Mealey's Personal Injury
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March 08, 2024
Smoker’s Estate’s Claims Against Tobacco Company, Retailers Rejected By Jury
SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico state court jury returned a defense verdict on wrongful death claims brought by the estate of a decades-long Marlboro Red smoker who was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer before catching COVID-19 and dying in 2020, ruling in favor of cigarette manufacturer R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (RJR) and two local retailers. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
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March 07, 2024
Smoker’s Daughter Properly Allowed To Pursue Punitives, Florida Panel Told
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A dead smoker’s daughter filed an appellee brief urging a Florida appellate panel to affirm a trial judge’s order allowing her to add a claim for punitive damages to her wrongful death complaint against two tobacco companies, while the companies argue that the claim is barred by Florida’s punitive damages statute because they have already been ordered to pay punitive damages for “the same act or single course of conduct.”
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March 06, 2024
Judge Dismisses Smoker’s Widow’s Wrongful Death Suit For Failure To Prosecute
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A New Mexico federal judge granted several tobacco companies’ motions to dismiss a wrongful death suit brought against them by the widow of a dead smoker after finding that the plaintiff failed to appear for, respond to or prosecute her suit after the companies removed the case to federal court.
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March 06, 2024
Notice Of Order On Brief Filed After Octogenarian’s $2.3M Elder Abuse Verdict
LOS ANGELES — An 87-year-old woman filed a notice in a California court of a judge’s ruling allowing her to file a brief of up to 20 pages regarding her motion for attorney fees after a jury awarded her $2,342,800 in a suit alleging that a rehabilitation facility where she previously resided, its owner and related entities acted negligently and committed elder abuse by failing to provide adequate care, resulting in injuries from falls that caused permanent shoulder damage.
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March 06, 2024
Settlement Reached In Malpractice Suit After Expert Testimony Is Limited
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A federal judge in Puerto Rico dismissed a medical malpractice suit with prejudice when parties alerted the court that they had reached a confidential settlement, days after the judge agreed to exclude testimony from an expert on standard of care but allowed testimony from a life-care planning expert.
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March 05, 2024
5th Circuit: Causation Expert Properly Excluded In Deepwater Horizon Injury Case
NEW ORLEANS — A district court properly excluded a man’s medical expert after finding that he failed to show causation in a lawsuit against BP Exploration & Production Inc. related to his injuries through the exposure to chemicals during the cleanup operation that followed the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held.
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February 29, 2024
Judgment Entered After Jury Rejects Dead Smoker’s Estate’s Defective Design Claims
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida state court judge entered final judgment rejecting wrongful death claims brought against a tobacco company and a retailer that sold its products by the estate of a smoker who died after being diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. A jury previously rejected the estate’s claims that filtered cigarettes smoked by the decedent were defective. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
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February 28, 2024
Attorney Fee Award Affirmed In PIP Dispute Involving Estate Of Man Killed By Car
TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appellate court affirmed a lower court’s award of attorney fees and costs to a medical center that intervened in a personal injury protection (PIP) suit filed by the estate of a man against multiple parties, including an insurer seeking to void a policy for material misrepresentations, finding that the lower court did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney fees and costs “commensurate” with what the medical center paid under its retainer agreement.
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February 27, 2024
$13.7M Settlement Between Protesters, City For Arrests, Use Of Force Approved
NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted final approval of a $13,731,000 settlement between the city of New York and a class of approximately 1,380 individuals who were arrested or arrested and subjected to force by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) during protests in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd.
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February 26, 2024
Texas Appeals Court: Fatal Crash Suit Jury Should Have Heard Expert Testimony
BEAUMONT, Texas — A Texas appeals court overturned a $10 million jury verdict in a wrongful death suit after finding that the trial court improperly excluded expert testimony that a woman who was killed in the crash had alcohol in her system, which might have influenced the jury’s assignment of fault.
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February 26, 2024
City Seeks Judgment As Matter Of Law After $4.5M Excessive Force Jury Verdict
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In response to an Alabama federal jury’s award of $4.45 million in compensatory and punitive damages to the estate of a deceased motorist and an injured passenger stemming from a vehicle chase that culminated in a police officer shooting into the plaintiffs’ vehicle after it crashed, an Alabama city and police officer moved for judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, a new trial or remittitur of the jury award.
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February 22, 2024
Medical Condition Not Widely Recognized, Testimony Barred In Toxic Exposure Case
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge granted in large part three motions to exclude expert testimony in a case in which a woman claims medical injuries from toxic mold exposure, finding that one expert was unqualified to opine on a medical condition and that the testimony from the other witnesses was connected to that expert’s conclusions.
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February 21, 2024
New York Panel: Equitable Subrogation Applies In Retrocessional Insurer’s Case
NEW YORK — Saying it had not previously addressed the issue, an appellate panel in New York ruled that a retrocessional insurer that paid a big chunk of the settlement in a personal injury case has standing to assert a legal malpractice claim as an equitable subrogee.
