In the News

A nearly decade-long legal battle over the harm inflicted on tens of thousands of women by surgically implanted pelvic mesh is moving away from manufacturers and toward the lawyers who helped the women bring their cases. In recent weeks, women who received some of roughly $8 billion in settlements have sued their lawyers, accusing them of improperly enriching themselves with excessive fees or stretching themselves too thin to properly handle the pelvic mesh cases.

Monsanto is facing a growing number of lawsuits from people who claim that ingredients in its weed killer, Roundup gave them cancer. Several Roundup cases have already been heard, including one resulting in a verdict of more than $2 billion in damages. Many more are expected. With money like that on the table, personal injury lawyers are filling the airwaves with ads.

On June 10, Gov. Greg Abbott signed off on House Bill 2826, which could curtail the rising trend of Texas attorneys soliciting county, school district and city officials in hopes of pursuing litigation. From opioid litigation to construction defect lawsuits, trial lawyers have engaged in an all-out scramble to sign up local governments.

Voters are spurning alarmist climate agendas at the ballot box, so U.S. progressives have turned to state attorneys general to litigate against fossil fuels. But the plan is backfiring as an ethically dubious program involving private-interest funding of state AG staff is being confronted in court.

Many Texas judges are in line for pay increases — some by more than $30,000 annually — after state lawmakers passed a bill that rewards longevity on the bench. House Bill 2384, which is awaiting final approval from Gov. Greg Abbott, would raise the pay for district, county and appellate judges after their fourth year on the bench. The pay bump, proponents say, is necessary to retain good jurists and attract quality candidates to open benches.

Louisiana’s legal climate has been ranked the worst in the United States and we have been labeled as the fifth-worst “Judicial Hellhole” in the country. As reported by Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch, unfounded lawsuits hurt Louisianans and are generating exorbitant fees for trial lawyers. These fees, coupled with large plaintiff awards, are driving up the cost of living and doing business in Louisiana.

California’s regulatory regime is enough to give anyone the jitters, so good news that the state signed off Monday on a new rule admitting that coffee won’t kill you. California lets anyone bring a lawsuit to enforce Prop. 65, and the burden of proof rests with the defendant.

David T. Garcia, the county attorney for Brooks County, signed a contingency fee agreement with his employer to represent the county in an opioid lawsuit – a relationship that seemingly comes into conflict with the Texas Local Government Code.

Louisiana’s lawsuits against oil and gas companies — two major forces in the state’s economy — continue to draw national attention as the City of New Orleans alleges the energy industry is to blame for coastal erosion and damages to the wetlands.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have charged a physician and the owner of a medical consulting firm over a scheme to persuade women to have their pelvic mesh implants surgically removed to bolster the value of lawsuits against the devices’ manufacturers.