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Combines blog-style content with newspaper-style design. Features include a story of the day, upcoming court hearings of interest, and recently filed court documents.
By Matthew Heller, Editor

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Last Entry: September 06, 2010 at 11:00:00

Dad's Immunity in Drowning of Child Splits Mich. Court

Posted on September 06, 2010
The case of a 3-year-old girl who drowned in a lake after her father left her unattended has prompted a Michigan judge to call for the abolition of an immunity that bars minors from suing their parents for negligence. Judge Elizabeth Gleicher The Michigan Supreme Court has limited parental immunity to cases in which ?the alleged negligent act involves an exercise of reasonable parental authority over the child? and ?the alleged negligent act involves an exercise of reasonable parental discretion with respect to the provision of food, clothing, housing, medical and dental services, and other care...

Court Raps Judge Over 'Moral' Views in Adoption Case

Posted on September 02, 2010
The Georgia Court of Appeals has rejected the reactionary views of a family court judge who ruled that a foster parent could not adopt a child because her out-of-wedlock relationship with a man was ?immoral.? Judge David Roper ?The General Assembly has not prohibited unmarried couples from adopting children,? the court said in a stinging rebuke of Richmond County Superior Court Judge J...

Off With His Head! Woman Sues 'Mad Hatter' Actor

Posted on August 31, 2010
Experimental theater clashes with premises liability law in the case of a Kentucky woman who claims she was injured while watching a performance of a circus-inspired play when one of the actors balanced his knee on her head. ?Lookingglass Alice? by David Catlin has been described as a highly physical and acrobatic adaptation of Lewis Carroll?s ?Alice?s Adventures in Wonderland? and ?Through the Looking Glass? which, like other experimental pieces, breaks down the traditional boundaries between actor and audience...

Charity Worker Accuses CEO of Hypnotic Seduction

Posted on August 24, 2010
A former charity worker may be pushing the limits of sexual harassment law by alleging that her boss required her to participate in ?relaxation sessions? on his ?magic couch? during which he hypnotized and molested her. Susan Patroski B. Scott Finnell Susan Patroski's quid pro quo harassment case hinges on what allegedly happened behind closed doors in the Pittsburgh office of the CEO of Pressley Ridge, which provides clinical services to troubled children...

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Unusual Appeal is Expert's Latest Challenge to Judges

Posted on August 13, 2010
Expert witness Dr. David Egilman was previously successful in showing he had standing to appeal a judicial order in a case in which he was not a party ? but that case may not help him in his latest challenge to a trial judge. Dr. David Egilman The Colorado Court of Appeals in 2002 overturned a sanctions order against Egilman in a toxic tort case in which he testified on behalf of four nuclear plant workers...

Plaintiff's Expert Files Appeal in 'Popcorn Lung' Lawsuit

Posted on August 08, 2010
A controversial expert witness for plaintiffs has filed an unusual non-party appeal of a Washington state judge's decision finding his theory that snackers can contract lung disease from exposure to microwave popcorn is not scientifically sound. Dr...

Philly School Sued Over Race Attack on Student's Mom

Posted on August 05, 2010
Taking civil rights law to what may be an extreme, an Asian-American woman is alleging a Philadelphia high school's tolerance of racism rendered her ?helpless prey? to African-American students who attacked her when she picked her child up from the school...

'McSteamy' Sex Tape Suit Cools off With Settlement

Posted on July 31, 2010
Acting couple Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart have dropped a $1 million lawsuit against Gawker.com for publishing a videotape featuring them in a nude threesome with a friend after the gossip website agreed to take down the much-viewed posting. Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart Gawker got plenty of mileage from the tape after posting it in August 2009...

Sex Harassment Claims Hit Actor Affleck, 'Bones' Star

Posted on July 28, 2010
A producer of a film about actor Joaquin Phoenix, an extra on the set of the TV show ?Bones,? an assistant property master, and a makeup artist are among the plaintiffs in a recent epidemic of lurid Hollywood lawsuits. David Boreanaz Casey Affleck At least five such cases (see table) have been filed in Los Angeles Superior Court since April ? three of them over the past week ? with the allegations leaving little to the imagination...

Jury Goes 'Wild' in Woman's Privacy Case Over Video

Posted on July 25, 2010
A St. Louis jury has gone wild in a case of involuntary nudity, finding that a woman consented to appearing topless in a ?Girls Gone Wild? video by playing to the camera before another person pulled her top down. The woman, identified only as Jane Doe, had no expectation of privacy, the jury declared last week, even though she said ?no? when a ?Girls Gone Wild? crew asked her to bare her breasts as they were filming at a St...

