A Florida appeals court on Friday revived a suit seeking to hold a construction company liable for injuries a subcontract worker sustained after he fell into an uncovered drain at a parking garage construction site, saying the trial judge erred in tossing the suit because the drain was an "open and obvious" hazard.
A Texas appeals court has affirmed the dismissal of a suit accusing an emergency room doctor of negligently discharging a 7-year-old asthmatic patient who later died following a severe asthma attack, saying the plaintiff's medical expert submitted a "conclusory" opinion as to how the alleged negligence caused the patient's death.
A Florida appeals court on Friday threw out a $15.5 million judgment against R.J. Reynolds over the death of a lifelong smoker who succumbed to cancer, saying jurors had received insufficient instructions to find the company liable for a claim of conspiracy to fraudulently conceal information.
A former Insys executive asked a federal judge Friday to delay her prison sentence to avoid "prison parenting" her teenage son in the middle of the pandemic, when she says he needs her most.
Daly & Black PC has picked up a personal injury and wrongful death trial attorney as a shareholder, adding a litigator and Buzbee Law Firm veteran with big ticket verdicts and a win at the Texas Supreme Court under his belt.
Allstate is facing a proposed class action brought on behalf of as many as 10,000 Texas lawyers and law firms, accusing the insurer of routinely putting forth unqualified experts to delay justice and drive up court costs.
The family of a former Pittsburgh Steelers player has filed suit against his nursing home in Pennsylvania state court, saying the facility is responsible for his death after he fell down a staircase attached to his room and was found by staff 14 hours later.
Starbucks Corp. is asking a New York federal court to end a lawsuit brought by two pest control contractors who claim they were emotionally distressed upon finding pesticide strips at one location, saying it's "preposterous" that they would have anxiety over the strips when they were contracted in part to remove them.
A former skater has reached a $1.45 million settlement with the U.S. Figure Skating Association after alleging in a lawsuit the organization did not protect him from a coach who sexually abused him as a minor, an attorney for the skater told Law360 on Friday.
The parents of a man who drowned in a lake owned by Princeton University have urged a New Jersey state court to reject its bid to toss their claims against the institution, blasting the school's argument that it is shielded from liability under the state's Charitable Immunity Act.
Facing a financial probe and attorney general's suit in New York seeking to dissolve the group, the National Rifle Association sought Chapter 11 protection in Texas on Friday and said it would move its charter to that state, toting along more than $100 million in debt.
A New York appeals court has revived claims in a suit seeking to hold several health care providers liable for a patient's botched gallbladder removal surgery that caused injuries, saying the plaintiff's medical expert plausibly opined that a hospital and two doctors breached the standard of care.
Former San Diego Chargers linebacker Billy Ray Smith Jr. was ordered Thursday to pay a portion of his $1.8 million award to both his current and former counsel for their work in representing him in an ongoing concussion class action against the NFL.
A federal lawyer told the Seventh Circuit on Thursday that a $29.7 million award for a kidney failure patient shouldn't stand, saying that a judge shirked the proper analysis needed when finding that the patient bore no blame for the progression of his hypertension.
A split Ninth Circuit panel has reversed a lower court's grant of an early win to San Diego County and a trio of nurses who allegedly failed to provide treatment to a man dying of a drug overdose in jail, with the majority saying a jury could find that the nurses' response caused his death.
The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that a deli company was not liable for the actions of its employee who was driving to work when he crashed, killing two others, affirming the lower court's decision on some claims and reversing others.
Indictments unveiled Thursday against nine current and former Michigan state and local officials accused of playing a role in the Flint drinking water contamination crisis send a strong message to elected officials that there is a limit to the leeway granted them as decision makers.
Board members of a Crow Tribe-run health center have urged a Montana federal judge to toss a suit claiming that they fired a nurse as retaliation for reporting patient abuse, saying they were acting within the scope of their employment and are immune from the suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act.
The New York attorney general on Thursday sued the NYPD in Manhattan federal court, accusing the nation's largest police force of using "brutal force against protesters" and violating their rights with a "pattern of false arrests" as it sought a court-appointed monitor to institute reforms.
A Texas federal judge has ruled that sovereign immunity protects the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe from litigation by a man who broke his wrist after slipping and falling down a staircase in the tribe's bingo hall, adopting a magistrate judge's October recommendation and entirely dismissing the case.
A New York bankruptcy judge on Thursday set the claims deadline in the Chapter 11 case of Long Island's Roman Catholic diocese for August, accepting arguments it should sync up with the state statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse suits.
