TortLaw.us

Five years ago, auto insurers agreed to drop rates in West Virginia — which has some of the nation’s steepest car insurance premiums — in exchange for a small reform in tort litigation.

Liberals pooh-poohed it at the time.

Wiser heads did not.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the largest insurer of autos in West Virginia and in the nation, is decreasing its overall rate level in West Virginia an average of 0.2 percent effective Aug. 30.

After this rate change is implemented, State Farm’s overall rate level in West Virginia will be 17.0 percent lower than it was in 2005 when a series of legal and insurance reforms were approved by the West Virginia Legislature and signed into law by Governor Joe Manchin. This rate change was reviewed and approved by the West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner…

…About one in every four cars insured in West Virginia is insured by State Farm.

By DIONNE SEARCEY

Dozens of attorneys next week will gather before a panel of judges in an attempt to influence two key questions in the hundreds of lawsuits triggered by the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster: where the cases will be heard and who will preside over them.

The seven federal judges have been charged with deciding whether or how to consolidate the more than 200 federal civil suits filed by everyone from fishermen to injured rig workers against BP PLC, rig-owner Transocean Ltd. and other contractors tied to the spill.

In mass torts, where a friendly judge or jury pool can translate into hundreds of millions of dollars in verdicts, settlements and attorneys’ fees, the setting is everything. That’s particularly true in the oil litigation, as the spill has touched the lives of many in the Gulf—even the judge who could be chosen to oversee the cases.

“There’s a huge amount of discretion that has to be exercised here,” said Richard Nagareda, a law professor at Vanderbilt University. “All the lawyers involved are much more concerned about who that judge is than whether they have to fly wherever for the next five years.”

The panel, which will meet more than 2,000 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, in Boise, Idaho, will issue an order in the days following the July 29 hearing.

The diversity of the oil suits, which range from civil racketeering and personal-injury suits to claims from out-of-work shrimpers and owners of vacant hotels on the Gulf shore, may prompt the panel to choose several venues.

Many plaintiffs’ attorneys are rooting for New Orleans, thought to be teeming with potential jurors who have been negatively affected by the spill. Defense attorneys want a judge in the oil-friendly city of Houston.

Some attorneys have requested a middle ground: Lafayette, La., close enough for easy access for witnesses and evidence collection but far enough from the spill’s epicenter to avoid anti-oil vitriol.

Another idea being floated among attorneys is importing an out-of-state judge to New Orleans who is immune to spill bias. One faction has suggested New York federal judge Shira Scheindlin, who declined to comment.

Also in the mix is Texas federal judge W. Royal Furgeson Jr., who also happens to be a member of the Boise panel. Judge Furgeson did not return a request for comment. Some attorneys think the panel could split the cases among several judges.

Among other possible candidates is Houston’s Judge Lynn N. Hughes, who has heard arguments on Transocean’s request to limit its liability. “I am perfectly willing to do whatever is assigned to me,” Judge Hughes said.

There is also Judge Carl J. Barbier in New Orleans, who has about five-dozen oil suits before him. Judge Barbier is among the last judges standing in that district, where many have recused themselves, citing conflicts. Judge Eldon Fallon, a go-to judge for mass torts in the district, recused himself because his son-in-law is a plaintiffs’ attorney handling oil suits.

To ward off his own claims of conflicts, Judge Barbier sold off Transocean and Halliburton bonds about a month after the suits came before him. On Thursday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request from BP and Cameron International Corp., the maker of a blowout preventer that failed on the well, to seek to have him recused, but left open channels for that possibility. Judge Barbier declined to comment.

In Boise, the hearing itself will be largely pro forma, as attorneys already have laid out their arguments for venue in filings before the panel of seven judges.

Also, BP’s $20 billion escrow fund, which promises a faster payout than the courts, has prompted many plaintiffs to drop suits.

