Trials litigation

Home Daily News Federal judge sanctions lead lawyer in Roundup… Trials & Litigation By Debra Cassens Weiss Posted March 1, 2019, 7:30 am CST A federal judge in San Francisco ordered a plaintiff’s lawyer on Tuesday to pay a $500 sanction for discussing irrelevant and banned evidence in her opening statement in a lawsuit against the makers of the Roundup weed killer. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria said Colorado lawyer Aimee Wagstaff “committed several acts of misconduct in her opening statement,” many of which were “intentional and committed in bad faith.” Law.com and Courthouse News Service have coverage of his Feb. 26 order. Wagstaff is the lead lawyer representing Edward Hardeman, who alleges that the Roundup he used to clear poison oak from his property caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Roundup is made by Monsanto, which is now owned by Bayer AG. Causation is at issue in this first phase of the trial. The second phase will focus on … [Read more...] about Federal judge sanctions lead lawyer in Roundup trial for opening statement ‘misconduct’

Home Daily News Lawyers on opposite sides of #MeToo litigation… Trials & Litigation By Debra Cassens Weiss Posted October 17, 2018, 1:20 pm CDT Image from Shutterstock. Two lawyers who have represented opposite sides in sexual misconduct lawsuits are facing each other in a new lawsuit related to the #MeToo movement, stemming from a crowdsourced list of men accused of sexual misconduct. On the one side is lawyer Roberta Kaplan of Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, who won a significant gay rights case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Kaplan represented Edith Windsor when the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act that had banned federal benefits to same-sex married couples. She is also a founder of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund. Kaplan is representing Moira Donegan, the creator of a “Shitty Media Men” Google spreadsheet that was live online for about 12 hours last year, report the New York Times and the Cut. The list spread quickly and was … [Read more...] about Lawyers on opposite sides of #MeToo litigation face off in suit over crowdsourced accusation list

Home Daily News Jurors in Paul Manafort trial ask for new… Trials & Litigation By Debra Cassens Weiss Posted August 17, 2018, 8:03 am CDT Jurors considering the tax and bank fraud case against Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, asked the judge on Thursday to redefine “reasonable doubt.” The question was one of four queries sent to Judge T.S. Ellis III at the end of the first day of deliberations, report the Washington Post, the New York Times, the National Law Journal and USA Today. Ellis answered that reasonable doubt is a doubt based on reason, and the government is not required to prove guilt beyond “all possible doubt.” Manafort’s lawyer, Kevin Downing, said the question about reasonable doubt is “a good sign,” according to USA Today. Other questions concerned a definition, the law regarding offshore bank reports and help regarding exhibits. According to the Washington Post, the jurors’ questions … [Read more...] about Jurors in Paul Manafort trial ask for new definition of reasonable doubt

Home Daily News New trial motion says lawyer's insults and… Trials & Litigation By Debra Cassens Weiss Posted August 16, 2018, 6:05 am CDT Sirtravealot/Shutterstock.com. A new trial motion filed on behalf of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. argues that a lawyer who sued the company prejudiced jurors through a “steady stream of insults” and “incurable character assassinations.” Goodyear lawyer James Lynch, of Lynch Daskal Emery, filed the motion in New York state court on Aug. 7, the same day jurors awarded $40.1 million to a man who developed mesothelioma after years of working with Goodyear gaskets. The New York Law Journal covered the motion and a July 30 hearing in which Lynch tried, without success, to obtain a mistrial. The plaintiff in the case was an 81-year-old Navy veteran, J. Walter Twidwell. According to a press release, he was exposed to asbestos dust when he manipulated the gaskets while conducting maintenance and repairs in engine and … [Read more...] about New trial motion says lawyer’s insults and ‘incurable character assassinations’ prejudiced the jury

Home Daily News Encouraged by speedier trials in Bronx misdemeanor… Trials & Litigation By Debra Cassens Weiss Posted August 10, 2018, 12:44 pm CDT Shutterstock.com. The Bronx Defenders, a nonprofit public defender group, has agreed to stay a lawsuit claiming lengthy delays in the New York borough’s misdemeanor cases were depriving their clients of a right to a speedy trial. The settlement stays the litigation for four years, though the plaintiffs have reserved the right to reinstate the lawsuit during that period, the New York Law Journal reports. The deal was reached after trial delays were significantly reduced. The agreement requires court administrators to track cases where a person demands a trial and to share data with the plaintiffs, according to a press release. The New York Times also has coverage. Since the filing of the lawsuit, the backlog of misdemeanor cases has been cut sharply. Now only 513 misdemeanor cases have been pending for more than a year, … [Read more...] about Encouraged by speedier trials in Bronx misdemeanor court, plaintiffs agree to stay litigation