N.F.L. Agrees to Settle Concussion Suit for $765 Million - NYTimes.com

Minimal value settlement by the NFL and plaintiffs.  Which is not to say it is unfair.  The problems of fault, proof of causation, and the underlying legal theory of liability all presented formidable obstacles for plaintiffs.  The definition of the class and the extent of its remedies and preclusive effect will be worth further study as thegame itslef operates under increasingly close and critical scrutiny. - GWC
N.F.L. Agrees to Settle Concussion Suit for $765 Million - NYTimes.com:by Ken Belson
 "The N.F.L. agreed to pay $765 million to settle a lawsuit brought by more than 4,000 retirees with advanced dementia and other problems as well as the families of players who have died from what they claimed were the long-terms effects of head trauma."

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J&J's DePuy Unit Considers Record-Setting Hip Settlement

J&J's DePuy Unit Considers Record-Setting Hip Settlement: "In March, Johnson & Johnson lost its first DePuy Articular Surface Replacement (ASR) trial to the tune of $8.3 million. Not surprisingly, the device manufacturer continued to deny liability for defective ASR hip implants following the verdict and announced plans to appeal. But now the company is rumored to be contemplating a potentially record-breaking settlement of pending hip implant cases.

According to Bloomberg, sources familiar with the DePuy litigation say that the company is considering a $3 billion global settlement. The rumored settlement would resolve up to 11,500 U.S. lawsuits, involving the controversial ASR hip replacement"

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Concussion Case Nears Key Phase for N.F.L. - NYTimes.com

Concussion Case Nears Key Phase for N.F.L. - NYTimes.com: by Ken Belson

"Before the N.F.L. regular season begins next Thursday, the league will get a clearer picture of what may be its biggest worry: the lawsuit brought by more than 4,500 retired players alleging that the N.F.L. intentionally misled them about the dangers of head injuries.

The N.F.L. has denied accusations that it deliberately misled players about head injuries, saying that it relied on the best science available at the time to create policies on concussions. The N.F.L. has also argued that any disputes should be governed not by the courts but by the collective bargaining agreements signed by the league and its players union.

If the judge lets any of the claims proceed, the plaintiffs still must prove that their medical problems were at least partly the result of head hits sustained in the N.F.L. That is a high hurdle given that almost all of them played football at the youth, high school and college levels, where they could have also sustained concussions.

The players involved in the suit vary widely in age and professional experience. Some played on practice squads and never participated in a game. Many were linemen, linebackers or running backs; others were punters or kickers."


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OTHERWISE: Merrill Lynch in Big Payout for Bias Case - NYTimes.com

OTHERWISE: Merrill Lynch in Big Payout for Bias Case - NYTimes.com: "Merrill Lynch, one of the biggest brokerage firms on Wall Street, has agreed to pay $160 million to settle a racial bias lawsuit that wound through the federal courts for eight years, including two appeals to the United States Supreme Court."



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BP Misconduct Claims on Payments Unfounded, Official Says

BP Misconduct Claims on Payments Unfounded, Official Says:

BP Plc’s allegations of misconduct in the program set up to pay claims in the settlement over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill are unfounded, the administrator of the program said.Patrick Juneau, the administrator, Monday asked U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who is overseeing the litigation connected to the spill, to reject the company’s bid to temporarily halt payments.BP “has failed to submit evidence that would even arguably justify the granting of such an overbroad request,” Juneau’s lawyers said in a filing in federal court in New Orleans. BP’s “global aspersions” on the claims office’s “internal controls and fraud detection systems and processes are uninformed and baseless,” they said.Barbier last month rejected the company’s request to stop the payments while Louis Freeh, former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, probes allegations of misconduct in the claims program.BP renewed the request Aug. 5, citing “new evidence of more widespread and potentially systemic improprieties” in the claims program. BP said this evidence was uncovered through a fraud hotline the company set up.

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Internal Probe: No Fraud at BP Claims Center in AL - ABC News

Internal Probe: No Fraud at BP Claims Center in AL - ABC News:

The head of security for the administrator of BP's multibillion-dollar settlement with Gulf Coast residents and businesses says an internal probe of alleged misconduct by an employee of a Mobile, Ala., claims center hasn't turned up any evidence of fraud.BP said it received a tip in July that someone who worked at the Mobile office helped people submit fraudulent claims in exchange for some of the settlement money.But David Welker, a former FBI supervisor who now works for court-supervised claims administrator Patrick Juneau, said in a letter dated Aug. 22 that his investigation found no evidence of fraud in any of the claims handled by the employee.BP cited the employee's alleged misconduct in its Aug. 5 request for a federal judge to temporarily suspend all settlement payments. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier rejected a similar request by BP in July, but he hasn't ruled yet on the company's renewed bid to suspend payments.In a court filing Sunday, two of the plaintiffs' attorneys who brokered the settlement with BP said the company hasn't presented any evidence that any claim was improperly calculated or paid."There is not even an argument, much less an evidentiary showing, to support the injunction of the entire Settlement Program," wrote the lawyers, Stephen Herman and James Roy.In his letter to a BP official, Welker said the Mobile employee accused of misconduct has helped 124 people. All of those claims were placed on hold.The employee's mother filed a claim, but she denied any wrongdoing and withdrew it, Welker said.

