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Leading the News
MMS inspections for Deepwater Horizon oil rig less frequent than required.The AP (5/17, Pritchard) reports the federal agency "responsible for ensuring that an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico was operating safely before it exploded last month fell well short of its own policy that inspections be done at least once per month, an Associated Press investigation shows." Since January 2005, "the federal Minerals Management Service conducted at least 16 fewer inspections aboard the Deepwater Horizon than it should have under the policy, a dramatic fall from the frequency of prior years, according to the agency's records." The "inspection gaps and poor recordkeeping are the latest in a series of questions raised about the agency's oversight of the offshore oil drilling industry. Members of Congress and President Barack Obama have criticized what they call the cozy relationship between regulators and oil companies and have vowed to reform MMS, which both regulates the industry and collects billions in royalties from it." BP makes strides in oil containment. On the NBC Nightly News (5/16, lead story, 3:30, Holt) Mark Potter reported "an important breakthrough" in BP's oil spill cleanup. Potter said, "Engineers were finally able to insert the end of a nearly mile-long tube into the damaged oil pipe, which had been spewing thousands of barrels into the gulf each day. After securing the connection, they were then able to redirect some of that oil up to a container ship on the surface." At a news conference at Louisiana's joint spill command center, BP spokesman Mark Proegler said "the tube was containing most of the oil coming from the pipe, which is contributing an estimated 85% of the crude in the spill," according to the AP /AP (5/17). Cleanup sparks new environmental concerns. McClatchy (5/17, Kaleem) reports, that "Despite BP's success Sunday, scientists say that the large swatch of oil covering the gulf already has had a monumental ecological impact." McClatchy references NASA satellite images showing "that the oil may have already entered the Gulf Loop current, which could pull it through the Florida Keys and into South Florida." Additionally, scientists raised concerns about "the discovery of large submerged oil plumes -- one up to 10 miles long." University of Miami professor Igor Kamenkovich warns, "I think the threat to South Florida is real and we should get ready." Attorneys line up for class-action suits. The Washington Post (5/17, Mufson, Eilperin) reports that litigation spawned by the Gulf of Mexico oil leak "is spreading as inexorably as the oil that threatens the wildlife and economy of five states along the Gulf of Mexico. The law firms now assembling are members of the all-star team of plaintiffs' attorneys." The Post adds that the "prospects of getting big dollars in this case are good, too, lawyers say. They are eyeing BP, one of the five biggest publicly owned companies in the world; Transocean, the largest offshore driller in the world; Halliburton, the big oil services firm; and Cameron, maker of the well's failed blowout preventer. Anadarko Petroleum and Mitsui, BP's partners in the offshore lease, also are liable." The New Orleans Times-Picayune (5/16, Mowbray) reported, "While BP struggles to stop the oil gushing from its exploded well in the Gulf of Mexico, lawyers throughout the New Orleans area are gearing up for what could be the biggest environmental and maritime litigation case the nation has ever seen." So far, "at least 74 cases involving the spill have been filed in federal courts along the Gulf Coast between Texas and Florida, including 38 in US District Court in New Orleans." How big "the case gets will depend on how long the oil continues to spew, because more people and places could be affected, and clean-up costs will spiral." The National Law Journal (5/14, Baldas) reported, "More than a dozen plaintiffs' firms pursuing BP, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton Energy Services Inc. have a history of trying to make the defendants pay for safety violations and the resulting harm. They include Arnold & Itkin and the Buzbee Law Firm in Houston; Brent Coon & Associates of Beaumont, Texas; Baron & Budd and The Schmidt Firm in Dallas; Weitz & Luxenberg in New York; and the Law Offices of Ronnie G. Penton in Bogalusa, La. In the case of the still-gushing oil spill, they're attacking on several fronts - wrongful death and personal injury, economic damages and environmental damages." Plaintiffs' lawyers "are confident the scope of the disaster is just too big this time for BP and the others to wiggle away." In an op-ed in the Washington Post (6/16), Brian O'Neill, who represented fishermen in Valdez and Glacier Bay in civil cases related to oil spills, provided tips "that might come in handy for the people of the Gulf Coast who are now dealing with BP and the ongoing oil spill." Napolitano, Salazar call on BP to clarify its "true intentions." The CBS Evening News (5/15, story 2, 2:00, Glor) reported, "It didn't take long after the blowout for the White House to start a gusher of its own: a torrent of updates about everything it was doing to stay on top of the disaster. But as the crisis has dragged on, the White House has shifted into attack mode. Today the Administration made public a letter to BP's chief executive from the secretaries of Interior and Homeland Security. It demands that the company clarify the commitment it has already made to paying the full cost of cleanup and damages. The letter says the spill 'may prove to be one of the most devastating environmental disasters this nation has ever faced,' and requests 'immediate public clarification of BP's true intentions.' At issue: an existing law which caps oil spill damages at $75 million per incident." Bloomberg News (5/15, Homan) reports the Obama Administration "is seeking reassurances" from BP "that the company will pay for all damage relating to the oil spill." The letter from Secretaries Napolitano and Salazar read in part, "We understand that BP will not in any way seek to rely on the potential $75 million statutory cap to refuse to provide compensation to any individuals or others harmed by the oil spill, even if more than $75 million is required to provide full compensation to all claimants." Obama denounces "ridiculous spectacle" of finger-pointing over oil spill. ABC World News (5/14, lead story, 3:10, Sawyer) reported, "On Day 25 of the oil spill in the Gulf, a visibly angry President Obama said he's had enough -- enough of companies passing the buck on responsibility for the spill, enough of what he called the 'cozy' relationship between the oil companies and regulators." President Obama: "I saw firsthand the anger and frustration felt by our neighbors in the Gulf. And let me tell you, it is an anger and frustration that I share as President." ABC (Tapper): "So why did the President choose today, 25 days after the explosion, to express his anger publicly? White House officials say it was this hearing on Tuesday where executives from BP, Transocean and Halliburton blamed each other for the disaster." Obama: "I did not appreciate what I considered to be a ridiculous spectacle." Some call for independent investigation. The New York Times (5/15, Wald) reports, "As the Obama administration moves to end a conflict-of-interest problem in the operation of the Minerals Management Service, a rising chorus of experts is demanding that it rectify a similar conflict and appoint an independent blue-ribbon commission to investigate the gulf spill." The "government's main effort to get at the root causes" of the catastrophe "is led by a six-member Board of Inquiry that has been holding hearings this week" in Louisiana. But three of its members work for the Minerals Management Service, and the other three work for the Coast Guard. More commentary. The New York Times (5/16) editorializes, "No one knows how long it will take to seal off the well that is still gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, or how much long-term damage will be done to the gulf's fishery. But the spill has thrown thousands of people out of work and threatened the viability of communities that were already reeling from one of the worst hurricane decades on record. Congress needs to act quickly to keep businesses and individuals afloat until they can secure compensation from BP, which is responsible for cleanup costs and has agreed to pay legitimate damage claims. That means passing the aid package that the White House submitted to Congress last week. It also means pushing out federal disaster relief loans as quickly as possible and providing debt forgiveness to people who are already struggling to pay off federal loans in connection with" past hurricanes.
AAJ in the NewsHawaii Association for Justice lobbyist criticizes immunity measure for property owners.The Honolulu Star-Bulletin (5/13, Shikina) reported, "A lobbyist for personal injury lawyers opposed the governor signing a bill yesterday that protects property owners from being sued by criminals injured on their property. Before the law, felons or their families could sue property owners if they were injured or killed while committing a crime on the property." Robert Toyofuku, a lobbyist for the Hawaii Association for Justice, "called immunity an 'extreme measure' and said the law isn't needed because it's uncommon for a felon to sue for compensation for injuries caused by the action of a property owner." Civil Justice SystemArchbishop Dolan's role in church abuse scandal considered.In a 3,700-word front-page story, the New York Times (5/17, A1, Kovaleski) reports, "A close look at" the record of Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan in St. Louis and Milwaukee, "largely unexamined since his arrival in New York about a year ago, shows how he tried - not always successfully - to accommodate competing demands" from abuse victims and "a church hierarchy worried about ruinous damages awards, parishioners angry over payments to victims, and his own priests, some perhaps falsely accused." The Times observes that "in Milwaukee, he worked in an unusually public and personal way to limit lawsuits and settlements." Vatican to seek dismissal of Kentucky abuse suit. In continuing coverage, the AP (5/16) reported, "The Vatican on Monday will make its most detailed argument yet for why it isn't liable for bishops who allowed priests to molest children in the US. The Associated Press has learned that in a motion to dismiss a lawsuit in Kentucky on jurisdictional grounds, the Holy See is expected to argue that a key Vatican document calling for secrecy in church trials for sex abuse cases was not, as victims' lawyers say, evidence of a Vatican-orchestrated cover-up. In addition, the Vatican's US attorney, Jeffrey Lena, said Sunday he would assert that bishops aren't its employees under the key factors courts use to determine whether employers are liable for the actions of their workers." Plaintiffs' attorneys selected in Toyota MDL.The AP (5/15) reported, "A federal judge on Friday drew upon a group of experienced attorneys who have handled some of the largest product liability cases in the US to represent hundreds of consumers suing Toyota over sudden acceleration problems with its vehicles. US District Judge James Selna appointed four attorneys to be lead counsel for two committees that deal primarily with the biggest issues facing Toyota - wrongful death claims, and claims filed by those who believe their cars have lost value because the Japanese automaker has recalled about 8 million vehicles." The next step "will be arranging a schedule to determine when Toyota will turn over