Soap Star Facing $750K Award to Therapist She Sued

Posted on July 21, 2010
Soap opera star Hunter Tylo may have to pay more than $750,000 in damages and attorney fees to a psychotherapist whom she sued more than four years ago for negligent treatment of her children, On Point has learned. Hunter Tylo The case has been another disaster for Tylo, whose son Michael, 19, drowned in the swimming pool of her Henderson, Nev...

Reporter Sues Hotels Over Stalker's Peephole Videos

Posted on July 19, 2010
In an unusual premises liability case, ESPN reporter Erin Andrews has sued the operators of three hotels for allowing a stalker to surreptitiously videotape her naked through peepholes in the doors to her rooms. Erin Andrews Michael David Barrett, a former insurance salesman, shot the video of Andrews while she was staying at the Blackwell Inn of Columbus, Ohio, the Radisson Hotel Milwaukee Airport, and the Marriott Nashville at Vanderbilt University...

Pro-Life Students Want Rubber Fetus Ban Overturned

Posted on July 14, 2010
The suspensions of seven pro-life students at two Roswell, N.M., high schools for distributing rubber fetuses have given birth to a lawsuit that takes the First Amendment protections for student speech into uncharted territory.The students, who belong to a religious youth group called Relentless in Roswell, sued school officials last month, alleging their suspensions were unconstitutional...

Distress Claim Barred in Hotel 'M�n�ge � Trois' Case

Posted on July 11, 2010
The Casa Casuarina A former employee of a luxury Miami Beach hotel who says her billionaire boss invited her to join him in a ?m�n�ge � trois? cannot sue him for infliction of emotional distress, a judge has ruled, finding his alleged behavior, while ?obnoxious,? was not ?objectively outrageous...

Jail Settles With Inmate Over Access to Satanic Bible

Posted on July 05, 2010
A Satanist has won at least a symbolic victory in a prisoner rights case as officials at a Montana jail agreed to pay him $100 for denying his requests for a copy of The Satanic Bible. Jason Indreland The minimal settlement resolved Jason Indreland's only remaining claim arising from his incarceration at the Yellowstone County Detention Facility between March 2007 and July 2008...

Bias Suit Claims New Age Boss Fired Woman for Fetus

Posted on July 02, 2010
A Nebraska home builder that encourages employees to follow New Age philosophies has been sued by a former employee who says the CEO of HearthStone Homes fired her because her fetus brought ?negative energy? into the workplace.Jammie Harms' case takes employment discrimination law in a novel direction by alleging her boss's ?negative religious response? to her pregnancy created a hostile work environment...

Widow Blames Actor's Off-the-Set Death on Film Crew

Posted on June 27, 2010
David Carradine A lawsuit filed by the widow of actor David Carradine presents the creative theory that he died in a Bangkok hotel room because a French film production company did not meet the ?industry standard? for providing ?amenities? to movie stars...

Court Rejects Pill Addiction Suit Against Pharmacies

Posted on June 24, 2010
A law that makes drug dealers liable for the injuries they cause does not apply to two pharmacies, a California appeals court has ruled, rejecting the case of a woman who got addicted to painkillers she acquired illegally from an employee of the pharmacies...

New Suits Could Chill Writers' Use of Own Experiences

Posted on June 20, 2010
The case of a woman who claims she is the real-life model for the character of a prostitute in a movie is one of three lawsuits filed last month which would punish writers for making creative use of their experiences.The film ?Finding Amanda? stars Matthew Broderick as a screenwriter with a gambling problem who tries to redeem himself by rescuing his young niece, the ?Amanda? of the title, from a life of prostitution and drug use in Las Vegas...

Court Boosts Child Safety in Girl's Suit Against Father

Posted on June 18, 2010
A girl can now sue her father over her injuries in an auto accident after the Virginia Supreme Court avoided the ?inequitable result? of leaving her without a remedy for his failure to secure her properly in a car seat.The ruling in Hannah Evans's case clarifies that a Virginia law requiring children up to age 8 be placed in a child restraint device when traveling in a motor vehicle does not preclude a common-law claim for negligent transportation of a child...

Man Can Sue Wife's Lover as Source of Herpes Infection

Posted on June 13, 2010
There is ?nothing unfair? about making a man infected with genital herpes liable for indirectly transmitting the disease through his married lover to her spouse, a New York judge has ruled in a surprisingly thin analysis of an issue of first impression...

Should Sick Baby Have Been 'Seized' for Spinal Tap?

Posted on June 08, 2010
After nearly six years of litigation, an Idaho jury will now hear a high-stakes case that pits child protection laws against the right of a couple to decide whether their infant daughter should have a spinal tap test for meningitis. Corissa Mueller and daughter Taige The long-awaited trial will focus on a critical five-hour period which began when Corissa Mueller brought her daughter Taige to the emergency room of a Boise hospital with flu-like symptoms and ended when Dr...

