Accident Attorneys

EMBATTLED Centro Properties Group is the first company in connection with several shareholders of dollars a cross threat of class action by a law firm applicants.

The group of directors and auditors also the face of a dispute relating to the fury of the investor-business stumbling into the abyss.

Documents for action against the company based in Melbourne on the alleged non-disclosure of information about the location of debt, is expected to be appealed to the Federal Court by the end of April.

From random, at the time, that creditors Centre, a consortium of banks and other lenders owed more than $ 2 billion, have the property that for companies recapitalise.

Proceedings funders of the IMF, is back at the law firm Maurice Blackburn run category Action Centre, as well as appeals against two victims Subprime, Gold Coast real estate and fund managers MFS Ltd and Allco Finance Group.

Centro expects that the first to be served with court documents.

The mall owner investor and cut his income and that they had $ 3.9 billion of short-term debt in mid-December. Since then, shareholders have seen their share fall from more than 80%. The prize was awarded yesterday to 23 ¢ regularly.

Centro possible insolvency could mean a small distribution to the plaintiffs. But a spokesman for the IMF said that if one of the companies with which disputes collapsed hunting activities forensisch pull down so that the associate directors and auditors.

You may also Centro is the founder and former CEO, Andrew Scott, MFS, and the founder and former boss Michael King.

A spokesman for MFS appeared in spite of the prospect of litigation if contacted BusinessDay. “Our only comment is that we do not know of any act… Everything else is purely hypothetical… we have seen, ads in the paper production, but nobody has contacted us.”

MFS his arm and tourism, housing and recreation MFS not meet deadlines in February with the surrender of its half-year results, and they pledged to a new appointment for registration. Both were exposed to the negotiation since January.

Neither MFS Centro is that he always believed in their accounts for adjudicating disputes.

There is good news and bad news this week. Five-year-old Sydney girl Sophie Delezio discharged from the hospital, five weeks after he took a car - the second road accident in his short life.

The bad news is, other children this year has not so fortunate. The number of children killed in pedestrian accidents in this country is too high and must come, the researchers argue Western Australia, in an article recently published in The Medical Journal of Australia. Indeed, the pedestrian injuries are the leading cause of death for one to 14 years in Germany, they say.

Researchers at the Child Health Promotion Research Unit at the Edith Cowan University in Perth, looked at the child road violations in Western Australia in 2000. They found, there were 38 deaths and 1140 on children pedestrians, children at the hospital, many for longer periods of the year.

They found that the risk for a child injured on a road that can vary with the level of traffic on the road, where objects blocking the ability of the child to see in the street, if it is hiking in the streets, in which the child lives (less trails, children sooner walk on the road), and the child’s personality.

In one or two years, a RearView vehicle is the most important source of pain - of the child occurs when entering the car and returns results.

In older children - from three to nine years - the most common cause of injury is a block of center “Dart-out ‘. Child tries to cross the road in the mid-crosses between a block and saw no traffic.

Children under 10 years are particularly vulnerable because they are young - they have no feet, the fleet agility that many older adults and can not be of the nature and so simple, if it in trouble. They are less well in the assessment of the distance of a car and how fast it will stay, and their peripheral vision - the ability to “see things from their corner of the eye” - is not as well as an adult. So children under the age of 10, should not help him cross the street without an adult.

Older children - aged 10 to 14 - a better understanding of movement and skills, but rather as a youngest child ill. You know the risks, but ignore it. Children with behavioural disorders are the most vulnerable.

So what’s the solution? The researchers say that this must be a combination of things, the slow traffic, increased awareness to the pilot the opportunity to receive children in the manner of harm, education and children on road safety are important, if the we prevent children Sophie Delezio always in danger ‘S journey.

Sep. 21–A worker cleaning up the multimillion-dollar Symphony House construction site in Center City fell through a barrier and to his death early yesterday morning, the same day developers were planning to showcase the project.

Jeffrey Martin, 23, of Egg Harbor Township, N.J., was employed with Fabi Construction, a subcontractor on the condominium project and a company with a history of safety violations responsible for four highly publicized construction deaths at an Atlantic City casino in 2003, authorities said.

Martin apparently was cleaning the site at Broad and Lombard Streets when he fell through a steel cable barrier and down several floors to a garage area, where he was impaled by construction material, authorities said.

