This article by Kimberly Kindy discusses the basics of two bills that recently passed the House of Representatives concerning the state-law tort system and a class-action bill that would go beyond the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 and move more class actions from state court to federal court. Both bills operate by imposing federal law […]
Author Archives: Brian Wolfman
The complaint is here. The plaintiff is a D.C. wine bar (Cork) that competes with Trump's new businesses. Here is an excerpt that gives you the gist: Plaintiff's claims are based on the unfair advantage that the Trump International Hotel and its dining establishments, in a building owned by the United States and operated by the […]
That's the gist of this article by John Harwood. Here's an excerpt: Exit polls showed that just 10 percent of Trump's votes came from Americans earning $200,000 or more. Yet those voters would derive all benefits from the repeal of the two individual tax hikes targeting them: a 0.9 percent tax on their earnings, and a 3.8 […]
A new analysis finds that, under the proposed republican replacement for the ACA, 6 to 10 million would lose health insurance in the private market and, between 2020 and 2024, the Medicaid program would lose 4 to 6 million recipients. But health insurance industry profits would likely climb. Read about it here.
This article by Steve Eder explains the situation. A notice sent out at the class-certification stage in 2015 gave class members the right to opt out — as is required in all Rule 23(b)(3) class actions (such as the Trump University class action). But now a class member named Sherri Simpson is seeking to opt out at […]
In this essay, the Food and Drug Administration takes you into what the agency calls its "history vault" — where it stores evidence of drugs and devices that demanded — but didn't always get — proper regulation. (The vault contains more than 10,000 artifacts.) Some examples: a sample of Elixir Sulfanilamide, a 1937 wonder drug that was formulated with […]
Jacob Walpert has written Carpooling Liability?: Applying Tort Law Principles to the Joint Emergence of Self-Driving Automobiles and Transportation Network Companies. Here's the abstract: Self-driving automobiles have emerged as the future of vehicular travel, but this innovation is not developing in isolation. Simultaneously, the popularity of transportation network companies functioning as ride-hailing and ride-sharing services have […]
Yesterday, I posted about Drew Harwell's powerful article on allegations of widespread sexual harassment against Sterling Jewelers (the corporate conglomerate behind the chains known as Galleria of Jewelry and Kay Jewelers). My post explained that because the case was in arbitration (on account of a pre-dispute mandatory arbitration clause foisted on Sterling's employees), not in court, the […]
That's the issue taken up by journalist Jim Puzzanghera in Trump says businesses can't borrow because of Dodd-Frank. The numbers tell another story. Here's an excerpt: [A] main reason for dismantling Dodd-Frank often cited by Trump and critics of the law — that its slew of tougher financial regulations have significantly restricted bank lending — isn’t borne out by the data. Since […]
I was curious whether the Environmental Protection Agency's website on climate change had been modified since January 20. Perhaps it has been in some respects, but the site looks to still reflect the prior administration's views. "Climate change" is the third listed "popular topic" on the agency's website. The climate change homepage includes data that you […]