Woman Goes in Wrong Direction With Google Maps Suit

Posted on June 04, 2010
In what may be the first ?defective content? lawsuit against an online publisher, a California woman has sued Google for providing her with faulty directions on Google Maps that resulted in her being hit by a car. The highway where Lauren Rosenberg was hit by a car Lauren Rosenberg has included claims for negligent publication and failure to warn in her suit over an accident last January in which a driver allegedly struck her as she was walking across a highway in Park City, Utah...

Waitress Sues Hooters in Weighty Discrimination Case

Posted on May 30, 2010
The case of a former Hooters waitress who alleges she was forced to quit her job because she wouldn't go on ?weight probation? might fit an exception to a Michigan law which prohibits discrimination based on weight.Cassandra Smith, 20, filed her lawsuit last week ? less than two weeks after Hooters management allegedly told her during a performance evaluation that she had to lose weight ?as a condition of retaining her employment? at the company's restaurant in Roseville, Mich...

'Sexting' Suit Tests Searches of Student Cell Phones

Posted on May 26, 2010
The key battle in a Pennsylvania high school student's case against school officials who found nude photos of her in her cell phone may be over whether ?clearly established law? barred them from rummaging through the contents of the device.The tension between the privacy rights of students and the interest of school administrators in maintaining discipline has been magnified by the prevalence of cell phones on campuses...

Softball League Makes Pitch for Excluding Non-Gays

Posted on May 21, 2010
A national gay athletic league is taking a� leaf out of the anti-gay legal playbook of the Boy Scouts of America to defend itself from allegations that it engaged in a witch hunt to ?out? non-gay members of a softball team.A trio of ace softball players made the startling allegations against the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAA) in a lawsuit filed last month which says league officials deemed them insufficiently ?gay? to play for San Francisco's D2 team in the 2008 Gay Softball World Series...

Cryonics Firm Wins Battle to Freeze Dead Man's Head

Posted on May 17, 2010
Container for storing Alcor "neuropatients" Orville Richardson has been dead for 15 months. But in what might seem like a pointless decision, the Iowa Court of Appeals has ordered his siblings to make his head available for cryonic preservation...

Tot's Mom Prepped for Nancy Grace Grilling, CNN Says

Posted on May 15, 2010
A ?script? written by a woman who killed herself after being interviewed for ?Nancy Grace? shows she was thoroughly prepared to be questioned about the disappearance of her two-year-old son, the talk show's producers say. Melinda Duckett Nancy Grace ?The only person who was not surprised during Melinda Duckett's appearance on the Nancy Grace program was Melinda herself,? CNN argues in a motion for summary dismissal of a ?talk-show tort? case filed by Duckett's parents...

Jury Sees No Harm in Reporters' 'Locker Room' Antics

Posted on May 12, 2010
A New York jury has found a TV news anchor was not harmed when her fellow reporters circulated a digitally enhanced picture of her with huge breasts ? a verdict based in part on testimony that sexually charged pranks and banter were part of the milieu of the newsroom...

Trademark Suit Rips 'Heart' Out of Heart Stopper's Grill

Posted on May 07, 2010
Heart Stopper's Sports Grill is going under the knife. Less than six months after opening, the Delray Beach, Fla., restaurant will drop its cardiac theme to settle claims that it ripped off the Heart Attack Grill of Chandler, Ariz.Even though the two restaurants are about 2,000 miles apart, Heart Attack Grill sued Heart Stopper's in January for ?operating a medically themed hamburger grill and restaurant with high caloric food products which was identical to or substantially identical to Heart Attack Grill's medically themed hamburger grill with high caloric food...

Students Named in Oral Sex Expos� Lose Privacy Suit

Posted on May 04, 2010
The First Amendment has trumped privacy rights as a Washington state jury rejected a case filed by four high-school students who claimed they did not consent to having details of their sex lives disclosed in the school newspaper. The students sued the Puyallup School District after they were named in an article about oral sex published in JagWire, the student newspaper of Emerald Ridge High School...

Mardi Gras Law Bars Liability for Errant Coconut Throw

Posted on May 02, 2010
Videotape footage of a Mardi Gras Parade in New Orleans is not enough evidence to make the parade organizer liable for injuries to a spectator who was allegedly struck in the head by a coconut thrown from a float, a Louisiana appeals court has ruled.Mardi Gras coconut throws are usually shielded from liability under Louisiana's Mardi Gras Immunity Statute but the law does not apply to an injury ?caused by the deliberate and wanton act or gross negligence of the krewe or organization, or any member thereof...

