Monthly Archives: December 2018

The parents and estate of Otto Warmbier won a $501 million judgment against the North Korea government for wrongful death. Though questions remain about the legitimacy and collectability of this judgment, one thing is certain: no amount of money can undo Otto’s fate and ultimate death. American Arrested for Taking Political Propaganda Poster Otto Warmbier [...]

The City and County of San Francisco has joined the host of other cities around the country suing big pharma for the opioid epidemic in federal court. Years ago, opioids would only be prescribed for severe post-surgery or end-of-life pain relief. But a major change in medical education by opioid manufacturers lowered that bar considerably a [...]

Travelers in recent years have learned, perhaps the hard way, that Customers and Border Patrol (CBP) agents can detain you at the airport for refusing to allow them to search your cell phone. Under the Border Doctrine, a search warrant generally required under the Fourth Amendment is not necessary to conduct a reasonable search at the [...]

Accidents happen. But some accidents can be avoided, and if someone doesn’t take the right steps to avoid an accident, they can be liable for the injuries that occur. Those injuries can be serious or widespread, and if it’s a large company or corporation that failed to protect customers or the general public, the lawsuits [...]

A federal judge decided that the school district and sheriff’s office had no legal duty to protect the students as they were fired upon by Nikolas Cruz in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018. Fifteen students filed two suits, one in federal court and in one state, [...]

What is the likely 2019 agenda at the California Division of Workers’ Compensation? We now have some clues, courtesy of a recent presentation by current DWC Administrative Director George Parisotto, who spoke at the December 2018 CHSWC meeting  in Oakland. Following the meeting I asked Parisotto if he would be willing to share the list [...]

Reuters released a report that proclaims Johnson & Johnson (J&J) knew their talc products contained asbestos, but hid that information from regulators and the general public. Asbestos has been linked to mesothelioma and ovarian cancer, and now it seems J&J talc is linked to those as well. Confidential Internal Memos Prove J&J Knew of Asbestos in Talc [...]

The city of Berkeley, its police chief, and several of its police officers, will be required to face a class action lawsuit brought by protesters that were injured at a recent city council meeting. Though some of the charges brought were dropped, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White kept alive claims that the Berkeley police chief failed [...]

Sometimes we need to change doctors. Sometimes a medical condition needs to go to an expert. And sometimes, a medical emergency prevents us from giving our complete medical history to the doctors and nurses treating us. In any case, the quality of health care that we receive is only as good as the accuracy of [...]

Aisha Siddiqui won a jury verdict of $3 million in her personal injury lawsuit against a mall owner and escalator manufacturer after her right big toe was “crushed and shredded” during a Christmas shopping trip in Arkansas last year. Siddiqui was riding down an escalator at the Park Plaza mall, when her boot got caught and pulled [...]