tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8614802009-06-23T07:19:40.458-04:00TRIAL.COM Litigation NewsTRIAL.COM's blawg of litigation management news, clippings, pointers to news reports and articles, and views of interest on issues and developments in the legal market. TRIAL.COM Litigation News has been continously published since December, 2000 (see archives at http://www.trial.com/Blogger/Trial-BlogArchive.htm) and, we believe, is the oldest continuously published legal blog in the world.Ellisnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1317125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-27197087195051618542009-06-22T15:17:00.005-04:002009-06-23T07:19:40.467-04:00NIXON PEABODY SUES NEW HAMPSHIRE TO PREVENT LOOTING OF MEDICAL MALPRACTICE FUNDS Getting national attention in legal circles is biglaw Nixon Peabody's pre-emptive strike against the New Hampshire's Attorney General and Insurance Commissioner in a law suit and aggressive motions (including to disqualify the AG's office) aimed at stopping the State from raiding $110 million in insurer New HampshireEddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-80286207896278331272009-06-03T10:54:00.003-04:002009-06-15T13:20:19.304-04:00BEIRNE, MAYNARD & PARSONS' MARTIN BEIRNE FEATURED IN ABA JOURNAL ARTICLE "MOVING TO THE MIDDLE: SMALLER FIRMS GET CRACK AT BIGGER FISH" Martin D. Beirne of the Network's Texas firm, Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, is featured in and article in the May 2009 ABA Journal article about the increasing ability of mid-sized firms to recruit exceptional talent, including top-tier partners. "Martin D. Beirne Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-82096177473212607622009-05-26T16:00:00.002-04:002009-05-26T16:08:30.487-04:00FORMAN PERRY WATKINS KRUTZ & TARDY WINS TAKE-NOTHING DEFENSE VERDICT IN SILICOSIS LAWSUIT The Jackson, Mississippi-based civil trial law firm of Forman Perry Watkins Krutz & Tardy LLP is announcing a take-nothing defense verdict handed down in a silicosis lawsuit on behalf of three separate companies, despite the plaintiff's attorney asking for an award of $4.5 million. Name partner Fred Krutz,Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-31914358593743666672009-05-21T11:03:00.002-04:002009-05-21T11:17:41.462-04:00BEIRNE, MAYNARD & PARSONS' CLINT CORRIE'S ARTICLE SELECTED AS ONE OF ONLY FIVE BY "SECURITIES ARBITRATION COMMENTATOR" NEWSLETTER The Securities Arbitration Commentator Newsletter has selected Clint Corrie's article, "Record Retention Requirements in Securities Litigation and Arbitration" as one of their five excellent articles by scholars and practitioners in the field of securities arbitration,Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-12583012120870788362009-05-15T10:17:00.003-04:002009-05-15T10:19:28.880-04:00WHEELER TRIGG KENNEDY TO BECOME WHEELER TRIGG O'DONNELLThe partners of Wheeler Trigg Kennedy LLP have voted to change the 11-year-old firm's name to Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell LLP. The change will be effective June 1, 2009. The nationally recognized litigation firm is chaired by Michael L. O'Donnell, one of the firm’s five founders, who becomes a named partner with this change. Two other foundersEddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-40853264116929731882009-05-15T10:09:00.002-04:002009-05-15T10:11:41.756-04:00HOOD LAW FIRM WINS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASE The team at the Hood Law Firm, LLC of Charleston, South Carolina has continued their success with another big defense verdict. On April 24, 2009, the trial team of Jamie Hood and John Weedon obtained a defense verdict for a colorectal surgeon and his practice. Plaintiffs alleged that Defendants performed a low anterior resection as opposed to a sigmoidEddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-53700246815746361972009-05-15T10:04:00.001-04:002009-05-15T10:07:21.241-04:00VERDICT FOR HOOD LAW FIRM IN NEGLIGENT SUPERVISION CASE Hood Law Firm, LLC, the Network's South Carolina firm, has continued its success with another excellent verdict. On April 22, 2009, the trial team of Chilton Grace Simmons and Elizabeth Ballentine obtained a $0 verdict for their client, Hilton Head Plantation Property Owners Association. Plaintiff Robert Hutka and co-defendant Michelle Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-55558302217497443892009-05-05T13:51:00.002-04:002009-05-05T13:57:20.779-04:00SNELL & WILMER PARTNER BARRY HALPERN SELECTED AS A 2009 DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS SCHOOL OF LAW ALUMNUSBarry D. Halpern has been