Lawyers Take Another Shot at Fruit Claims in Cereals

Posted on April 30, 2010
Another outbreak of cereal litigation has flared up, with plaintiffs' lawyers now citing old trademark documents as evidence that the makers of Froot Loops and Cap'n Crunch's Crunch Berries falsely advertise the cereals as containing real fruit.A Sacramento, Calif...

"Peeping Tom" Allegation May Not Fly in "Webcamgate"

Posted on April 25, 2010
Blake Robbins A high-profile privacy lawsuit against a Pennsylvania school district that allegedly used remote-controlled cameras on laptop computers to snoop on students may turn out to be a tempest in a teapot unless the plaintiffs can show the district had some voyeuristic purpose...

Second Lifers Assert Virtual Land Rights in Class Action

Posted on April 20, 2010
The tricky issue of whether gamers have rights in their virtual property has resurfaced in a $5 million lawsuit filed by four buyers of Second Life real estate who claim the creator of the virtual world has illegally stripped them of their property. Second Life "property" Real-world courts have yet to address virtual world property rights but a Second Life gamer, Pennsylvania attorney Marc S...

Model Suing Steven Seagal Keeps Ace Up Her Sleeve

Posted on April 17, 2010
The Louisiana property where Steven Seagal allegedly assaulted Kayden Nguyen Attorneys for a model suing Steven Seagal for sexual harassment have sent a clear message to the actor that he can avoid any testimony about his allegedly ?unique physiological reaction to sexual arousal? by settling the case...

Lawyer Sues Former Son-in-Law Over Marital Cheating

Posted on April 14, 2010
Taking contract law to an extreme, Chicago attorney Carey M. Stein has filed a $1 million lawsuit in which he alleges his former son-in-law broke an oral agreement to be faithful to his daughter if he footed the bill for the couple's wedding.With its allegation of a contract premised on marital fidelity, the case seems more suited to a Restoration comedy than to the modern world...

Hospital Sued for Letting Male Nurse Dress as Woman

Posted on April 08, 2010
A gunshot victim who was molested by a transgender nurse has sued a Cincinnati hospital under the dubious theory that the nurse was a ?defective? employee simply because he dressed as a woman. Chad Thrasher Dereco Evans's lawsuit ventures into uncharted legal waters by arguing that the University of Cincinnati Hospital is liable for negligent supervision of his assailant even though he does not allege phlebotomist Chad Thrasher had a prior history of molesting patients...

Shaq Takes a Hack at Ex's "Fanciful" Harassment Case

Posted on April 07, 2010
NBA monolith Shaquille O'Neal says a cyberstalking lawsuit against him tells ?a fanciful tale,? arguing that his alleged ?oral abuse? of an ex-girlfriend was not ?outrageous? and he didn't steal anything by allegedly hacking into her voice mails and text messages...

"Sluggerrr's" Stray Sausage Tests Sports Injury Law

Posted on April 03, 2010
Baseball fans assume the risk of being hit by foul balls but the Kansas City Royals may not be able to make the same argument in the case of a man who alleges an errant hot dog hurled by the team mascot struck him in the eye, detaching his retina.Hot dog launches and t-shirt cannons are a common sideshow at sports events...

Jury Awards $800K to Victim of "Pattern of Bullying"

Posted on March 30, 2010
A landmark $800,000 jury award to a Michigan teenager who was sexually harassed for years by schoolmates sends a message to school districts that taking action against individual students is not enough when there is a pattern of bullying.A federal jury in Detroit agreed with the parents of Dane Patterson, now 19, that the Hudson Area Schools district showed deliberate indifference to systemic student-on-student sexual harassment -- even though perpetrators were warned off when they were caught and even left him alone after that...

Appeals Court Sends Shy Bladder Case Down the Drain

Posted on March 27, 2010
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cited an extreme technicality in throwing out a landmark $225,000 jury award to a former Merchant Marine captain who suffers from shy bladder syndrome. Joseph Kinneary A jury in September 2007 found the City of New York liable under the Americans With Disabilities Act for failing to accommodate Captain Joseph Kinneary's inability to urinate on command...

Florida A&M Rattlers Rattled by Dorm Room Porn Video

Posted on March 25, 2010
A trademark infringement lawsuit filed by Florida A&M University pits the venerable, historically black school against the publisher of a "reality porn" website that features "wild sex parties" in college dorm rooms.Daredorm.com is part of a network of sites published by RK Netmedia of Miami that also includes the popular BangBus...

