Ill. disqualifies nearly 600 lawyers for lack of CLE compliance

February 5, 2009

The Illinois commission that tracks attorney registration in the state has dropped nearly 600 lawyers from its list of those qualified to practice in the state, citing their lack of compliance with new continuing legal education requirements.

The Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission, an agency of the Illinois Supreme Court, booted 587 active attorneys from the state’s so-called “master roll” this year when they failed to file the paper work showing they had completed 20 hours of certified legal training between July 1, 2006, and June 30, 2008. The lawyers were officially removed from the roll after being sent three reminder letters late last year.

“Any lawyer who practices law while not on the master roll engages in the unauthorized practice of law and may be held in contempt,” the commission says on its Web site.

 

Read Article: Law.com

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

Los Angeles to pay $13 million to settle May Day melee lawsuits

The City Council on Wednesday agreed to pay nearly $13 million to people injured or mistreated in a May Day melee in MacArthur Park, bringing to more than $30 million the money spent over the last two weeks to settle lawsuits alleging LAPD misconduct.

The action served as a reminder of the Los Angeles Police Department’s troubled past and its continuing path toward regaining the trust of some city residents and elected officials.

For the LAPD, Wednesday’s $12.85-million payout — covering most of the claims by immigration demonstrators and bystanders injured May 1, 2007, in MacArthur Park — has a few strings attached.

 

Read Article: Los Angeles Times

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

Suit Blames Hospital For Deaths Of 3 Kids

The parents of three young leukemia patients say their children died because St. Joseph’s Hospital failed to protect them from mold stirred up during an expansion in 2008.

 

In a lawsuit filed in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, they claim the hospital should have known the children’s weakened condition made them particularly susceptible to mold-related infections.

 

“They failed to protect the children, whose parents put them into their care,” Steve Yerrid, the families’ attorney, said Wednesday. In an e-mail, St. Joseph’s spokeswoman Lisa Patterson said, “We take necessary measures to reduce infections throughout our hospitals.”

 

Read Article: Tampa Tribune

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

Emotional-Distress Claims Allowed in Suit Against GE Over Toxic Building

A Hudson County, N.J., judge has turned back an attempt to dismiss a toxic-tort suit over a mercury-contaminated building, rejecting defense arguments that the plaintiff’s expert proofs of emotional distress were inadmissible net opinions.

 

In Schley v. General Electric Co., L-251-07, former owners and residents of 722 Grand St. in Hoboken, N.J., seek damages from GE, a previous owner. The plaintiffs claim physical injury and emotional distress allegedly caused by contamination so severe that authorities ordered them to evacuate the building.

 

GE moved for summary judgment, alleging the plaintiffs had insufficient expert proofs. But on Jan. 30, Superior Court Judge Barry Sarkisian allowed claims to go forward for most of the 19 plaintiffs, finding that expert reports supporting claims by 16 of them were not net opinions and were thus valid.

 

Read Article: Law.com

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

Stimulus bill would empower state AGs to seek civil damages for HIPAA violations

Both the House-passed economic stimulus bill and the proposed Senate version would give state attorneys general new enforcement authority to file civil actions for damages or injunctions in federal courts for violations of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform recently attacked the provisions in a letter to House and Senate leadership urging that the provisions be removed from both proposals.

“While the emergency economic stimulus package is aimed at turning our economy around and getting Americans back to work, the provision slipped into the House version and included in the Senate proposal is nothing more than a gift to the plaintiffs’ lawyers,” said ILR President Lisa A. Rickard.

 

Read Article: Law.com

 

Posted By: Phoenix DUI Attorney

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