Legal Research

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CHICKEN OF THE SEA IN HOT WATER OVER LACK OF MERCURY WARNING
"The U.S. Supreme Court has signaled it's clear sailing ahead for a suit by a New Jersey woman who claims to have suffered mercury poisoning from Chicken of the Sea canned tuna. The denial of certiorari sets the stage for a federal court trial in Newark in a putative class action suit, filed under New Jersey's Product Liability Act, that faults a cannery company with not putting mercury warnings on the label. The justices without opinion let stand a Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last September that the claim is not pre-empted by the Food and Drug Administration's 'pervasive regulatory scheme.' The appeals court said this is a case where state tort law complements federal regulations, which often lack a compensatory apparatus or a process for gathering information about potential claims."

COURT PONDERS PIP CARRIER'S RIGHT TO SHARE IN INSURED'S RECOVERY
"Lawyers asked the state Supreme Court on Monday to decide whether a PIP policyholder who recovers in a tort suit against a third party must reimburse his carrier for benefits already advanced. A ruling for Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co. would cost its insured, Sebastian Fernandez, more than a quarter of a million dollars, as well as setting a precedent that would make plaintiffs' personal injury lawyers cringe. Allowing the PIP carrier's demands to take precedence 'creates an adversarial role between the PIP carrier and its client,' argued Fernandez's lawyer, Dennis Drasco, of Newark's Lum, Danzis & Drasco, at the hearing."

KILPATRICK STOCKTON LAWYER FOUND DEAD, AN APPARENT SUICIDE
"Mark Levy, an accomplished Washington, D.C. appellate lawyer with 16 Supreme Court arguments under his belt, was found dead in his office at Kilpatrick Stockton on Thursday morning in what police are investigating as a gun-related suicide. A police spokesman said that officers responding to a 911 call approached the situation as a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A man who works in the same building at 607 14th Street and requested anonymity said two ambulances and a fire truck were on the scene by 7:45 a.m. The firm released a statement confirming Levy's death, which came two days after Kilpatrick laid off 24 associates and counsel across its U.S. offices, but did not say whether Levy, 59, who was counsel to the firm and chair of its Supreme Court and appellate practice, was among the lawyers laid off."

STATE BAR USES NEW MEDIA FOR LAW DAY CELEBRATION
"Lawyers who aren't in a courthouse on Friday to hear Law Day speeches and lectures can hold their own private celebrations at home this week by clicking on YouTube. The New Jersey State Bar Association ditched its traditional yearly contest for the best student poster illustrating the benefits of law and democracy and asked schools to submit videos on this year's Law Day theme: Abraham Lincoln's contribution to America in remembrance of his 200th birthday year. The videos are also being shown at the main Law Day celebration at the Hughes Justice Complex in Trenton, home of the state Supreme Court."

U.S. COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO HOLD TRIBUTE FOR BANKRUPTCY COURT JUDGES
"On May 7 at the Lautenberg Federal Courthouse in Newark, the Historical Society of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey will honor the current sitting Bankruptcy Court judges as well as the Court's dramatic history and the critical role it has often played in the financial affairs of the United States. The program will explore the court's evolution and significant cases decided over two centuries under the nation's three major bankruptcy laws. Biographies of all 25 referees appointed under the 1898 Act have been compiled as well as for the 18 appointed as Bankruptcy Judges since the enactment of the 1978 Code."