Category: Torts

Lawyering, Media, Politics, Torts

The Case Against Andrew Weissmann: MSNBC Analyst and Mueller Aide Faces a Trump-Like Lawsuit

When hired by MSNBC as a legal analyst Andrew Weissmann, host Ari Melber explained that Weissmann is a “legend” while others heralded his insider perspective on cases. While many disagreed, Weissmann now has the inside scoop on a major defamation lawsuit in Washington, D.C. He is also the defendant. The controversial former aide to Special Counsel Robert Mueller (and NYU law professor) is being sued after declaring that attorney Stefan Passantino coached former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson to lie before Congress. Continue reading “The Case Against Andrew Weissmann: MSNBC Analyst and Mueller Aide Faces a Trump-Like Lawsuit” →

Politics, Torts

Roger Stone Denies Using Vulgar Reference for Casey DeSantis . . . That Still Appears on His Account

Yesterday, we discussed the attack of Trump associate Roger Stone on Casey DeSantis for referring to her children in speeches. The story by Mediaite included screenshots of a posting. Stone was responding to a posting by GOP congressional candidate Mike Crispi criticizing DeSantis for repeatedly referring to her children. Stone reportedly added “SeeUNextTuesday,”using the common slang for the vulgar word. Stone has now denied that he ever used the slur. Continue reading “Roger Stone Denies Using Vulgar Reference for Casey DeSantis . . . That Still Appears on His Account” →

Criminal law, Politics, Torts

No, Trump Supporters Cannot “Citizen Arrest” the Judge or James in New York

The Internet has erupted over another reposting by former president Donald Trump. Trump reposted a supporter’s “fantasy” of executing a citizen’s arrest of Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James. It was described as a fantasy but it remains a dangerous (and uninformed) suggestion that some could easily take seriously. That is particularly the case after the reckless attacks of Trump on critics as “vermin” and pledging to go after them if reelected. Continue reading “No, Trump Supporters Cannot “Citizen Arrest” the Judge or James in New York” →

Academia, Torts

Professor Luna Teaches Animal Torts at GWU Law School
Day Class Torts
Evening Class Torts

Yesterday, the students of day and evening torts were honored by a lecture from the leading American expert on animal tort liability, Professor Luna.  Herr Professor taught subjects like the “one free bite rule” and animus revertendi with the insight and intensity expected from a world renown canine academic. Continue reading “Professor Luna Teaches Animal Torts at GWU Law School” →

Academia, Torts

Virginia Teacher Wins Major Ruling Against the School District After Being Shot by Six-Year-Old

There was a major and somewhat surprising ruling in the case of Abigail Zwerner, the elementary school teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student in January. Zwerner sued the school district for $40 million after learning that school officials knew that the child had brought a gun to school that day and that the child had previously threatened teachers. Newport News Circuit Court Judge Matthew Hoffman ruled that Zwerner was not confined to recovery under worker’s compensation because the shooting did not fall within the scope of her employment. Continue reading “Virginia Teacher Wins Major Ruling Against the School District After Being Shot by Six-Year-Old” →

Torts

Spooky Torts: The 2023 List of Litigation Horrors

Here is my annual list of Halloween torts and crimes. Halloween of course remains a holiday seemingly designed for personal injury lawyers around the world and this year’s additions show why. Halloween has everything for a torts-filled holiday: battery, trespass, defamation, nuisance, product liability and more. Our annual listing is not intended to belittle or ignore the serious losses that can occur on this and other holidays. However, my students and I often discuss the remarkably wide range of torts that comes with All Hallow’s Eve.

So, with no further ado, here is this year’s updated list of actual cases related to Halloween. Continue reading “Spooky Torts: The 2023 List of Litigation Horrors” →

Animals, Torts

Master and Commander: The Bidens Are Now Strictly Liable for German Shepherd

I have been writing for years about the deepening legal problems associated with the biting of secret service agents and others at the White House by the Biden dogs. The repeat offender remains Commander who has at least a dozen biting incidents. Under the common law, Commander is now considered a vicious animal and the Bidens are now strictly liable for such bites. What is notable is that liability for such bites could fall on the taxpayers. [Commander has become the latest Biden dog sent into exile due to biting people].

