Category: Damages

Medical Diagnostic Errors are the Primary Cause of Malpractice Claims

Based on a Johns Hopkins University study, a prior blog post provides some alarming statistics on surgical “never events” (a term used in the medical community to describe a preventable surgical event that is “never” supposed to occur) that actually do occur.  More recently from the same university, a study concluded the following: Of approximately …

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Seventh Circuit pulls back on Daubert expert witness exclusions

Stollings vs. Ryobi Technologies (7th Cir, August 2, 2013) involves a product liability suit for faulty design in which the Plaintiff sustained injuries on a power saw. Plaintiff planned to offer expert testimony from an academic named Graham that the installation of: “… automatic braking technology on all power saws would be socially beneficial because …

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Another Daubert reversal of disallowed expert testimony

On July 19, in re: Gregory Call vs. Pure Earth, et al, the Third Circuit reversed a district court’s ruling that excluded expert witness testimony based on Daubert grounds. The matter was remanded for a new trial on damages. Although the Third Circuit addressed the specifics of this case in a manner that probably is …

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Appeals Court Rules that “Size Matters”

A recent decision by the Georgia Court of Appeals in the matter of Monitronics v. Veasley upheld a multi-million dollar jury award to an alarm company customer who suffered an in-home assault.  The alarm company argued that their contract included a $250 limitation of liability for any service related losses.  The Appeals Court, in a …

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Damage issues become more important in class certifications

In Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, No. 11-864 (March 27, 2013), in a 5 to 4 ruling, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) determined that damage issues need to be addressed as part of the class certification process, and that such damages need to be consistent with the alleged liability issues. Trial counts must …

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The Appropriate Discount Rate in a Lost Earnings Claim

Damage experts don’t always agree regarding the appropriate discount rate and underlying methodology for a lost earnings claim and certain commonly applied methods actually provide a windfall to Plaintiffs.  The chosen rate can make a meaningful difference in the economic damages conclusion.  A recent article, “Lost Compensation Settlement Tool Allows You To Assess Economic Damages …

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Novel argument still does not extend jurisdiction of U.S. patent damages

In re: Power Integrations, Inc. v. Fairchild Semiconductor Int’l, Inc. et al. No. 11-1218, -1238 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 26, 2013), the Court addressed the issue of the interplay of general damages theory with patent damages. In general, damages are calculated in a manner that allows the plaintiff to be put back to an economic position …

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$40 Million Being Distributed to Skechers Customers

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) is currently distributing $40 million in association with its false advertising settlement with Skechers.  The FTC alleged that Skechers had marketed its Shape-up athletic shoes and other toning shoes based on unproven benefits, specifically stating that Skechers “deceptively advertised its toning shoes, including making unfounded claims that its Shape-ups shoes …

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Top 10 Trade Secret Verdicts

A trade secret, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization, is defined as: Broadly speaking, any confidential business information which provides an enterprise a competitive edge may be considered a trade secret. Trade secrets encompass manufacturing or industrial secrets and commercial secrets. The unauthorized use of such information by persons other than the holder is …

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Court Concludes E-Mail Communication Indicates Binding Contract

E-Mails seem to be taking over as a primary source of communication.  They are a quick and efficient means of communication and many people are accessible via email no matter where they are (i.e. through their mobile/smart phones).  However, many probably do not think of e-mails as formal documents or binding contracts.  Shepard Davidson and …

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