Recently, an appellate court in Texas overruled a $9 million jury verdict in favor of an injured worker against a drilling company. The court ordered a new trial after finding the jury had access to an unredacted document showing that the defendant had $9 million in liability insurance coverage....
The NFL, college and high school football have begun to confront the problem of brain trauma. The NFL settled a massive lawsuit arising out of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). The settlement calls for a wide range of reforms and payments to NFL victims of CTE. In the meantime, the NCAA ...
A Missouri teenager saved money from her after-school job and small inheritance to buy a used Honda Civic. The car was carefully selected - a 2018 with less than 5,000 miles. Last week an aerosol can of dry shampoo left in the center console exploded - blowing out the sunroof and destroying the...
Juror Misconduct Rojas v. State, No. 2 CA-CR 2018-0271 (App. Div. II, August 28, 2019) (J. Eppich) https://www.appeals2.az.gov/decisions/CR20180271%20Opinion.pdf WHERE COURTROOM OBSERVER POSTS VIDEO OF TRIAL SHOWING SOME OF THE JURORS IN THE VIDEO AND POSTS IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND SOME JURORS BE...
Constitution—Free Speech vs Same Sex Wedding Brush & Nib Studio, LC v. City of Phoenix, No. CV-18-0176-PR (September 16, 2019) (J. Gould) https://www.azcourts.gov/Portals/0/OpinionFiles/Supreme/2019/Brush%20and%20Nib%20Filed.pdf ART STUDIO HAS CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO REFUSE TO CREATE CUSTOM WED...
The Food and Drug Administration sent JUUL, whose omnipresent e-cigarette has taken the teenage market by storm, a warning letter earlier this week saying that the company illegally marketed its vaping product as a less harmful alternative to cigarettes. For more than a year now, Juul has been t...
Read the Schmidt, Sethi & Akmajian September 2019 Newsletter.
School is back in session. And with it comes the now familiar struggle to manage kids' smartphone use, both in an out of school. A California high school has taken a page from comedians like Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, and Aziz Ansari. San Mateo High School, in Silicon Valley, is using low tech...
Over the years we have been fortunate to be in a position to support Tucson's champions. We believe that many life lessons are learned playing a high school sport. Poise, dedication, sacrifice, humility, fearlessness and so much more. Last night we were proud to gift the Sunnyside boy's soccer ...
Robert Zangrillo faces felony charges for paying $250,000 to get his daughter into the University of Southern California as a fake athlete. Recently unsealed court records outline his defense -- his money was a donation, no different than those made by presumably many other families to grease th...
Torts: Qualified Immunity of Police Officers City of Caldwell v. Winfield, D.C. No. 1:16-cv-00359 (9th Cir. July 25, 2019) (J. Graber) http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/07/25/18-35300.pdf WHERE POLICE OFFICER BELIEVED HE HAD PERMISSION TO ENTER PLAINTIFF'S HOME TO CONDUCT SEA...
The Supreme Court of the United States often goes by a nickname, "The Highest Court in the Land." And that's not just because of its secret, fifth floor basketball court. SCOTUS, another popular nickname, is the highest court in the federal judiciary. Established by Article III of the United S...
Yesterday, Matt Schmidt and and Amanda Bynum tought "Stress Management & Wellness: a Toolkit for Lawyers" for the State Bar of Arizona. The program was attended by over 70 people in person and online. In sum, the seminar focused on practical mindfulness strategies to overcome five primary elemen...
Torts: Implied Obstacle Preemption Dashi v. Nissan N.A., Inc, No. 1 CA-CV 18-0389 (App. Div. I, June 13 2019) (J. Weinzweig) https://www.azcourts.gov/Portals/0/OpinionFiles/Div1/2019/1%20%20CA-CV18-0389%20-%20Dashi%20v.%20Nissan%20-%20File%20Version.pdf NHTSA'S REFUSAL TO REQUIRE ADVANC...
Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure: Rule 42 Right to Change of Judge for Second Evidentiary Hearing Coffee v. Superior Court, No. 1 CA-SA 18-0251 (App. Div. I, June 20, 2019) (J. Weinzweig) https://www.azcourts.gov/Portals/0/OpinionFiles/Div1/2019/1%20CA-SA%2018-0251.pdf Successful party on ap...
Our Summer 2019 Newsletter has been released! We cover the following topics: 'Making Sense of Concussion' by Dev Sethi 'Electronic Scooter Rental Headed for Tucson' by Matt Schmidt 'Pima County's Pilot Fastar Program Withstands Constitutional Challenge' by Ted Schmidt 'Arizona Doctors Deli...
On June 26 from 1-4:15pm, Matt Schmidt and Amanda Bynum will be teaching "Stress Management & Wellness: a Toolkit for Lawyers" for the State Bar of Arizona. It is worth three hours of CLE, including 3 ethics credits. The program will focus on practical strategies and skills to incorporate into a ...
Last week I wrote about the powerful ways your cell phone betrays your every confidence. Google is one of many technology companies that collects and monetizes your personal information. Remember, if you aren't paying for the product, you are the product. Here are some simple steps you can tak...
State v. Mahoney, No. 1 CA-SA 19-0067 (App. Div. I, May 16, 2019) (J. Johnsen) https://www.azcourts.gov/Portals/0/OpinionFiles/Div1/2019/1%20CA-SA%2019-0067.pdf DEFENDANT MAY DESIGNATE UNKNOWN AND UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS AS NONPARTIES AT FAULT Plaintiffs' decedent died when he hit horses who wande...
I'm currently binging the podcast "To Live and Die in LA." It's the telling of a real-time investigation into the disappearance of Adea Shabani, a Hollywood model from her LA apartment in March 2018. Journalist Neil Strauss, who writes books and magazine articles, guides us through his invest...
Shepherd v. Costco Wholesale Corp., 1 CA-CV 18-0072 (App. Div. I, April 30,2019) (J. Perkins) https://www.azcourts.gov/Portals/0/OpinionFiles/Div1/2019/CV%2018-0072.pdf PHARMACY MAY BE LIABLE FOR NEGLIGENT FILLING OF PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS TWICE CANCELLED WHERE THE FILLING RESULTS IN EMBARRAS...
Redlin v United States, No. 17-16963 (9th Cir. April 23, 201`9 (J. Ikuta) (Appeal from Arizona District Court) http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/04/23/17-16963.pdf SECOND NOTICE OF CLAIM UNDER FEDERAL TORTS CLAIM ACT FILED AFTER FIRST CLAIM DENIED IS NOT AN AMENDMENT OF FIRST C...
The Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers put on a great seminar today: “DAMAGES: It's All About the Money. How to Get it. How to Keep it.” Among the speakers were Schmidt, Sethi & Akmajian's own Ted Schmidt and Peter Akmajian, who spoke about punitive damages and wrongful death damage...
It's not an easy call. Plus, there are rules. In high school, Blue Bird Taxi was my life-line. I was a boarding student in a small mountain town in Western North Carolina. A phone call and 30 minute wait brought a light-blue sedan to Asheville School Road. Sometimes alone, and more often with...
The State Bar of Arizona has proposed the elimination of Rule 68—the Offer of Judgement Rule. Pursuant to Rule 68, any party may make a written offer to the opposing party to allow judgment to be entered in the case for a certain amount of money. The opposing side has 30 days to accept the offe...