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Fifth Circuit declines to create ‘new rule’ in asbestos case over bar date
NEW ORLEANS (Legal Newsline) – A federal appeals court has affirmed a bankrupt company’s request for summary judgment, arguing the asbestos claim filed against Placid Oil Company was discharged as claimants were given sufficient notice of the 1987 bar date. -
California Texas, here I come!
“Toyota Escapes to Texas” was the headline on a Wall Street Journal article last week, with the subhead: “Another engine of middle-class jobs flees California.” -
Our View: Keep the cap, California
Because Texas and California are mirror opposites in so many ways, we often find ourselves contrasting our dissimilar approaches to governing. -
Legally Speaking: 2014 — Off to a Crazy Start
I thought 2013 was one of the strangest years yet for wackiness in the legal system, with some of the weirdest lawsuits and litigants we’ve seen in years. But judging from the legal stories that have emerged so far in the new year, 2014 is shaping up to be a banner year for legal oddities. -
BP ad in Wall Street Journal takes aim at law firms who have received oil spill settlements
NEW ORLEANS – In the wake of continued revelations of possible corruption in the settlement program form the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP has published a new advertisement in the Wall Street Journal chronicling law firms seeking payouts for themselves through the settlement program. -
Louisiana noted as ‘mecca for litigation’ in WSJ editorial
NEW ORLEANS – A Wall Street Journal editorial published last week noted Louisiana’s rising reputation as a litigation friendly state. -
Legally Speaking: Moonlighting judges are at it again
When it comes to indulging in sidelines, lawyers have a fair amount of latitude. -
Asbestos attorneys: “Trust us. We know what we’re doing.”
The title character in the 1986 TV cop show parody Sledge Hammer, played to perfection by David Rasche, was a comically alarming combination of Dirty Harry, Maxwell Smart and Fearless Fosdick. His catch phrase (“Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”) inevitably preceded his next foray into mayhem and inspired confidence in no one. -
Legally Speaking: Who's teaching your children? You might be shocked
The recently-released movie “The Company You Keep,” directed by and starring Robert Redford, examines what happens when an investigative journalist reveals the hidden Weather Underground past of a mild-mannered Albany attorney implicated in a botched bank robbery in the 1970s during which a security guard was killed. -
Judge: BP client's signature forged on Coon & Assoc. contract
NEW ORLEANS -- The judge overseeing the litigation from the BP oil spill has determined that at least one of the contracts with Brent Coon and Associates has a forged client signature. -
Are we angry enough to do something yet?
We commented recently on the perils of bad publicity and how press reports highlighting Beaumont’s reputation as a plaintiff-friendly forum tend to scare away prospective employers, leading to fewer job opportunities for our citizens, a weaker local economy, and a smaller local tax base. -
Thanks for dragging Beaumont through the mud again, Brent!
In June 2010 we commented on this famous quote about publicity, attributed to P.T. Barnum and others: “I don’t care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right.” -
House looks at asbestos claim transparency bill
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The button pinned to the wheelchair-bound woman’s sweater said it all: “Asbestos caused my cancer.” -
WSJ: Discrepancies found between Coon's trust claims, asbestos lawsuits
Beaumont’s high profile plaintiffs’ attorney Brent Coon might have committed fraud when submitting his clients’ claims to asbestos trusts, according to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal. -
It's time for a 'Regulatory Cocktail' against unethical debt collectors
Medical researchers came up with a breakthrough in the 1980s in their quest to cure patients of HIV. -
Beaumont man files class action against Google over cookies on Mac products
Coffman A Beaumont resident has filed a class action claiming Google inserted code into Google Ads that allowed Google to install tracking cookies on iPhones, iPads and Mac computers. -
Provost Umphrey, Dole reach settlement in pesticide suits
After years of litigation, The Dole Food Co. Inc. and Beaumont's Provost Umphrey Law Firm LLP have reached an agreement to settle all the litigation the firm filed on behalf of more than 5,000 foreign farm workers claiming injuries from pesticides. -
Legal Reform in the Lone Star State: How it works and why Louisiana needs it
Landry NEW ORLEANS, La. - It is hard to imagine, but not very long ago, Texas was described by the Wall Street Journal as the "lawsuit capital of the world." Frivolous lawsuits and settlements were out of control. Plaintiff-friendly laws, judges and juries made it virtually impossible for defendants to get a fair trial. Meanwhile, businesses, doctors and, most importantly, jobs were leaving the state in droves. -
Class action cy pres awards give judges a slush fund, critic argues
Judge Richard Posner calls cy pres awards "purely punitive." -
Legally Speaking: Standing Up to Class Action Bullies
In a recent column, I discussed the often-outrageous attorney fee claims in class action lawsuits, where lawyers pocketed huge sums while achieving little, if anything, for the consumers in whose names they waged war in the legal trenches.