For plaintiffs’ attorneys, the hearing is also about showmanship, with everyone who’s anyone in the world of personal-injury and product-liability suits making an appearance in the out-of-the-way city.

“The biggest problem may be: Where are they going to park all the private jets,” joked one lawyer, whose firm has at least one.

The panel’s chief judge, John G. Heyburn II, has said he wants the hearing to last only an hour. It will be up to the attorneys themselves to decide who presents arguments for each venue. A lawyer for the firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP will speak on behalf of BP; Louisiana attorney Kerry Miller will present Transocean’s argument.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys have taken to emails, phone calls and hastily organized dinners in order to divide up the mere minutes they may be allotted for arguments. They will finalize the matter in a courtroom scrum moments ahead of next week’s hearing.

“Most of the lawyers involved are on pretty good behavior,” said Dana Taschner of the Lanier Law Firm, which is representing fishermen and shrimpers. “They don’t want to alienate anybody if it ends up in someone else’s backyard.”

Some attorneys have groused about the lack of five-star accommodations in Boise. But one thing they’ll find that they might not get in the Gulf: oysters. Murphy’s Seafood Bar & Grill is awash in oysters from the non-oil-tainted bays of Washington State.

“They’re fantastic,” said Drake Hooper, the bar’s general manager.

Write to Dionne Searcey at dionne.searcey@wsj.com

By JILL ZEMAN BLEED Associated Press Writer

TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) – A government witness said Wednesday that the five young woman who testified last year that evangelist Tony Alamo took them as a “wife” and sexually abused them as minors should receive $2.7 million each for physical and mental pain suffered.

Federal prosecutors are seeking restitution from Alamo, who was sentenced last year to 175 years in prison for taking young girls across state lines for sex.

Dr. Sharon Cooper, a developmental and forensic pediatrician, said the women continue to suffer chronic back pain because they were forced to give Alamo massages every night while they were kept at his compound near Fouke in southwestern Arkansas. Each woman, now aged 17-33, also suffers persistent and painful menstrual cramps associated with sexual abuse, Cooper said.

Alamo, shackled at the ankles as he sat at the defense table, scowled and sighed during Cooper’s testimony. His lawyers will cross-examine the government witness later Wednesday.

Alamo’s ministry is said to be worth millions, but many of its affiliated businesses are held in his followers’ names.

At last year’s trial, the women testified that Alamo kept firm control over everything at his complex. Cooper said his five victims were undereducated – none had a high school diploma – and all lacked insurance.

“Without treatment, they will struggle mightily,” Cooper said.

The 75-year-old pastor presides over a church that claims 100-200 members. Trucking companies, residential property and a number of other ventures fund the ministry’s work, including a printing operation that prints church paraphernalia that blames the government or the Vatican – or both – for his and the world’s problems.

Alamo once owned a Nashville, Tenn., clothing store that catered to celebrities desiring his elaborately decorated jean jackets. His home at Dyer included a heart-shaped swimming pool, but followers who lived on the grounds kept sleeping bags in meeting rooms.

At a bond hearing in 2008, an FBI agent said businesses produce a “substantial amount” of income controlled by Alamo but that none of the property shows up in the minister’s name – though he couldn’t provide an estimate of Alamo’s worth.

In the 1990s, Alamo spent four years in prison for tax evasion and the IRS laid claim to millions of dollars in back taxes. Among items sold at auction were the plans for the studded jacket Michael Jackson wore on his “Bad” album.

Prevously reported: Judge orders $500K for each of preacher’s victims

TEXARKANA, Ark. (AP) – A federal judge says five young women abused by evangelist Tony Alamo (uh-LAH-moe) while they were minors are each entitled to a half-million dollars for physical and mental pain they suffered.

The 75-year-old was convicted last year of taking underage girls across state lines for sex and was sentenced to 175 years. A federal judge Wednesday ordered restitution for the five, who are now aged 17-33.

A defense lawyer said Alamo shouldn’t have to pay anything.

