Judge Awards Ohio Employers $860M for Workers’ Comp Overcharges

March 22, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Ohio employers are collectively owed $860 million after being overcharged for nearly a decade by the state insurance fund for injured workers, a Cleveland judge has ruled.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Richard McMonagle’s decision involving the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation affects about 270,000 mostly small-business owners, many unaware they are covered by the class action. His order rejected the state’s arguments for paying a smaller amount.

The lawsuit, which began in 2007, said the bureau gave discounted premiums to companies that joined group insurance plans and charged companies not in the group plans excessive rates to pay for the discounts.

McMonagle ruled in December in favor of business owners who didn’t participate in the group rating program, agreeing they had been charged unfair premiums from July 2001 to June 2009.

Lawyers for the businesses argued companies paying group rates were not charged premiums that covered their losses, which forced the other companies to cover the difference. The bureau discounted its group plans as high as 90 percent.

A new fee structure took effect in July 2009, after McMonagle ordered the bureau to change its system for setting premiums for injury insurance. The maximum discount set by the bureau for group plans is 53 percent.

The amount employers are owed in overcharges has been a matter of dispute. Employers suing Ohio in 2007 originally asked for $1.3 billion, which included interest on the amount claimed, but McMonagle asked them to revise the figure downward after declining to award the interest.

During an evidentiary hearing last week, the state argued the employers did not suffer any harm that entitles them to restitution.

Spokeswoman Melissa Vince said the bureau spent $861 million more in claims costs and expenses for the affected companies during the disputed period than they paid in premiums – even as the fund’s net assets shrunk. For every dollar in premiums paid, affected businesses had $1.26 in claims costs, she said.

McMonagle ultimately rejected the bureau’s arguments.

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Judge Denies Wells Fargo Attempt to Block Financial Crisis Suit

February 13, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 CommentsA federal judge on Tuesday denied Wells Fargo’s attempt to beat back a financial-crisis lawsuit by arguing it conflicted with an earlier settlement.

District Judge Rosemary Collyer in Washington, who is supervising the 2012 multi-bank $25 billion mortgage misconduct settlement, said she did not agree with the bank’s assessment of that settlement.

But she declined to rule on the new Justice Department lawsuit, which is seeking damages and penalties for more than 10 years of alleged misconduct related to government-insured Federal Housing Administration loans, and left a federal court in New York to determine whether the two conflict.

The fourth-largest U.S. bank had asked Collyer in November to rule that the government violated the terms of the multi-bank deal in filing a new case.

Wells Fargo said the earlier consent judgment “wiped the slate clean” for the bank in terms of certain conduct related to its FHA portfolio.

But on Tuesday, Collyer said the language in the settlement “does not have the meaning ascribed to it by Wells Fargo,” and denied the bank’s request for an order enforcing the settlement.

A spokesman for Wells Fargo had no immediate comment. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, which brought the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment

 

Copyright 2013 Reuters. Click for restrictions.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: National NewsTopics: Wells Fargo financial crisis, Wells Fargo Justice Department, Wells Fargo mortgage lawsuitHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Illinois Judge Rejects Bid to Revive Cigarette Lawsuit

December 14, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

An Illinois judge has refused to reopen a class-action lawsuit that produced a $10.1 billion verdict against cigarette-maker Philip Morris, handing the plaintiffs their latest setback in legal action now more than a decade old.

It was not immediately clear whether Stephen Tillery, the St. Louis attorney who pursued the lawsuit involving so-called

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Judge Says Michigan Car Insurance Fund Records Are Public

January 4, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

An insurance fund that slaps a fee on every Michigan car to pay for catastrophic injuries suffered in accidents has been ordered to open its books and demonstrate how it sets the annual rate.

The decision by an Ingham County judge could shed more light on the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association, which was created by the Legislature to reimburse insurance companies for claims that exceed $500,000.

Michigan’s no-fault insurance law provides unlimited lifetime coverage for medical expenses tied to auto wrecks. Michigan drivers now pay $175 per car per year – a sum that’s up 67 percent since 2008 – on top of other charges by their insurer.

