Sued-if-you-do, sued-if-you-don’t files: “‘I think companies are concerned that if they take action against the employee, the employee may bring a claim. And if they don’t take action, others who are injured may bring a claim,’ said employment attorney Jonathan Segal of Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen in Philadelphia. Segal noted that companies are increasingly dealing with employees who miss work because of criminal offenses like drunk driving or assault charges.” (Tresa Baldas, “When Employees Face Criminal Charges, Employers Face a Dilemma”, National Law Journal, Jul. 20).
Posts Tagged ‘Philadelphia’
Ted Frank vs. Peter Nordberg on med-mal
Over at Point of Law, there’s a new Featured Discussion on medical malpractice: our own Ted Frank expands on his theory that it might be a good idea for doctors to benefit from something akin to the “business judgment rule”, by which courts refrain from second-guessing many decisions of corporate directors and officers in shareholder litigation. Ably representing the opposite point of view is Peter Nordberg, whose Daubert on the Web and Blog 702 cover scientific evidence issues in the courts with unrivaled depth.
“…And there’s a thousand more in this state that do it”
One crooked Pennsylvania lawyer disbarred and, by his own account at least, 1,000 more to go:
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered the disbarment of a Philadelphia attorney who served time in prison after pleading guilty to charges he defrauded a slew of insurers on behalf of personal injury plaintiffs who in reality had not needed medical attention.
During a disciplinary hearing Michael Radbill suggested that the practice of representing clients who are “not really injured” is endemic across the state, according to the report from the Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Board.
He also indicated that over the course of a 30-year career, 80 percent of his practice had been centered on the representation of uninjured personal injury clients. …
The federal investigation also produced evidence that Radbill had employed people to recruit personal injury clients, help stage slip-and-falls for his clients and oversee his clients’ treatment by medical providers willing to falsify records and insurance claims, according to the report….
According to the report, Radbill said at a disciplinary hearing that “I got into personal injury cases and … when I was a young lawyer, [people told me], ‘You’re going to get accident cases of people that aren’t really hurt, you say they’re hurt and you send them to the doctor.’
“That’s not right, OK?” Radbill continued, according to the report. “And I did it for 30 years and there’s a thousand more here in this state that do it, and I told [the investigators] that, and they said, ‘Yeah, but you got caught,’ [for] which I served my time, I didn’t make excuses, so that’s true.”
(Asher Hawkins, “Representation of Uninjured Clients Brings Disbarment for Pa. Lawyer”, The Legal Intelligencer, Jun. 23).
“New Year’s Eve party from Hell”
On TuckerMax.com, anonymous participants used harsh language in deriding a holiday party thrown by a Philadelphia-based publicity firm. Its operator sued for defamation, and U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell ruled that under federal law a blogger cannot be held legally liable as the “publisher” of anonymous comments. And no, this does not mean that participants in our comments section should from now on assume that anything goes. (Shannon P. Duffy, “Judge: Bloggers Entitled to Immunity Under Communications Act”, Legal Intelligencer, Jun. 2).
English-only cheesesteak ordering? Tell it to the judge
“An English-only ordering policy at one of Philadelphia’s most famous cheesesteak joints has prompted a city agency to pursue a discrimination complaint. The city’s Commission on Human Relations plans to file the complaint Monday, alleging the policy at Geno’s Steaks discourages customers of certain backgrounds from eating there, said Rachel Lawton, acting executive director.” Owner Joseph Vento, who posted the now-famous signs telling customers, “This is America: When Ordering ‘Please Speak English'”, says “he has no plans to budge. ‘I would say they would have to handcuff me and take me out because I’m not taking it down.'” (Patrick Walters, “City agency: Cheesesteak shop’s English-only policy discriminates”, AP/PennLive, Jun. 12; BizzyBlog; Bainbridge, Jun. 10). P.S. At XRLQ, commenter “Doc Rampage” writes, “If this suit goes forward, I’m going to sue Starbucks for making me say ‘Venti’ instead of ‘large.'” Update Feb. 18, 2007: city commission finds probable cause for discrimination complaint.
Student’s death a mystery; family to sue college
The death in March of John Fiocco, Jr., at the College of New Jersey remains shrouded in mystery. He was last seen drunk in a dormitory at 3 a.m.; a month later his remains were found in a landfill among trash brought from dumpsters at the college. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, police “have said they do not know whether alcohol played a role in Fiocco’s death, or whether there was foul play.” Nonetheless, Fiocco’s family, represented by attorney Glenn A. Zeitz of Haddonfield, N.J., is planning to sue the college for more than $5 million, arguing that it should have hired more security, done more to enforce underage drinking laws, and kept students away from the trash system. (Jan Hefler, “Family to sue college over son’s death”, Jun. 6).
