LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
Paul Halpern
Paul Halpern joined LawyersandSettlements.com in 2007 as a senior contributor. While the scope of his work covers a wide range of legal topics, his knack for getting to the heart of complex legal issues, along with his interest in victims' rights, have made for many compelling lawyer interviews.
Attorney Jennifer Klar Battles Discrimination in Ohio
July 23, 2008.
Washington, DC Jennifer Klar, an associate at Relman and Dane PLLC, describes her firm as "a one-stop civil rights shop—we take cases under any of the federal laws, housing, employment, police misconduct, job discrimination. That's the entire focus of our practice." On July 10, Klar was part of the Relman and Dane legal team that won nearly $11 million in compensatory damages for 67 African-American residents of Coal Run/Lanagan Lane, a rural community located a few miles from the city of Zanesville in Muskingum County, Ohio.
Read [ Attorney Jennifer Klar Battles Discrimination in Ohio ]
Brian Kabateck and Alfredo Torrijos: Going after Google
July 23, 2008.
Los Angeles, CA There are plenty of ways to make money on the Internet, and some of them can be pretty shady. According to a recent class action filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by Kabateck Brown Kellner LLP of Los Angeles (KBK), Google, the California information technology giant, is practicing one of those shady ways by knowingly using "parked web sites" to inflate the profits of its AdSense on-line advertising program.
Read [ Brian Kabateck and Alfredo Torrijos: Going after Google ]
Attorney Jay Edelson on New Technology Class Action
May 29, 2008.
Chicago, IL: Jay Edelson, a managing partner at KamberEdelson, LLC, says that "new technology class actions" differentiate KamberEdelson from other class action law firms. "It's a field unto itself," Edelson says. "It can include things like security breaches, text messaging slam cases, Internet fraud, and unauthorized mobile phone content charges." That latter includes a recent case filed against Sprint Nextel; the suit alleges that Sprint has charged its customers without their knowledge for unauthorized mobile content such as ringtones, sports scores, horoscopes and weather reports.
Read [ Attorney Jay Edelson on New Technology Class Action ]
Attorney Michael L. Hodges on BPA Class Action
May 15, 2008.
Lenexa, Kansas: In his thirty-year legal career, Michael Hodges says, "We've done virtually every kind of damages case you can think of, but in the last four or five years, we've done mainly mass torts and class actions." That includes joining in multiple class actions filed recently against Avent America, Evenflo, Gerber, Handi-Craft (Dr. Brown's), and Playtex for their continued use of Bisphenol A (BPA) in the manufacture of baby bottles and toddler training cups.
Read [ Attorney Michael L. Hodges on BPA Class Action ]
Attorney Stephen Benda: "The secret of happiness is keep it small."
May 13, 2008.
Menlo Park, CA: Stephen Benda's receptionist was away from her desk when LawyersandSettlements called him, so Benda answered the phone himself--not the kind of thing you expect from a founding partner, but consistent with his approach to his practice.
Read [ Attorney Stephen Benda: "The secret of happiness is keep it small." ]
Attorney Peter Kovacs: "Let's get down to the nitty-gritty here."
April 30, 2008.
Indianapolis, IN: Peter Kovacs, an equity shareholder in Stewart & Irwin, PC, describes his practice as "Mainly business litigation, some utility work, some class action work." A recently filed deceptive practices class action suit against Veolia Water Indianapolis combines all three.
Read [ Attorney Peter Kovacs: "Let's get down to the nitty-gritty here." ]
Attorney Lauren Scholnick on Common Law Protection and Wrongful Termination
April 28, 2008.
Salt Lake City, UT Like many of her partners at Strindberg and Scholnick, LLC, became a Utahan by choice, moving here from her native Illinois in 1995 to clerk under Judge Gregory K. Orme at the Utah Court of Appeals. "We started the firm in January 2002," she says. "We do all sorts of employment law and labor law, everything involving labor except workers' compensation, although the La-Z-Boy case is sort of that."
Read [ Attorney Lauren Scholnick on Common Law Protection and Wrongful Termination ]
Attorney Peter Kaufman on Accutane Litigation
April 25, 2008.
Pensacola, FL Peter Kaufman, a shareholder partner in Levin, Papantonio, Thomas, Mitchell, Echsner and Proctor, P.A., describes his practice as "almost exclusively pharmaceutical litigation on behalf of plaintiffs." He's been involved in litigation around Baycol, phenylpropanolamine (PPA), and Vioxx, as well as in three successful personal injury suits against Roche Pharmaceuticals for their "last resort" acne drug Accutane.
Read [ Attorney Peter Kaufman on Accutane Litigation ]
Attorney Richard B. Specter on Insurance Bad Faith
April 25, 2008.
