Jere Beasley Report
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DECEMBER 2 016 Distributed to over 40,000 subscribers each month BeasleyAllen.com I. A number of guest speakers presented II. special programs, including a panel discus- CAPITOL sion with Alabama Supreme Court Justices MORE James Allen Main and Tommy Bryan. Other OBSERVATIONS special guest presentations included AUTOMOBILE remarks from Ken Riley, President of the NEWS OF NOTE Alabama Association for Justice; Clay THE TENTH ANNUAL BEASLEY ALLEN LEGAL Hornsby, Deputy Director of the Alabama CONFERENCE Law Institute; Shane Smith, Chairperson, BEASLEY ALLEN JOINS OTHER FIRMS IN FILING Family Law Section of the Alabama State We were pleased to host our firm’s tenth Bar; and Bill Blanchand, former President, CLASS ACTION ALLEGING ADDITIONAL VW annual Legal Conference & Expo at the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association. Our EMISSIONS CHEatS Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa on own Cole Portis, who is serving as Presi- Lawyers at Beasley Allen have joined Nov. 17-18. The event is open to all dent of the Alabama State Bar, was our lun- with several law firms to file a new class Alabama lawyers in private practice, and cheon speaker this year. action lawsuit against Volkswagen. The provides them with a full 12 hours of Con- While all of the presentations were filing came after it was revealed that Volk- tinuing Legal Education (CLE) credits, for good, the highlight of the conference was swagen used an emissions cheat device in free. The conference has grown steadily the Friday morning prayer breakfast. This Audi vehicles equipped with 3.0-liter gaso- each year, from about 400 lawyers in 2007 part of the program has always been well to 1,453 in attendance this year. It is one of attended by lawyers and their families. It the top five legal conferences in atten- was again this year. The prayer breakfast IN THIS ISSUE dance in the United States. sets the right tone for the conference. This In addition to benefitting lawyers year the presentation was by Rev. John I. Capitol Observations ...............2 throughout the state, the conference is Schmidt, the Senior Pastor at Centerpoint very good for the Montgomery area’s Fellowship Church. John’s message was II. More Automobile News Of Note .......2 economy. Dawn Hathcock, Vice President one that any person—especially a lawyer of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Com- who does trial work—needs to hear. III. Purely Political News & Views ........5 merce Convention and Visitor Bureau, had We also were happy to be able to present this to say: our annual Beasley Allen Pro Bono Award IV. Court Watch ......................5 to the Montgomery County Bar Foundation The Beasley Allen Law Firm has suc- Volunteer Lawyers Program. The $15,000 V. Whistleblower Litigation ............6 cessfully coordinated a unique con- grant will allow the MCBF VLP to continue VI. Product Liability Update ............7 ference for the last 10 years, and I to provide crucial civil legal services to the applaud their efforts. Lawyers from poor, who might not otherwise be able VII. Mass Torts Update .................9 all over the state have been given the to afford a lawyer. Tim Gallagher, President opportunity to see everything Mont- of the MCBF, and Mike Martin, Execu- VIII. An Update On Securities Litigation ....13 gomery has to offer as a destination tive Director, were on hand to accept but that is just the beginning. the award. IX. Business Litigation ................13 Hosting nearly 1,500 attendees at the A popular attraction each year is the state’s largest legal conference pro- Legal Conference Expo, where vendors X. Insurance and Finance Update ......14 vides a huge economic impact in the provide demonstrations of products and River Region estimated to be roughly answer questions about how attorneys can XI. Employment and FLSA Litigation .....15 a million dollars. best enhance their practice. Event plati- XII. Premises Liability Update ...........16 We are proud to be able to support our num sponsors for 2016 were Jackson Thornton Valuation & Litigation Consulting River Region in this way each year. Our XIII. Workplace Hazards ...............16 plan is for the conference to be an annual Group, Freedom Reporting and Virage. event for years to come. It’s good to know Legal and community groups also partic- XIV. Transportation ...................18 that we are helping lawyers develop their ipated in the event to provide information skills and field of knowledge, which in about their programs and services. This XV. Environmental Concerns ...........20 turn helps their clients. It’s also good to year we welcomed representatives from help our area economy. the Alabama State Bar Volunteer Lawyer XVI. Update On Nursing Home Litigation ..22 The conference gives us an opportunity Program, Alabama State Bar Lawyer Refer- to connect with our colleagues from firms ral Program, Alabama Law Foundation, XVII. An Update On Class Action Litigation ..23 of all sizes, ranging