A selection of the need-to-know civil justice news for the week of April 29-May 5.
More Than $100M In Taxpayer Money Spent On Public Worker Lawsuits Each Year
Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The legal settlements and jury awards have come rapid-fire, month after month, year after year: $400,000 to the public works employee who claimed a hostile work environment; $2.1 million to the fire inspector whom a jury found had been harassed; $200,000 to the former police dispatcher who said she was improperly fired; $3.65 million to the NJ Transit workers who said they faced racial discrimination.
New Jersey, a state where property taxes and the cost of living rank among the highest in the nation, is increasingly hemorrhaging taxpayer cash as more and more public workers file lawsuits against the government agencies that employ them.
Hershey’s Legal Defense: Plaintiff Is Disbarred Attorney Looking For Targets
John O’Brien | Legal Newsline
Hershey’s is defending a class action lawsuit by attacking the motives of the plaintiff – a disbarred attorney who has filed hundreds of lawsuits and wrote a how-to-sue book.
Lawyer Accused Of Billing Over 24 Hours In A Day Suspended; But Official Said Others Were Worse
Debra Cassens Weiss | ABA Journal
West Virginia’s top court imposed a two-year suspension on a lawyer who submitted bills for court-appointed work for more than 24 hours a day on two different occasions.
$25M Accutane Verdict Tossed Over Expert Testimony Limits
Charles Toutant, New Jersey Law Journal
A state appeals court tossed a $25 million verdict against Hoffmann-La Roche in a suit over acne drug Accutane after finding that the trial judge improperly restricted duplicative testimony from two defense experts.
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