documents requested by the plaintiffs as well as consolidating the lawsuits in hopes that Selna will certified them as a single class." The National Law Journal (5/17, Bronstad) reports, "A federal judge in California acceded to plaintiffs' request for a robust litigation committee structure in appointing lead counsel for the multidistrict litigation against Toyota Motor Corp. over sudden unintended acceleration defects in its vehicles. In an order released on Friday, US District Judge James Selna appeared receptive to arguments by the attorneys that the litigation required more than a dozen lawyers behind the wheel -- the original number that he anticipated would be required." Leading "the economic loss committee will be Steve Berman, managing partner of Seattle's Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro; Frank Pitre of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy in Burlingame, Calif.; and Marc Seltzer, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Houston's Susman Godfrey, according to Friday's order. Heading the liaison committee for the personal injury and wrongful death cases will be Elizabeth Cabraser of San Francisco's Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein and Mark Robinson Jr., senior partner at Robinson, Calcagnie & Robinson in Newport Beach, Calif." In the "Law Blog" at the Wall Street Journal (5/16), under the headline, "Will the Toyota Litigation Make a Star Out of Eric Snyder?," Dionne Searcey notes that Snyder, of Bailey Glasser, has had strong results in his litigation against Toyota. Nurses may not sue over Florida jail hostage situation, court rules.The AP (5/14) reported, "An appeal court says three nurses held hostage by inmates cannot sue a privately run jail because they are covered by workers compensation. The ruling Friday by the 1st District Court of Appeal upheld a judge's dismissal of a lawsuit against Corrections Corporation of America, Bay County and the Bay County Sheriff's Office. One nurse and two inmates were shot by police to end a 12-hour standoff in 2004 at the Bay County Jail in Panama City," FL. CongressProposed amendment to financial reform bill would allow shareholder suits against anyone abetting corporate fraud.The Washington Post (5/17, Becker) reports, "Among the proposed amendments to the larger financial regulatory overhaul bill wending its way through the Senate is one that would allow shareholders to file private lawsuits against anyone who aids or abets corporate fraud -- potentially exposing lawyers, accountants, investment bankers and others who advise public companies to a category of litigation to which they have previously been immune. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) with the support of 11 other Democratic senators, would essentially overturn nearly two decades of legal precedent and establish that 'any person that knowingly provides substantial assistance' to individuals and companies committing securities fraud would be as liable as those they were assisting." Carper pushing financial preemption. The Washington Post (5/15, Merle) reported, "Some lawmakers and financial companies are making a last-minute push to roll back a provision of the Senate's financial regulation bill giving states more latitude to go after banks for violating consumer protection laws. In seeking to amend the legislation, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) is arguing that the provision, which would allow attorneys general in each state to pursue more of their own consumer protection cases, could undermine the powers of a proposed federal bureau designed to stem abuses in mortgages, credit cards and other financial products." But "the White House, consumer advocates and state attorneys general, who had secured language in the pending legislation giving states more authority, are all redoubling their efforts, arguing that federal regulators often have not been aggressive enough." Medical Errors/HealthcareHospitals failing to discipline, report doctors.The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (5/16, Kohler, Bernhard) reported that across the country, "hospitals either aren't disciplining doctors who have had problems, or are finding ways to avoid federal reporting rules." The Post-Dispatch discusses the case of Dr. Surendra Chaganti of St. Anthony's Medical Center in Missouri. Despite his involvement in a patient's death, he was able to keep a clean record. Maryland jury awards $3.5M med-mal verdict.The Baltimore Sun (5/15, Bishop) reported, "A 53-year-old Harford County woman won a $3.5 million medical malpractice verdict on Thursday against two surgeons and their business, Vascular Surgery Associates. Victoria Little underwent surgery for blocked arteries in 2007, with disastrous results, according to her Baltimore attorneys." Little's lawyers, "James Cardea and Scott Kurlander, claim that the doctors used an improper grafting technique" that "led to blood loss and various injuries, including damage to Little's spinal cord, which left Little paraplegic and unable to walk." Los Angeles County health officials find inaccuracies in complaint about County-USC's ED.The Los Angeles Times (5/14, Hennessy-Fisk, Lin) reported in its "LA Now" blog that "Los Angeles County health officials said Thursday they have found numerous inaccuracies in a complaint filed with regulators earlier this week that alleged emergency room patients at County-USC Medical Center faced excessive waits, among other issues." Even though the complaint is still under investigation, health officials now believe "several key allegations to be untrue." However, "they acknowledged at least one allegation is true: hospital staff had failed to protect patient privacy," having found during a Thursday surprise visit to the hospital that some computer terminals displayed patient information in such a way that other patients