Litigation

Mississippi Supreme Court gets hellhole cleanup opportunity

By Ted Frank

At Legal Newsline, John O'Brien reports on two cases about to come before the Mississippi Supreme Court.

One involves the discipline of William Guy and Thomas Brock, two attorneys found by a federal jury to have defrauded Illinois Central Railroad in an asbestos case. (Earlier: March 2010, April 5, February 5.)

The other is a lead-paint case where all sorts of evidentiary and jury-selection shenanigans occurred: a (overly-coached?) witness insisted that he saw cans whose label said "lead paint"—which, if true, would rule out defendant Sherwin-Williams as liable, since it never had such labels. The plaintiff, who allegedly had paint chips in his mouth as a child, calculated his damages on the basis of an alleged need for a 24-hour-a-day "life coach" (though he was able to complete high school, compete in varsity athletics, and drives a car), resulting in a $7 million verdict from a Jefferson County jury that included several friends of the plaintiffs' family.

Full post as published by Point of Law on March 03, 2011 (boomark / email).