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February 21, 2024
Tenn. High Court: Arbitration Agreement With Care Home Not ‘Health Care Decision’
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed and remanded an appellate court ruling affirming an order declining to compel arbitration in a son’s wrongful death suit against a nursing home where his deceased father lived, finding that the durable power of attorney (POA) naming the decedent’s daughter as his attorney-in-fact gave her the authority to act for her father in legal matters, including an optional arbitration agreement, even though the POA did not specifically give her the authority to make a “health care decision.”
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February 20, 2024
Petition By Wrestlers’ Attorney Challenging Sanctions Denied By U.S. High Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by an attorney and his firm who represent allegedly injured wrestlers in a class tort complaint and a mass action against World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. and Vincent K. McMahon (together, WWE) and asking the justices to consider the appropriateness of attorney fees and costs as sanctions that they have been ordered to pay.
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February 16, 2024
No Abuse Of Discretion In Finding Experts Unqualified In Railcar Injury Case
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 15 found that experts retained by a man who was injured while working on a railcar were properly excluded and affirmed summary judgment awarded to the manufacturer of the railcar and its parent company.
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February 14, 2024
Panel: Wrongful Death Claim Not Subject To Arbitration In Suit Against Care Home
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — An Illinois appellate court on Feb. 13 reversed and remanded a lower court order compelling arbitration in a wrongful death and negligence suit filed by the estate of a former resident against a nursing home, finding that because the decedent signed an arbitration agreement, the wrongful death claim is not subject to arbitration and the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act invalidates the signed agreement.
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February 13, 2024
Amended Master Personal Injury Complaint Filed Under Seal In CPAP MDL
PITTSBURGH — Plaintiffs in the multidistrict litigation involving the recall of approximately 10.8 million Philips continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) sleep apnea devices and respirators on Feb. 12 filed under seal a second amended master long-form complaint for personal injuries after the Pennsylvania federal judge overseeing the case in January adopted in part recommendations from the special master and dismissed certain claims with leave to amend.
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February 13, 2024
Panel Vacates Order Dismissing Nursing Home Act Claims In Row With LTC Facility
TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appellate court on Feb. 12 vacated a lower court’s dismissal of claims related to violations of the New Jersey Nursing Home Responsibilities and Residents’ Rights Act (NHA) in an estate’s wrongful death and negligence suit against a long-term care (LTC) facility after a former resident died, finding that additional discovery is needed to determine whether the facility “falls within the definition of the NHA.”
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February 13, 2024
Alabama Jury Awards $4.5M For Excessive Force By Police In Post-Chase Shooting
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A federal jury in Alabama awarded $4.45 million in compensatory and punitive damages to the estate of a deceased motorist and an injured passenger, who sued a Birmingham police officer and the city alleging that the officer used excessive force in shooting the motorist and passenger after their vehicle crashed as a result of being struck by the officer’s car during a pursuit.
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February 12, 2024
Order Compelling Arbitration Reversed For COVID Death Claims Against Care Home
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — An Illinois appellate court reversed in part and remanded a lower court’s order compelling arbitration in an estate administrator’s suit against a nursing home after a former resident contracted COVID-19 and died, finding that the claims under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act cannot be arbitrated because the beneficiaries of the estate did not consent to arbitration.
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February 12, 2024
11th Circuit Tosses Insurer’s Appeal In Direct Action Suit For Lack of Jurisdiction
ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that it lacks jurisdiction over an insurer’s appeal of a lower court’s contrary ruling in a direct action lawsuit arising from gunshot injuries, finding that the lower court’s order on dueling summary judgment motions is not final or immediately appealable because it is silent as to an award of any prejudgment interest.
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February 09, 2024
U.S. Government Appeals 5th Circuit Ruling Invalidating Ghost Gun Regulation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. government filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred in affirming a Texas federal court decision finding unlawful a rule promulgated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that broadened the definition of “firearm” to include parts of “ghost guns,” which can be assembled into weapons but, before the rule, were considered by some manufacturers to not require serial numbers or a firearms background check before sale.
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February 09, 2024
No Exception To Expert Report Service Requirement, Texas Appeals Court Says
EASTLAND, Texas — A woman’s failure to properly serve a copy of her experts’ reports on the defendants in her medical malpractice suit as required under the Texas Medical Liability Act (TMLA) warrants the dismissal of her case, a Texas state appeals court ruled Feb. 8 in reversing a trial court.
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February 08, 2024
Panel Deems Arbitration Agreement Unenforceable In Nursing Home Neglect Suit
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas appellate court on Feb. 7 affirmed a lower court order denying a nursing home’s motion to compel arbitration in a medical negligence suit against it by the estate of a woman who died after sustaining injuries at the nursing home, finding that the lower court correctly held that the arbitration agreement lacked “mutuality of contract” because the facility could sue for unpaid fees in court while claims for medical negligence are subject to arbitration.