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Lawyer of the Day: Sorry Judge, But I’m Unavailable Due to the Mayan Apocalypse

Lawyer of the Day: Sorry Judge, But I’m Unavailable Due to the Mayan Apocalypse « Above the Law: A Legal Web Site – News, Commentary, and Opinions on Law Firms, Lawyers, Law School, Law Suits, Judges and Courts .wp-polls .pollbar

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Plaintiffs, BP Urge Judge to Approve $7.8 Billion Oil Spill Settlement

November 9, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsBP Plc and lawyers representing over 100,000 individuals and businesses claiming economic and medical damages from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill on Thursday urged a U.S. judge to approve a proposed $7.8 billion class-action settlement.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier initially approved the deal in May, but called the “fairness hearing” to weigh objections from about 13,000 claimants challenging the settlement to resolve some of BP’s liability for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

BP still faces civil and potential criminal liability charges brought by the U.S. government and U.S. states.

Barbier did not issue a final ruling at Thursday’s hearing in a New Orleans court, but he appears poised to grant final approval to the deal in the coming days, legal experts said.

“We shouldn’t lose sight of the forest for the trees,” Barbier said at the end of the hearing, saying that some objections “were not frankly made in good faith and bordered on being frivolous.”

London-based BP’s Macondo well spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over a period of 87 days. The torrent fouled shorelines from Texas to Alabama and eclipsed the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in severity.

Lawyers for some affected parties say they will “opt out” of the deal, reached in March between BP and lawyers representing plaintiffs ranging from restaurateurs, hoteliers, and oyster men who lost money from the spill to recovery workers and coastal residents claiming medical damages from the cleanup.

“The settlement zones are inherently unfair,” said Stuart Smith, a lawyer for Florida business owners, referring to boundaries set by the deal which are meant to compensate businesses and homeowners based on their proximity to the spill.

Barbier said he had no authority to tweak the deal as written, but merely to approve or reject it.

“It sounds to me that maybe your gripe is that you weren’t in the room and that you would have done things differently,” Barbier told one of the objectors’ lawyers. “I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect settlement.”

Jim Roy, a lead plaintiffs’ attorney, said the deal would resolve “well in excess of 100,000 claims.” BP in March estimated the deal’s cost at $7.8 billion, but damages are uncapped and could rise to far exceed that, Roy said.

“This is not a bunch of insurance adjustors trying to save money for BP,” Roy said of the deal, but rather “a way to quickly get a fair and objectively determined settlement and to avoid litigating for potentially 20 or more years such as what happened in the Exxon Valdez.”

Rick Godfrey, an attorney for BP, said the settlement should not be delayed by the “miniscule” number of objectors.

“BP has no intent of allowing justice to be delayed, much less denied, as a result of this tragic event,” he said.

Barbier is likely to approve the settlement in coming days, said Blaine LeCesne, a law professor at Loyola University, citing the judge’s initial approval of the deal as the strongest signal of its eventual fate.

“It’s inevitably going to leave some people unsatisfied,” LeCesne said. “But it casts a very wide net and includes a remarkably high number of potential claimants.”

BP has been locked in a year-long legal battle with the U.S. government and Gulf Coast states to settle billions of dollars in civil and potential criminal liability from the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig that killed 11 workers and caused the massive spill that soiled the shorelines of four Gulf Coast states.

Absent a far-reaching settlement, Barbier will preside over a sprawling three-part non-jury hearing to decide BP’s liability for the spill, now set to begin on Feb. 25, 2013.

 

 

Copyright 2012 Reuters. Click for restrictions.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: National NewsTopics: BP settlement, Gulf oil spill damages, Gulf oil spill plaintiffs, U.S. District Judge Carl BarbierHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Judge Asked to Order Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to Stop Misleading Voters About the Need for ID on Election Day

Share PrintEmailFacebookTwitterShareBookmark & ShareXGoogleDeliciousDiggRedditStumbleUponTechnoratiCurrentPermalink October 19, 2012

False and Misleading Information May Lead to Some Voters Staying Home

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media

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Judge Shuts Down Christian Health Ministry Medi-Share in Kentucky

October 4, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle4 Comments

A Christians-only health care ministry must cease operations in Kentucky unless it can get regulatory approval from the state Department of Insurance, a judge ruled this week.

The ruling by Franklin County Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate means Medi-Share, a Florida-based cost-sharing ministry, can no longer accept money or help pay medical bills for churchgoers in Kentucky.