“No one knows how it happened or how long he was in that situation,” said Executive Fire Chief Daniel Williams.

Emergency crews were called to the location about 11:30 a.m., cut through the steel, and rushed Martin to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after noon.

Authorities said there were no witnesses to his fall. The accident remains under investigation.

The cleanup was happening on the day developers were planning a tour and ceremony to show off the architectural renderings of the Philadelphia Theatre Company and Symphony House condo building, slated to open in October 2007 along the Avenue of the Arts corridor.

The condo project, led by developer Carl Dranoff, is to emulate a classic 1920s apartment house. Dranoff said yesterday that the events last night were postponed.

“We are all devastated,” Dranoff said. “My condolences go out to the young man and his family. It is a dark and somber day.”

Investigators from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration immediately were called to the scene, said Kate Dugan, an OSHA spokeswoman.

The agency, she said, has investigated Fabi Construction on a number of occasions.

“They have a history with OSHA, including the Tropicana garage collapse in 2003,” Dugan said. “They have been cited for safety violations over the past 10 years.”

In 2003, four construction workers were killed and 21 injured when the top five stories of a 10-story parking garage collapsed at the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City.

Fabi Construction and several other contractors on the job were cited by OSHA for numerous violations of safety standards and fined $119,000.

In March, a court ruling upholding citations against Fabi said the company ignored safety concerns and “failed to take sufficient seriousness to employee concerns about signs of distress” in a concrete slab, even though company officials “knew or should have known that reinforcing steel was not placed properly.”

A person who would not identify himself at the Fabi Construction office in Center City yesterday said no one from the company would comment.

Dugan said construction companies with sites more than six feet high are required by federal law to install a safe perimeter for workers.

Center City lawyer Robert J. Mongeluzzi, whose office is two blocks from the Symphony House construction and who represented victims in the Tropicana collapse and numerous other victims of serious construction accidents, was at yesterday’s scene.

“Since conditions change at job sites, it’s imperative that the perimeter protection be checked regularly to make sure it is intact,” Mongeluzzi said.

It’s up to the general contractor and subcontractor to make sure the perimeters are secure, Dugan said.

In OSHA’s Philadelphia District, which includes Delaware County, there have been 15 fatal construction accidents in the last 12 months, and about half have been the result of falls, which she said is extremely high.

Although comparisons with other cities were not immediately available, she said 1,224 construction workers died nationwide last year, and 39 percent were the result of falls.

“To have 15 fatalities is high, but to have half of them falls is extremely alarming,” Dugan said. “Employers know they have to have fall protection for their workers.”

Contact staff writer Barbara Boyer at 215-854-2641 or bboyer@phillynews.com. Inquirer staff writer Kera Ritter contributed to this article.

Copyright (c) 2006, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business

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Bell Canada International Inc. (”BCI”) today announced that Mr. Wilfred Shaw and Mr. Cameron Gillespie have filed with the Ontario Court of Appeal a notice of appeal with respect to the decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (the “Court”) issued on January 5, 2004 dismissing each of their $1 billion lawsuits against BCI and BCE Inc. on the grounds that the actions abused the process of the Court and disclosed no reasonable cause of action. No hearing date has been set for the appeal.

The Shaw action was originally filed on September 27, 2002, and sought court approval to proceed by way of class action on behalf of all persons who owned BCI common shares on December 3, 2001 in connection with the issuance of BCI common shares on February 15, 2002 pursuant to BCI’s Recapitalization Plan and the implementation of BCI’s Plan of Arrangement approved by the Court on July 17, 2002. After Mr. Shaw’s original action was dismissed by the Court on May 9, 2003, Mr. Shaw filed an amended statement of claim on June 27, 2003. On August 30, 2003, Mr. Gillespie filed a lawsuit that was, except with respect to the name of the plaintiff, substantially identical to Shaw’s amended statement of claim. These were the two actions dismissed by the Court on January 5, 2004.

BCI is operating under a court supervised Plan of Arrangement, pursuant to which BCI intends to monetize its assets in an orderly fashion and resolve outstanding claims against it in an expeditious manner with the ultimate objective of distributing the net proceeds to its shareholders and dissolving the company. BCI is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol BI. Visit our Web site at www.bci.ca.