could read it. Product SafetyKPT settles with Beazer Homes on Chinese drywall.The Sarasota (FL) Herald Tribune (5/15, Kessler) reported, "Chinese drywall maker Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd. has reached an agreement to settle with Atlanta-based national home builder Beazer Homes, according to three people familiar with the matter." The settlement "would be a significant development in the combined litigation against drywall producers, which has been picking up steam since earlier this year under the guidance of US District Court Judge Eldon E. Fallon." KPT "is by far the largest manufacturer defendant in the combined drywall litigation." The Wall Street Journal (5/17, Whelan, Wotapka) reports that Kerry Miller of Frilot LLC, which represents KPT, confirmed that KPT and Beazer had reached a settlement. FDA's Shuren discusses potential changes for medical device approvals.The Minneapolis Star Tribune (5/15, Moore) reported, "For months, Minnesota's medical technology community has fretted over the Obama administration's new leadership team at the Food and Drug Administration, and whether the changes will result in a wholesale shift in the way medical devices are regulated by the federal agency." Notably, "much curiosity has centered on the new head of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, whose office holds sway over products from the more than 200 medical device firms in the state." During "an interview Friday with the Star Tribune, Shuren provided few definite answers about the agency's plans. But he said issues such as a controversial approval pathway that generally doesn't require studies on patients are under review, and he also touched on hot-button topics such as the industry's influence on the FDA." The Minneapolis Star-Tribune (5/15) also provided a transcript of the interview. Study on link between cell phone use and brain cancer inconclusive.The AP (5/17, Jordans) reports that "a major international study into the link between cell phone use and two types of brain cancer has proved inconclusive, according to a report due to be published" in the International Journal of Epidemiology. The data were "compiled by researchers in 13 countries including Britain, Canada, France, Germany, and Japan, but not the US. Scientists interviewed 12,848 participants, of which 5,150 had either meningioma or glioma tumors." The "10-year survey...found most cell phone use didn't increase the risk of developing meningioma -- a common and frequently benign tumor -- or glioma -- a rarer but deadlier form of cancer." The Washington Post (5/16, King) "Post Tech" blog reported that the report "concluded there were 'suggestions' that heavy use could increase the risk of glioma, but 'biases and error prevent a causal interpretation' that would directly blame cellphone radiation for the tumor." The study's "leaders...acknowledged that the study had flaws." Elisabeth Cardis, of the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona, who led the research, said, "This was a very complex study, and results were very difficult to interpret because of a number of methodological issues." SecuritiesJudge in Goldman civil fraud suit seen as decisive, efficient.The AP (5/16) reported, "The federal judge presiding over civil fraud charges brought against Wall Street's most powerful firm can be counted on to run a tight courtroom as she considers claims that Goldman Sachs & Co. took unfair advantage of lax controls on financial institutions. Lawyers and others who have worked before her say Judge Barbara Jones does not waste time as she commands attorneys to focus their arguments and stick to the key legal issues." Also in the NewsDetroit police inadvertently shoot, kill 7-year-old.The AP (5/16) reported, "A sleeping 7-year-old girl was shot and killed when an officer's gun went off while Detroit police were searching a duplex for a suspect in the slaying of a teenager, a police official said. Assistant Chief Ralph Godbee said at a news conference Sunday that Aiyana Jones was hit in the neck by a single bullet and died at a hospital." Aiyana's father, Charles Jones, "said he was trying not to be angry but wanted the story to be told." Federal prosecutors begin criminal probe of West Virginia mine accident.The Washington Post (5/15, Hananel) reported, "Federal prosecutors said Friday that they are investigating whether there was 'willful criminal activity' by the company that operates the West Virginia coal mine where 29 workers died in an accident last month. The US attorney's office for the Southern District of West Virginia said in a letter that investigators are looking into possible criminal conduct by Performance Coal and its directors, officers and agents. The letter, obtained by the Associated Press, asks the Labor Department to hold off pursuing dozens of civil cases against Performance for alleged mine safety violations." | ||||
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AAJ News Brief is a digest of the most important news selected from thousands of sources by the editors of Custom Briefings. The presence of advertising does not endorse, or imply endorsement of, any products or services by the American Association for Justice. This complimentary copy of AAJ News Brief was sent to haytham@puckettfaraj.com as part of your American Association for Justice membership. View Custom Briefings' privacy policy. Neither Custom Briefings nor the American Association for Justice is liable for the use of or reliance on any information contained in this briefing. For information about other member benefits, please contact American Association for Justice Member Service Center at (800) 424-2727. American Association for Justice | 777 6th Street, NW | Washington, DC 20001 Copyright © 2010 by Custom Briefings | 11190 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 130 | Reston, VA 20191 |