Defective & Dangerous Products

• Reno Judge Slashes Damage Award

  Steve Klearman | February 20, 2008 8:05 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Washoe District Court Judge Robert Perry has reduced the recent landmark jury award against pharmaceutical giant Wyeth arising from Wyeth's development and marketing of Prempro.Judge Perry cut the award from $134 million to $58 million. $23 million is allocated toward compensatory damages and $35 million is punitive damages. Wyeth wanted the Judge to reduce the total award to $4 million.Wyeth...

• Nevada Equitable and Legal Claims at Trial

  Steve Klearman | February 15, 2008 10:10 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  On December 27, 2007 the Nevada Supreme Court clarified in Awada v. Shuffle Master, Inc., 123 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 57, the manner in which a Nevada District Court may handle mixed claims for legal and equitable relief at trial and found as follows:In this appeal, we consider the primary issue of whether a district court has the authority to bifurcate the legal and equitable claims presented in a...

• Update on Nevada Allstate Attorney Misconduct Case

  Steve Klearman | February 14, 2008 10:00 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  In the ongoing squabble over Allstate defense attorney Phil Emerson's repeated misconduct in arguing cases at trial, the Nevada Supreme Court rendered its latest decision on January 17, 2008.In its introduction to Lioce v. Cohen, 124 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 1, the Court stated:On December 28, 2006, this court issued an opinion in these consolidated appeals.[2] The defendants in each of the four...

• Do Antidepressants Make Murderers?

  Steve Klearman | December 27, 2007 10:20 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Antidepressants are again under scrutiny.According to a Yahoo! News Article dated December 18, 2007, the Supreme Court will hear a case regarding a teen, Christopher Pittman, sentenced to 30 years of prison for killing his grandparents and setting fire to their home at age 12. His attorneys argue that the lengthy sentence violates the teen's Eighth Amendment protection from cruel and unusual...

• Deleted Emails and Production

  Steve Klearman | December 26, 2007 10:12 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Ah the new and complicated world of how email production is handled by courts.Scott Roseland, at cybercontrols (www.cybercontrols.net), cites to Benton v. Dlorah, Inc., 2007 U.S. Dist. D. Kan, Oct. 30, 2007. There, the plaintiff informed defendant at her deposition that she had deleted e-mails, and defendant filed a motion to compel plaintiff to produce relevant documents, to produce her hard...

• The Date-Rape Toy

  Steve Klearman | December 13, 2007 9:44 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  The name Aqua-Dots sends chills down the spine of families in the U.S. If you haven't heard about the recall that happened last month, then you are likely in the minority. About 4 million units of the product were recalled last month because they break down into a date-rape drug when ingested. Currently 10 retailers and companies including Kmart, Walmart, Sears, Target and Mattel are being...

• How a Microwave Can Light Up Your Day

  Steve Klearman | December 06, 2007 6:38 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  General Electric recalled 92,000 combination wall and microwave ovens after at least 35 incidents of fire that damaged property, the company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday. According to a Yahoo News article yesterday, the door switch in the microwave oven can overheat and ignite plastic components in the appliance, the company said.The lower thermal oven does not pose...

• Your Holiday Guide to Toxic Toys

  Steve Klearman | December 05, 2007 6:31 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Tests on more than 1,200 children's products, most of them still on store shelves, found that 35 percent contain lead -- many with levels far above the federal recall standard used for lead paint. According to an AP article released today, a Hannah Montana card game case, a Go Diego Go! backpack and Circo brand shoes were among the items with excessive lead levels in the tests performed by a...

• Maybe Cell Phone Didn't Detonate

  Steve Klearman | December 04, 2007 4:45 AM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  Relax: your cell phone might not be a bomb after all.A South Korean man whose death initially was blamed on an exploding cell phone battery was killed by a car accident involving his colleague, police said Friday.The International Herald Tribune reports (November 29th) that the quarry worker, only identified by his family name Seo, was found dead Wednesday with a melted phone battery in his...

• Insurance Industry Hit With $11 Million Failure

  Steve Klearman | November 23, 2007 3:36 PM | 0 CommentsReno, NV

  The insurance industry's $11 million bellyflop against Referendum 67 was an election bright spot for ruling Democrats, who otherwise took their lumps from a frugal electorate that sent establishment ideas packing. According to Curt Woodward, writing for the AP, the referendum, which allows triple damages in lawsuits alleging bad faith by insurance companies, spawned a lively campaign pitting the...