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Appeals court tosses Armenian payments law
Headline Legal News |
2012/02/24 09:55
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A federal appeals court on Thursday struck down a novel and controversial California law that allowed descendants of 1.5 million Armenians who perished in Turkey nearly a century ago to file claims against life insurance companies accused of reneging on policies.
The move came when a specially convened 11-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously tossed out a class action lawsuit filed against Munich Re after two of its subsidiaries refused to pay claims.
The ruling, written by Judge Susan Graber, said the California law trampled on U.S. foreign policy — the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government.
The California Legislature labeled the Armenian deaths as genocide, a term the Turkish government vehemently argued was wrongly applied during a time of civil unrest in the country.
The court noted the issue is so fraught with politics that President Obama studiously avoided using the word genocide during a commemorative speech in April 2010 noting the Armenian deaths.
The tortured legal saga began in 2000 when the California Legislature passed a law enabling Armenian heirs to file claims with insurance companies for policies sold around the turn of the 20th century. It gave the heirs until 2010 to file lawsuits over unpaid insurance benefits.
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A Class Action Has Been Filed Against GNC
Headline Legal News |
2012/02/22 10:01
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Abbey Spanier Rodd & Abrams, LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against General Nutrition Centers, Inc. ("GNC"), Cellucor Sports Nutrition, Woodbolt Distribution, Ltd, Woodbolt Management LLC and Woodbolt International for, among other things, violations of the California Consumer Leal Remedies Act, the California False Advertising Law, and the California Unfair Competition Act. This action, filed in the United States District Court, Central District of California (Civil Action No. 12-1336), has been brought as a class action on behalf of all persons in the United States who purchased Cellucor's C-4 Extreme at any time during the four years prior to the filing of this lawsuit (the "Class Period").
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, Defendants engaged in an illegal and deceptive practice of promoting, marketing, distributing and/or selling C-4 Extreme as a natural dietary supplement when, in fact, C-4 Extreme contains a dangerous substance known by many names, including "1,3 Dimethylamylamine," "1,3 Dimethylhexaneamine HCl," "1,3 Dimethylhexaneamine," "Methylhexaneamine," and "Geranamine" (known as "DMAA"). Plaintiff alleges that Defendants failed to disclose that the DMAA contained in C-4 Extreme is wholly synthetic, manufactured and not derived from the geranium plant.
At the time Plaintiff and the class of consumers purchased and used C-4 Extreme, they were unaware that C-4 Extreme contained the synthetic and dangerous stimulant DMAA and that DMAA was not derived from the geranium plant or any other natural source. Plaintiff alleges that the DMAA contained in C-4 Extreme is a synthetic product that is illegal and dangerous and has dangerous side effects. The safety concerns associated with DMAA have been well-documented, including concerns that DMAA is a dangerous and addictive substance that can cause headache, nausea and stroke. Experts have noted that DMAA has a chemical structure similar to amphetamines and ephedrine and can cause increases in heart rate and blood pressure and even death.
www.abbeyspanier.com |
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Court says police cannot be sued over warrant
Headline Legal News |
2012/02/22 09:54
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The Supreme Court said Wednesday that California police officers cannot be sued because they used a warrant that may have been defective to search a woman's house.
The high court threw out the lawsuit against Los Angeles County Sheriff's Detective Curt Messerschmidt and other police officials, who were being sued personally by Augusta Millender for the search on her house and confiscation of her shotgun.
Police were looking for her foster son, Jerry Ray Bowen, who had recently shot at his ex-girlfriend with a black sawed-off shotgun. She told police that he may be at his foster mother's house, so Messerschmidt got a warrant to look for any weapons on the property and gang-related material, since Bowen was supposed to be a member of the Mona Park Crips and the Dodge Park Crips. The detective had his supervisors approve the warrant before submitting to the district attorney and a judge, who also approved the warrant. |
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Italian court convicts 2 in asbestos-linked deaths
Headline Legal News |
2012/02/13 10:16
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An Italian court Monday convicted two men of negligence in some 2,000 asbestos-related deaths blamed on contamination from a construction company, sentencing each of them to 16 years in prison and ordering them to pay millions in what officials called a historic case.
Italian Health Minister Renato Balduzzi hailed the verdict by the three-judge Turin court as "without exaggeration, truly historic," noting that it came after a long battle for justice.
"It's a great day, but that doesn't mean the battle against asbestos is over," he told Sky TG24 TV, stressing that it is a worldwide problem.
Prosecutors said Jean-Louise de Cartier of Belgium and Stephan Schmidheiny of Switzerland, both key shareholders in the Swiss construction firm Eternit, failed to stop asbestos fibers left over from production of roof coverings and pipes at its northern Italian factories from spreading across the region.
During the trial, which has stretched on since December 2009, some 2,100 deaths or illnesses were blamed on the asbestos fibers, which can cause grave lung problems, including cancer. Prosecutors said the contamination stretched over decades.
The defendants had denied wrongdoing.
Hundreds of people, many of them who had lost parents or spouses to asbestos-linked diseases, crowded the courtroom and two nearby halls to gather for the verdict. When the convictions were announced, some of the spectators wept.
Two hours after announcing the convictions, Judge Giuseppe Casalbore was still reading the court's complete verdict, which included awards of monetary damages from civil lawsuits from some 6,300 victims or their relatives who alleged that loved ones either died or were left ill from asbestos. |
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Appeals court: Seniors can't reject Medicare right
Headline Legal News |
2012/02/07 06:08
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A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that seniors who receive Social Security cannot reject their legal right to Medicare benefits, in a rare case of Americans suing to get out of a government entitlement.
Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey is among the five senior citizens who sued to stop their automatic eligibility for Medicare. But the appeals court ruled in a split decision that the law gives them no way to opt out of their eligibility if they want to keep their Social Security benefits.
Armey, a Texas Republican, and his co-plaintiffs say their private insurers limit their coverage because they are eligible for Medicare, but they would prefer the coverage from their private insurers.
"We understand plaintiffs' frustration with their insurance situation and appreciate their desire for better private insurance coverage," Judge Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a majority opinion joined by Douglas Ginsburg, both Republican appointees. But they agreed with the Obama administration that the law says those over age 65 who enroll in Social Security are automatically entitled to Medicare Part A, which covers services including hospital, nursing home care, hospice and home health care.
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Investment Fraud Litigation |
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Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a practice that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in losses, in violation of the securities laws. Securities Arbitration. Generally speaking, securities fraud consists of deceptive practices in the stock and commodity markets, and occurs when investors are enticed to part with their money based on untrue statements.
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The content contained on the web site has been prepared by Securities Law News as a service to the internet community and is not intended to constitute legal advice or a substitute for consultation with a licensed legal professional in a particular case. | Affordable Law Firm Website Design by Law Promo |
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