Public Justice

September 15, 2014 In Blog

It Takes a Lawsuit: Regulators Aren’t Doing Enough to Ensure Our Vehicles Are Safe

A video on Bookout v. Toyota, one of the finalists for the 2014 Public Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year Award. By Leah M. NichollsStaff Attorney Today, The New York Times ran a front page article concluding that the National Highway Traffic Safety Association—the federal agency…

September 10, 2014 In Blog

CFPB Forced Arbitration Study to Go Forward as Consumer Survey Approved

photo credit: _setev via photopin cc By

September 9, 2014 In Blog

“An Abundance of Caution” Doesn’t Trump the Public’s Right to Know

Image courtesy Jason Comely on Flickr. Main page image E. 38th St and Mass Ave. by stallio, CC by 2.0 By Sarah Belton Cartwright-Baron Attorney We’re emerging from a summer where payday lending was the topic of a terrific rant by John Oliver and a Shark…

September 9, 2014 In Updates

Court Approves $1.25 Million Settlement for Family of Deceased Prisoner Francisco Castaneda

Francisco Castaneda Settlement is with two California medical employees; family’s total recovery in case is $3.2 million. A federal judge in Los Angeles yesterday approved a $1.25 million settlement in the long-running case filed by the family of the late Francisco Castaneda against two California…

September 4, 2014 In Blog

Court Records in Trinity Guardrail Whistleblower Case May Be Unsealed

By Leah Nicholls, Staff Attorney Leslie Brueckner, Senior Attorney Today we have both good news and bad news about our motion to unseal the court records in Harman v. Trinity, a federal whistleblower case involving defective highway guardrails. First, the good news: In response to our…

September 4, 2014 In Blog

Green Light to Constitutional Challenge to Idaho Ag-Gag Law

photo credit: Farm Sanctuary via photopin cc Federal Court Denies Idaho’s Effort to Dismiss Challenge By Leslie Brueckner Senior Attorney Huge breaking news: We just received word that a federal district court in Idaho has denied the state’s motion to dismiss our constitutional challenge to…

September 2, 2014 In Blog

Ag Gag On Steroids – Idaho Dairies Urged to Block Media Access To Factory Farms

photo credit: Socially Responsible Agricultural Project via photopin cc By Leslie Brueckner Senior Attorney As if Ag-Gag laws weren’t bad enough, Idaho’s dairy industry just tried to make their practices even more secret by blocking media access to factory farms. If you’ve been reading my…

August 29, 2014 In Blog

Contaminated Community Will Get its Day in Court

By Jessica Culpepper, Food Safety and Health Attorney Corral on west end of facility, with close up of manure. Photo obtained through a records request from the CA water board. Residents in a Helendale, Calif., community finally had their voices heard when district court Judge Jesus…

August 28, 2014 In Blog

Good News for Workers: Ninth Circuit Holds that FedEx Drivers Are Employees

photo credit: International Transport Workers’ Federation via photopin cc By Leah Nicholls Kazan-Budd Attorney If you thought that the FedEx driver who delivered a package to your doorstep was an employee of FedEx, it turns out that you were right. And FedEx was wrong. Yesterday,…

August 28, 2014 In Updates Consumers' Rights

Court Determining Issue of Tribal Immunity in Payday Loan “Rent-a-Tribe” Case

Andrea Felts Image via KipMalone.com. By Aidan O’Shea Communications Specialist A years-long fight to win justice for consumers who say they were victimized by online payday lenders now hinges on a strange-seeming question: What makes a business part of a sovereign Native American tribe? A…