The U.S. Supreme Court has asked the United States to weigh in on a pending cert petition in a lawsuit that contends cellphone companies misled consumers about radiation and possible health risks. The name plaintiff in the would-be class action, Francis Farina, says the defendants should have included headsets with cellphones to reduce radiation dangers, Law360 reports. At issue in the Supreme Court case is whether the state law claims are pre-empted because they frustrate federal regulations, according to the cert petition (PDF posted by SCOTUSblog). The Supreme Court acted on the same day that an international panel of World…

On June 5, 2006, plaintiff, a 28-year-old unemployed mother of three young children, was the sole passenger on a bus which was twice struck in the same accident by a truck carrying liquids. At a hospital emergency room, plaintiff complained of bilateral knee pain, right arm, left leg and right hip pain. X-rays of her [...]

On April 5, 2009, the decedent, a 44-year-old woman from Virginia, was a passenger on a moped traveling southbound on Highway 25 in Greenville, S.C., when a vehicle driven by the defendant ran into the rear of the moped. Both occupants were knocked off of the moped onto the street. The defendant then ran over [...]

The plaintiff was a 39-year-old female who went to the defendant general surgeon with extremely painful Grade IV hemorrhoids in March 2005. He admitted her to the hospital and performed surgery the next day to remove the hemorrhoids. There was no dispute that the defendant’s diagnosis was correct and that surgery was the only [...]

On Aug. 20, 2008, the plaintiff entered the home of the defendant and was attacked by the defendant’s family dog, a German shepherd/retriever mix. The plaintiff and defendant had known each other for approximately 30 years, were high school classmates and had attended the same church for approximately 15 years. The plaintiff’s son was a regular [...]

After in camera examination of a series of emails and other documents that circulated in defendant company, and considering whether in-house counsel appears to be discussing business or legal issues, a Richmond U.S. District Court magistrate judge orders disclosure of eight documents to plaintiff brokerage firm in this contract dispute, but says two additional documents [...]

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a former college football player who had claimed he was unconstitutionally held as a material witness in a terrorism probe after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The U.S. Supreme Court found no liability for former Attorney General John Ashcroft in an 8-0 opinion. Writing for the court, Justice Antonin Scalia takes the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to task for ruling otherwise based on citations to “irrelevant” cases, broad references to history, and a district court judge's shout out to the former attorney general. Abdullah al-Kidd, a Muslim and a…

A lawyer who said he was defamed by a draft legal complaint that described him as “an unethical lawyer and a racist” cannot sue for defamation, says a Fairfax Circuit Court. Claims made in a lawsuit generally are protected under the absolute privilege that attaches to judicial proceedings. But the law on when that protection starts [...]

Initial public offerings are keeping many large law firms busy. Two law firms profiting from the IPO boom are Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Cooley, the Am Law Daily reports. Wilson Sonsini advised LinkedIn when it went public while Cooley represented the underwriters. LinkedIn has estimated its legal fees in the process at $1.5 million. Also benefiting is LinkedIn’s general counsel, Erika Rottenberg, who joined the startup three years ago, the Recorder reports. She sold 30,000 shares at the opening price in the IPO, earning about $1.35 million. And she still holds shares and options in the company worth…

Initial public offerings are keeping many large law firms busy. Two law firms profiting from the IPO boom are Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Cooley, the Am Law Daily reports. Wilson Sonsini advised LinkedIn when it went public while Cooley represented the underwriters. LinkedIn has estimated its legal fees in the process at $1.5 million. Also benefiting is LinkedIn’s general counsel, Erika Rottenberg, who joined the startup three years ago, the Recorder reports. She sold 30,000 shares at the opening price in the IPO, earning about $1.35 million. And she still holds shares and options in the company worth…