Medi-Share closely resembles secular insurance, but only allows participation by people who pledge to live Christian lives that include no smoking, drinking, using drugs or engaging in sex outside of marriage.

The case put the Department of Insurance in the unenviable position of having to fight against a Christian cost-sharing ministry in a Bible-belt state. The agency took the case to court because of concerns that some Christians might mistakenly believe they’re paying into an insurance plan that guarantees coverage if they’re hospitalized. Medi-Share offers no such guarantee.

“As a state agency, we are charged with enforcing the law and protecting consumers,” said Department of Insurance spokeswoman Ronda Sloan. “This case has continued for 10 years but it always has been about those basic principles.”

Medi-Share had continued to operate in Kentucky a year after the state Supreme Court ruled that it is subject to the same regulations as secular health care plans. Medi-Share contends that its participants aren’t buying insurance, but are involved in a charitable endeavor to help cover medical bills of fellow Christians and potentially have their own expenses covered should the need arise.

Wingate ordered Medi-Share, which is operated by Christian Care Ministry of Melbourne, Fla., “to cease all operations in Kentucky unless and until it receives a certificate of authority or other applicable license from the Department of Insurance.”

“Until that time, Medi-Share’s website must clearly state that it does not operate in Kentucky,” Wingate said in the 14-page ruling. “If the commissioner of the Department of Insurance discovers proof that Medi-Share continues to operate, the commissioner is directed to move this court for an order requiring the secretary of state to place Christian Care Ministry in bad standing.”

The legal battle between Medi-Share and Kentucky revolves around how tightly the state can regulate the Christian health care ministry that serves nearly 40,000 people in 49 states, including 800 in Kentucky. Medi-Share President Tony Meggs testified in August that the group has helped arrange for Christians across the country to pay some $25 million in medical bills for Kentucky participants over the past 10 years.

Meggs said the ministry has revamped its plan in an effort to alleviate Kentucky’s regulatory concerns by no longer collecting contributions from participants into a central account. Instead, Meggs said, participants make contributions into their own accounts at American Christian Credit Union. When Christians need money to pay medical bills, he said, money is transferred directly between member accounts, bypassing a central fund pool that was in existence at the time of the Supreme Court ruling.

Wingate refused to hold Medi-Share in contempt of court for continuing to operate, saying he found no proof that the organization acted in willful disobedience by continuing to operate after the Supreme Court ruling.

Meggs said Tuesday no decision has been made on Medi-Share will do in response to Wingate’s ruling.

“We are currently reviewing whether we will ask for a rehearing before the court or whether we will appeal the denial of our request to have the actions of the Kentucky Department of Insurance reviewed by a neutral administrative hearing officer,” he said in a statement.

Tea party activist David Adams, who has filed complaints with the Department of Insurance about Medi-Share and similar ministries, lamented the judge’s ruling but said he understands it.

“This is exactly the wrong time to be limiting health coverage choices for Kentuckians, but the way the law is written Judge Wingate had no choice,” he said.

Adams is calling on lawmakers to pass legislation exempting organizations such as Medi-Share from state regulations governing secular insurance companies so that they can continue operating in Kentucky.

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Southeast NewsTopics: Christians-only health plan, Kentucky Medi-ShareHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Zach Scruggs Denied Appeal on Judge Bribery Conviction

October 5, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to hear an appeal from Zach Scruggs, who was implicated as having knowledge of a Mississippi judicial corruption scheme that toppled his father, plaintiffs’ lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs.

A three-judge panel of the court in New Orleans in August upheld Zach Scruggs conviction. He then asked the full court to hear the case. The full court refused in an Oct. 1 order.

The younger Scruggs, a law partner with his father, pleaded guilty to failing to report a conspiracy to improperly influence a Mississippi judge in a dispute with other lawyers over $26.5 million in legal fees.

He served a 14-month prison sentence and also lost his law license and paid a $250,000 fine.

Richard Scruggs and three others were convicted in the bribery scheme.

 

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Facebook IPO Lawsuits Likely to Be Heard by New York Judge

September 21, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleCommentsFacebook Inc. and most of its adversaries in a raft of lawsuits over its $16 billion initial public offering can agree on at least one thing: that the cases should be heard in a New York court.