selected as a 2009 Distinguished University of Kansas (KU) Law School Alumnus. Halpern was honored by the KU Law School on Saturday, May 2, 2009. The KU Law School's Distinguished Alumni Award, the school's highest honor, is presented KU School of Law Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-78920005028317966042009-04-28T14:20:00.001-04:002009-04-28T14:29:25.257-04:00NETWORK WELCOMES BASS BERRY & SIMS OF TENNESSEE The Network welcomed its 24th member law firm this weekend at a meeting of in-house counsel and outside trial attorneys at the Silverado hotel in Napa, California. The meeting included approximately 8 hours of cutting edge litigation management CLE as well as a short course for the inner oenofile.Bass Berry represents more than 30 publicly traded Ellisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-36699989829261353142009-04-28T14:13:00.005-04:002009-04-28T14:24:28.526-04:00BIG VICTORIES FOR DEUTSCH, KERRIGAN & STILES In Forbes v. Cockerham, 2008-C-762 (La. 1/21/2009), Isaac "Ike" Ryan of New Orleans' Deutch, Kerrigan & Stiles enrolled as appellate counsel following a $12.6M jury verdict against the State of Louisiana. The case involved an intoxicated and recklessly speeding motorist that ran off Greenwell Springs Road, a highway known as "the most dangerous road inEddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-28717769856605990462009-04-28T14:10:00.000-04:002009-04-28T14:46:09.791-04:00DYKEMA PREVAILS WITH DEFENSE VERDICT IN TRIAL OF HOME FIRE ALLEGEDLY CAUSED BY VEHICLE Dykema's elite Automotive Industry Team won a defense verdict for Ford Motor Company in a products liability action brought by Clarendon National Insurance Company, a U.S.-based property and casualty insurance company. Clarendon alleged that a home fire was caused by a defect in a Ford vehicle."We are very Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-3018665182468481042009-04-28T14:08:00.002-04:002009-04-28T14:17:17.549-04:00WEINBERG WHEELER HUDGINS GUNN & DIAL WINS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASE Weinberg, Wheeler, Hudgins, Gunn & Dial, LLC ("WWHGD") attorneys Bob Tanner and Laura Voght recently won a medical malpractice case before the Georgia Court of Appeals. On behalf of Defendants/Appelless, a surgeon and his practice group, they obtained a ruling affirming the dismissal of all claims. The Plaintiff initially filed Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-55334365497020481012009-04-21T17:17:00.003-04:002009-04-28T14:40:15.603-04:00SNELL & WILMER AND WEINBERG WHEELER HUDGINS GUNN & DIAL OBTAIN DEFENSE VERDICT IN GEORGIA HOUSEBOAT DROWNING TRIAL A federal court jury in Albany, Georgia recently returned a unanimous defense verdict in favor of Sumerset Custom Houseboats, Inc. ("Sumerset") in a product liability case arising from a drowning on the Chattahoochee River. Sumerset was jointly represented at trial by Patrick X. Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-88865560526974138212009-04-16T12:20:00.002-04:002009-04-20T06:40:40.596-04:00LIGHTFOOT, FRANKLIN & WHITE WIN DEFENSE VERDICT FOR PHARMACIA CORP, ET AL. After a trial lasting more than two weeks, a Jefferson County jury returned a verdict in favor of Pharmacia Corporation against five individual plaintiffs who claimed that exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs caused them to develop diabetes or arthritis. The five plaintiffs were randomly selected from among Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-11700196757190737122009-04-16T12:11:00.003-04:002009-04-20T06:36:01.044-04:00DYKEMA TEAM PREVAILS WITH LARGEST PLAINTIFF VERDICT IN OAKLAND COUNTY HISTORYJury Awards $47.7 Million in Lawsuit Against Tier-One Supplier Members of Dykema's elite Automotive Industry Team, led by Jim Feeney, with Tom Murray and Jeffrey Miller, won a $47.7M verdict for Chrysler LLC in a breach of contract action against Hutchinson FTS, a designer and manufacturer of liquid heating and cooling Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-57043378791232396752009-04-08T14:38:00.002-04:002009-04-08T14:41:58.200-04:00NIXON PEABODY TEAM WINS 'KEY' VICTORY UPHOLDING DISMISSAL OF CLASS ACTION ATTEMPT The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a decision that safeguards a Nixon Peabody client from a putative national class action. The underlying dispute centered around the interpretation of an insurance provision in an equipment lease agreement, which required that lessee maintain sufficient property and Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-82594674485104114752009-04-07T13:33:00.007-04:002009-04-07T16:37:31.942-04:00TIM