why do some juries think there is asbestos in talcum powder and others don't?
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Legal Newsline) – Judges continue to play a crucial role in the sprawling, possibly multibillion-dollar talcum powder litigation facing Johnson & Johnson by choosing how jurors will view the plaintiffs’ key expert.
Pennsylvania opioid lawsuits are homeless while trial lawyers take shots at each other
Seven appeals and plenty of in-fighting have Pennsylvania counties behind schedule in their quest to hold dozens of companies liable for the nation's painkiller crisis
Pittsburgh's hired guns move in on Philadelphia's turf as opioid lawyers jostle for power
The fighting in Pennsylvania among plaintiffs lawyers working on contingency fees has escalated this summer
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.
Ads that can kill: Lawyers scare patients out of taking medication, legal reform group says
WASHINGTON - A new paper says lawyer advertising is scaring patients into not taking their medications, leading to dozens of serious incidents – including six deaths from individuals who stopped using their blood-thinner.
CFPB's new rule 'large gift for class action lawyers'; Court challenges coming
WASHINGTON - As the director of a federal consumer protection agency seemingly fights for his job, he has gone forth with plans to finalize a controversial rule – and a court challenge seems imminent.