Certain statements made in this press release describing BCI’s intentions, expectations or predictions are forward-looking and are subject to important risks and uncertainties. The results or events predicted in these statements may differ materially from actual results or events. For additional information with respect to risk factors relevant to BCI, see the Annual Information Form filed with Canadian securities commissions. BCI disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Fourteen marines were killed and two were injured before dawn today when two helicopters collided and plunged into a densely forested marsh in an isolated part of this Marine Corps base in eastern North Carolina.

The cause of the crash, which happened at 2 A.M. during a huge American-British amphibious-assault exercise, is still under investigation, officials said.

Of the injured, one was listed in critical condition at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville and the other was listed in serious condition at the base hospital. No British troops were involved in the crash.

By midafternoon 11 bodies of the crash victims had been recovered from the scene. But it took until about 4:30 P.M. for the final 3 bodies to be recovered from the muddy and wooded area where rescuers toiled for more than 16 hours. It was an indication, a marine spokesman said, of the conditions in the forest.

The search was hampered as tractors sank up to their tread tops in the muck and rescuers resorted to cutting pathways with chainsaws and fashioning walkways over the shifting ground with slabs of plywood.

“It is very thick pine forest and swamp,” said Maj. Steve Little, a spokesman. “It has been difficult, especially difficult before dawn as we began the recovery. It has been made easier with more light.”

Major Little said the marines were part of a joint exercise including 38,200 American troops and 15,600 British troops. The helicopters involved were an AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter with a two-person crew and a CH-46E Sea Knight, an assault and transport helicopter that can carry as many as 22 people in addition to its crew of 4.

The helicopters had taken off earlier that night from ships massed off the North Carolina coast and headed inland to where the accident occurred near the Courthouse Bay boat basin at the 150,000-acre base.

Flight operations in the British-American exercises were suspended, although surface operations would continue, Major Little said.

Today’s accident was deadliest for the Marine Corps since 1989, when 14 people were killed in the crash of another Sea Knight off Okinawa. More than twice as many marines have died in aviation accidents in the last eight months as were killed in such accidents in the previous two years. The total killed so far this year in aviation accidents, counting today’s deaths, is 19. In 1995 there were 6 aviation deaths and in 1994 there were only 3 such deaths.

It was a Harrier jet crash here in 1993 that prompted the Marine Corps to order a rare 48-hour suspension of all fixed-wing and helicopter flights to conduct emergency safety checks. In that year, 12 people were killed in aircraft accidents. As recently as March the Marine Corps called another two-day halt to all aircraft flights for emergency checks.

Col. Joe C. Yannessa, commander of the rescue operation, said the collision had occurred in midair over the densely pine-forested marshland and rained debris over a 150 yard area. Colonel Yannessa said rescue crews on foot and carrying nothing more than their packs and hand-held fire extinguishers got to the section of swamp 600 yards from the nearest road within 30 minutes of the crash. There were several smoldering fires scattered throughout the area, he said.

More : query.nytimes.com

The National Transportation Safety Board, in its first thorough presentation of the last moments of T.W.A. Flight 800, displayed its own video animations today and painted a picture with significantly different details from the one laid out by the C.I.A. two weeks ago.

The board showed two animated videos of the last moments of the plane. They showed a decapitated airplane coming apart, the cockpit and first-class section tumbling to the water and the section from the wings to the tail gaining altitude, then plummeting into the sea.

The safety board’s version, which came on the first day of a week of hearings, also offered more detail on why the board does not believe a missile or bomb was involved in the crash of the Trans World Airlines Boeing 747 off Long Island last year, in which all 230 people on board died.

In the safety board’s animation — which lacks the music and professional announcer of the C.I.A. video — the explosion in the center fuel tank takes less than a second to spew debris, including part of the keel beam, from the plane’s belly. The beam provides much of the support for the fuselage, and once it is gone, the tape shows, the breakup of the plane slows or stops until the nose begins to droop, the sides compress and the area in front of the wings breaks off and begins an almost leisurely flutter to the water, taking about 90 seconds.

The wings and everything behind them, however, continue for two miles and climb to perhaps 15,000 feet from about 13,700, before twisting north and south and plunging to the surface. The left wing breaks off shortly before impact, creating a fireball.

