A selection of the need-to-know civil justice news for the week of June 18-24.
Starbucks Loses Bid to Dismiss Lawsuit Over ‘Underfilled’ Lattes
Jacob Gershman | Wall Street Journal’s Law Blog
In federal courts from coast to coast, lawyers are accusing Starbucks of serving customers beverages that contain less coffee than promised.
Lawsuit: Hot Cup of Starbucks Coffee Scalded Skin During Spill
ABC 6
Katherine Mize of Houston says a cup of hot coffee changed her life when a Starbucks employee handed it to her. “She handed it to me with her hand over the top and dropped it,” she said. “I caught it and so it squooshed, the top had come off, and it squooshed all over everywhere and all over me. It was so hot that I jumped out of the car.”
P.C. Richard Cleared In TCCWNA Suit Over Contract Language Omission
Charles Toutant | New Jersey Law Journal
Plaintiffs’ lawyers in New Jersey have filed plenty of suits based on the Truth in Consumer Contract, Warranty and Notice Act of late, but a federal judge in Newark has ruled that the 35-year-old statute does not provide relief in cases of language omitted from a contract.
Eight New Judges Confirmed, Two Controversial Judges Approved for Tenure
Matt Friedman | Politico NJ
The state Senate confirmed new Superior Court judges today, including the state’s previous acting attorney general. The Senate also gave tenure to a judge who had controversially awarded child custody to a confessed killer and a judge who had been reprimanded for inappropriate behavior.
When the Trial Lawyers Come for the Robot Cars
Adam Thierer | Slate
Along the way to a world of driverless cars there are many potential roadblocks: infrastructure issues, different technical standards, restrictive state licensing policies, and more. But something more problematic might be the one most likely to derail this important technology: excessive lawsuits. To avoid the chilling effect that excessive litigation might have on this life-saving innovation, Congress may need to provide a certain amount of legal immunity for creators of driverless car technologies, or at least create an alternative legal compensation system for when things go wrong.
Man’s ‘Never Flat’ Basketball Deflated — So He’s Suing
Kathianne Boniello | NY Post
Can’t blame this one on Tom Brady. Another “deflategate” has emerged, this time over Spalding’s Neverflat basketballs, which a class-action suit alleges do, in fact, go flat.
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