News from April 2007
State's legal climate the worst, survey shows
Donohue CHARLESTON – For the second consecutive year, a national survey ranks West Virginia's legal climate as the worst in the country.
Thomas Hospital sued over elderly man's fall down stairs
CHARLESTON - A Kanawha County couple has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against a South Charleston hospital after the man was injured while he was a patient in the hospital.
Elderly woman blames South Charleston, rec center for fall
CHARLESTON - A Kanawha County woman filed a suit against a South Charleston recreation center after she was injured while at the center for a water aerobics class.
Former clients sue attorney for missing lawsuit deadline
CHARLESTON - A Kanawha County attorney is being sued by his former clients who claim he failed to file their lawsuit within the statute of limitations period.
Former Dunbar worker says he was fired for blowing whistle
CHARLESTON - A Putnam County man has filed a suit against the City of Dunbar and the Dunbar Sanitary Board, his former employers, claiming he was wrongfully fired because he was a whistleblower.
Kanawha woman says man hit her with car, then left scene
CHARLESTON - A Kanawha County woman has filed a personal injury suit against a man who hit her with a car and left the scene.
Asbestos suit names 47 defendants
CHARLESTON - Charleston attorney Cindy Kiblinger has filed an asbestos suit on behalf of a man who is ill because of asbestos dust he was exposed to while working.
W. Va. results from ATRA survey released
McGraw
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The American Tort Reform Association says its new survey proves what common sense should have already suggested.
Former delegate named in multi-million dollar suit
Faircloth MARTINSBURG - A former state delegate was named as a defendant in a nearly $2 million Berkeley County lawsuit.
Man says he was fired because of medical condition
MARTINGSBURG - A Berkeley County man claims his former employer fired him because of a physical impairment.
N.C. woman files Zyprexa case in Kanawha County
CHARLESTON - A North Carolina woman has filed a suit against a pharmaceutical company after her father died of an accidental toxic overdose while taking the prescribed amount of the drug Zyprexa.
Maryland man seeks $10 million over newspaper article
CHARLES TOWN - A Maryland man seeks $10 million in punitive damages after a Martinsburg Journal reporter wrote a story that he says contained false and misleading information about him.
Builder caused sewer backup in new home, couple says
CHARLES TOWN - A Jefferson County couple blames a home building company after more than a foot of sewage flooded their new home.
Harron gives up Texas medical license
Harron CHARLESTON -- A West Virginia physician accused of making thousands of silicosis diagnoses for trial attorneys has surrendered his Texas medical license.
Trial lawyers, U.S. Chamber at odds over ads
Jones CHARLESTON – The West Virginia Trial Lawyers Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are butting heads again, this time over an ad campaign.
Hearing set on order to grill Southeast Texas Record journalists
BEAUMONT, Texas -- A Jefferson County judge will hear arguments on a motion to quash the depositions of two Beaumont journalists accused of tampering with a jury.
Lawmakers can't overturn 'wired' informants decision, Benjamin says
Benjamin CHARLESTON – West Virginia legislators cannot overturn a Supreme Court of Appeals decision requiring search warrants before police send "wired" informants into homes, according to Justice Brent Benjamin.
CALA radio ads critical of venue bill passage
Cohen CHARLESTON – West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse is taking shots at the state's "Open For Business" slogan in new radio ads criticizing recently passed legislation.
McGraw's Citizen Advisory Committee has first meeting
McGraw CHARLESTON – At the group's first meeting, Attorney General Darrell McGraw charged members of his Citizen Advisory Committee with strengthening and expanding consumer protection in the state.
Supreme Court sympathizes with woman, but affirms conviction
CHARLESTON – Valerie Whittaker failed to persuade the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals that she killed in self defense, but the Justices failed to banish shadows of doubt.