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While this phrase seems to work on us case analyst here at cafalawblog.com, many employers still try to utilize Whimpy’s famous food phrase (is that alliteration or consonance or both?) to pay their employers. Watch out, because if Popeye finds out he’ll open a can of whup arse, I mean spinach, on you and take you to the cleaners (Was there a cleaner’s on Popeye?).

How to avoid the wrath of Popeye in defense of his friends, attend ACI’s Wage and Hour Litigation conference, “Expert Strategies for Pursuing and Defending Wage & Hour Claims and Class Actions.” The conference will take place April 30, 2008 through May 1, 2008 in Miami, Florida. Hurry up and get your seat while you still can!

Register at: https://www.americanconference.com/employment_benefits/wageandhour.htm or by clicking here.

Posted By McGlinchey Stafford at 11:22 AM | Comments / Questions (0)

A lawyer and an engineer were fishing in the Caribbean. The lawyer said, “I'm here because my house burned down, and everything I owned was destroyed by the fire. The insurance company paid for everything.”

“That's quite a coincidence,” said the engineer. “I'm here because my house and all my belongings were destroyed by a flood, and my insurance company also paid for everything.”

The lawyer looked somewhat confused. “How do you start a flood?”" he asked.

Perhaps the adjusters that handled these insurance claims should have attended ACI’s Bad Faith Litigation Seminar. If they had, they would have learned how to handle squirrelly claims like this while protecting against claims of bad faith. Lucky for you, there is time to sign up for this year’s Bad Faith Litigation Seminar to take place May 15-16, 2008 in San Francisco. Not a bad locale to learn strategic approaches for minimizing exposure and mitigating damages.

What: ACI’s Bad Faith Litigation

When: May 15-16, 2008

Where: The Hotel Whitcomb, San Francisco, California

Register by clicking here or going to www.americanconference.com/badfaith

Posted By McGlinchey Stafford at 02:40 PM | Comments / Questions (0)

Oh, ye of little faith. Like your dead beat cousin who manages to bum some money at every family event, like the possum that keep rooting through your garbage, like that Wiggles song you heard on the way to taking your kid to school and now can’t get out of your head.  Asbestos Never Dies! And a sigh of relief by plaintiff and defense attorneys alike can be heard across the nation.

If you want to learn how to combat the new wave of asbestos litigation, attend ACI’s “Expert Strategies for Litigating, Settling and Managing the New Wave of Asbestos Claims.” The seminar will take place May 15-16, 2008 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. As for the cousin, hey, he is family, what can you do? The possum, get a cat to scare him away. As for the Wiggles, there may be no relief from “Hot Potato Hot Potato” stuck in your head. 

Register at www.americanconference.com/asbestos.

Posted By McGlinchey Stafford at 11:06 AM | Comments / Questions (0)

Hendrick v. Georgia Gulf Lake Charles, LLC, 2008 WL 65264 (W.D. La.).

I bet you are thinking, oh boy, here comes another Katrina case. Well, contrary to public opinion, there are things that happen in Louisiana that are not a direct result of Katrina. This case is one of many filed in Louisiana state court arising from a spill of ethylene dichloride from the Georgia Gulf Lake Charles, LLC (“Georgia Gulf”) facility on September 17, 2006. These cases were not filed as class actions in state court. Instead, multiple cases with multiple plaintiffs were filed. 

Continue Reading Posted By McGlinchey Stafford at 08:34 PM | Comments / Questions (0)

State of Louisiana etc. et al. v. AAA Insurance, et al ., 08-30145, 2008 WL 1118176 (5^th Cir. Apr. 11 , 2008).

And now ladies and gentlemen, from the lovely Soul Queen of New Orleans Irma Thomas, “Drip drop, drip drop, drip drop, drip drop. It’s raining so hard, looks like its going to rain all night…” Inspired by the Fifth Circuit’s affirmance last week of the denial of remand in Louisiana’s putative class action suit against hundreds of insurers, your CAFA Law Blog editors collectively close our eyes, lean back in our chairs and imagine the Louisiana state court singing to the state’s lawsuit (we know it is a stretch to think of a court singing to a lawsuit, but it is even more of a test to imagine a state court judge singing to new Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell): “I guess I’ll have to accept the fact that you are not here.”

Continue Reading Posted By McGlinchey Stafford at 04:18 PM | Comments / Questions (0)

Korn v. Polo Ralph Lauren Corp., ____ F. Supp. 2d ____, 2008 WL 544564 (E.D. Cal.)