NC Jury Sets Record With $9 Mln Award to Jilted Wife

Posted on March 22, 2010
After a North Carolina jury awarded $9 million to a jilted wife in what may be the largest verdict ever in an alienation of affections case, her husband said they had ?significant problems? in their marriage for years and she should ?take responsibility for her own mistakes...

Guests Beaten at Party Lose Case Over MySpace Invite

Posted on March 17, 2010
Issuing an open invitation to a party on MySpace did not set the stage for three men to be beaten and stabbed at the party, a California appeals court has ruled in throwing out a lawsuit against the host. Clive Boustred The men alleged Clive Boustred, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, had a ?higher social responsibility? because he, in effect, invited the ?whole world? to a May 7, 2007 party at his castle-like Soquel Hills, Calif...

Judge Puts Killer Giraffe Spoof Story Back on Web

Posted on March 17, 2010
A Louisiana judge has protected the satirical expression of the publisher of a ?fake news? Web site from the misguided legal attack of a wildlife sanctuary that objected to a story about a killer giraffe.Nicholas Brilleaux's Hammond Action News mostly pokes fun at public officials and institutions in Tangipahoa Parish, La...

Dad Sues Over Trauma of Seeing Parrot Attack Toddler

Posted on March 13, 2010
A man who allegedly saw a parrot bite off and eat part of his toddler son's finger at a Florida resort has filed a ?bystander? lawsuit for emotional distress damages ?- even though he may have helped provoke the bird's attack.The parrot, a Blue-and-Gold Macaw, was an attraction at the Tiki Bar restaurant in the Palm Beach Shores resort...

Customer "Upskirted" at Store Loses Privacy Lawsuit

Posted on March 11, 2010
A customer at a T.J. Maxx store in upstate New York has lost her lawsuit against the retailer for allowing a man to take photos up her skirt by using her as ?human bait? in a sting operation.Security workers did not warn customers that they were surreptitiously videotaping the man as he visited the store in Watertown, N...

Scents Alive! Perfume Allergy Case Settles for $100,000

Posted on March 08, 2010
A Detroit city planner with an allergy to perfume is savoring the sweet smell of legal success after the city agreed to pay her $100,000 and be more sensitive to the chemically sensitive.The agreement -? obtained by On Point through a public records act request -- settled Susan McBride's lawsuit under the Americans With Disabilities Act which alleged the City of Detroit failed to reasonably accommodate her allergy after she complained that a co-worker's perfume made it difficult for her to breathe...

Teen's Suit Puts Mug-Shot Publisher Against the Wall

Posted on March 04, 2010
A new publication in Lincoln, Neb., milks mug shots for humor. But a teenager whose arrest photo appeared in Cuffed doesn't see the funny side of it and has sued the publisher for misappropriating his image.The case could be closely watched by other publications around the country -? both print and online ?- that have capitalized on the public's morbid interest in mug shots...

Airline Settles "Reckless" Baggage Handling Lawsuit

Posted on March 02, 2010
Limiting its liability to a group of only 13 airline passengers, British Airways (NYSE: BAY) has settled a first-of-its kind lawsuit that accused the airline of being ?inexcusably reckless? in its handling of passengers' baggage.The suit was originally filed in September 2007 as a proposed class action on behalf of all adult passengers who traveled internationally on a BA flight between Sept...

Calling Someone "Gay" Still Defamatory in Texas

Posted on February 26, 2010
What one court has called ?a veritable sea change in social attitudes about homosexuality? has evidently not reached Texas where a judge ruled that an airport security guard can sue a radio show host for calling him ?gay? on the air. Rickey Smiley Henry Robinson alleged the imputation that he is homosexual was defamatory as a matter of law in his suit against Rickey Smiley of the Dallas radio station known as ?The Beat...

Case Over Fake MySpace Page Chills Student Speech

Posted on February 23, 2010
Several recent court rulings have been protective of off-campus student speech -? with the exception of a very shaky decision that a dissenting judge said ?vests school officials with dangerously overbroad censorship discretion.?All the cases address a First Amendment issue that has yet to come before the U...

Mom Says Hospital Gave Her Wrong Baby to Breastfeed

Posted on February 23, 2010
Because of a hospital's error, Jennifer Spiegel became an involuntary wet nurse to another woman's newborn son. Now she is suing the hospital for its malpractice in providing her with the wrong baby to breastfeed.Maternity ward staff at Evanston Hospital in a Chicago suburb quickly realized Spiegel's own baby was still in the nursery and took the baby she was inadvertently breastfeeding away from her...

Motorist Who Flipped off Cop Gets $50,000 From City

Posted on February 18, 2010
The citation of a motorist for displaying his middle finger to a police officer -? what a judge described as a ?somewhat innocuous? gesture -- turned out to be quite expensive for the City of Pittsburgh as it agreed to pay $50,000 to the bird-flipper...

