“Southern California Edison will pay over $1 billion to settle litigation over the 2017 Thomas and Koenigstein fires and subsequent mudslides that followed in the community of Montecito, the utility giant announced Wednesday,” reports Nathan Solis in Courthouse News Service.

“SCE did not acknowledge liability in the settlement, although its equipment sparked the massive wildfire.”

“The Thomas Fire burned nearly 282,000 acres across multiple counties in late 2017, killing two people and destroying over 1,000 structures. Heavy rain the following year on the fire scar led to a mudslide above the community of Montecito in Ventura County that killed 21 people when debris flowed over homes.”

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“JPMorgan is set to pay nearly $1 billion to settle with US authorities investigating whether the bank manipulated the metals and Treasury markets, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday,” writes Ben Winck in Business Insider’s Markets.

“The sum would set a record for spoofing-related settlements and could be announced as soon as this week, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The payment would be in line with other market-manipulation sanctions but surpass previous spoofing fines.”

“The payment would resolve investigations by the Justice Department, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the report. The agencies have been looking into whether traders on JPMorgan’s metals-futures and Treasury desks interfered with the respective markets.”

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“Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced Monday that Delaware has joined the United States, twenty-seven other states, and the District of Columbia to settle allegations against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Delaware’s settlement amount of $94,450.99 will go to the Division of Medicaid and Medicaid Assistance within the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services.” was reported on Delaware.gov’s Department of Justice Press Releases.

“The settlement resolves allegations that from January 2002 to November 2011, Novartis paid kickbacks to doctors to prescribe Lotrel, Valturna, Starlix, Tekamlo, Diovan HCT, Tekturna HCT, and Exforge HCT, and that between January 2010 and November 2011, Novartis did so for Exforge, Diovan, Tekturna. It was alleged in court documents that Novartis systemically paid doctors to speak about certain drugs at sham events, with a veneer of education applied in an attempt to avoid the law, and covered the costs of lavish meals and entertainment for attendee doctors, to induce doctors to write prescriptions for these Novartis drugs. Novartis admitted aspects of the scheme in a stipulation filed in federal court in connection with the settlement, to include admissions concerning excessive meal and alcohol spending, minimal medical discussions at Novartis’s events, and repeat attendance. This conduct violated the Federal False Claims Act, the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute, the Delaware False Claims and Reporting Act, and the Delaware Anti-Kickback Statute resulting in the submission of false claims to DMMA within DHSS.”

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“For years, class action settlements typically have included incentive payments to named plaintiffs. The payments usually represent a very small percentage of the overall settlement payout, and are designed to compensate named plaintiffs for their time and trouble in service to the class,” writes Donald R. Frederico in Pierce Atwood’s Class Action Settlements and Mediation.

“Unless, that is, you practice in the 11th Circuit. On September 17th, a divided panel of that court held that incentive payments in class action settlements are unlawful in light of two Supreme Court decisions from the 1880s … involving common funds. In those cases, the Court held that creditors who successfully pursued claims benefiting other creditors could recover from the common funds amounts to reimburse them for the legal fees and litigation expenses they incurred, but not for their “personal services and private expenses,” such as travel and hotel expenses. Finding a close resemblance between the disallowed fees in the Supreme Court cases and incentive fees in class action settlements, the majority held that it was constrained to disallow the incentive payments.”

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“The Arizona lawyer who helped an ex-mobster orchestrate the failure of a nationwide chain of Toby Keith restaurants was sentenced Monday to six months in prison,” reports Robert Anglen in azcentral’s Investigations.
“Gregory McClure also must repay $1.3 million he admitted stealing, as part of his deal to cooperate with federal prosecutors. They are going after his former employer on fraud charges.”

“McClure, during the hour-long court hearing, told Arizona U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow he was ‘ashamed and embarrassed’ by his conduct.”

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“Bayer AG has settled thousands of U.S. Roundup weed killer lawsuits as part of an $11 billion settlement, reaching deals with the only lawyers who took cases to trial over allegations the herbicide caused cancer,” reports Tom Hals in Insurance Journal.

“In letters filed with U.S. District Court in San Francisco late on Monday, three lawyers said they had reached binding settlements.”

“The agreements covered 15,000 lawsuits, according to attorneys familiar with the talks, bringing the resolved cases to about 45,000. Bayer has estimated it faces 125,000 filed and un-filed claims over Roundup.”

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“Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, has preliminarily approved a class action settlement reached between Defendants BASF Catalysts, LLC (“BASF”) and Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP (“Cahill”) and Plaintiffs to resolve claims relating to prior Emtal Talc litigation by creating a non-reversionary fund of $72.5 million to pay up to 19,000 potential claimants and agreeing to pay fees and other expenses as described in the Settlement Agreement,” reported by the Emtal Talc Settlement Notice Agent in The Central Virginian.

