By: Jeffrey Lapin On March 7, 2013, United States District Court Judge Paul Engelmayer, of the Southern District of New York, ordered that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can serve legal documents upon five defendants residing in India by email and Facebook. Courts in England, Australia and New Zealand have already permitted service via Facebook.
By: Jeffrey Lapin The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) released its Teenage Driver Fatalities by State – 2012 Preliminary Data Report, on February 26, 2013. The Report indicates that the number of 16- and 17-year-old drivers killed in motor vehicle crashes increased significantly in 2012 from 2011. The GHSA attributes a couple of reasons for
By: Jeffrey Lapin Oscar Pistorius, the “Blade Runner,” has been in the news this past week regarding whether he should get bail after he has been charged with the premeditated murder of his girlfriend. Mr. Pistorius is not the only former Olympian, whose name you probably know, that has been charged with one or more
By: Jeffrey Lapin This week’s Legal News You May Have Missed covers the week February 17 through 24, 2013. The news items include cell phones, Facebook, mortgage servicers, arbitration and the FBI.
By: Jeffrey Lapin On January 29, 2013, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent a “Warning Letter” to a Florida herbal supplement manufacturer alleging problems in their manufacturing process as well as marketing, on their website, some of their supplements as a “drug,” in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act.). The marketing
By: Jeffrey Lapin A Canadian study of alcohol price, availability and death, found that when the minimum alcohol price was increased, alcohol-related deaths decreased fairly quickly. A 10% price increase was enough to significantly lower the death rate. This Study was recently published in the American Journal of Public Health, The Raising of Minimum Alcohol
By: Jeffrey Lapin This week’s legal news that you may have missed for the week ending February 8, 2013, all involve cases in which the United States or one of its departments or agencies are either the plaintiff or defendant in a lawsuit:
By: Jeffrey Lapin Last week there were 14 deaths in motor vehicle crashes in Nebraska. This is the most for a seven day period in more than 7 years. These deaths bring the number of fatalities for 2013 to 27, the most for the first 5 weeks of the year since 2008. Weather has been
By: Jeffrey Lapin Legal news for the week ending February 1, 2013, from around the United States and the world that you might have missed:
By: Jeffrey Lapin Cities and states have or are considering laws beyond just no texting and driving. One city, Huron, South Dakota, has adopted an ordinance that prohibits driver’s from activities that could be distracting, such as eating while driving. This is a good first step in trying to reduce distracted driving although enforcement could