Project Lawsuit Abuse Newsmakers

Tort reformers have been turning up all over the internet recently. We took the liberty of rounding up some of the standouts. You may recognize a few friends of Project Lawsuit Abuse in there. Here are some of the newsmakers from around the country:

• Blitz USA Shuts Down, Lawsuit ‘Abuse’ Hammers Hometown

Imagine you’ve worked at the same job for the last 30 years. The majority of your working life has been spent helping put together red gasoline “cans,” meant to safely store gasoline, and sold at your local gas station and supermarket. Now imagine that your career and future livelihood are gone because of product misuse and lawsuit abuse. – International Business Times

• State malpractice judgments at 10-year low

The number of Oklahoma malpractice judgments has come down sharply in the past two years and is at the lowest level of the decade, according to federal statistics. “It appears to me lawsuit reform is already delivering what it promised,” said Secretary of State Glenn Coffee, who as a state senator was one of the leaders of efforts to control rising medical costs by restraining malpractice suits. –Tulsa World

• The debate continues over New York’s “scaffold law”

Controversy has re-ignited over a New York law that was enacted in 1882 and is commonly referred to as the “scaffold law.” A New York Daily News Columnist penned a piece in which he projected that replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge would “likely cost hundreds of millions more than necessary” because of various arcane state laws such as the scaffold law, earning him much criticism from the trial bar and labor unions. –Point of Law

• ‘C+’ in Chemistry Leads to Lawsuit Against Albany School District

A former Albany High student and his mother are suing the Albany Unified School District over a C+ grade the student received in 2011. The grade, they said, did not reflect the student’s academic achievements and, instead, was the result of intentional efforts by the teacher to ruin the boy’s future.–The Piedmont Patch