At a hearing on Thursday, lawyers for both sides asked a judicial panel to pool together dozens of lawsuits against the social networking company in Manhattan federal court. The panel made no immediate ruling, but did not question the idea of grouping the cases in New York.

In at least 33 lawsuits seeking class-action status, Facebook investors have asked courts to hold the company and its underwriters responsible for causing them losses in the IPO in May. Investors say they lost money due to technical glitches on the Nasdaq stock market and accuse the company of selectively disclosing unflattering information about its business prospects to Wall Street analysts who then shared it with privileged investors.

Facebook’s IPO was one of the most hotly anticipated in recent memory, but the technical malfunctions embarrassed the company and the NASDAQ. The lawsuits, which seek unspecified damages, could cost Facebook millions of dollars to defend, as it strives to put the IPO problems behind it.

While lawsuits have been also been filed in California, Florida and Washington, D.C., most plaintiffs and the defendants say the cases should proceed in New York because witnesses, evidence relating to the IPO, and the underwriter banks are all in that city.

“We’re glad to be in New York and we’d like to stay here,” Andrew Clubok, a lawyer for Facebook, told the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation at the hearing in Manhattan federal court.

The only lawyer to speak against consolidation of the cases represented plaintiffs in two “derivative” lawsuits currently before a federal judge in San Francisco. Those suits seek to hold Facebook’s board and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg responsible for damage they claim was done to the company.

The derivatives plaintiffs say the litigation should take place in California state court, near Facebook’s headquarters, for easy access to witnesses and documents.

The 11-judge multidistrict panel, which meets periodically to decide where wide-ranging litigation should be consolidated, is expected to issue a decision within weeks. Seven judges were present for Thursday’s hearing.

Most of the cases are in New York already, and have been added to the docket of Manhattan federal judge Robert Sweet ever since he was randomly assigned the first complaint.

“There may be a good chance that Judge Sweet could get this case,” panel Judge Paul Barbadoro of New Hampshire said, prompting laughs from the crowded courtroom.

Facebook has said that it did not violate any rules and that Nasdaq was to blame for trading glitches on its first day of trading.

NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. is also facing investor lawsuits that claim it was negligent in failing to execute trades in the face of record-breaking volume during the IPO.

William Slaughter, an attorney for NASDAQ, told the judges on Thursday that the exchange agreed those cases should also be before Judge Sweet, but that they should proceed on a separate track from the Facebook lawsuits.

“The two sets of actions … really don’t have much in common,” he said.

The case is In Re: Facebook Inc., IPO Securities and Derivative Litigation, U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, No. 12-md-2389.

 

Copyright 2012 Reuters. Click for restrictions.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: National NewsTopics: D&O liability, directors and officers liability, Facebook IPO, Facebook IPO lawsuits, securities lawsuitsHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Judge Orders Iowa Contractor to Repay Customers

June 7, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A Polk County, Iowa, judge ordered a West Des Moines contracting company to reimburse dozens of customers more than $160,000, barred the company and its owners from future residential contracting business, and restricted their commercial contracting business, after Attorney General Tom Miller alleged that the defendants violated Iowa consumer fraud and door-to-door sales laws.

Polk County District Court Judge Brad McCall last week issued the court order, called a consent judgment, against IQ Renovation LLC, and owners Megan Troyer Marlow (formerly Megan Troyer) and Timothy Marlow.

Marlow also operated under the company name of

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New York Judge Orders Anonymous Blogger into Court Over Business Reports

May 14, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle2 CommentsA New York judge has ordered an anonymous blogger to appear in court next week over accusations that the blog Alfredlittle.com wrote false reports about a Chinese company to drive down the stock.

The blogger was served with a subpoena via email to appear in state Supreme Court in New York on May 16, according to a court filing on Friday.

The blogger could not be identified or reached for comment.

Deer Consumer Products, a Chinese appliance maker listed on the NASDAQ exchange, last year sued “Alfred Little” and several unnamed contributors for defamation.

The lawsuit, which also names the investor website, claims that Alfredlittle.com falsely accused Deer of engaging in fraudulent land transactions in China, driving down its stock price. The lawsuit sought to recover as much as $100 million in trading profits.