Disabled Gamer's Access Suit Doesn't Play With Court

Posted on February 15, 2010
A Los Angeles judge has refused to apply disability law to the virtual gaming world, dismissing the case of a vision-impaired gamer who claimed Sony Corp. illegally denied him full access to its products.Andrew Stern does not have a claim against Sony under the Americans With Disabilities Act because he failed to allege the required ?nexus? between its online role-playing games and ?an actual physical place,? U...

Jury Says Birth of Down Syndrome Child Not Wrongful

Posted on February 13, 2010
A Virginia woman lost a ?wrongful birth? lawsuit after a judge denied her request to exclude testimony that she would have aborted her pregnancy if her doctor had told her the child would be born with Down Syndrome.A ?triple screen? blood test that screens for genetic disorders in fetuses showed Andrea Wilkie had a one-in-37 chance of delivering a Down Syndrome child...

"Girls Gone Wild" Plaintiff Admits Making Porn Films

Posted on February 11, 2010
With trial only weeks away in a lawsuit accusing "Girls Gone Wild" mogul Joe Francis of sexually exploiting minors, the plaintiff with perhaps the strongest claim has admitted she appeared in two pornographic films despite her previous denials. Joe Francis What impact the admission of the plaintiff known only as ?Plaintiff B? may have on the trial is as yet unclear...

Crack-Dealing Suit Against Mistress Goes up in Smoke

Posted on February 06, 2010
The ex-lover of a Northern California man did not injure his wife by providing him with crack cocaine during their two-year affair, a jury has ruled in a case of sex, drugs and a law that makes drug dealers liable for the injuries they cause.The defense verdict means the wife of Marc Siciliano, 53, of San Rafael will not recover any damages under California's Drug Dealer Liability Act (DDLA)...

Tenant's Gripe Tweet Too Vague to be Libel, Judge Says

Posted on January 30, 2010
A Chicago judge has dismissed the first libel case involving a single Twitter posting, finding that an apartment renter's gripe about her landlord was too vague and imprecise to be construed as defamatory.Horizon Realty Group, which manages 15 buildings in Chicago, filed the libel suit in July after Amanda Bonnen wrote in a Twitter post, ?Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it's okay...

Copperfield Wants U.S. to Keep Evidence From Accuser

Posted on January 26, 2010
Magician David Copperfield has some sharp words for federal prosecutors who have refused to acknowledge that they dropped a sexual assault investigation against him because of the accuser's lack of credibility.A Washington state woman has alleged Copperfield raped her in 2007 while she was a guest on his private island in the Bahamas...

Bingo for "Bruno!" Baron Cohen KO's Verbal Spat Case

Posted on January 21, 2010
A California judge has dismissed a verbal assault case against comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, finding that a woman initiated a confrontation with him during the filming of a scene for the movie ?Bruno? and ?not vice versa.?The scene featured Cohen, in the guise of the film's flamboyantly gay title character, discussing his love life while calling a bingo game that Richelle Olson, the executive director of Desert Valley Charities, ran for the elderly in Palmdale, a desert community near Los Angeles...

"No Sex Involved" in Orgy Viewing Case, Hotel Insists

Posted on January 18, 2010
A former manager at the Hilton Minneapolis who claimed she walked in on an orgy at a company sales conference has ?sensationalized? what was only ?some questionable behavior,? the hotel's owner says in arguing that her sexual harassment case should not go to trial...

"Knockoff's" Lawyer Makes North Face Butt of Humor

Posted on January 15, 2010
Legal prose can often do with some spicing up. But the attorney for the 19-year-old creator of a ?parody? outdoor clothing line may have gone too far in denying allegations that The South Butt violates the trademark rights of The North Face brand...

Sony Launches Defense to Gamer's Equal Access Suit

Posted on January 11, 2010
Just as Barnes & Noble is not required to stock a Braille version of every book it sells, video game manufacturers should not have to adapt their products for the disabled, Sony Corp. says in response to a lawsuit filed by a vision-impaired gamer...

Mom Says Store's Snake Infected Toddler With Bug

Posted on January 09, 2010
An Illinois law that requires pet shops to notify customers of safe reptile-handling practices may not apply to the case of a 2-year-old boy who allegedly contracted salmonella after petting a snake at a reptile store and zoo.The mother of Trevor Wirtz filed a lawsuit that alleges Serpent Safari of Gurnee, Ill...

Germ-Free Wafer Dispensers Spark Unholy Legal War

Posted on January 05, 2010
"Purity" host dispenser "Communalabra" host dispenser Proving that nothing is too sacred for a lawsuit, a Minnesota supplier of ?churchware? products has sued a former executive for trying to sell a knockoff of its proprietary system for the germ-free dispensing of communion wafers...

