New Orleans judge caps fees for plaintiffs' attorneys in the Vioxx litigation at a relatively low 32 percent of the $4.85 billion settlement. "Although perhaps a reduction from the standard 33% to 40% contingent fee applicable on a single-case basis, this reduction will not result in a paltry award for the attorneys."
In Re: Vioxx Products Liability Litigation
Four minors and their parents file a new challenge to the Hawaiian ancestry-only admissions policy of the Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii. The plaintiffs want to have a 9th Circuit opinion denying a virtually identical claim overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Doe v. Kamehameha Schools
Florida judge rules that ESPN did not defame promoter Don King in a documentary about his career.
"[A]lthough the program might not constitute the best example of objective journalism, ESPN's conduct does not meet the standard of actual malice." King v. Walt Disney Co.
8th Circuit says Missouri prison officials did not violate a Native American inmate's religious rights by denying his request for a sweat lodge. "Providing inmates at a maximum security prison access to burning fires, red hot rocks, split wood, shovels, and deer antlers alone generate a unique and obvious set of security concerns."
Fowler v. Crawford
Santa Barbara judge finds Rob Lowe's former nanny did not defame the actor and his wife. "The Lowes ... have submitted no evidence of any defamatory statements that were not made in anticipation of this litigation."
Lowe v. Gibson
D.C. judge orders former White House Counsel Harriet Miers to testify before Congress about the forced resignations of nine U.S. attorneys. "The Executives current claim of absolute immunity from compelled
congressional process for senior presidential aides is without any support in the case law."
Committee on the Judiciary v. Miers
Indiana Court of Appeals says an employer is not liable for negligent hiring of a traffic controller who murdered two people in their home after leaving his jobsite. Cory and Jenna Clark "were not reasonably foreseeable victims who were injured by a reasonably foreseeable harm." Clark v. Aris, Inc.
"Lolita Lawyer" sues American Express for providing information to law enforcement about his credit card transactions which led to his arrest for statutory rape in Canada. "As a direct and proximate result of such disclosures, Plaintiff was falsely arrested."
James Colliton v. American Express
3rd Circuit throws out a $550,000 fine against CBS over the baring of Janet Jackson's breast. "[T]he FCC arbitrarily and capriciously departed from its prior policy excepting fleeting broadcast material from the scope of actionable indecency." CBS Corp. v. FCC
Montana judge reinstates endangered species protections for the Northern gray wolf, which had been delisted by the Bush administration.
"Congress does not intend agency decision making to be fickle. When it is, the line separating rationality from arbitrariness and capriciousness is crossed." Defenders of Wildlife v. Hall
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