The Central Intelligence Agency’s version, which was released by the F.B.I., showed the wings and fuselage climbing to 17,000 feet, trailing flaming fuel in a way that convinced witnesses on the south shore of Long Island that they were seeing a missile. And where the C.I.A. has the major fragment of the plane veering to the north, the safety board has it twisting first north, toward the beach, and then south. The first turn would have given observers the impression that the plane was continuing to climb, board experts testified today.\

More : query.nytimes.com

The plaintiff, Christopher Range, was participating in a soccer match at the Abbott Sports Complex in Lincoln, Nebraska. While running down the field toward the goal, Range stepped in a small hole in the field and fell, severely and permanently injuring his knee. Range subsequently sued the Abbott Sports Complex and related defendants, alleging negligence, and sought compensation for the injury he sustained. Range had warmed up on the field and had not noticed any problems. Two referees employed by the defendants testified that they inspected the field before the match and did not notice any problems. Approximately 80 minutes of the soccer match were played on the field without incident before the injury occurred. No one could determine whether the hole was created during the game or existed before the game began.

Trial Court

Range claimed that the defendants (1) had a duty to protect him as a participant in their event, (2) either knew or should have known about the hole in the field through proper field inspection and maintenance, and…

Source : accessmylibrary.com

THE FAMILY OF A MAN who was shot and killed while shopping in a jewelry store settled out of court with the store owner for $2.2 million. The store did have one security guard, but he failed to show up for work on the day of the incident.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In another case, a casino patron who was attacked on a hotel walkway and sustained serious head injuries was awarded $5 million in damages. The jury found that the hotel was negligent because the walkway was isolated and adjacent to a vacant lot where assaults frequently occurred. The hotel failed to monitor the walkway and a security guard patrolled the area only once a day.

In yet another case, an apartment building owner was ordered to pay $16 million to the families of several people who were murdered in the building. The jury found the owner negligent because he failed to fix a faulty lock on the front door and to provide a backup security officer to guard the area. The single security officer hired by the owner had not come to work the day of the fatalities.

As these examples illustrate, a jury verdict can directly relate to inadequate security. Thus, failure to take appropriate security measures and to consider how those measures can be defended in court can be extremely costly. Security managers can reduce the chances that the company will lose when it gets its day in court by taking the following steps.

Assess Risk

The first step toward ensuring that any case against the company will fail is to show that the company is aware of security and makes an effort to provide a safe environment. Toward that end, the company must first assess the potential threats on its property. It must do so by considering the property itself and the surrounding neighborhood, including incidents and crime trends. In addition to routine risks, it must…

Source : accessmylibrary.com

Walter Austin v. Robert N. Watson, petition for more than $75,000 compensation for personal injury recovery for automobile negligence.

Countrywide Home Loans Inc. v. Todd D. Kraus et al., petition for mortgage foreclosure.

German Zhitlovsky v. Valeo Behavioral Health Care Inc., petition for employment contract dispute.

State of Kansas ex rel Topeka Police Department v. U.S. currency seized, notice of pending forfeiture.

State of Kansas ex rel Topeka Police Department v. U.S. currency seized, notice of pending forfeiture.

State of Kansas ex rel Jim Garner, secretary, Department of Labor, v. Stephen M. Keys, petition to enforce administrative subpoena.

First National Bank of Omaha v. Mary Plummer, petition on credit card.

Nathan Dean Nelson, Justin Glen Nelson et al. v. petition for change of name.

State of Kansas ex rel Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office v. U.S. currency seized, notice of pending forfeiture.

More : cjonline.com

Section 78 Multiple Dwelling Law provides, in relevant part, that each “owner” is responsible to maintain in good repair every multiple dwelling and that the tenant is also liable if a violation of [section] 78 is caused by the tenant’s own willful act, assistance or negligence. Owners attempting to escape liability under [section] 78 often times net lease the property. But, in a case of first impression, a New York state appellate panel (First Department) has recently ruled that an owner of property who net leases its propertyto a tenant, without reserving to itself any right of re-entry or inspection and repair, may nevertheless be held responsible in tort for defects at the property under New York Multiple Dwelling Law [section] 78. For purposes of the Multiple Dwelling Law, a…

Source : accessmylibrary.com

Is the open and obvious defense available to a defendant in a non-premises liability and non-failure to warn case? Plaintiff allegedly received second and third degree burns from hot water in his shower at his apartment. The shower and shower elements were installed by Cornwall Plumbing, a subcontractor for the owner of the complex.

