KCLawyer
Thursday, August 28, 2003
Court Rules for 3M in Breast Implant Case
A group of insurance companies must reimburse 3M Co. for hundreds of millions of dollars related to silicone breast implant lawsuits, the states' highest court ruled. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruling
brings some closure to an eight-year squabble between 3M and 29 insurers.
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Insurance Agents Failure to Procure Coverage
An insured has no claim against his agent for agent’s alleged failure to procure underinsured motorist coverage. Similar to the holding by the Eastern District in Farmers Ins. Co., Inc. v. McCarthy, 871 S.W. 2d 82 (Mo.App. E.D. 1994), the Southern District held that an insurance agent does not have a duty to inform customers of the availability and advisability of optional coverage, including underinsured motorist coverage. John L. Jones, Appellant v. Debra Kennedy, Respondent, No. 25161, (Mo. App. S.D., June 26, 2003)
Monday, August 18, 2003
Insurance Pollution Exclusion
A standard pollution exclusion clause in a comprehensive general liability insurance policy did not plainly and clearly exclude a landlord's ordinary acts of negligence involving toxic chemicals such as pesticides. MACKINNON v. TRUCK INS. EXCH. (08/14/03 - Calif. No. S104543)
Friday, August 15, 2003
Mold Settlement Questioned
It is being reported that a state lawmaker who sponsored a lawsuit reform bill passed by the Legislature this year had a disputed mold claim on his Houston home settled and paid by Farmers Insurance Group. However, the settlement is being investigated by the Travis County District Attorney. The original claim paid by Farmers was more than $300,000. The disputed secondary claim of $13,000 was over damage to the driveway and landscaping that occurred while the house was being repaired. On April 30, more than a month after the lawmaker helped push the lawsuit legislation sought by Farmers through the House, a question arose as to whether non-covered loss had been paid in regard to the claim.
Thursday, August 14, 2003
Dexatrim Litigation - Insurance Coverage
Chattem Inc. states that its insurer has sued to rescind liability insurance after consumer lawsuits claimed the company's Dexatrim diet aid contained a chemical that raised the risk of strokes. Chattem said Kemper Indemnity Insurance Co. accused the company of failing to disclose results of a study showing the dangers of the chemical phenylpropanolamine, known as PPA, which was used in Dexatrim products until 2000. The FDA eventually asked all makers of consumer products to remove the chemical. Chattem and others were exposed to potential liabilities because their products contained PPA.
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Kansas City Desegregation Plan Lifted
A federal judge lifted a 26-year-old court-ordered desegregation plan for Kansas City schools, saying the district had made enough progress in narrowing the achievement gap between black and white students. In issuing his decision, U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple said the district "is unlikely to discriminate against African-American children in the future" and that his decision would "allow the superintendent to make routine decisions'' without seeking court approval.
Expert Testimony
In a negligence and strict liability action under Arkansas law, plaintiff's proposed expert's testimony regarding stand-uplift truck design was properly struck, as witness admitted he was not an expert in relevant design or engineering of stand-up lift trucks and was unfamiliar with the device at issue. ANDERSON v. RAYMOND CORP., No. 02-3393 (8th Cir. August 13, 2003)
Watch Out for the Trojan Horse Virus
In the latest bout of computer mischief, hackers have developed the ability to make their victims look like criminals. The new "Trojan horse" viruses which are downloaded via seemingly harmless e-mail, shared files or links, allow a hacker to secretly take over someone's computer and then use it to send out more viruses, pornography or other illegal materials. Recent reports indicate that the virus,which is thought to have originated in Russia, has infected over 2,000 American computers and used them to shuttle pornography advertising around the world.
Monday, August 11, 2003
Microsoft hit with Verdict
A federal jury in Chicago awarded the University of California and a browser technology company $520.6 million after finding that their patents were infringed by Microsoft Corp.
Did the Royals Get Justice?
The man who led his son in an unprovoked attack on a Kansas City Royals baseball coach during a September game with the Chicago White Sox was ordered to undergo drug and alcohol counseling and received 30 months' probation. William Ligue, 35, who spent two months in jail before pleading guilty to two counts of battery, must also honor a nightly curfew for 90 days and undergo counseling, although Cook County Court Judge Leo Holt did not order him banned from baseball parks as prosecutors had requested.