A pediatrician testified the women suffer chronic back pain, persistent menstrual cramps and depression. Prosecutors sought $2.7 million for each woman.

The government says it is confident Alamo has the money, but that it might be spread among business ventures held in the names of his followers.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

By KIMBERLY HEFLING Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) – The wife of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says she’s concerned about suicide among spouses of service members.

Deborah Mullen says she’s been told that there have been so many suicide attempts by Army spouses that it’s impossible to track.

Mrs. Mullen spoke standing next to her husband Mike at a suicide prevention conference Wednesday. She says the military needs to get a better handle on the problem. She says she’s concerned about military kids in crisis in such situations if a service member is deployed.

The military has seen an increase in suicide rates among all services since the start of the recent wars.

Mrs. Mullen says suicide prevention training with spouses in mind is needed.

By BEN DOBBIN and JUSTIN PRITCHARD Associated Press Writers

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) – Reports of high cadmium content in children’s jewelry imported from China have prompted a senior U.S. senator to press for legislation that would ban the toxic heavy metal from those products and toys.

New York Democrat Charles E. Schumer unveiled legislation Wednesday that he plans to introduce when Congress resumes session next week. He said it would “put an end to the use of cadmium in our children’s jewelry and toys once and for all … whether it’s made here or China or anywhere else. It will just stop it cold.”

It is the first specific legislative fix promised by a member of Congress following an Associated Press investigation that documented high levels of cadmium in jewelry bought at major chain stores in the United States.

Cadmium can hinder brain development in young children, according to recent research, and is known to cause cancer. Lab tests conducted for the AP on 103 pieces of low-priced children’s jewelry found 12 items with cadmium content above 10 percent of the total weight. Some were as much as 90 percent cadmium.

“It is just despicable that a manufacturer anywhere, in this case in China, would use something that’s known to be poisonous to children and put it in children’s jewelry to save a few bucks,” Schumer told reporters outside a dollar store in Rochester that sold charm bracelets with high cadmium content.

Schumer said he’ll aim to put the proposal on the Senate calendar in the next month and seek unanimous consent to get it approved.

Other members of Congress have suggested that legislation might be necessary. Congress passed a major consumer product safety overhaul in 2008, following a series of recalls of Chinese made goods. That law barred the use of lead in products for children under 12; in response, some Chinese jewelry manufacturers have turned to cadmium.

While the Consumer Product Safety Commission has the power to go after items with high cadmium content under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, the agency has never pursued an enforcement action against a product based on that authority.

In an interview, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said she wants to explore whether the CPSC has the power to limit cadmium in children’s jewelry. If not, she said, “we’ll have to turn to legislation.”

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., called word of cadmium in jewelry “alarming proof positive that more must be done to protect our families – especially children – from dangerous substances that end up in toys and household items.” He said he’s drafting a bill that would shift responsibility to make industry, not government, responsible for proving that consumer chemicals are safe.

Several major retailers have not waited for guidance from government. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. pulled from store shelves several items cited in AP’s report, including a charm bracelet and “The Princess and The Frog” pendants; on Tuesday, the jewelry and accessories store Claire’s said it would stop selling a “Best Friends” charm bracelet.

Meanwhile, an official with China’s product safety agency told AP it would examine the findings on cadmium contamination. “We just heard about this, and we will investigate,” said Wang Xin, a director general for the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Officials from two Chinese government-affiliated trade associations – the China Toy Association and the Gems and Jewelry Trade Association of China – said they had not received any instructions from Beijing to look into cadmium in children’s jewelry.

“As far as we know, the big Chinese companies made technological innovation a few years ago, and lead, nickel and cadmium levels all met standards,” said Shi Hongyue, secretary-general of Gems and Jewelry Trade Association. “We have over 1,000 member companies and we are still looking into the case.”

An employee for the China Toy Association, who only gave her surname Qin, said the group hadn’t received complaints from “toy-quality inspection departments of other countries.”