Irvine, CA: Richard B. Specter of Irvine, California, had recently completed post-trial motion hearings in a successful insurance bad faith case against National Union Fire Insurance Company when LawyersandSettlements interviewed him, resulting in a $35.6 million award.
Read [ Attorney Richard B. Specter on Insurance Bad Faith ]
Attorney Joseph H. Saunders on Toxic Contamination and Medical Device Law
April 25, 2008.
Pinellas Park, FL: Joe Saunders was on the road when LawyersandSettlements reached him. Normally we don't approve of phoning while driving, but since his hands-free Bluetooth device was working, we stretched the point. Besides, as he said, "You lucked out catching me between depositions, so we'd better do this now!"
Read [ Attorney Joseph H. Saunders on Toxic Contamination and Medical Device Law ]
- Attorney Steve Estep On Sports, Entertainment, and Securities Litigation (Apr-23-08)
- Attorney John Heenan: "In Montana, a handshake is your contract." (Apr-21-08)
- Attorney Brian S. Kabateck On Technology Litigation and Righting Old Wrongs (Apr-20-08)
- Attorney Timothy B. Garrigan: "I thought civil rights lawyers would be treated like rock stars." (Apr-17-08)
- Attorney Terry J. Chapko on the Starbucks Class Action (Apr-16-08)
- Attorney Brian J. Glick on Insurance, Medical Malpractice, and Medical Device Liability (Apr-15-08)
- Attorney Linda M. Dardarian on Structured Negotiation (Apr-12-08)
- Attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan: Challenging Corporate Power and Tips Abuse (Apr-9-08)
- Attorney Teresa Demchak on Employment Discrimination and Pre-Litigation (Apr-8-08)
- Attorney Leonard Aragon: Going after LifeLock (Apr-7-08)
- Law Professor Roger Baron on Subrogation and ERISA Reform (Apr-6-08)
- Attorney Scott R. Shepherd on WhistleBlowers, Securities, and Consumer Class Action (Apr-4-08)
- Attorney C. Wes Pittman on Product Liability and Sexual Harassment in Florida Prisons (Apr-1-08)
- Attorney Laura L. Ho on a Large-scale California Class Action (Apr-1-08)
- Attorney Louis Sokolov on Canadian Wage and Hour Class Actions (Mar-31-08)
- Attorney Maurice B. Graham on Equitable Recovery (Mar-29-08)
- Attorney Stuart N. Ratzan on a Challenge to Florida's Medical Negligence Cap (Mar-28-08)
- Trasylol: A Child's Life Changed (Mar-28-08)
- Vioxx/Bextra: "They get you fixed but then they stonewall you." (Mar-27-08)
- Trasylol: "I was in a coma for three weeks." (Mar-26-08)
- Attorney Charles W. Shipley Speaks on Messing with Farmers and the Environment (Mar-25-08)
- Merck/Schering Tries to Wine and Dine Vytorin Back to Health (Mar-24-08)
- Zetia/Vytorin: "He was a good man and his life was cut short." (Mar-20-08)
- Trasylol: "It's somebody's fault, it's not mine." (Mar-20-08)
- Vytorin: "No one could tell me why I had a heart attack." (Mar-18-08)
- Attorney Robert K. Rhoads: "It's not like condemning someone's house." (Mar-15-08)
- Vytorin Kidney Failure: "It's going to end my life soon." (Mar-12-08)
- Rochester Meat Recall: Why the Secrecy? (Mar-12-08)
- Sprint Fidelis Case Highlights Industry and FDA Failures (Mar-12-08)
- Medtronic: It's Not Just Sprint Fidelis (Mar-11-08)
- Medtronic Sprint Fidelis: "I'm beginning to wonder if any of their leads are worth a crap." (Mar-7-08)
- Rochester Meat Recall: USDA under Fire for Inspection Failures (Mar-5-08)
- Medtronic Sprint Fidelis: "It might have killed me." (Mar-4-08)
- Kugel Mesh Patch: "It feels like your belly's going to fall out on the ground." (Mar-2-08)
- Ezetrol: America's Problems are Canada's Problems... and You're Paying for Them (Feb-28-08)
- "Kugel Mesh has been a Nightmare," says Patient from his Hospital Bed (Feb-28-08)
- Rochester Meat Recall: E. Coli Vaccine Approval is only One Step in the Right Direction (Feb-27-08)
- Ezetrol: Zetia by Any Other Name... (Feb-25-08)
- Supreme Court Decision May Not Shield Medtronic Sprint Fidelis from Legal Action (Feb-24-08)
- California Overtime: "Why are they getting away with this?" (Feb-22-08)