Bloggers have gained attention for accusing U.S.-listed Chinese companies of fraud while at the same time shorting their stock. The companies have hit back with lawsuits, saying the bloggers are distorting facts to make money. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has taken action against several China-based companies that are listed on U.S. exchanges for violations of U.S. securities law.

The lawsuit brought by Deer Consumer Products is one of a trio of cases brought against “Alfred Little” in New York. Similar cases were filed by Silvercorp Metals Inc., a Chinese silver producer, and Sino Clean Energy, a producer of a coal-based slurry used as fuel.

According to the lawsuit brought by Deer Consumer Products, the company’s stock went from $11.03 to $7.90 during nine days in March 2011, while short interest rose by more than 500,000 shares. The company’s stock closed at $3.01 on Friday, down 7 percent on the day.

Attorney Joseph Johnson of Eaton & Van Winkle, who said he represents an individual who uses the name Alfred Little, declined to comment.

Eaton & Van Winkle has sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, saying its client is operating outside New York state and therefore outside the court’s jurisdiction.

At a hearing on Wednesday, attorney John Bostany, who represents Deer Consumer Products, told the judge that a second contributor may have ties to New York. Justice Carol Edmead then directed “Alfred Little” to provide that contributor’s email address so a subpoena could be served.

In a ruling on Thursday, the judge ordered that individual to appear to help determine whether she has jurisdiction over the case. She said the courtroom would be closed for the appearance.

Edmead also ordered “Alfred Little” to provide Deer with documents identifying the owner of Alfredlittle.com.

Martin Garbus, another lawyer at Eaton & Van Winkle, has said in court papers that his client’s comments have helped save U.S. investors from “frauds” perpetrated by Chinese companies.

The SEC suspended trading in PUDA Coal, one of the companies targeted by the bloggers, last year. The agency brought a lawsuit against PUDA Coal in February, accusing it of defrauding investors into believing they were investing in a Chinese coal business that was in fact an empty shell, according to an SEC press statement.

Florence Harmon, a spokeswoman for the SEC, declined to comment on whether Alfredlittle.com had any influence in the PUDA Coal case.

 

Copyright 2012 Reuters. Click for restrictions.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: East NewsTopics: alfredlittle.com, blogger liability, media liabilityHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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N.J. Judge to Decide If Text Sender Liable for Car Crash

(AP) A New Jersey judge will likely soon decide whether a woman who sent a text message to a male friend can be held liable for a car crash he caused while reading the message.

The Daily Record reports the legal question stems from a lawsuit filed by two Dover residents who were seriously injured when a 19-year-old driver crashed into their motorcycle in September 2009. One victim had one of his legs torn off above the knee, while the other had her leg amputated because the injury was so severe.

The driver received three motor vehicle citations and pleaded guilty earlier this year. He was ordered to speak to 14 high schools about the dangers of texting and driving and had to pay about $775 in fines, but his driver’s license was not suspended.

The victim’s lawyer claims the woman aided and abetted the driver’s negligence by texting him when she knew or should have known he was driving.

However, her lawyer is seeking to have her dismissed as a defendant, saying she had no control over when the driver would read the message. He also claims the legal arguments made by the victims’ attorney are not supported by case law.

For example, he said a passenger could be held liable for a crash if they encourage a young driver to speed or ignore traffic signals. But the woman had no control over the driver’s conduct since she wasn’t in the car.

In a deposition for the case, the woman said she didn’t know whether her friend was driving when she texted him. But she also said she

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Oregon Judge Dismisses Climate Change Lawsuit

April 9, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A Lane County Circuit Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by two Eugene, Ore. girls and their mothers that accused Gov. John Kitzhaber of failing to protect the state’s resources against climate change.

Judge Karsten Rasmussen ruled that the court lacks authority to order the actions sought in the lawsuit filed last May by 11-year-old Olivia Chernaik and 15-year-old Kelsey Juliana.

The Register-Guard reported the suit was filed with the help of their mothers and funding from the environmental group called iMatter, as part of a national campaign.

The girls wanted the court to order the governor to collect more information on greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce the impact of climate change. The judge says it’s a political issue up to the Legislature.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: West NewsTopics: Climate Change, Gov. John Kitzhaber, lawsuitHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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