Miscellaneous

• Jury awards $41 million in priest abuse suit

  IB Contributor | March 31, 2007 11:17 PM | 0 CommentsOrange County, CA

  A Delaware jury awarded $41 million Friday to a U.S. Navy officer who said a Roman Catholic priest sexually abused him hundreds of times as a teen, according to an Associated Press article posted on the New York Times' Web site)Jurors awarded Cmdr. Kenneth Whitwell $6 million in compensatory damages and $35 million in punitive damages. Whitwell, 39, claimed the Rev. Edward J. Smith raped and...

• Social Security Awarded After 5 Years of Waiting

  Christina Cole | March 31, 2007 8:48 PM | 0 CommentsFlorence / Myrtle Beach, SC

  A sickly Charlotte, North Carolina, woman whose case is just one example of the years long worth of delays within the Social Security disability program, will finally receive her benefits any day now.An administrative law judge recently awarded the woman her monthly social security disability payments, which should typically be approximately $947, nearly five years after she first applied to the...

• To Whistle-BLOW or not ?-That is the Question

  IB Contributor | March 31, 2007 1:44 PM | 0 CommentsOrange County, CA

  If you talked to Charlcie Woodruff, nursing director at the McLennan County Jail, she would tell you that being a whistle-blower is the right thing to do, even though Charlcie was placed on administrative leave from her job in Waco, Texas when she did just that . Charlcie accepted the nursing director position a little over six months ago, and only after County officials promised her that jail...

• AAJ Attacks Anti-Consumer Report As Corporate Propaganda

  Jacob Diesselhorst | March 31, 2007 12:36 PM | 0 CommentsOklahoma City, OK

  Funders of Bogus Report Same Group Denying Global Warming (Washington, DC) -- The American Association for Justice (AAJ), formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, today released a statement debunking the Pacific Research Institute's (PRI) latest propaganda aimed at eliminating Americans' right to hold corporation accountable for negligence. "This is just more junk science being...

• Legal Malpractice and Breach of Fiduciary Duty

  Geoff Trachtenberg | March 31, 2007 9:46 AM | 0 CommentsScottsdale, AZ

  Many people do not understand the difference between legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty.Legal malpractice arises when an attorney owes someone a duty of care and, by an act or omission, the attorney's conduct breaches that duty of care and causes that person cognizable harm. While the "person" harmed is typically a client, an attorney-client relationship is not required and legal...

• Strike out artist, strikes out early

  IB Contributor | March 31, 2007 1:52 AM | 0 CommentsOrange County, CA

  A life troubled with alcohol and drugs, cuts short a promsing career.It's been almost a year since Steve Howe, one of my favorite baseball players, died after rolling his pick up truck in Coachella, California. According to local police, the pickup truck Howe was driving left the road and then entered the median and rolled several times, ejecting Howe from his truck.To my knowledge the...

• Melamine Discovered in Recalled Pet Food

  Shannon Weidemann | March 30, 2007 9:53 PM | 0 CommentsSan Antonio, TX

  A chemical found in ordinary kitchenware may be responsible for the kidney failure in cats and dogs that have eaten the recalled Menu Foods. The FDA announced today the results of their testing of the pet food and found melamine in the food and wheat gluten used to make the food. Melamine is used in Asia as a fertilizer and that is where the wheat gluten came from.The Food and Drug...

• Laff and a Half: "nocrazylawsuits.com"

  Ryan Nute | March 30, 2007 5:00 PM | 0 CommentsOlympia, WA

  I happened across this website today: nocrazylawsuits.comThe site appears to be part of a campaign to defeat pending Washington legislation intended to provide greater rights to (among others) people whose children are killed by the negligence of others and new homeowners.This site is sponsored by Liability Reform Coalition and the usual suspects (insurance companies and certain trade...

• As Easter Approaches Be Careful of Salmonella

  Paul Grieco | March 30, 2007 3:55 PM | 0 CommentsCleveland, OH

  As children around the country anxiously await the arrival of the Easter Bunny and the delicious treats the bunny brings, parents need to be aware of a health risk that typically occurs around Easter. That health risk is the spread of salmonella. The infection seems to be spread this time of year due to the handling of baby chicks, many of which are given as gifts or viewed at petting zoos at ...

• Seattle Attorney Mike Myers Spearheading Pet Food Class Action

  Ryan Nute | March 30, 2007 3:32 PM | 0 CommentsOlympia, WA

  I'm sure you've heard about the pet food recall and related class action lawsuit against Menu Foods. My law partner, Seattle attorney Mike Myers, is handling that litigation along with another attorney in our office, Tom Baisch.You can read more about the recall at Mike's website.If you live in the Olympia area and you believe you have a claim relating to the pet food recall, please contact us....