Continue reading “Master and Commander: The Bidens Are Now Strictly Liable for German Shepherd” →

Criminal law, Torts

Tree Cutting Dispute Leads to Murder Charges in Florida

Edward Druzolowski, 78, is facing a second-degree murder charge in Florida after gunning down his neighbor over a tree cutting dispute. Brian Ford, 42, was on Druzolowski’s property trimming limbs from a tree between their property when Druzolowski told him to leave. What unfolded led not only to murder charges, but may lead to a controversial defense. Continue reading “Tree Cutting Dispute Leads to Murder Charges in Florida” →

Torts

Backpackers Abandon Seriously Injured Friend in Grand Canyon After Calling Sheriff

In torts, we discuss the “no duty to rescue” doctrine in torts. Under the common law, you are not legally required to assist a person in peril if you had no responsibility for their injury. A recent incident in the Grand Canyon National Park raised some of the underlying issues that we debate in our discussion of this doctrine. A 63-year-old hiker was rescued after he was injured in a fall and his friends left him behind to continue their “backpacking adventure.” Continue reading “Backpackers Abandon Seriously Injured Friend in Grand Canyon After Calling Sheriff” →

Bizarre, Columns, Politics, Torts

Hunter Plays Hamlet on the Delaware: New Filings in the Laptop Litigation Take a Shakespearean Twist

 

To paraphrase Hamlet, there is “something rotten” in the state of Delaware. Filings in the Delaware Supreme Court this week were made public in the litigation involving Mac Isaac, the owner of the computer repair shop where Hunter Biden abandoned his now infamous laptop. Miranda Devine at the New York Post has a detailed story on the new evidence. It appears that Hunter Biden is terribly embarrassed by a laptop that may not be his and pictures that may not show him. I previously wrote how his countersuit against Isaac would go forward on this bizarre basis in claiming privacy harm. Well, Hunter’s performance has proven positively Shakespearean as he tries to maintain these conflicted legal and factual claims. Continue reading “Hunter Plays Hamlet on the Delaware: New Filings in the Laptop Litigation Take a Shakespearean Twist” →

International, Torts

British Court Rules that Competent and Conscious Patient Can Be Denied Life-Sustaining Treatment Against Her Will

In my torts class, I often compare the different approaches and doctrines in the United States and the United Kingdom. One of the most pronounced is the position and authority of physicians on issues like consent and malpractice. This week produced a particularly striking example. British doctors are seeking to take a 19-year-old critically ill female patient off the intensive care despite her objections and those of her parents. Unlike most such cases, the woman known only as “ST” is conscious and communicative. Yet, the doctors argue that she is not being realistic about her chances of survival from a rare disorder.  Now a British court has agreed and ordered that she can be placed on end-of-life care against her will. Continue reading “British Court Rules that Competent and Conscious Patient Can Be Denied Life-Sustaining Treatment Against Her Will” →

Courts, Torts

Giuliani Loses Defamation Case By Default

Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani lost a defamation lawsuit by default Wednesday in Washington, D.C. In a 57-page ruling, United States District Judge Beryl Howell shredded Giuliani for not producing evidence in the case filed by election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. She then ordered a default and the payment of the plaintiffs’ attorneys fees totaling tens of thousands of dollars as well as punitive damages. Continue reading “Giuliani Loses Defamation Case By Default” →

Academia, Criminal law, Torts

University of South Carolina Student Killed in Possible Castle Doctrine Case

A terrible tragedy has befallen the University of South Carolina after sophomore  Nicholas Anthony Donofrio, 20, was shot and killed on the front porch of a house in Columbia. He was reportedly trying to enter the wrong home near the campus around 2 am. Donofrio lived at a house on the same street. It is an all-too-familiar pattern that we often discuss in my torts class where people are confused and try to enter the wrong home. Continue reading “University of South Carolina Student Killed in Possible Castle Doctrine Case” →

Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Politics, Torts

Alec Baldwin’s Trump Defense: A Torts Case Where Imitation Merged With Litigation

I previously wrote a column on what I described as Alex Baldwin’s greatest imitation of Donald Trump . . . in a lawsuit. Baldwin was sued for a reprehensible attack on on the family of Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, killed in the Aug. 26 suicide attack in Kabul during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.. He falsely accused the marine’s sister Roice McCollum of being an “insurrectionist”  but insisted that his rhetoric was protected political speech and that he was not responsible for how third parties responded to his inflammatory postings on social media.  Baldwin’s channeling of Trump arguments in court has proven equally successful. As expected, a court has ruled for Baldwin after finding that the sister of the fallen Marine was a limited public figure.

Continue reading “Alec Baldwin’s Trump Defense: A Torts Case Where Imitation Merged With Litigation” →