O'NEILL INDUCTED INTO AMERICAN COLLEGE OF TRIAL LAWYERSSnell & Wilmer partner Timothy G. O'Neill has been inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers.Fellowship in the College is extended by invitation, after careful investigation, to experienced trial lawyers who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by ethical conduct, professionalism, Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-39197149433327636892009-03-27T10:46:00.003-04:002009-03-30T17:25:29.096-04:00THE NETWORK OF TRIAL LAW FIRMS' LITIGATION MANAGEMENT SUPERCOURSE"UNCORKING LITIGATION MANAGEMENT EXPERTISE"April 23-26, 2009In-house general counsel and senior litigation managers will attend two days of cutting-edge litigation management CLE provided by The Network of Trial Law Firms next month at our 46th Litigation Management Supercourse. This Spring's program will take place at the SilveradoEddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-77929108387541958032009-03-27T06:55:00.003-04:002009-03-27T07:02:56.582-04:00Dealmaker of the Week: Brock Gibson of Blake CasselsAmLaw Daily, March 27, 2009 5:20 AMPosted to AmLaw Daily by Julie TriedmanIn early December, a few weeks before Brock Gibson took up the reins as chair of 550-lawyer Blake, Cassels & Graydon, he got a call from a longtime client, Calgary-based oil conglomerate Suncor Energy Inc.Suncor's general counsel Terry Hopwood told Gibson that the company Ellisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-28553011045536725592009-03-26T14:42:00.004-04:002009-03-26T15:14:41.192-04:00LOWENSTEIN ATTORNEYS DAVID HARRIS AND STEPHEN BUCKINGHAM WIN TREBLE DAMAGES AND PERMANENT INJUNCTION IN PATENT CASE AGAINST HONG KONG CONGLOMERATERoseland, NJ, March 5, 2009 – In a patent case that had its genesis nearly 20 years ago, a New Jersey company, Joyal Products, Inc., was awarded triple damages and granted permanent injunction against Johnson Electric North America and Johnson Electric Ellisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-24773402621194878862009-03-23T12:15:00.002-04:002009-03-23T12:20:26.286-04:00FEDEX LAWYER (KELLY CORR OF CORR, CRONIN, MICHELSON, BAUMGARDNER & PREECE) SAYS CONTRACT DRIVERS SHOULD HAVE KNOWN JOB TERMSLaurence Viele Davidson and Brad BrobergBloomberg News (Article Link)FedEx Corp.'s contract ground drivers, who claim the company is denying them overtime pay and treating them like full-time workers, agreed to the terms of the job when they signed up, a lawyer told a Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-11599727589618069962009-03-16T14:39:00.002-04:002009-03-16T14:46:32.464-04:00WHEELER TRIGG KENNEDY LAWYERS TOP COLORADO SUPER LAWYERS LIST AGAINWheeler Trigg Kennedy LLP is proud to announce that 10 of its 24 partners have been selected as Colorado Super Lawyers® for 2009. Two are on the top 10 list and an additional two are among the top 50. Since 2007, four WTK lawyers have been among the top 10 lawyers listed, including Michael O'Donnell and Malcolm Wheeler, both of Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-84041359603370061172009-02-19T14:54:00.001-05:002009-02-19T14:56:21.227-05:00DEUTSCH KERRIGAN & STILES WINS VICTORY IN TRUCK-ACCIDENT PERSONAL INJURY CASE THAT LEADS TO SANCTIONS AGAINST PLAINTIFFS AND THEIR ATTORNEY David Groome of Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles handled the defense of a personal injury case (Eric Rojas, et al. v Hwy-Tech, Inc. et al.) which led not only to the client defendant paying no money to settle this matter, but in the Court sanctioning both Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-25099078121746319632009-02-18T09:50:00.003-05:002009-02-18T10:18:40.428-05:00TRIAL.COM LITIGATION MANAGEMENT PODCASTS NOW AVAILABLE ON ITUNESThe Network of Trial Law Firms is proud to announce the launch of our Litigation Management Podcasts available on iTunes for your iPod or iPhone. If you already have Apple's iTunes installed on your computer, you may visit this link to view and subscribe to our free podcast directory.The podcasts, so far, consist of the SkyRadio Eddnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-861480.post-91668560252221495272009-02-13T14:51:00.000-05:002009-02-16T07:05:00.713-05:00DYKEMA ATTORNEYS HONORED AS CLIENT SERVICE ALL-STARSThe Network's Michigan member firm, Dykema, a leading national law firm, recently announced that two members of the firm’s Litigation Department, Susan Artinian and Daniel Stephenson, have been named to the BTI Consulting Group’s Client Service All-Star Team for Law Firms 2009. This elite list honors a select group of attorneys who were Ellisnoreply@blogger.com