Water use credits flow to flushers.
Byline: Kim Ring SPENCER - Residents who use town water will get a "courtesy credit" to pay the added costs they incurred for flushing their systems after an excess amount of lye was released into the drinking water late last month. Water commissioners voted yesterday...

Judge approves $64 million settlement in Paxil suit.
Parents who bought the antidepressant drug Paxil for their children may begin seeking reimbursements under a $64 million class-action deal to settle claims that the drug's maker misled consumers about the medication's safety, the Associated Press reported May 24. Under the deal, announced in April and granted...

Mental suffering now compensable in wrongful death cases: Illinois becomes the 24th state to allow wrongful-death plaintiffs to recover for their grief, sorrow, and mental suffering at the loss of their loved one.
The Wrongful Death Act, 740 ILCS 180/0.01 et seq, has been amended to permit successful plaintiffs to receive awards for grief, sorrow, and mental suffering. Governor Blagojevich signed HB 1798 into law on May 31, 2007, as Public Act 95-0003. The new law was effective immediately on...

Commentary: do the Supreme Court's ERISA cases sound the death knell for small-to-middle value p.i. claims?
If an injured party seeking recovery in a tort action incurs medical expenses covered by an employer-sponsored, ERISA-covered health insurance plan containing airtight reimbursement language, it is possible that neither the plaintiff nor plaintiff's counsel will see a dime from their hard earned settlement or judgment. Usurping...

Understanding personal injury claims.
When you are involved in a car accident, there are a number of things you should know, but unfortunately, this information is not readily available. This article discusses what you need to know about personal injury claims long before you even think about hiring a lawyer. Our...

Got an "F"? Sue the teacher!
Without question North American culture is characterized by a high level of litigiousness. Be it personal injury, medical malpractice, or professional negligence, it appears that litigants are forever looking for ways to impose liability on the ubiquitous third party. It should therefore come as little surprise that the spectre...

Immunities and defenses for allegedly negligent inspections.
In the first installment of this article, which appeared in the September issue of this Journal, I described the basic concept of tort liability: In any personal-injury lawsuit for negligence, regardless of the circumstances giving rise to injury, the plaintiff must prove that 1) the defendant owed the plaintiff...

Keeping it 'All in the Family'.
The West Virginia mine tragedies reminded me of a nasty personal injury case in which I recently served as an outside consultant for a Fortune 1000 company. The company, understandably, wanted a pair of eyes and ears to look after its uninsured interests. (Names have been changed and facts...

Parentis gone loco.
Michael Bywater Big Babies. Granta Books, 256 pages, 14.99 [pounds sterling] It should've been a joke. There, in my subway car, alongside ads for personal injury lawyers and TOEFL classes--an admonition not to ride on the outside of the train! For those without the benefit of a...

Limitation of actions for psychiatric injuries in intentional tort cases.
Limitation periods for the institution of actions for personal injury prescribe important impediments for the institution of actions by victims of both intentional and non-intentional torts. In Stingel v Clark (2006) 80 ALJR 1339; [2006] HCA 37 the majority of the High Court of Australia interpreted Victoria's statute of...