from those in private Alabama Civil Justice Foundation, Alabama XVIII. The Consumer Corner .............24 practice to lawyers from some of the Association for Justice, and Cumberland School of Law. biggest firms in the state. Practice areas XIX. Recalls Update ...................30 addressed at the conference included The Beasley Allen Legal Conference has been very successful. It is a unique oppor- Product Liability, Business Litigation, Whis- XX. Firm Activities ...................36 tleblower Litigation, Consumer Fraud, and tunity for lawyers and we are honored to Medical Device and Drug litigation. A sepa- be able to offer this event each year. We XXI. Special Recognitions ..............37 rate section on Legal Ethics was on the look forward to the next one. agenda and as usual Tony McLain, General XXII. Favorite Bible Verses ..............38 Counsel, Alabama State Bar, did a tremen- dous job. Tony has been a great asset to XXIII. Closing Observations ..............38 Alabama lawyers and is a very good person in every respect. XXIV. Parting Words ...................39 2 BeasleyAllen.com line engines and a specific ZF model Section, at [email protected], or (EPA) to use on further production of high- 8HP55 transmission. Subject vehicles lawyers in this section, Clay.Barnett@beas- polluting vehicles. include the A6, A8, Q5 and Q7. In October, leyallen.com or Archie.Grubb@beaselyal- The affected Cummins diesel engines the automaker settled similar claims affect- len.com, or call us at 800-898-2034. concealed true emissions output, and ing vehicles with 2.0-liter diesel engines, Source: Bloomberg resulted in wearing out the catalytic con- agreeing to pay out nearly $15 billion to verter more quickly, meaning the vehicle affected vehicle owners. This is believed to burned fuel at a higher rate. This often be the largest automobile settlement in required truck owners to replace the con- history. Claims related to the VW’s 3.0-liter CHRYSLER AND ENGINE MAKER ACCUSED OF verter after the warranty had expired at a diesel vehicles remain unresolved. EMISSIONS CHEatING cost of approximately $3,000 to $5,000. Audi did not limit its “cheat device” The accusations in this case against Chrys- scheme to the diesel engine market, but A class action lawsuit was filed last ler and Cummins are very much like the some Audi gasoline engines contained a month in a Michigan federal court against claims made against Volkswagen AG in its similar device. Just as with the devices the U.S. unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles emissions-cheating scandal. found in diesel vehicles, it turned off the NV and engine maker Cummins Inc. The The truck owners are represented by emission system under certain driving con- proposed racketeering class action alleges Steve W. Berman and Jerrod C. Patterson of ditions, which in turn produced illegal that Dodge Ram trucks with diesel engines Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Christo- levels of carbons that were released into hid the trucks’ emissions of illegally high pher A. Seeger of Seeger Weiss LLP, James the environment unbeknownst to the con- levels of pollutants. In the complaint, con- E. Cecchi of Carella Byrne Cecchi Olstein sumer. This new class action lawsuit sumers accused Chrysler and engine manu- Brody & Agnello PC, Robert C. Hilliard of recently filed addresses this problem and facturer Cummins of conspiring to Hilliard Munoz Gonzales LLP, and E. Powell provides a remedy very much like the knowingly deceive consumers and regula- Miller and Sharon S. Almonrode of The diesel engine class we filed previously. tors that Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500 trucks Miller Law Firm PC. The case is James This additional software, like the 2.0 equipped with the Cummins 6.7-liter turbo Bledsoe et al. v. FCA USA LLC et al. in the diesel cheat software, monitors steering diesel engine were emitting dangerous U.S. District Court for the Eastern District wheel input and holds the vehicle in “low levels of nitrogen oxides. The com- of Michigan. plaint states: power” mode until the steering wheel is Source: Law360.com turned. However, this cheat software is The defendants never disclosed to programmed into the vehicle’s transmis- consumers that the affected vehicles sion control module, whose job is to select may be “clean” diesels in very limited TOUR BUS CRASH THat KILLED 13 shift points necessary to maintain vehicle circumstances, but are “dirty” diesels UNDERSCORES GAPS IN SAFETY REGULatIONS speed over variable driving conditions. under most driving conditions. Specifically, when a subject vehicle is cranked, its transmission engages a “low The Dodge Ram trucks outfitted with There is a tremendous need for signifi- CO2” program, shifting gears early to the Cummins 6.7-liter turbo diesel engine cant improvements in the regulation of maintain artificially low engine revs and contained a technology to trap and break buses that operate on our nation’s high- emissions. Once the driver inputs 15 down pollutants that was meant to limit ways.