Latest Lawsuits Headlines
All the headlines from our Lawsuits Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Ark. AG Sues Company Selling Deceptive Prescription Drug Cards
Nov 4 2005 // Arkansas Attorney General Mike Beebe filed suit against Peoples Benefit Services Inc., a company that claims to offer discounts on prescription drugs, the AG’s office announced. Based in Pennsylvania, Peoples Benefit...
Admitted Drunk, Underage Driver Can Sue Bars, Mass. Court Rules
Nov 1 2005 // A Suffolk Superior Court in Boston has ruled that an admittedly drunk underage drinker in Massachusetts can sue two bars that served him alcohol before he was involved in a vehicle crash. According to Judge Ralph Gants,...
Lawsuit Claims Disability Insurer Sought to Avoid Paying Claims
Nov 1 2005 // UnumProvident Corp., the nation’s largest disability insurer, systematically sought ways to avoid paying claims to millions of California customers, a lawsuit claims. The lawsuit filed in Superior Court by...
Tort Reform Legislation Passes House, Moves to Senate
Oct 28 2005 // By a vote of 228-184 on Thursday, the House of Representatives favorably approved H.R. 420, the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act (LARA). The legislation, introduced by Representative Lamar Smith (R-Texas), would penalize...
Jury Finds N.Y. Port Authority Can Be Sued Over ’93 Trade Center Bombing
Oct 26 2005 // The Port Authority of New York was negligent in the 1993 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center and can be sued for damages. A State Supreme Court jury in Manhattan has decided that the Port Authority, which owned the...
New Shield Law Could Erase Current Lawsuits Against Gun Makers
Oct 21 2005 // President George W. Bush is expected to sign into law a bill to shield the gun industry from most lawsuits filed by victims of gun crimes. The House approved the bill by a bipartisan vote of 283 to 144, with 59 Democrats...
UnitedHealth Sues Insurers
Oct 20 2005 // One of the larger U.S. managed health care companies, UnitedHealth Group Inc., is suing two insurance firms for denying claims. UnitedHealth, based in Minnetonka, Minn., alleges it was improperly denied at least $18...
Merck Faces Surge of New Vioxx Lawsuits at Filing Deadline
Oct 17 2005 // Eight weeks after a Texas jury handed drug maker Merck & Co. a $253 million verdict in its first Vioxx product liability trial, the number of Vioxx lawsuits is rising like floodwater. More than 1,000 new Vioxx cases...
Case Law Watch
Oct 17 2005 // USAA Casualty Insurance Co. v. Anglum, et al. (Colorado, Sept. 12, 2005) Ruling: The court held that an USAA auto policy unambiguously permitted the insurer to charge an adjusted premium for a newly acquired vehicle from...
JUDGE THROWS OUT $700 MILLION JURY AWARD IN EXECUTIVE LIFE SUIT
Oct 17 2005 // A federal judge has thrown out a $700 million (euro586 million) award for punitive damages won by the state of California in a lawsuit stemming from the takeover of failed insurer Executive Life by French investors. U.S....
Lexington Insurance Set to Drive with New Suite of Policies for Motor Carriers
Oct 14 2005 // Lexington Insurance Company, a member company of American International Group Inc., has introduced Lex TransportPlus, a new product suite encompassing two policies – Motor Truck Cargo and Vehicle Physical Damage...
Gay Partner Can’t Sue Hospital for Malpractice, N.Y. Appeals Court Rules
Oct 13 2005 // A New York Appeals Court has ruled that the same sex partner of a man who died after surgery related to injuries suffered in a car accident does not have standing to sue the hospital for malpractice under state law. The...
Miss. Commissioner Suggests Mediation, Town Hall Meetings; If Those Fail He Says, ‘File Suit’
Oct 12 2005 // Several solutions to hasten the Hurricane Katrina claims process have been suggested by Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale, such as a mediation program to settle contested insurance or a town hall meeting to...
Class Action Suit Filed Against AIG Over Katrina Claims
Oct 10 2005 // Americans for Insurance Reform (AIR), a New York City-based national coalition of public interest organizations, announced that a New Orleans resident has filed a class action suit against American International Group...
Judge Throws Out $700 Million Jury Award in Executive Life Suit
Oct 7 2005 // A federal judge has thrown out a $700 million (euro586 million) award for punitive damages won by the state of California in a lawsuit stemming from the takeover of failed insurer Executive Life by French investors. U.S....
Gen Re Ex-CEO May Face SEC Suit
Oct 7 2005 // Berkshire Hathaway Inc. announced on Friday that Ronald E. Ferguson, the former chief executive officer of General Re Corporation, received a “Wells notice” from the staff of the Securities and Exchange...
Ohio, Ky. Insurers Reach Agreement in Lawsuits Filed in 2002
Oct 4 2005 // Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky physicians have reached an agreement with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Ohio and Kentucky stemming from lawsuits filed in 2002 against several insurers. Courts in Boone and...
Miss. Attorney General Hood Accuses Carriers of Cheating
Oct 3 2005 // Five major insurance companies were recently sued by Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, who charged that insurance adjusters attempted to cheat Hurricane Katrina survivors out of millions of dollars in...
Hurricane Katrina: The Legal Saga Begins
Oct 3 2005 // The New Orleans tragedy may spawn a wave of litigation related to flood protection and levee failures. Public statements, which may serve as a foundation for massive public safety legal claims, began Sept. 1. Based on the...
Case Law Watch
Oct 3 2005 // Exclusions–Criminal Acts Bamert v. Johnson (La. App. Aug. 17, 2005) Insured claims self-defense/question of fact on applicability of intentional, willful and malicious acts exclusion: This concerned an...
