Wisconsin Wal-Mart Class Action Decision

Wisconsin's Court of Appeals recently dealt a blow to class actions in a decision involving Wal-Mart and its alleged failure to pay employees appropriately. The Circuit Court case filed in 2001 put Chicago-based Miner, Barnhill & Galland and Milwaukee-based Murphy & Prachthauser against the mammoth corporate law firm of Foley & Lardner. It seems corporations, e.g. Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, won this battle with employees losing out. However, I expect this to be heard by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Wisconsin Personal Injury Lawyer

P.S. For that corporate lawyer in your life, here's the perfect gift.

American Family Insurance Claim Story

American Family Insurance is the largest Wisconsin car insurance company and its raking in profits and premiums, wrongful denial of insurance claims, and role in tort reform have been discussed here. Now there's this interesting American Family insurance claim story from Denver.

Wisconsin Car Accident Lawyer

Attorney Self-Help Center

Attorneys take different approaches to their web sites with some doing much better than others. One novel approach from the Maryland personal injury firm of Miller & Zois is its Attorney Help Center. There they share sample of motions, discovery, pleadings, etc. relating to the litigation of personal injury cases.

Wisconsin Personal Injury Attorney

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Asbestos Article

Today, I was quoted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article by Rick Barrett entitled Senate to debate asbestos fund. Mesothelioma in Wisconsin, whether it's suffered by Navy veterans who had asbestos exposure or others suffering wrongful death, is not something taxpayers should be responsible for. Whether it's asbestosis or another asbestos injury in Wisconsin, those corporations that are responsible should be held accountable in a court of law. An asbestos bailout is wrong.

Wisconsin Asbestos Lawyer

Asbestos Bailout Bill

Mesothelioma and asbestos related diseases have killed hundreds of thousands, including many men who served in our armed forces, e.g. Navy Veterans. The deaths were caused because corporations knowingly poisoned individuals with asbestos fraudulently hiding for more than 30 years the dangers of asbestos.

Now, just a year after President Bush's Solicitior General criminally indicted W.R. Grace and 7 of its executives for knowingly exposing workers and residents of Libby, Montana to asbestos, Senator Bill Frist (the heart surgeon known for trying to protect doctors at your expense) is pushing a corporate asbestos bail out that would give W.R Grace $2.8 BILLION.

According to the National Taxpayers Union, this corporate asbestos bailout would cost taxpayers a minimum of $45 BILLION.

Not only that, but as a result of such an asbestos bailout bill, many mesothelioma victims will have NO RIGHTS to recover including:
~ those exposed to asbestos in a neighborhood, home or school,
~ victims exposed in the World Trade Center collapse of September 11th,
~ those exposed in Hurricane Katrina, and
~ Veterans whose service does not meet narrow criteria.

Today, I discussed this issue with Reporter Rick Barrett of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and I'll post more on that later. For now, however, I urge you to contact these Senators and tell them to vote against S.B. 852:
Tom Carper Delaware
Saxby Chambliss Georgia
John Cornyn Texas
Chris Dodd Connecticut
Mike DeWine Ohio
Elizabeth Dole North Carolina
Bill Frist Tennessee
Dianne Feinstein California
Ted Kennedy Massachusetts
Herb Kohl Wisconsin
Pat Leahy Vermont
Bill Nelson Florida
Ben Nelson Nebraska
Harry Reid Nevada
Paul Sarbanes Maryland
Arlen Specter Pennsylvania
Debbie Stabenow Michigan

Wisconsin Mesotheliom Lawyer

Wisconsin Personal Injury Tort Reform - part 2

Wisconsin personal injury lawsuits, as I indicated in part 1, are small in number as Wisconsin is not litigious. Personal injury cases are just an issue used by politicians to get contributions from the likes of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and American Family Insurance.

The truth is far more revealing than the politicians. Here's the Wisconsin's Director of State Courts' report. In Wisconsin, 31 Counties had ZERO product liability cases filed and 26 Counties had ZERO medical malpractice cases filed in 2004. Further, each Wisconsin county on average had about only five jury trials in any personal injury case (note this includes every type of personal injury, e.g. Wisconsin car accidents, mesothelioma cases, medical malpractice, etc.).

Hopefully now you understand why I gag every time I hear a pundit or politician refer to a "litigation explosion" in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Personal Injury Lawyer