LA law....
 

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_11240824


L.A. courts make most-unjust list
By Troy Anderson, Staff Writer


Known as "the bank" by attorneys because of its excessive jury verdicts, Los Angeles County has the sixth-most- unjust civil-court system in the nation, according to an annual report to be released today.

Claiming that the county is one of the most desirable places in the nation to file lawsuits, the Washington, D.C.- based American Tort Reform Foundation listed it as one of seven "judicial hellholes" nationwide.

"Shakedown lawsuits brought against small businesses under the Americans with Disabilities Act and otherwise astonishingly excessive verdicts are again making Los Angeles one of the places to be for personal injury lawyers," said ATRF President Tiger Joyce. "And a troubling number of large asbestos awards and one recent string of lawsuits stemming from a practical joke at a firehouse put the county over the top this year."

But Los Angeles Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini said the report is based on an "entirely subjective series of observations."

"We receive 1 million new nontraffic filings per year," he said. "In a court with that caseload, it's inevitable some people will be unhappy with the results of their litigation."

In the report, the authors wrote that "litigation shakedowns" made the county an "unmistakably inhospitable" place for civil defendants. Part of the court's difficulties in curbing these lawsuits, excessive awards and inventive litigation "may be that the judiciary has enough trouble
policing itself," the authors wrote.

In October, a state appellate court ruled that the county's practice of providing supplemental cash benefits to judges violated the state constitution. The judges, whom the county pays an additional $46,436 a year on top of their state salaries and benefits, have received the payments since the late 1980s at a cost to taxpayers of at least $120 million, the authors wrote.

Some attorneys have alleged that the county's payments to judges make it nearly impossible to get a fair trial in cases involving the county.

Last year, the California State Bar Court urged that taxpayer-advocate attorney Richard I. Fine, a Tarzana resident, be disbarred, accusing him of moral turpitude. The move came several years after Fine alleged that the judges had not disclosed that the county paid them the extra cash benefits in cases in which the county was a party.

In the report, the authors wrote that a new type of "shakedown" lawsuit involves claims that people with disabilities are denied access to places such as restaurants and other small businesses, often based on "trivial technical violations."

The county is also home to many of the nation's largest asbestos verdicts, including more than $20 million for a man's alleged exposure while doing repairs and maintenance work on marine equipment, the authors wrote.

Last year, the city paid $1.5 million to Tennie Pierce, an African-American firefighter on the receiving end of a prank in which dog food was mixed in with his spaghetti. Two white fire captains later sued, claiming they were scapegoats and subjected to discriminatory discipline and were awarded $1.6 million.

"In the end, it seems everyone is a victim of discrimination and everyone gets paid," the authors wrote.

[email protected] 213-974-8985

Interesting - I believe this. I was called for jury duty and almost placed on an asbestos case but I went put on my best performance during during voire dire (i think thats what its called) and was gladly kicked off the case :winkwink: Im sick of all these whackos looking for a quick buck

how did you get kicked off? might come in handy. I have jury duty in april :(

Thats weird

So somebody put dog food in another guys spaghetti and it cost the city close to $3 million? Good lord, those firefighters would not last long in New York City...

I made up a story about my fear of getting mesothelioma from the cottage cheese ceilings in my grandmothers house...

You know I think we would see a lot less of this if cities and companies and counties and whatever were not always held accountable for what a single employee does. I see absolutely no reason why the city should have to pay somebody millions of dollars because another single person put dog food in their spaghetti... if you want, take the city to some kind of court so that the offending employee gets punished or somesuch like that. Millions of dollars? Ridiculous, and in the end it only hurts us all...

good move, I was gonna go with the race card AND I don't believe anything the police say.

shit, I'm just hoping I don't have to put dog food in my spag after SS runs out :(