“Emtal Talc was used in the manufacturing of industrial products … The settlement resolves a class action lawsuit in which Plaintiffs claim that from 1984 until 2009 Engelhard (BASF acquired Engelhard in 2006), its former national law firm Cahill, and employees of the two companies, made misstatements or concealed evidence about the existence of alleged asbestos in Emtal Talc and failed to disclose related information to plaintiffs, their lawyers, and courts in the Underlying Lawsuits.”

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“Approximately 1,000 former ITT Tech students in South Carolina were part of a $330 million settlement for debt relief after a lawsuit against the for-profit school,” reports Tony Fortier-Bensen in ABC 4 News.

“Attorney General Alan Wilson said the 1,000 South Carolina students were able to receive $8.6 million. Across the nation, 35,000 students will share $330 million.”

“According to a press release, the settlement is with PEAKS Trust, a private loan program run by the college. ITT Tech filed for bankruptcy in 2016 after investigations into their federal student aid.”

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“Omitting a small print photo credit can get you in big trouble under the copyright laws,” writes Jim Burger, Justin Mulligan, Mike Nepple, Michael Parks and Mark Sableman in Thompson Coburn’s Insights.

“That’s what happened recently when a court affirmed an award of almost $74,000 against BuzzFeed, because its reporter had copied a photo from the New York Post website and removed the photographer’s name.”

“Gregory Mango, the plaintiff, had authorized the New York Post’s use of his photo, and the Post provided the usual small print photo credit line (known as “gutter credit”) to him. A few months later, a BuzzFeed reporter copied Mango’s photo from the Post website and used it in a BuzzFeed article about the person depicted in the photo. BuzzFeed replaced the photo credit to Mango with the name of the law firm that represented the person depicted.”

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“Daimler AG will pay $2.2 billion to resolve a U.S. government diesel emissions cheating investigation and claims from 250,000 U.S. vehicle owners, court documents show,” reporting by David Shepardson in U.S. News via Reuters, Wire Service Content.

“The German automaker and its Mercedes-Benz USA LLC unit disclosed on Aug. 13 it had reached a settlement in principle resolving civil and environmental claims tied to 250,000 U.S. diesel cars and vans after the automaker used software to evade emissions rules.”

“Daimler said in August expected costs of settlements with U.S. authorities would total $1.5 billion, settling with owners will cost another $700 million and also disclosed “further expenses of a mid three-digit-million EUR (euro) amount to fulfill requirements of the settlements.”

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“Vortic Watch Company announces victory in a trademark case filed against the company by Hamilton Watch International, a Swatch Group brand. In a decision made by the U.S. Federal Court on September 11, 2020, the judge ruled in favor of Vortic on all counts. After a five-year battle, Federal Judge Alison Nathan determined Vortic has the right to salvage and restore antique pocket watches and turn them into wristwatches, including those that bear the Hamilton trademark,” released by Vortic Watch Company in Cision PR Newswire.

“The Swatch Group, a Swiss conglomerate which oversees the once-American Hamilton brand, accused Vortic of trademark infringement and counterfeiting in 2015. The case finally culminated in February 2020 with a bench trial in the Southern District of New York.”

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“A mayor’s son and lawyer who has been arrested five times for alcohol-related incidents has been suspended from the Indiana bar for at least one year,” reports the IL Staff in The Indiana Lawyer.

“The Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission last year filed a formal complaint against Evan B. Broderick, son of Anderson Democratic Mayor Thomas Broderick Jr., who also is an attorney and former Madison County prosecutor.”

“Broderick in 2018 pleaded guilty to charges of Class A misdemeanor operating a vehicle while intoxicated endangering a person and Class B misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident after he struck a utility pole following an afternoon of drinking.”

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“A 32-year-old woman suspected since July of running an unlawful law practice in Uptown Dallas has been arrested in Boston, and police are asking anyone who may have been victimized to speak up,” reports Marc Ramirez in The Dallas Morning News’ Crime.

“Massachusetts state police detained Camilia Shene Johnson at Logan International Airport on Sept. 5 as she tried to board a flight to Istanbul, Turkey. Johnson, a convicted felon, also goes by the name Camilia Johnson Ibrahim.”

“Authorities had been looking into Johnson’s conduct since mid-July, when a skeptical DeSoto resident alerted police to say that a number of legal actions being proposed to them by the suspect were in fact not the law.”

