Khorrami Pollard & Abir Associate Robert Drexler was selected as one of the 2011 Southern California Super Lawyers in Class Action/Mass torts, by Super Lawyers Magazine. See page 71 of this months' edition. His profile is also available online here. Congratulations Bob!
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New articles on Product Liability, Fair Employement and Food & Drug Safety:
- Recall of "Toxic Waste" brand candy for being, well, Toxic ! article by Brandon Brouillette
- FDA Sets new limits of Acetaminophen in prescription drugs, article by Andrew Brown
- Employers Discriminate in New Ways and Against new Targets, article by Katie McSweeney
- Who Wouldn't Rather Sit than Stand? Employers should provide you with seating!
- Think Twice before sending E-mails from Work, article by Corina Valderrama
- Glaxo Smith Kline puts adise a few Billions to cover Avandia Litigation costs, article by Tommy Sands
Nursing home abuse is sadly on the rise. A recent case in Fair Oaks, CA adds to this tragedy. Sean Suh installed a “GrannyCam” beside his grandmother’s bed just after she had moved into Fair Oaks Residential Elderly Care. The sad twist in this case is as Sean Suh was looking for another nursing home for his/her? grandmother, she died at 73.
When a family places a family member in these types of homes, they expect the utmost care and diligence to be provided. The elderly are also subject to the same expectations. Most of the time, they are unable to take care of themselves and can no longer live on their own.
There were a variety of things that led to her death. In her autopsy it was revealed that there were potential levels of toxic narcotics, including a drug never prescribed by her physician. What is most shocking is what the “GrannyCam” revealed. It shows that a staff member moved the grandmother to her wheelchair, then “dumped” the chair while the grandmother was sitting in it, and all the while was continuously “shaking” the wheelchair. Sean Suh also reports that in a specific instance they found their grandmother crying, unattended, and upside down. Bruises and untreated infections are among other things said to have been discovered on other occasions.
Continue Reading...- J&J Sued over Secret Motrin Recall, article by Greg Cragg
- Depuy Hip Replacement Recall, article by Thomas Sands
- Cigarette Manufacturers to disclose Ingredients in New Products, article by Andrew Brown
- New York Tipping Laws are now Active, article by Greg Cragg
- Former "Career Colleges of America" Students Allege Fraudulent Practices, article by Brandon Brouillette
During an economic downturn, recent graduates tend to look at continuing their education through a graduate program of some sort in hopes of either making themselves more marketable or waiting out the economy. Recently, articles have swarmed the internet about the realistic pitfalls of choosing such an avenue. Law schools in particular have been graduating more soon-to-be lawyers than they had in the past with an 11% increase in the past decade. Forty-three thousand J.D.’s were handed out in 2009, new law schools keep opening their doors, yet legal jobs keep diminishing at high rates.
Putting the ABA’s consideration of dropping the LSAT requirement into this context makes it all that more alarming. Although many argue that standardized tests are not a good indicator of what will make a successful lawyer, at the moment, it is one of the only indicators we have of what will make a good law student. The LSAT is not perfect but it may help weed out those willing to put in the effort of studying for the exam and applying to law school from those that are just looking for something else to do. Dropping this barrier at a time when the legal profession is overrun with applicants and lacking jobs is an irresponsible decision by the ABA.
As mentioned by Above the Law, respectable institutions will most likely keep the LSAT requirement. The fear is that the ones that will drop the requirement will lack the incentive to attract the most eligible students; instead accepting those that can afford the tuition. If the ABA regulated which schools were allowed to become law schools, dropping the LSAT requirement would not be so bad. But, as of now, it does not. As a result, the ones that will be taken for a ride will be 1Ls who pay a year’s tuition to realize that maybe law school wasn’t for them and newly minted lawyers who will be competing in an already saturated market. Even though these two problems already exist at some level, dropping the LSAT requirement will create a ripple effect that will exacerbate these issues.
On Tuesday, a D.C. federal judge preliminarily approved a $12 million settlement against National City Bank. Back in February, a class action suit was filed against National City Bank alleging that the bank engaged in unlawful and deceptive practices by improperly charging customers overdraft fees on debit card transactions. The plaintiffs claimed that the bank reordered electronic debit transactions from highest to lowest in order to deplete the account funds quickly while still maximizing the number of overdraft fees collected.
The $12 million settlement allegedly represents 17% to 24% of what the plaintiffs would expect to get at trial. Settlement class members would receive $36 for each eligible overdraft fee incurred during a two month period. One objector complained that limiting the recovery period to two months would insufficiently compensate class members who released their claims for overdraft fees over a six-year period. Judge John Bates said that restricting the recovery to two months prevents “chronic overdrafters … from being unjustly rewarded for their behavior” and added that the two months need not be consecutive.
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Our Associate Attorney Maryam Danishwar is published in the January issue of the Advocate Magazine.
Her article, "Mass Torts: Solving the Derivative-Claimant Dilemma in Personal-Injury Litigation", covers how, by taking their lead from the Vioxx cases, attorneys can cut through the paperwork that slows down the system when there are claimants in wrongful death or survival actions.
Her article can be found on page 62 of the Advocate.
In today's Wall Street Journal article, Google Inc. has won a key ruling in its lawsuit against the U.S. Interior Department, two months after the Web giant accused the agency of improperly favoring rival Microsoft Corp. in a contract bid to provide a new email system.
Susan Braden, a federal judge in Washington, on Monday issued a preliminary injunction that prevents the Interior Department from deciding to use Microsoft's email and collaboration tools for its 88,000 employees as part of the federal government's move to Web-based software, sometimes known as cloud computing.
In an order unsealed late Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Judge Braden wrote that Google had made a preliminary showing that the agency "violated the Competition in Contracting Act," which was passed in 1984 to promote "full and open competitive procedures" for federal contract bids.
A spokesman for Google, which filed the suit in October of last year, said in a statement: "As a proponent of open competition on the Internet and in the technology sector in general, we're please with the court's decision."
For this upcoming year, Khorrami Pollard & Abir is still active and involved. Among others, you will be able to find us at the following events and conferences:
- AAJ Winter Convention in Miami, February
- WILG Seminar in Cleveland, March
- CAOC Tahoe Ski Seminar in Tahoe, March
- AAJ Annual Convention in New York, July
- CAALA Annual Las Vegas Convention in September
- CAOC Annual Convention in San Francisco, November
From everyone here at Khorrami Pollard & Abir, Thanks to all our readers and Happy New Year.
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