Mike Tyson v. Don King
A diamond necklace worth as much as some houses. More than $300,000 in limousine rides. Sixty thousand dollars worth of rugs. Mike Tyson's Manhattan bankruptcy filing lays out the surprising ease with which the former heavyweight champion burned through hundreds of millions of dollars during his career. Tyson, 37, now has pegged much of his hope for financial resurrection on a lawsuit against Don King.
Thursday, August 07, 2003
Proving Disability under the ADA
Plaintiff failed to make out a prima facie ADA case where there was no causal connection between the major life activity that is limited, (procreation) and the accommodation sought (changes in his duties as a cement truck driver). WOOD v. CROWN REDI-MIX, INC., No. 02-3506 (8th Cir. August 07, 2003)
Wednesday, August 06, 2003
Mold Claims on the Rise
Lately mold has become the subject of expensive insurance claims and multimillion dollar lawsuits. Builders, insurance industry groups and other businesses have blamed overzealous lawyers and increased media attention for a threefold increase in mold-related lawsuits the past three years. There are 10,000 such cases pending today nationwide, the Insurance Information Institute estimates. The tiny fungi can trigger allergic reactions similar to hay fever, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Many of the lawsuits contend that mold damage inside a home or building that wasn't cleaned up properly caused serious health problems like bleeding in the lungs or brain damage. The CDC and the National Academies of Science are both currently studying mold's effects on human health.
Kobe Media Blitz
Are you ready to watch the media abuse the Kobe Bryant story? The legal action starts today and probably will not end for months. Motels in the town of 3,500 that straddles Interstate 70 about 30 miles from Vail have "No vacancy'' signs, and restaurants are doing booming business. A trial appears inevitable. Bryant is charged with felony sexual assault against a 19-year-old woman who worked at an exclusive resort hotel in nearby Edwards when Bryant stayed there June 30. He has said the sex was consensual. If convicted, he faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation, and a fine of up to $750,000. Do you think anyone will even notice that the Scott Peterson trial is still pending?
Workers' Compensation Subrogation
Claimant sustained injury in an automobile accident that arose out of in the course of his employment. Liberty Mutual, Employer’s workers’ compensation carrier, paid over $300,000 in benefits. Employee hired attorneys to pursue a third party claim. The attorneys failed to file an action timely and thereafter a legal malpractice claim was pursued and was settled. ATS and Liberty sought a portion of the settlement proceeds asserting a subrogation interest in that action and filed a declaratory judgment action. In this case of first impression, the court declined to recognize that Liberty or ATS have a valid subrogation interest in the malpractice case. ATS Inc. and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company v. Kenneth Listenberger, No. 81955 (Mo. App. E.D., June 3, 2003).
Sovereign Immunity
Under Missouri law, sovereign immunity does not protect a city from dangerous condition of intersection even if dangerous condition resulted from zoning. United Missouri Bank v. City of Grandview, No. 61111, (Mo. App. WD, May 30, 2003).
Meat Recall
A Minnesota meatpacker is recalling 194,700 pounds of frozen ground beef products because they may be contaminated with harmful E. coli bacteria that sickened two people in Colorado, the Agriculture Department says. Howard Beef Processors of Pipestone, Minn., sold the meat bearing the establishment code, EST. 8934, under the name Ellison Farms to supermarkets and through door-to-door sales nationwide, officials at the department's Food Safety and Inspection Service said. The meat was processed sometime between May 30 and June 11.
Toxic WTC Pollution?
Air pollution from the World Trade Center attacks may have resulted in smaller babies among pregnant mothers who were in or near the collapsing towers, preliminary research suggests. Exposed pregnant women in the study faced double the risk of delivering babies who were up to about a half-pound smaller than babies born to non-exposed women. The size differences among babies born to women exposed to dirt and soot from the attacks suggest a condition called intrauterine growth restriction, or IUGR, which has been linked with exposure to air pollution.