An unprecedented clash of cultural titans. One, the fan club of the nu metal[1]. pioneer Ko?n.[2] The other, he of the over tanned skin and the white hair, fashion god and prepster idol Ralph Lauren. The plaintiff, the fans of a band who made such phrases as “Freak on a Leash”,  “Rumbutly boo”, and Ghost Pirates (brownie points for the first reader to post a comment identifying that cultural reference) common lingo amongst generation Y (which comes after generation X, which comes after the baby boomers for you geezers out there). The defendant, he of shirts with horses (that cost too much), fancy sheets (that cost way too much), madras shorts (that cost too much). These titans clashed in the only Federal District Court where two such unlikely opponents could meet, the Eastern District of California which includes Bakersfield, California. The birthplace of Ko?n.

Continue Reading Posted By McGlinchey Stafford at 01:44 PM | Comments / Questions (0)

April 15 & 16, 2008, Flatotel (And yes, I spelled that right) New York, New York

Alright everybody, join hands, let’s sing together. You too Mr. Gore:

Have I been sleeping?
I’ve been so still
Afraid of crumbling
Have I been careless?
Dismissing all the distant rumblings
Take me where I am supposed to be
To comprehend the things that I can’t see

Cause I need to move
I need to wake up
I need to change
I need to shake up
I need to speak out
Something’s got to break up
I’ve been asleep
And I need to wake up
Now

I am not just singing the words to this song because I have been working on an appellate brief for the last 400 hours and ate a big BLT sandwich for lunch. No, I am signing the theme from an “Inconvenient Truth” because ACI conveniently scheduled its Pollution Liability Insurance Seminar in April in New York. 

Ahh, springtime in New York. As it begins to reach 90 degrees in Houston (my dear city), it will just be getting nice in NY. Hear top underwriters, brokers, product managers and other experts discuss recent issues affecting pollution liability insurance coverage. That is enough to get Melissa Etheridge singing and Al Gore dancing.

Now that the words to this song are firmly stuck in my head, I encourage you to register by clicking here or going to www.americanconference.com/pli.

P.S. Turn off those extra lights. Save the planet. You know who you are.

Posted By McGlinchey Stafford at 06:30 AM | Comments / Questions (0)

Hendrick v. Georgia Gulf Lake Charles, LLC, 2008 WL 65264 (W.D. La.).

This case is one of many filed in Louisiana state court arising from a spill of ethylene dichloride from the Georgia Gulf Lake Charles, LLC (“Georgia Gulf”) facility on September 17, 2006. These cases were not filed as class actions in state court. Instead, multiple cases with multiple plaintiffs were filed. The reported case provides no details of the plaintiffs’ claims. I bet you are thinking, oh boy, here comes another Katrina case. Well, contrary to public opinion, there are things that happen in Louisiana that are not a direct result of Katrina. A review of the petition filed in state court reveals that Georgia Gulf’s EDC cracking furnace failed causing a leak of vapors which ignited and caused an explosion. The plaintiffs are residents living in the vicinity of the Georgia Gulf facility that allegedly inhaled the fumes.

Continue Reading Posted By McGlinchey Stafford at 03:14 PM | Comments / Questions (0)

Apodaca v. Allstate Ins. Co., No. 07-cv-00937-EWN-MEH, 2008 WL 113844 (D. Colo. Jan. 8, 2008).

There was Allstate and the plaintiffs, waiting to place their orders with the Judge. While the parties chatted in line together, surely talking about the issues of the day (you know, the Dollar, the election, the Yankees-Red Sox feud), their conversation soon centered on the lightning rod issue captivating coffee houses, cigar bars, and little league bleachers country wide. You got it, CAFA jurisdiction. As most of these conversations in lunch lines do, this conversation impacted what Allstate and the plaintiffs would order.  

Continue Reading Posted By McGlinchey Stafford at 10:12 AM | Comments / Questions (0)

Thorpe v. Abbott Laboratories, Inc., 07-5672, 2008 WL 383319 (N.D. Cal., Feb 12, 2008).

Have you ever wondered what might happen if federal court judges were more like Randy, Paula, and Simon on American Idol?...Using the same wiretaps that caught Governor Spitzer, We secretly recorded the American Idol trio of judges discussing this recent CAFA decision.

Continue Reading Posted By McGlinchey Stafford at 02:13 PM | Comments / Questions (0)