Open Court Ruling Could Force Palin Into Custody Deal

Posted on January 02, 2010
An Alaska judge's decision allowing public access to proceedings in a custody battle over Sarah Palin's grandson could encourage her to make a deal with the child's father rather than risk an ?onslaught? by ?scandal-hungry tabloids.? Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston Palin's personal attorney, who is not a family law specialist, is representing her daughter Bristol in a petition for custody of one-year-old Tripp Johnston...

Iowa Court Affirms $1.5M Verdict in STD Infection Case

Posted on December 31, 2009
The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld a $1.5 million jury award against a dentist for infecting a woman with a sexually transmitted disease, finding that he caused harm to her ?most intimate and private interests? with his ?reckless? behavior.The verdict was one of the largest in a case of negligent infliction of an STD and included $800,000 in punitive damages...

Man Wants Ex-Wife's Breast Implants Declared "Assets"

Posted on December 27, 2009
Justices of the North Dakota Supreme Court appear to see family law going down a slippery slope if they accept a man's novel theory that his former wife's breast implants should be counted against her in their divorce.Courts may consider anything classified as a ?marital asset? in dividing property between a divorcing couple...

Yahoo! Fails Again to Stop Lawsuit Over Nude Photos

Posted on December 23, 2009
An Oregon judge has refused to dismiss an unprecedented breach-of-contract lawsuit, finding that a woman can sue Yahoo! for breaking a promise to remove nude photos of her from its website.U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken's decision is the latest milestone in a four-year-old case which she had previously dismissed in November 2005...

Guest Sues Vegas Hotel for Failing to Warn of Blackout

Posted on December 18, 2009
In a Rube Goldberg-esque lawsuit, a man who uses an electric breathing device to sleep alleges that the failure of a Las Vegas hotel to warn him of a planned power outage ultimately caused him to trip and fall in his room, injuring his hand.A hotel operator owes guests a duty only to keep the premises in a reasonably safe condition for use and premises liability cases against hotels involving power outages are few and far between...

Colorado Judge Fumes Over Ban on Theatrical Smoking

Posted on December 16, 2009
Anne Archer as Mrs. Robinson in production of "The Graduate" A first-of-its-kind Colorado Supreme Court decision upholding the state's ban on theatrical smoking has inspired a dramatic dissent from a justice who disputed that a fake or prop cigarette is an adequate substitute for real smoking...

Chuck Yeager Keeps Flying With Publicity Rights Suit

Posted on December 13, 2009
Famed test pilot Charles ?Chuck? Yeager has won another undeserved victory in his publicity rights lawsuit against AT&T as a California judge ruled, in effect, that his breaking of the sound barrier is a protectible intellectual property asset.U...

Fish Family's Feud Was on Slain LA Lawyer's Docket

Posted on December 10, 2009
Jeffrey Tidus Prominent Los Angeles attorney Jeffrey A. Tidus, who was shot dead this week outside his home, had recently devoted much of his practice to a family feud over a business that claims to be Southern California's largest seafood distributor...

Stripper's DUI Case Survives Club's Latest Attack

Posted on December 08, 2009
An Alabama judge today refused for a second time to dismiss a former stripper's unusual negligence lawsuit, ruling that a strip club may be liable for allowing her to drive home from work ?in a highly intoxicated state.?The decision paves the way for a trial next month in Patsy Hamaker's case over the injuries she sustained when she wrecked her car after working at The Furnace club in Birmingham, Ala...

Expert: "Ambush" Interview Caused Woman's Suicide

Posted on December 07, 2009
Melinda Duckett A Harvard University psychiatrist has concluded that a woman who killed herself after talk-show host Nancy Grace interviewed her about the disappearance of her two-year-old son was a victim of "ambush" journalism.?Melinda Duckett's experience with Nancy Grace and her associates at CNN ...

Foot-Nibbling Fish Spawn Salon Owner's Rights Suit

Posted on December 02, 2009
A first-of-its-kind civil rights lawsuit pits the public health concerns of Arizona regulators against the ?economic liberty? of a nail salon owner who wants to provide her customers with the latest fad in foot care -? fish pedicures.Cindy Vong, owner of LaVie Nails & Spa in Gilbert, Ariz...

Interracial Couple's Case Tests Judicial Immunity

Posted on October 25, 2009
An interracial couple suing a Louisiana justice of the peace for refusing to officiate at their wedding may be able to pierce the judicial immunity shield by showing that performing weddings is not part of his judicial duties. Keith Bardwell The bizarre, Jim Crow-esque behavior of Justice Keith Bardwell of Tangipahoa Parish has given him international notoriety...

