Latest Lawsuits Headlines
All the headlines from our Lawsuits Topic Page, ordered by recency.
ATRA Survey Reports Frivolous Lawsuits Undermine Healthcare System, Prove Negative to Patients
Apr 1 2004 // Doctors believe that patients are paying the price for frivolous lawsuits that are driving up the cost of healthcare and negatively affecting the practice of medicine, according to a survey released today by the American...
W. Va. Medical Liability System Shows Continuing Problems; 5 Counties Considered Real Challenges
Apr 1 2004 // Doctors believe that frivolous lawsuits are increasing the cost of healthcare and West Virginia patients are paying the price, according to a survey released (See National News) by the American Tort Reform Association...
Slave Trade Suit Targets Lloyd’s, U.S. Companies
Mar 30 2004 // Ten present day descendants of slaves, transported from Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries, have filed a lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Fleet Boston Financial Corp. (as successor in interest to the...
CWCI Continues Case Law Series With New Seminar
Mar 29 2004 // The California Workers’ Compensation Institute has announced it will conduct a one-day case law seminar in May in both San Francisco and Long Beach, Calif. The program will examine how recent trends in decisional law...
IIAOK Issues Special Legislative Alert on HB 2261
Mar 25 2004 // Dan Ramsey, executive director of the Independent Insurance Agents of Oklahoma (IIAOK), in a recent State Capitol Report issued an alert to IIAOK members, urging them to become active in efforts to secure meaningful tort...
Pa. State Senators Reintroduce Lawsuit Reform Measure: ‘Joint and Several Liability’ Legal Doctrine
Mar 24 2004 // Pennsylvania State Senators Hal Mowery (R-31) and Jeff Piccola (R-15) reacted on Wednesday to recent challenges in the courts by introducing for the second time a major lawsuit reform measure that replaces “joint and...
Patients’ Right-to-Sue Case Reaches Supreme Court
Mar 22 2004 // The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on March 23 in a pivotal case concerning the right of patients to sue their health plans. The case pits state laws granting such rights against federal law which some...
MASS. INSURER SUES OVER HIGH RISKS:
Mar 22 2004 // Hanover Insurance Co, a unit of Allmerica, has upped the stakes in the battle over high risk auto business in Massachusetts by suing for $20 million it says it has suffered in losses plus damages because of an alleged...
Lawyers and Reforming the U.S. Legal System
Mar 22 2004 // The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Shakespeare’s 400-year old barb aimed at the legal profession (Henry VI, part 2) is an early, if somewhat drastic, call for tort reform. It certainly...
RHODE ISLAND TO RETRY LEAD-PAINT SUIT:
Mar 22 2004 // A jury will hear the retrial in Rhode Island of a landmark lawsuit against the lead paint industry. Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein rejected the state’s motion to have a judge, rather than a six-person jury,...
St. Paul and Travelers Settle Merger Lawsuits
Mar 19 2004 // The St. Paul Companies (NYSE:SPC) announced today that The St. Paul and Travelers have entered into settlement agreements with the plaintiffs in all three of the pending purported securities class action lawsuits related...
American Medical Security Group Completes Ala. Class-Action Lawsuit
Mar 12 2004 // American Medical Security Group Inc. (AMS) and plaintiffs’ representatives have reportedly reached an agreement of understanding to certify and settle a class-action lawsuit, Gadson v. AMS, pending in the Circuit...
Zenith Insurance Company Sues Chiropractor Wu for Unfair Business Practices
Mar 12 2004 // Zenith National Insurance Corp. announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Zenith Insurance Company, has sued San Diego County chiropractor William Wu under California’s Unfair Competition Law for unlawful and...
Minn.’s Top Court Upholds Class Action Certification
Mar 11 2004 // The Minnesota Supreme Court recently upheld an appellate court decision in applying the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act on a nationwide basis by virtue of the certification of a nationwide class. “While the Supreme...
Oklahoma House Passes Tort Reform Bill
Mar 10 2004 // A bill intended to curtail the number of lawsuits filed in Oklahoma passed the state House of Representatives with little opposition but lots of amendments. According to the Oklahoma House media division, a compromise...
Tort Reformers Look to Score in States after Washington Strikes Out
Mar 8 2004 // Last fall at a University of Virginia Law School forum on tort reform, some of the nation’s top tort experts agreed there were no easy answers on how to solve the nation’s longstanding love-hate relationship...
Allstate Seeks $3.5M in Fraud Lawsuit
Mar 8 2004 // Allstate Insurance Co. and Allstate Indemnity Co. began serving summons and complaints upon a Los Angeles County chiropractor and his wife, accusing them of taking part in schemes designed to defraud the companies. Paul...
Boston Archdiocese Sues Insurer
Mar 8 2004 // The Archdiocese of Boston is suing one of its insurers, accusing the company of fraud and breach of contract for failing to cover settlement payments to victims of clergy abuse. Last September, after the archdiocese agreed...
TENNESSEE COMMISSIONER FILES SUIT ON BEHALF OF RECIPROCALS’ POLICYHOLDERS:
Mar 8 2004 // Tennessee Insurance Commissioner Paula Flowers, acting as liquidator for three failed malpractice insurance firms, recently filed suit in U.S. District Court seeking to recover damages on behalf of the companies’...
Mass. Auto Insurer Hanover Sues Over High Risk ‘Conspiracy’
Mar 3 2004 // The lengths to which an auto insurer in Massachusetts may go to circumvent the state’s unique high risk pool has been brought to light by an unusual lawsuit filed by one insurer against one of its...
