The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that the trial court erred when it reduced the plaintiff’s punitive damages award without giving him the option of a new trial on damages. Accordingly, the Seventh Circuit reversed the ruling of the trial court, and remanded the matter for the court to offer the plaintiff the option of a new trial on damages. A copy of the opinion in Beard v. Wexford Health Sources, Inc. is available at: Link to Opinion. An inmate plaintiff filed a complaint against members of a prison’s medical staff and administrative team alleging they…
Posts tagged as “Ethics”
Thanks to all who attended my November 9 presentation in New York on Ethics and Consumer Financial Services Law. You can obtain a copy of the powerpoint here: Ethics6. The handout can be accessed here: Avoiding ethical pitfalls 20121105.
A City of New York regulation that sought to regulate attorneys who practiced debt collection law, was struck down Wednesday by a Federal Court sitting in the Eastern District of New York because it violated New York’s Constitutional separation of powers. In Eric Berman, P.C. v. City of New York the court found that New York City had exceeded its authority under New York law by enacting a regulation which dictated how licensed New York attorneys may provided debt collection legal services. The regulation attempted to distinguish attorneys who regularly send debt collection letters — what it described as attorneys who “regularly…
Yesterday the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) released its proposed rule “Defining Larger Participants in Certain Consumer Financial Product and Service Market.” The proposed rule calls for the CFPB to regulate certain attorneys to protect the public welfare. Why? Becuase, Collection attorneys and law firms may collect through litigation (i.e., filing suit against consumers to collect debt). How dare those attorneys file complaints and litigate lawsuits. You can bet I’ll have a little more on the topic in a few days.