Judge

Lafayette: Homes at Deer Hill Lawsuit Moves Forward

A Contra Costa Superior Court judge has upheld a ruling that allows a lawsuit against developers and the city of Lafayette to move forward. Judge Judith S. Craddick affirmed Aug. 9 a tentative ruling rejecting the city and developer O’Brien Land Company’s request that the lawsuit filed by the San Francisco Bay Area Renters’ Federation not move forward. The city and developer filed …


Judge Allows Creepy Letters Lawsuit to Move Forward

A New Jersey couple who claim they were scared away from their home after receiving creepy letters from someone named “The Watcher” can move forward with a lawsuit against the home’s former owners, a Superior Court judge ruled on Thursday. Judge Camille Kenny rejected a motion to dismiss the lawsuit but threw out some of the claims made by Derek and Maria Broaddus, including …



Coal Lawsuit Involving WV Gubernatorial Candidate Delayed

A federal judge in Delaware has indefinitely postponed a scheduled September trial in a lawsuit pitting billionaire coal magnate and West Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee James Justice Jr. against a leading U.S. coal exporter. Attorneys for the Virginia-based Justice companies and Pennsylvania-based Xcoal Energy and Resources told the judge Friday that devastating floods …


Judge Rules No Class Action Against Chesapeake in PA Royalty Case

A landowner couple in Bradford County, PA, Edward and Kathleen Ostroski, filed a royalty lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy claiming Chesapeake was screwing them out of money by conducting “creative” accounting and deducting expenses that shouldn’t be deducted. Seems like there’s hardly a state where Chessy drills where someone …


Judge Dismisses $750M Fort Detrick Pollution Lawsuit

A federal judge has dismissed a $750 million class-action lawsuit alleging the Army’s reckless handling of chemical and biological toxins caused death and illness among people living near Fort Detrick in Frederick. The Frederick News-Post (http://bit.ly/2buYcdz ) reports that U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake filed the dismissal notice Thursday in Baltimore.


New York Judge Rejects High-Profile Foster Care Settlement

Today, a New York judge threw out a controversial consent decree that would have ratcheted up state oversight of New York City’s foster care system. In her straightforward opinion, New York District Judge Laura Swain denied a proposed settlement to a July 2015 class action lawsuit that had accused both New York State and City of allowing foster youth to languish in care. “The opinion …


University: Dismiss Lawsuit Related to Sexual Assaults

The University of Kansas is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit related to two alleged sexual assaults. Two former female rowers contend they were raped in university housing by the same man. The two women and their parents claim in the lawsuit that the university misled the public by saying campus housing was safe.


12 Attorneys Appeal Ruling in Ethics Case

Texarkana-based attorney John Goodson and 11 lawyers who work with him on class-action lawsuits have appealed a federal judge’s ruling that they broke ethics rules and abused the court system. Their appeal questions whether their conduct violated those rules and whether Chief U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III abused his discretion in reprimanding five of the lawyers, according to documents …


Abandoned Property Lawsuit Settles Agreement

Attorneys say they’ve reached a settlement agreement in a federal lawsuit challenging Delaware’s practice of collecting abandoned property. In court papers filed Friday, attorneys for the state and for packaging company Temple-Inland Inc., a subsidiary of Memphis-based International Paper, said they had reached a voluntary settlement agreement and asked the judge to dismiss Temple-Inland’s …