Source : mondaq.com

The law firm of Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, PLLC has named five of its Associate and Of Counsel attorneys as Members, effective January of 2003. In the firm’s Chattanooga office, Of Counsel attorney Michael D. Newton made partner.

Mr. Newton has been Of Counsel with the firm since 1998. His primary field of practice involves insurance defense, motor vehicle liability, premises liability, and workers’ compensation. He is licensed to practice in all state and federal courts in Tennessee and the United States Supreme Court; he is a member of the Chattanooga, Tennessee, and American Bar Associations, the Defense Research Institute, and of the Tennessee Defense Lawyers Association.

Mr. Newton holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Birmingham-Southern College and his Juris Doctor from the University of Memphis. He and his wife Raquel live with their daughter Merrit in Lookout Valley.

Founded in 1882, Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, PLLC serves clients from its offices in the four major cities of Tennessee in the prosecution and defense of complex cases and general litigation with an emphasis upon product liability, premises liability, pharmaceutical liability, environmental law, and insurance coverage and defense.

The firm also represents clients in the areas of corporate and business law.

Source : chattanoogan.com

On Wednesday, Itzy Cueli, who was raped outside Bally’s Fitness Center in Kendall, Fla., in 2000, is scheduled to testify before the Florida Legislature against a Republican-backed bill to make it much harder for crime victims to sue businesses.

She is one of three women who were raped outside the Bally’s facility that year. The rapist later admitted that he targeted the spot. After the attacks, Bally’s management significantly beefed up security.

Michael Haggard, a Coral Gables, Fla., plaintiffs lawyer representing the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, said the premises liability bill would have blocked the three women from seeking legal redress against Bally’s.

The bill is just one element in a sweeping set of controversial tort lawsuit restrictions that Gov. Jeb Bush and Republican legislative leaders are pushing through the Legislature this spring. It’s one of the most dramatic packages of tort law changes ever seen in Florida.

More : law.com

NEW YORK-A New York trial court decision last week ultimately could lead to greatly expanded asbestos liability losses for insurers-including some cases in which insurers already have hammered out coverage settlements, policyholder attorneys say.

The trial court ruled on May 8 that a class of 20,000 third-party asbestosis claimants could recover under the premises/operations provision of the general liability insurance policies of a now-defunct insulation contractor.

With little case law and mounting coverage disputes over whether premises/operations provisions can be tapped for coverage, the decision could be costly to insurers if other courts look to this decision for guidance and rule similarly, policyholder attorneys say. That’s because liability insurers historically did not include aggregate limits in their premises/operations policy provisions, the attorneys said.

Many earlier insurer settlements over asbestos claims focused on policies’ products hazard and completed operations provisions, which generally…

Source : accessmylibrary.com

On a warm morning in July 2000, Charles Morris IV and some friends pulled into a strip mall in Nestor, a south San Diego neighborhood of small businesses and modest homes with a chronic street gang problem.

They parked outside of Victoria’s Taco Shop, an all-night spot just after 1 a.m., and while his friends went inside to order, Morris waited next to the car.

In the next few minutes, what happened to Morris and how the taco shop’s employees reacted would place Victoria’s at the center of a potentially far-reaching case that will be heard today by the state Supreme Court in Los Angeles.

Morris was assaulted by a documented gang member, Richard Cuevas, and was left beaten, bleeding and with his throat slashed.

More : signonsandiego.com

Correction: An asbestos claimants’ attorney, August J. Matteis Jr. of Kelley Drye & Warren L.L.P., who was quoted in a May 14 article, “Ruling Favors Asbestos Contractors,” was with Gilbert Randolph L.L.P. in Washington when he represented the claimants. Gilbert Randolph continues to represent the claimants.

NEW YORK-A New York trial court decision last week ultimately could lead to greatly expanded asbestos liability losses for insurers-including some cases in which insurers already have hammered out coverage settlements, policyholder attorneys say.

The trial court ruled on May 8 that a class of 20,000 third-party asbestosis claimants could recover under the premises/operations provision of the general liability insurance policies of a now-defunct insulation contractor.