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“Wheeling Hospital, Inc. has agreed to pay the United States a total of $50,000,000 to resolve claims that it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting claims to the Medicare program that resulted from violations of the Physician Self-Referral Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Justice Department announced Wednesday,” reports MetroNews Staff in MetroNews.

“According to the Justice Department, in this case, the United States alleged that from 2007 to 2020, under the direction and control of its prior management R&V Associates, Ltd. and Ronald Violi, Wheeling Hospital systematically violated the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute by knowingly and willfully paying improper compensation to referring physicians that was based on the volume or value of the physicians’ referrals or was above fair market value.”

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“An Illinois lawyer, who reportedly lied and said he had cancer—when he did not—and instead was looking for discovery deadline extensions, is facing potential suspension from the practice of law. He also allegedly lied about having cancer on his University of Chicago Law School application,” reports Stephanie Francis Ward in ABA Journal’s News.

“In 2015, Vincenzo Field reportedly asked an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Illinois for additional discovery time because he would be out of the office for four months.”

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“Kansas promoter Brett Mosiman was ready to chase former KAABOO owner Bryan Gordon to the end of the earth to collect a $7 million judgement delivered by a Kansas jury in February, but that will no longer be necessary after the men settled their claims last week over the canceled 2015 Thunder on the Mountain festival in Ozarks, Ark.,” reports Dave Brooks in Billboard’s Touring.

“Mosiman had filed a second lawsuit against Gordon in San Diego in December accusing the Madison Companies chairman of trying to hide his assets after selling KAABOO late last year. Mosiman was also working with his attorney to prepare their enforcement option for the Kansas judgment, but neither remedy will be needed after Mosiman filed a notice with the Kansas court Wednesday saying that Gordon and the companies he controls have satisfied the terms of the judgement ‘in an amount of which has been fully agreed to by the parties.'”

“Mosiman is the founder of the Wakarusa festival and had been hoping to revive the Thunder on the Mountain series when he was approached by Gordon and his business partners Seth Wolkov and Robert Walker from the Denver-based Madison Companies in 2014.”

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“A Myrtle Beach lawyer is no longer allowed to practice law after entering an Alford plea on charges of indecent exposure, and a history of pleas related to assault and voyeurism,” reports Kaitlyn Luna in WSPA’s News.

“Jacob Parrott was disbarred on Aug. 13 by the state Supreme Court, backdating to June 5, 2018, when he was arrested for indecent exposure after police said he was exposing himself and masturbating by a public pool, according to the court records.”

“After the arrest, Parrott entered an Alford plea. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to gain a conviction.”

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“Attorney Andrew Frisch asked a Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday to vacate an order forcing him to represent Steven Donziger, the American lawyer who spent more than two decades suing Chevron Corp over pollution in Ecuador and is now facing a trial next week for criminal contempt,” reports Sebastien Malo in Thomson Reuters Westlaw Today.

“Donziger’s ex-lawyer Frisch told the court in filings that he has had no recent contact with Donziger, their relationship is beyond repair and under such circumstances his representation could violate the defendant’s right to effective assistance of counsel.”

“On Aug. 28 senior U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ordered Frisch of Schlam Stone & Dolan, Donziger’s former lead defense attorney, to take the reins after the court disqualified two of Donziger’s attorneys and if another two out-of-state lawyers continue to decline or are unable to appear partly at the Sept. 9 trial due to concerns over contracting COVID-19.”

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“Express Mobile, Inc. (XMO), a pioneering leader in Web 2.0 and mobile technology, announced that today it has filed nine lawsuits against some of the biggest names in e-commerce and technology for patent infringement. The defendants include Atlassian, DropBox, eBay, Expedia, FaceBook, Google, HubSpot, Microsoft, and Squarespace,” reports Express Mobile Inc. 

“XMO’s Chair and founder Steven H. Rempell first developed the patents at issue in the late 1990s.”

“Mr. Rempell’s foundational patents are fundamental to modern solutions architecture and design, particularly for Web 2.0 applications such as mobile and desktop website generation, social media and e-commerce websites, among other industries.”

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If you’re conducting a deposition or cross-examination there are certain questions you need to ask, writes Dr. Ken Brodo-Bahm in Persuasive Litigator, like:

• Where is the witness?
• Are they right there in the room with you, or are they many miles away in a room with their computer?

“With the pandemic still raging across the U.S., many are social distancing their testimony via Zoom or other web-conferencing platforms. Instead of being in a crowded conference room or courtroom, they are alone in a separate space in front of their laptop.”

There is a shared concern among lawyers that there is “not only the potential for off-camera coaching, but also the possibility for a witness to be surreptitiously looking at documents or notes without the questioner knowing it.”

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