Personal Injury Roundup No. 6 (9/5/08)

In a week that saw hurricanes and the Republican National Convention, here's what happened in torts.

Reform, Legislation, Policy

• TX liability reforms and a plunge in premiums and lawsuits (amednews.com) (Via Point of Law)
• A call for a cerebral palsy fund in Australia by University of Melbourne prof David Studdert (Univ. of Melbourne News) (Via Point of Law)
• The Pop Tort offers critiques of medical malpractice caps here and here.
• Punitive Damages now available in Thailand (Cal Punitive Damages)

New Lawsuits

• The family of the man murdered on a Greyhound bus is suing the suspect, Greyhound, and authorities.  (CBCNews.Ca) (Via Overlawyered)
• No preemption in Paxil suit (Via Products Liability Prof Blog)

Trials, Settlements & Other Ends

• Two class actions skews statistics showing a big uptick in trials (ABA Journal)

Appeals

• "Case of the Collapsing Office Chair" decided by  AK Supreme Court (Via Products Liability Prof Blog)

Damages

• A San Diego jury has awarded $40 million in punies in a case in which a helicopter crash killed 4 Marines.  (Cal Punitive Damages)

Miscellaneous

• Walter Olson on comments on personal injury blogs ("A Comment about Comments")
• John Day on evidence of a plaintiff's extramarital conduct ("Your plaintiff is a scumbag")
• Ron Miller responds to this post from Mass Tort Defense ("Plaintiff's Lawyer are Committing Fraud and Defense Lawyers are Powerless to Stop it")

--CJR