Posts for Civil justice system

Plaintiffs’ lawyers recently won a class-action settlement against Sketchers shoes, with a judge ruling that Sketchers advertisements made “unfounded claims that the footwear would help people lose weight and strengthen muscles.”

We won’t get into the facts behind this lawsuit, but we will tell you about the terms of the settlement. Plaintiffs in the case – of which there were about 520,000 – will each receive up to $84. That amount is a partial refund of the cost of a pair of Skechers Shape-Up shoes. The attorneys in the case, however, will receive $5 million.

Transparency is key to good governance - donations to political candidates shouldn’t entitle anyone to shady contracts with elected officials. But that’s exactly what happened in West Virginia when Darrell McGraw was Attorney General.

When McGraw was in office, he frequently hired personal injury lawyers to conduct lawsuits on behalf of West Virginia, and a good deal of these lawyers had made hefty donations to McGraw’s campaign funds. Additionally, McGraw refused to share the details of these arrangements with the public.

Paula Henry’s story is an important reminder of how lawsuit abuse creates not only economic burdens but emotional ones as well. In 1995, Henry lost her husband to murder. Thankfully, her husband’s killer is now behind bars, serving a 31 year sentence.

Unfortunately, this convict has found another way to hurt Henry – he’s suing her from jail, claiming she caused him “emotional distress” and violated his privacy rights.

Even though this lawsuit is entirely outrageous, it still impacts Henry. She’ll have to pay attorney’s fees, and the suit is a painful reminder of a terrible event.

Our courts are intended to make people whole. When someone has a serious injury that occurred due to someone else’s negligence, then they should receive appropriate and reasonable compensation.

Unfortunately, we hear time and time again about folks who are using our courts to play the lawsuit lottery. These people are not trying to gain justice – they’re trying to get rich.

A recent story from West Virginia exemplifies this abuse quite well. In 2009, Erica Tamburin incurred injuries in the parking lot of a Cabela’s Wholesale store when another car reportedly hit her truck. Tamburin sued, claiming injuries to her “head, neck, shoulders, back, chest, arms, legs, body chemistry and psyche,” as well as annoyance, inconvenience, pain and anguish.