Buy Photo February 13 2014 – Stacks of rubber gloves and rape kits sit behind a glass cabinet at the Rape Crisis Center at 1750 Madison on Thursday Feb. 13, 2014. (Photo: William DeShazer, The Commercial Appeal)Buy Photo CONNECTTWEET1 LINKEDIN1 COMMENTEMAILMORE More women are joining legal proceedings against the city over the accumulation of thousands of untested rape kits disclosed three …
One of the most successful litigation funding companies in the world has widened its U.S. reach, establishing a base of operations in Texas. On Feb. 21, Bentham IMF announced attorney Eric Chenoweth, a commercial and intellectual property litigator formerly of Yetter Coleman, will head the Australian-based company’s new Houston office. “I believe there are many funding opportunities …
First Lady Melania Trump has settled a defamation lawsuit against a US blogger for a “substantial sum”, it was reported today. Blogger Webster Tarpley agreed to publish an apology, in which he said he had published an article that was “replete with false and defamatory statements about her.” According to court documents filed in October, the article reported false …
Despite filing a lawsuit against a British tabloid for running an inaccurate story on the grounds that it damaged her ability to “launch a broad-based commercial brand,” First Lady Melania Trump claims that she never intended to use her position for personal profit. According to a statement released by both a spokeswoman and her law firm, Trump had “no intention” of earning money off of being …
It’s a little icky all around. First lady Melania Trump is seeking $150 million from the Daily Mail newspaper, charging in a lawsuit filed Monday in New York state commercial court that the outlet published damaging and unfounded allegations that she once worked as an “elite escort” in the “sex business.” Beyond demonstrating that the Trumps are more than willing to take the offensive when it comes to lawsuits, the complaint also reveals plans for yet another extension of the Trump empire, arguing that Melania’s brand has “lost significant value” and has impacted …
Recent years have borne witness to the nascent rise of third-party litigation funding (TPLF) of commercial litigation in legal markets across the globe. Beginning over a decade ago in Australia, TPLF spread quickly to the UK, the US, Canada, Europe and Asia. TPLF itself has undergone rapid changes in its short existence. Though the traditional model of single-funded cases is still the main modus operandi, funders have diversified their business model in the last 12 months, including investments in claims-aggregating firms, joint ventures with law firms directed at prosecuting certain claims, and post-judgment appeals funding. Commercial funders and commercial litigators are becoming increasingly consociated, however, the interests of funders and litigators necessarily diverge given that lawyers owe a fiduciary duty to their clients. TPLF represents the biggest change to the commercial litigation landscape, raising novel …
Two Short Creek area residents arrested last year in a dispute over access to what was once a city zoo filed a federal lawsuit in Arizona this week, claiming their “illegal” arrests constituted yet another example of alleged discrimination by Colorado City marshals against residents who aren’t members of the community’s dominant polygamous church. Andrew Guy Chatwin, 48, of Hildale and Patrick Leroy Pipkin, 33, of Colorado City claim the marshals, Colorado City and its municipal attorney Kenneth Brendel, the city of Hildale and the corporate charter of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints conspired to prevent the men from using property they were legally entitled to amid a dispute with a “squatter” who …
A temporary staffing agency has agreed to pay $435,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit alleging it favored Hispanic workers over African-Americans at a FedEx SmartPost facility in Southaven. Orlando-based Resource Employment Solutions LLC denied allegations of wrongdoing made in a lawsuit …
The Texas Supreme Court dealt a blow Friday to hundreds of families whose homes were ruined by 1998’s Tropical Storm Frances, 2001’s Tropical Storm Allison and a 2002 flooding event. The high court dismissed a class-action lawsuit that Edward and Norma Jean Kerr filed 15 years ago against the Harris County Flood Control District on behalf of …
Editor’s note: Billionaire Peter Thiel’s involvement in the infamous Gawker privacy case has renewed interest in litigation finance, an relatively esoteric corner of alternative investments that involves bankrolling lawsuits in return for a piece of any monetary judgements. As explained by Edward Truant, principal of commercial litigation finance specialist Balmoral Wood Litigation Finance, the …