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Patton Boggs' New Jersey Chief Departs Amid Firm's Upheaval

Patton Boggs New Jersey managing partner has left the firm and joined the Princeton office of Morgan Lewis.  The D.C.-based firm's Jersey office has been reduced this year from 80 to 46 lawyers. - GWC
Patton Boggs' New Jersey Chief Departs Amid Firm's Upheaval: "What’s more, the firm is in the midst of an upheaval. It laid off 65 lawyers and staff in March, when managing partner Edward Newberry told The Wall Street Journal that 18 partners were notified their contracts would not be renewed unless their performance improved.

According to an Aug. 8 article in The Wall Street Journal, more than 20 partners defected during the summer.

The New Jersey office was hard-hit by the wrap-up of litigation over health problems suffered by workers responding to the World Trade Center terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to a source familiar with the firm. The litigation — a mainstay of the office, which represented New York City and some of its contractors — ended in 2011 with a $625 million settlement"

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Remembering a Legend: Ron Motley - Plaintiffs Lawyer

Ron Motley, right, with tobacco whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand

Ron Motley has died at 68.  An extravagant personality, married five times, owner of a 156 foot yacht, who tackled the most successful of tort-feasors - the tobacco companies and won, as the Times obit reports.  He was a leading member of a cohort of plaintiffs lawyers who vindicated the rights of workers who suffered asbestos related disease.  In the course of the effort they transformed the substantive law, as Anita Bernstein details in her article Asbestos Achievements.   The asbestos plaintiffs lawyers transformed the substantive law, making possible - via advances in legal doctrine and financial wherewithal - the later successful mass tort litigation against the pharmaceutical giants, such as Merck in the Vioxx litigation.  After the landmark 1974 opinion by (old) 5th Circuit Judge John Minor Wisdom in Borel v. Fibreboard plaintiffs' lawyers took the evidence amassed by Dr. Irving Selikoff and others, and determinedly confronted the difficult issues in asbestos cases: identification of the defendant suppliers, the problem of multiple suppliers, apportionment of liability, proving causation of disease, the impact of smoking,the problem of latency - delayed development of disease many years after inhalation when witnesses and records (if any) were unavailable.

As a People's Electric alum I was a minor member of that fraternity.  We were united by the spirit of doing justice to those who had been injured by the greed of industry.  The asbestos litigation was at bottom a workers rights movement.  For a handful of those lawyers of great force and  entrepreneurial skill and determination that led to wealth.  Motley was prominent among them, building a large practice from the suffering of South Carolina textile mill workers who were injured by the ubiquitous mineral used for fireproof curtains and insulation. - gwc

Remembering a Legend: Statement from Motley Rice Co-Founder Joe Rice | Motley Rice Law Firm: "Mt. Pleasant, SC – (Aug. 22, 2013) – It is with the deepest sadness and most profound grief that I share with you that Motley Rice LLC co-founder Ronald L. Motley, 68, passed away today, August 22, 2013.

Ron was a true giant of the legal profession. A trail blazer and innovator. A charismatic master of the courtroom. A tenacious interrogator. The greatest trial lawyer ever. All marked by unmatched courage in going after any wrongdoer, no matter how big and powerful, and by his bottomless well of compassion for those who had been wronged.

Ron and I were partners and close friends for 35 years as we worked together to fight for our clients and their causes to build Motley Rice into what it is today. Not only is this a personal loss to me, Ron’s family, my family and our firm but also for so many more for whom Ron also was a devoted friend, mentor, collaborator, legal adversary and fellow crusader for justice."

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N.F.L. Pressure Said to Lead ESPN to Quit Film Project - NYTimes.com

N.F.L. Pressure Said to Lead ESPN to Quit Film Project - NYTimes.com:
by James Andrew Miller

 "Pressure from the National Football League led to ESPN’s decision on Thursday to pull out of an investigative project with “Frontline” regarding head injuries in the N.F.L., according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation.
ESPN, which is owned by the Walt Disney Company, pays the N.F.L. more than $1 billion a year to broadcast “Monday Night Football,” a ratings juggernaut and cherished source of revenue for Disney."

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ESPN Quits Film Project on Concussions in N.F.L. - NYTimes.com

ESPN Quits Film Project on Concussions in N.F.L. - NYTimes.com:
by Richard Sandomir

"ESPN on Thursday ended its official association with “Frontline,” the public television public affairs series, on a two-part documentary about concussions in the N.F.L. that is scheduled to be televised in October. After 15 months on the venture, ESPN chose to strip its name, logo and credit from the films, “League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis.”...

ESPN belatedly focused on the fact that it did not have editorial control of what appeared on “Frontline” long into a collaboration that has already resulted in nine joint television and online reports that have appeared on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” program, on ESPN.com and on the “Frontline” Web site. Together they also created Concussion Watch, a database that tracks concussions and other head injuries in the N.F.L."

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