New York City asked a state court to compel an insurance company to defend it in two personal injury lawsuits stemming from alleged asbestos contamination at a Brooklyn courthouse, court documents show.
The brother of Tom Girardi said Wednesday that the celebrity attorney is "incompetent and unable to act for himself," telling a California bankruptcy court that he should be appointed his 81-year-old brother's guardian so he can assist with his mounting legal woes.
Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was charged in state court Wednesday with two counts of willful neglect of duty stemming from the Flint water crisis, according to a filing by the state's Attorney General Dana M. Nessel.
A Missouri appellate court has affirmed a ruling against Liberty Insurance Corp. and in favor of a primary insurer and the family of a man who died after he was ejected from a vehicle at a dairy farm, allowing the family to collect $7.5 million from a Liberty umbrella insurance policy.
Some recent litigation developments demonstrate efforts by law firms and their clients to search for opportunities in the COVID-19 economic fallout, while others — such as the rise of contingency fee arrangements — reflect acceleration of tendencies that were already underway, says William Weisman at Therium Capital.
The Florida Supreme Court's recent amendment of the state's summary judgment standard to align it with that of the federal courts and most other states will improve judicial efficiency, reduce the cost and uncertainty of litigation, and help prevent forum shopping by plaintiffs with dubious claims, say Walter Latimer and Guy Noa at Fowler White.
In the face of rising client demands due to the pandemic and the changing regulatory environment, and with remote work continuing for the foreseeable future, lawyers should invest in their well-being by establishing inspiring yet realistic goals for 2021 — one month at a time, says Krista Larson at Morgan Lewis.
"Confidential" and other search terms commonly used to locate privileged documents during e-discovery are pretty ineffective, so practitioners should consider including specific types of keywords that are demonstrably better at targeting privilege, say Robert Keeling at Sidley and Rishi Chhatwal at AT&T.
Lawyers working remotely during the pandemic while physically outside the jurisdictions in which they are licensed will find some comfort in a recent American Bar Association opinion sanctioning such practice, but there is ambiguity regarding the contours of what's allowed, say attorneys at Harris Wiltshire.
Whether geared toward a global audience or a particular client, a law firm's articles, blog posts and client alerts should strive to be original by harnessing a few editorial tools and following the right distribution sequence, say Steven Andersen and Tal Donahue at Infinite Global.
Perspectives
Judges should take into consideration the several points of law enforcement and prosecutorial discretion — from traffic stops to charging decisions and sentencing recommendations — that often lead to race-based disparate treatment before a criminal defendant even reaches the courthouse, say Judge Juan Villaseñor and Laurel Quinto at Colorado's Eighth Judicial District Court.
In addition to the increased activity and scrutiny COVID-19 brought to the drug and device industries in 2020, major developments included the continued momentum of snap removal and renewed U.S. Supreme Court interest in the scope of state courts' jurisdiction, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.
Lawyers should remember that the basics of interpersonal relationships have not changed despite the completely virtual environment caused by the pandemic, and should leverage the new year as an excuse to connect with clients in several ways, say Megan Senese and Courtney Hudson at Pillsbury.
For law firms planning overhauls in their information technology infrastructures in light of hard lessons learned from pandemic-era transition to remote work, there are five ways to ensure even the biggest tech upgrade has minimal impact on client service, says Brad Paubel at Lexicon.
Opinion
Pennsylvania's H.B. 1737, though criticized by the plaintiffs bar and vetoed by Gov. Tom Wolf, would have offered targeted, tailored and temporary safe harbor protections for businesses, health care providers and other organizations facing unique liability challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, says Curt Schroder at the Pennsylvania Coalition for Civil Justice Reform.
Careful construction of an amicus brief's essential elements — including the table of contents, which determines whether a brief gets studied or skimmed — and the order in which they are crafted are key to maximizing a party's hoped-for impact on a case before the U.S. Supreme Court or other appellate courts, say Mark Chopko and Karl Myers at Stradley Ronon.
Changes in the way people work and communicate — which the pandemic has accelerated — will continue to bring new e-discovery challenges and shifts in data recovery this year, says Brian Schrader at Business Intelligence Associates.
With law firms likely to see longtime clients roll out requests for proposal amid cost-cutting strategies this year, relationship partners can ensure they don't lose their clients by taking five critical actions during the response process, says Matthew Prinn at RFP Advisory.
After a brief break in the multiyear streak of increasing law firm mergers, 2021 seems poised for a return to normal, with acquisitions involving small firms — those with under 400 lawyers — likely to dominate, says Peter Zeughauser at Zeughauser Group.