Steve Korris News
Court upholds Berkeley assessor's valuation
CHARLESTON – Turning a Berkeley County farm into an organic farming community lifted the value of an acre from $128 to $192,000, and the county gets to keep two years of the boost in property taxes.
Official tried in vain to avert Wall Street catastrophe
Born WASHINGTON - No one regulated the limitless derivative transactions that wound up wrecking Wall Street, but Brooksley Born would have regulated them if Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and Congress hadn't stopped her.
CSX wants to change asbestos procedure
Massie CHARLESTON - CSX Transportation wants a state judge to impose a 30-day deadline for a Pittsburgh law firm to separate baseless claims of asbestos exposure from legitimate claims.
Don't make asbestos cases about X-rays, national firm pleads
PHILADELPHIA -- A prominent national asbestos law Motley Rice law firm implores U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno not to turn asbestos litigation into an investigation of false X-ray reports.
Ketchum pushes to erase 'bad acts' evidence rule
Ketchum CHARLESTON – Jurors in criminal trials shouldn't hear evidence of a defendant's other "bad acts," according to Justice Menis Ketchum of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
CSX blames Pa. firm for asbestos forgery
Recht CHARLESTON – A plaintiff in a high-profile asbestos case apparently forged a signature on an X-ray report so he could repay an improper $750 advance from a Pennsylvania law firm.
Justices revive asbestos suit against Norfolk Southern
Davis CHARLESTON – Railroad workers who sign "total and absolute" releases of claims against their employers when accepting early retirement don't release injury claims, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has decided.
Court overturns conviction over juror concerns
Ketchum CHARLESTON – The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals overturned a robbery conviction because a judge didn't exclude a juror who hired the prosecutor as his lawyer and told the judge he would hire him again.
Panel transfers W.Va. Chrysler sludge suit to N.J. court
WASHINGTON -- Judges on a national panel transferred a West Virginia class action against automaker Chrysler and five similar suits to a New Jersey court.
N.Y. looks to revoke Harron's medical license
Harron ALBANY, N.Y. –- A Bridgeport, W.Va., radiologist lost his Texas and Mississippi medical licenses for supplying false X-ray reports to lawyers, and New York state regulators now want to kick him out, too.
Motley Rice lacks standing, GE lawyer says in asbestos MDL proceedings
PHILADELPHIA – Motley Rice lawyers represent themselves and not clients in their bid to block court review of X-ray reports behind tens of thousands of asbestos suits, according to a General Electric attorney.
Former beBetter CFO files racial discrimination suit
CHARLESTON -– The former chief financial officer of beBetter Networks claims racial harassment cost him his job.
Company says Glasgow lawsuits off the mark
CHARLESTON – Glasgow residents suing RJ Recycling over damage from scrap operations picked the wrong target, according to the company.
Asbestos suits offer X-ray vision
Harron JACKSON, Miss. – Just as X-rays allow patients to see through skin, X-ray lawsuits allow Americans to see through asbestos litigation that swallowed profits of American corporations and carried away their assets through bankruptcy courts.
McGraw's tobacco plan won't work, lawyer argues
McGraw CHARLESTON – America doesn't have enough retired federal judges to arbitrate tobacco tax disputes the way West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw proposes to do it.
Digitek plaintiffs face thorough fact sheets
Goodwin CHARLESTON – Individuals who sued manufacturers of heart medicine Digitek will feel more like patients than plaintiffs when they fill out fact sheets for a federal judge.
Justices clear judge in Mineral Co. firing case
CHARLESTON – Three Justices of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals cleared Circuit Judge Andrew Frye of a damage claim from a former Mineral County magistrate court clerk he fired after her son filed to run for circuit clerk.
Justices review $1.9 million award to miner who skipped work
CHARLESTON –- If coal miner George Peters had worked for two days, he would have made a couple hundred bucks. Instead, he skipped work and made a couple million.
Lawnmower class action shipped to Milwaukee
WASHINGTON -– Judges in Washington plucked a new class action over lawnmowers from federal court in Charleston and shipped it to Wisconsin.
Flood 'fact sheets' shed little light
BECKLEY – Seven and a half years after lawyers sued hundreds of businesses over flood damage on behalf of about 2,000 clients, the lawyers still haven't explain how any of the businesses harmed any of their clients.