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2nd Circuit: Plaintiffs in Credit Card Antitrust Case Cannot Be Compelled to Arbitrate

November 12, 2008

Plaintiffs who claim a conspiracy by American Express to cover up an antitrust plot with other major credit card companies on foreign currency transactions won a victory as a federal appeals court said they cannot be compelled to arbitrate.

 

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the plaintiffs could not be forced into arbitration because American Express was not a signatory to the MasterCard, Visa and Diners Club credit card agreements that included the arbitration clauses.

 

The court’s decision came in Ross v. American Express Co., 06-4598-cv, a related case to the multidistrict class action litigation, In Re Currency Conversion Fee Antitrust Litigation, 01-md-01409, now pending before Southern District of New York Judge William Pauley.

 

In the multidistrict currency conversion case, cardholders are claiming that card companies and major issuing banks have engaged in a Sherman Act conspiracy to fix higher fees for transactions involving foreign currency.

 

Read Article: Law.com

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

Families sue after organ transplants lead to cancer deaths

Anthony Taylor had hoped his kidney and liver transplant would save his life. Instead, the new organs gave him skin cancer, which caused his death.

 

A kidney from the same donor also gave another recipient terminal cancer. Now both families are suing the Indiana Organ Procurement Organization because they believe not enough was done to make sure the donor organs were healthy.

 

“The question is how could this happen, obviously, and the answer lies in what was actually done in the testing and evaluation to qualify this donor to be an acceptable organ donor,” said Frederick Hovde, attorney for Taylor, who died from cancer about a year after the transplant.

 

Susan Cline, a lawyer representing the organ procurement organization, which helps arrange transplants in Indiana, defended the group.

“Based upon what we can tell from our files, the procurement and screening were done in compliance with all state and federal regulations,” said Cline, an attorney with Locke Reynolds.

 

Read Article: Indianapolis Star

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

Family of crash victim sues driver in accident that killed 4

The driver of a car that crashed into a tree last year near Hampshire, killing four passengers, has been named in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by one of the victim’s families.

The lawsuit was filed in Kane County Circuit Court by the family of Ayush Joshi, 20, of Hoffman Estates, who died Sept. 8, in a one-car crash on Dietrich Road, north of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway in rural Kane County.

The suit alleges that the driver, Fakir Muhammad Jaffrie, 26, of Crystal Lake was negligent by speeding and failing to control the vehicle. It seeks more than $50,000.

Jaffrie was indicted in October 2007 on charges of reckless homicide, aggravated driving under the influence of marijuana and driving under the influence. He was released on bail to his parents’ home in Algonquin and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device, said his lawyer, David Camic.

 

Read Article: Chicago Tribune

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

Delays in disability claims hurting veterans, suit alleges

Hundreds of thousands of veterans are having to wait up to four years for the government to process their disability claims, delays that are contributing to economic devastation, the breakup of families and even suicide for troops returning from war, a lawsuit filed Monday asserts.

 

The suit, filed by two advocacy groups representing nearly 60,000 veterans, asks that the Department of Veterans Affairs be required to pay interim benefits on any claim that takes longer than 90 days to process or more than six months to appeal.

 

“The VA’s failure to provide timely benefits decisions often leads to financial crises, homelessness, addiction and suicide,” alleges the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington by the Vietnam Veterans of America and Veterans of Modern Warfare.

 

Read Article: Austin American Statesman

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

Lawsuit says eye doctor lied about state-of-the-art surgery

A Las Vegas eye doctor who has been sued for medical malpractice at least 17 times during his career is the target of a new class-action lawsuit filed by four Las Vegas Valley residents.

 

The patients claim Dr. Vikas Jain and his wife, Dr. Anamika Jain, advertised a flat rate for laser vision corrective surgery to be done with state-of-the-art equipment by a board certified ophthalmologist. But according to the lawsuit filed by attorney Barry Levinson, Jain’s practice offered none of those services.

“The surgery was not state-of-the-art, did not use the most advanced equipment and all care was not provided by board certified ophthalmologists,” states the lawsuit, which was filed Monday.

 

Vikas Jain conducted most of the pre- and post-surgery assessment and measurement tests even though he is not a certified laser surgeon, Levinson said Tuesday.

“The surgeons were doing the work based on what he said,” Levinson said.

On Tuesday, Jain said the allegations are untrue.

He wouldn’t go into detail per his attorney’s instruction, but Jain said he believes a former employee prompted the lawsuit.

 

Read Article: Las Vegas Review Journal

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

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