Today's Stories and Links
Posted On: January 13, 2011
- Paul Luvera deposes the CEO of Medtronic and gives thoughts on how he approached it.
- Defendants hit with $3 million verdict claim judge allowed 'zombie-like' evidence; Seek new trial (Madison County Record). From Defendants' motion: "This court dismissed the plaintiffs' spoliation claims pre-trial in light of the plaintiffs' request for the application of Missouri law, and then let the plaintiff raise the issue zombie-like as if reincarnated, during trial. The Court went further and decided the issue in plaintiffs' favor, telling the jury Defendants destroyed relevant and material evidence..." Zombie-like as if reincarnated. And you said the law can't be fun.
- Maybe Twombly/Iqbal is not such a big deal (Max Kennerly). The Drug and Device Law Blog disagrees with these 19 posts on the subject. Here is a crazy quote: "Iqbal will have a more significant impact on American jurisprudence than Marbury v. Madison." (Note: I may have made up that quote.)
- Criminal opinion on social media evidence that might be applied in civil cases in Maryland (Byron Warnken)
- A theory on why a police officer would give a ticket to a 13 year-old girl in the hospital (Eric Turkewitz).
- Jury awards $14.4 million in wrongful-death lawsuit (Sign On San Diego). What made this case easier to try? Having settled out with other defendants for over $8 million.
- Jury Awards $500,000 in Slip and Fall Verdict Against CVS in West Palm Beach (Sites Makes). A good, old fashioned "Cleaning the Floor and Didn't Tell Anyone" slip and fall case.
- Drug companies appeal $522 million judgment in hepatitis outbreak (Las Vegas Sun)
- Baltimore County Loses Appeal; Forced to Pay $700,000 Plus Interest in Breach of Contract Suit (Expert Click)
- Baxter spent over $900,000 lobbying in 3Q (Bloomberg). In an
unrelated story, the Medical Device Safety Act of 2009 never got off the ground. - Hampton, Virginia, Jury Awards Record Verdict of $12,264,302.00 Against Miller Mart for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury From Fall, Believed to Be the Largest Slip and Fall Verdict in Virginia History (Global Lawyer Referral). I love the title of this. I went to research the verdict further. Guess what? It is a 2007 verdict. That part got left out. It also leaves out the part about their being a $1.5/$6 million high low. If someone is putting $1.5 million as a low on a slip and fall case, I'm not sure it should be characterized as a mild brain injury case.
- Former inmate awarded $16 million for excessive force by ex-jailers (Jury - Breaking News). Barely mentioned in the article: there is a zero percent chance of collecting any of this. John Q surfing the headlines does not appreciate this nor does data that computes average jury verdicts.
- Lead class action plaintiff objects when he realizes that the only people getting paid are the lawyers. (Overlawyered)
