News from June 2007
Worldwide Pants
This is a local legal journal, so we generally steer clear of issues and conflicts that don't originate here in our backyard.
Asbestos defendants fighting to dismiss cases that don't belong in Madison County
When Madison County Circuit Judge Daniel Stack took over the court's massive asbestos docket in September 2004 he declared that the "astronomical burden" of looming trials demanded he dismiss cases that were not connected directly to Madison County.
Friday, July 6
9 a.m.
Tuesday, July 3
9 a.m.
Courage, faith and the true Spirit of '76
No matter your personal agenda - liberal Democrat frustrated at the continuation of a war you thought you voted to stop, or conservative Republican incensed at the immigration amnesty bill -- you yearn for the time when leaders truly led and not just followed.
Tom Lakin in default for $28k worth of computers
Tom Lakin Bill collectors have sued Tom Lakin over payments they allege he failed to make on computers.
Pants suit imperative
To the editor:
Tillery confident that recent USSC decision will reopen tobacco case
Tillery Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have rendered a decision that will force the Illinois Supreme Court to restore a $10 billion judgment that class action attorney Stephen Tillery won against Philip Morris, according to Tillery.
Stack suggests splitting class in two for dueling law firms
Madison County Circuit Judge Daniel Stack, handling a suit with plaintiffs whose attorneys have sued each other, suggested splitting the case in two.
Lakin seeks to vacate $3.7 million default judgment
Gail Renshaw Brad Lakin didn't know that a federal judge in Oklahoma entered default judgment of about $4 million against his firm until he read about it in a newspaper, according to Gail Renshaw of the Lakin firm.
Jury awards man who drove golf cart into his Cavalier while it was being repossessed
A Madison County jury awarded William Clawson $111,118.64 for injuries he sustained after driving a golf cart into the path of his 2003 Chevy Cavalier that was being repossessed.
Defense attorney taking on 'manufactured' class actions
David Aronoff David Aronoff believes that if more defense attorneys would vigorously challenge the independence of class representatives there would be less manufactured litigation.
Fifth reverses Stack in Missouri Home Depot case
Spomer The Fifth District Appellate Court reversed Madison County Circuit Judge Daniel Stack in a case which would have allowed a Missouri statutory law to have been tried in an Illinois state court.
Unsecured wall stud causes carpenter's injuries, suit says
Marvin Horn filed a personal injury suit against P&A Drywall Supply and D&D Construction in St. Clair County Circuit Court June 19.
Rowdy roller skaters blamed in woman's $50k suit against YMCA
Edwardsville YMCA A woman who fell while roller skating at the Edwardsville YMCA filed a personal injury suit in Madison County Circuit Court June 25, seeking damages in excess of $50,000 for injuries she allegedly received.
Hot coals on racetrack parking lot leads to $100k suit
Gateway International Raceway The mother of an 11-year-old boy who stepped on hot charcoal in the parking lot at Gateway International Raceway in Madison is suing the racetrack for failing to instruct people on how to dispose of charcoal.
Oklahoma plaintiff claims asbestos exposure
Trent Miracle An Oklahoma woman suffering from mesothelioma filed an asbestos suit against 107 defendants in Madison County Circuit Court June 21, alleging she was exposed to airborne asbestos fibers from family members' clothing.
14 plaintiffs file complaint against pacemaker manufacturer
Fourteen persons with heart conditions filed a 39-count product liability lawsuit against the makers and distributors of defibrillators/pacemakers they claim were defective and required them to be hospitalized.
GM and Jack Schmitt sued over Bravada's restraint system
General Motors and Jack Schmitt Oldsmobile-Cadillac of O'Fallon are being sued by a woman who was ejected from her Oldsmobile Bravada after the vehicle left a roadway and rolled over on July 31, 2006, on northbound US Route 48 in Macon County.
Shop N' Save sued for injury-causing puddle of water
Shop N Save A Shop N' Save customer claims she suffered back, knee, leg, trunk and spinal column injuries as a result of slipping on a puddle of water at a Belleville store on Aug. 1, 2005.