“Eastern Law Firms Roll the Dice on Indian Law”
Tribal land claims are getting to be big business (see Jan. 12, etc.), and prominent law firms including Philadelphia’s Cozen O’Connor and Roseland, N.J.’s Lowenstein Sandler are among those lining up to assist Indian tribes (and their wealthy non-Indian backers) in filing lawsuits against hapless landowners as leverage for casino schemes. And here’s a choice quote from Robert Odawi Porter, director of the Syracuse University Center for Indigenous Law, Governance and Citizenship:
In cases where land-claim suits are funded by outsiders, the tribe is usually a passive participant in the litigation, says Porter. Such arrangements are permitted under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, which gives states authority to negotiate revenue-sharing agreements with tribal casinos.
“Everything is dictated by the developer — I call it the ‘sit back and take a check approach,'” Porter says.
(Charles Toutant, New Jersey Law Journal/Law.com, Mar. 20).
Also, updates: in late 2004 a federal court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss the Delaware Indians’ claim to land in the Allentown, Pa. area (Northampton County) including Binney & Smith’s Crayola factory (PDF, at Indianz.com)(see Feb. 9, 2004). And, alas, none other than the Bush Justice Department has weighed in with a petition for certiorari urging the Supreme Court to overturn a Second Circuit panel’s landmark ruling (see Jul. 29, 2005) which threw out the Cayugas’ lawsuit as not pressed in a timely enough way, a ruling which (if it stands) would cast doubt on the validity of of most of the new wave of Indian land litigation.
Borgata Babes Say Goodbye
Renee Gaud and Trisha Hart were hired as “Borgata Babes” by the Atlantic City casino of that name, made to sign an agreement requiring them to maintain hourglass figures and weight proportionate to their height, and were outfitted in “cleavage-baring bustiers, high heels and tight-fitting bolero-style jackets”. Then they discovered that managers were serious about the weight requirement and kept “emphasizing looks over job performance”. What could be more shocking or unexpected? So of course they’re suing (John Curran, “Waitresses sue casino over weight policy, allege discrimination”, AP/Newsday, Jan. 31; Dan Gross, “Ex-servers sue Borgata”, Philadelphia Daily News, Jan. 31).
Phila. judge: no right to anonymous online disparagement
Watch what you say about lawyers (and everyone else), cont’d: a “Philadelphia judge has ruled that a valid defamation claim trumps any right to speak anonymously on the Internet….Common Pleas Judge Albert W. Sheppard Jr. ordered the operator of two now-defunct Web sites to turn over the identities of the anonymous authors of comments on the sites that allegedly defamed a Philadelphia law firm….In the suit, the Klehr Harrison firm complains that its reputation was severely disparaged by comments on the two sites that falsely accused its lawyers of being ‘thieves,’ committing ‘fraud’ and ‘lying’ to a judge.” Although courts in some other states have protected anonymous online commenters from demands that their identity be disclosed, Sheppard said Pennsylvania law was not obliged to follow that path. (Shannon P. Duffy, “Law Firm’s Defamation Claim Found to Trump Critics’ Internet Anonymity”, The Legal Intelligencer, Jan. 23). For more on the legal hazards of criticizing Pennsylvania lawyers and judges, see Nov. 30, 2003, Mar. 16, 2004, and Oct. 24-25, 2001.
Comments are open (be very careful, please).
Rear Window
An amorous pair of University of Pennsylvania students coupled publicly in front of (and against) a dorm window facing another high-rise dorm; several students with views took photographs, and photographs, as even blurry photographs with three-pixel-long depictions of naughty parts of indeterminate gender do, got passed around by e-mail and ended up on various websites. The University Office of Student Conduct has since charged one of the photographers with sexual harassment, which would go on his permanent record. The next question is what the university will do to the Daily Pennsylvanian, which publishes one of the photos in its article. (Jason Schwartz, “Racy photo lands student in trouble”, Nov. 30 (via Fark); Regina Medina, “Sex-act pix shake Penn”, Philadelphia Daily News, Dec. 1 (via Throwing Things)) .
Update: A commenter informs us that AP reports that Penn has dropped the charges.
Second Update: Dropping charges doesn’t end matters, of course.
[Attorney] Jordan Koko issued a statement on [the photographed student’s] behalf.
“My client is emotionally shattered from this extremely disturbing ordeal. The intense focus on this matter into my client’s identity and image has imposed exceptional emotional and psychological harm,” the statement read.
Koko added that his client’s privacy was invaded in violation of state law and her constitutional rights. He said she “will pursue all her legal options.”
Constitutional rights? Someone is unclear on the concept. (Jason Schwartz, “Photographer escapes charges”, Daily Pennsylvanian, Dec. 2). The FIRE blog is similarly unimpressed with Koko’s reasoning.