With little case law and mounting coverage disputes over whether premises/operations provisions can be tapped for coverage, the decision could be costly to insurers if other courts look to this decision for guidance and…

Source : accessmylibrary.com

It’s a fact of business today: Robbery or assault can take place on your premises. As heinous as these crimes are, they only account for half the story: It’s also possible for the business owner to be legally liable to the victim after the criminal leaves.

Despite the most vigilant care, violent crime can– and does–take place at the worksite. When the worst happens, immediate concern should be given to alleviate, to whatever degree possible, the suffering of the victim. Still, if you haven’t been reading the papers…here’s a surprise: The law can hold you, the premises’ owner/tenant, liable in a civil lawsuit, even though it was a third party, the criminal, who robbed, raped or assaulted someone. That’s “premises liability.”

In the ’60s and ’70s, if such violence occurred in or about your place of business, the injured victims probably could not recover against you. But as violent crime increased, premises-liability cases multiplied and the courts’ attitudes changed. Today, many more decisions are finding the business that occupies the premises liable when such violence occurs. These decisions also tell us what you can do to minimize your company’s exposure–to prevent legal problems and stay out of court. More important, acting now to protect your company may possibly prevent injury or even death of some potential crime victim.

We used to think of crime as only a public problem: It was the duty of police and government to ensure the safety of its citizens. Today you, as an owner or executive, are being made to share some of that responsibility under principles of premises liability.

A Few Basic Points

* Yes, this risk can affect your business. Although premises-liability cases generally focus on hotels, apartment houses, college dormitories and stores, 26 percent of defendants surveyed from 1983 to 1991 involved “office” or “other” sites. And violence on business premises is on the increase. The number of premises-liability cases involving violent crimes has reportedly doubled during the past five years to about 1,000 annually.

* Lawyers are advertising…

Source : accessmylibrary.com

URBANA-Illinois landowners should reassess their options for granting permission for use of their land for recreational purposes, according to a recent University of Illinois Extension study.

“In some circumstances, changes in the Illinois Recreational Use Act made this year by the Illinois legislature may actually increase a landowner’s liability risk,” said Bryan Endres, a U of I College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences assistant professor of agricultural law who co-authored the study with U of I Extension agricultural law specialist Donald Uchtmann. “This is an important issue for many Illinois farmers who allow hunting and other recreational activities on their property.

“The changes in the law which went into effect in August actually define protected recreational use as hunting and recreational shooting. Landowners opening their land for hiking, swimming, bicycling, bird watching, ATV riding or other activities are not protected from premises liability claims.”Continue article

A 2003 Illinois Supreme Court decision led to the 2005 legislative action. That court decision upset the long-settled expectation on the part of many rural landowners that they had liability protection under the Recreational Use Act. The decision narrowed the scope of that protection by offering such protection only to those landowners who opened their property to the general public for recreational use.

“According to the Court, the Act no longer protected landowners who allowed only invited or selected guests onto their land for recreational purposes,” said Endres.

More : agriculture.com

An Elkton grandmother’s lawsuit against Wal-Mart, set for a second jury trial next week after an appeals panel reversed a $208,000 verdict in her favor last year, took an unexpected turn last week when the retail giant admitted liability.

The premises liability lawsuit will go back to a federal jury in Baltimore only on the issue of the damages.

Jeanne D. Byrd and her husband, Clyde, claim she sustained $500,000 in injuries when she was knocked to the ground by boxes that fell on her in the Elkton Wal-Mart while she was birthday shopping…

Source : accessmylibrary.com

But people in the legal profession agree that the shift in jury sentiments is not the result of an increase in frivolous lawsuits.

“In medical malpractice, if anything, the quality of cases has gotten better,” said Justice Freedman, who has tried numerous medical malpractice and products liability cases. “Plaintiffs know that these cases are very costly and time-consuming, and I think they’ve become more reluctant” to sue.

G. Marc Whitehead, a Minneapolis trial lawyer who was co-chairman of a Brookings Institution conference in 1992 on the future of the civil jury, said the sense among lawyers “is that litigation is actually down overall,” and added, “People find it’s too expensive, slow and difficult.”

As has long been the case, jury awards average slightly more when government agencies are the defendants, but the size of that gap has not changed in recent years.

More : query.nytimes.com