NY Post's Report of Sex Fantasy Found Not Libelous

Posted on July 09, 2009
"Ava" Cordero A statement reporting that someone had a sexual fantasy is distinguishable from one reporting that the person acted on the fantasy, a New York appeals court has ruled in dismissing a transgender person's $100 million libel lawsuit against the New York Post...

Dixie Chick Makes Surprise Admission to Libel Plaintiff

Posted on July 06, 2009
Dixie Chicks member Natalie Maines has made a surprising admission that may weaken her defense against a libel lawsuit -? she never read the 200-page court document which she cited in implicating a man in a triple-murder case. Natalie Maines Terry Hobbs of Memphis sued Maines in November, alleging she libeled him in an open letter posted on the Dixie Chicks' website which ?taken as a whole, accused Plaintiff of committing the murder[s]? of three 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Ark...

Drug Found in Jacko's Home Cited in Malpractice Suits

Posted on July 05, 2009
At least four medical malpractice lawsuits have been filed in recent years alleging that hospital patients died from overdoses of Diprivan ?- the powerful sedative found in Michael Jackson's home after his death.One patient, Chester Forrester, allegedly went into ?respiratory and/or cardiac arrest? only four minutes after a physician at a Norfolk, Va...

This Time, Tony La Russa Settles With Twitter for Real

Posted on July 03, 2009
St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has officially dismissed his lawsuit over a fake profile on Twitter as part of a settlement in which the social media website did not have to pay him anything.A settlement of the case -? the first to be filed by a celebrity against Twitter ?- was first reported in early June, with La Russa saying Twitter had agreed to pay his legal fees and make a donation to his Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF)...

Man Burned at Burning Man Assumed Risk of Injury

Posted on July 01, 2009
Get too close to the Burning Man fire and you assume the ?obvious and inherent? risk of being burned, a California appeals court has ruled in dismissing a personal injury lawsuit against the operators of the iconic countercultural arts festival.The burning of a 60-foot wooden sculpture in the figure of a man is the centerpiece of the Burning Man festival in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada...

Lawyer's "Prove Me Wrong" Offer No Joke to Student

Posted on June 27, 2009
J. Cheney Mason A Texas law student may have taken a $1 million ?prove me wrong? challenge seriously, but the criminal defense lawyer who made the challenge on a TV news show appears to have done so with enough tongue in cheek to avoid liability for not paying up...

N.Y. Jury Chills Civil Rights in Strip Search Case

Posted on June 25, 2009
A jury has reached a chilling decision in the civil rights case of a Southampton, N.Y., woman, clearing four police officers in the exclusive resort community of liability for performing a strip search on her after a minor marijuana bust.As a misdemeanor arrestee, Stacey Hartline had a Fourth Amendment right to be protected from a strip search unless police had an ?individualized reasonable suspicion? that she was hiding illegal drugs on her person...

Bride's Wedding Fiasco Suit Really Takes the Cake

Posted on June 18, 2009
Sandra Newsom's wedding disaster lawsuit may -? literally ?- take the cake. The New York woman has sued a cruise ship operator for ruining her wedding reception by serving a coconut-containing cake to which she had an allergic reaction.The complaint against Carnival Cruise Lines, which was filed in Miami, does not allege the catering staff of the Carnival Freedom knew Newsom was ?severely allergic? to coconut before she had her on-board wedding reception on Feb...

Woody Allen Got $5M After Judge Shredded Defense

Posted on June 16, 2009
A week before American Apparel agreed to pay Woody Allen $5 million for misappropriating his image, a judge had shredded the clothing company's First Amendment defense based on its CEO's ?mental processes,? On Point has learned.The settlement of Allen's publicity rights suit was announced May 18 as the case was about to go to trial...

"Religulous" Rev Sued for $600,000 "Scheme of Lies"

Posted on June 12, 2009
Rev. Jeremiah Cummings Two former followers of Florida preacher Jeremiah Cummings may have dealt his defamation lawsuit against the makers of the documentary ?Religulous? a fatal blow by alleging he conned them out of $600,000 through a ?well-designed scheme of deception and lies...

ON POINT NEWS STORY OF THE DAY BANNER

Posted on January 15, 2009

ON POINT GRAPHICS BANNER

Posted on January 09, 2009

On Point Graphics

Posted on January 09, 2009
Victoria's Secret appears to have developed a double-D sized products liability problem. With the addition of a case filed March 6 in Louisiana, at least 11 women have sued the company over the past 15 months over injuries that allegedly resulted from defectively manufactured undergarments (see link below)...

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