Eric Tucker

May 27, 2010 | Law.com

Three companies that sold lead-based paint and were sued in a landmark case cannot recover money they spent defending themselves in the lawsuit, a judge ruled Tuesday. Rhode Island in 2006 won a jury verdict that could have forced the companies to spend billions removing lead paint from homes and buildings. After the state Supreme Court threw out the verdict in 2008, the companies asked that the state reimburse them for legal expenses -- but Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein denied that request Tuesday.

By Eric Tucker

3 minute read

July 01, 2008 | Law.com

The Rhode Island Supreme Court has overturned a landmark jury verdict against three former lead paint companies, halting plans for a multibillion-dollar cleanup and dealing a setback to efforts around the country to hold the companies accountable for lead paint poisoning. The unanimous decision Tuesday reverses the lone victory to date against the lead paint industry. A jury in February 2006 found Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries Inc. and Millennium Holdings liable for creating a public nuisance.

By Eric Tucker

4 minute read

March 01, 2006 | Law.com

A judge ruled Tuesday that Rhode Island cannot seek punitive damages against three lead paint manufacturers found liable for creating a public nuisance in that state. Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries and Millennium Holdings still must pay to clean up the mess caused by lead paint, which could amount to billions of dollars. Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein will decide later exactly what the companies must do to fix the problems caused by lead paint, which was banned in the U.S. in 1978.

By Eric Tucker

2 minute read

February 24, 2006 | Law.com

Three former makers of lead paint are liable for a product that has poisoned Rhode Island children for years, a jury ruled Wednesday. Rhode Island -- the first state to sue the paint industry over lead -- argued that the substance has sickened tens of thousands of children, contaminated homes and burdened landlords. Former Rhode Island Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse said the lawsuit could pave the way for similar suits in other states.

By Eric Tucker

4 minute read

February 24, 2006 | Law.com

Three former makers of lead paint are liable for a product that has poisoned Rhode Island children for years, a jury ruled Wednesday. Rhode Island -- the first state to sue the paint industry over lead -- argued that the substance has sickened tens of thousands of children, contaminated homes and burdened landlords. Former Rhode Island Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse said the lawsuit could pave the way for similar suits in other states.

By Eric Tucker

4 minute read

September 17, 2007 | Law.com

Three former lead paint manufacturers who lost a landmark lawsuit in Rhode Island would have to pay an estimated $2.4 billion to clean up hundreds of thousands of homes contaminated with lead under a state proposal released Friday. The plan would involve 10,000 workers and is projected to take four years. Rhode Island, which claimed the industry created a public nuisance, was the first state to sue, and its victory last year was the first time anyone had successfully sued former lead paint manufacturers.

By Eric Tucker

4 minute read

February 03, 2008 | The Legal Intelligencer

A TV station and a cameraman accused of getting in the way of people fleeing the nightclub fire that killed 100 people have reached a tentative $30 million settlement with survivors and victims' relatives, station officials said Saturday.

By By ERIC TUCKER

3 minute read

May 08, 2006 | Law.com

A judge fined Rhode Island Attorney General Patrick Lynch $5,000 and held him in civil contempt after he publicly accused former lead paint makers of twisting the facts during the state's landmark lawsuit against the companies, according to newly unsealed court documents. In the ruling, Superior Court Judge Michael Silverstein said Lynch's remarks violated rules of court conduct regulating what lawyers may say publicly about cases. Lynch on Friday denied violating the court order.

By Eric Tucker

3 minute read

April 05, 2006 | Law.com

Former lead paint makers went before Rhode Island's Supreme Court on Monday to prevent the state from honoring a contract potentially worth tens of millions of dollars. The attorney general's office hired two private firms to press the suit, filed in 1999, and agreed to pay the outside lawyers more than 16 percent of whatever the state got if it won the case. An industry lawyer told justices the contract was unconstitutional because it gave outside lawyers a financial interest in the case's outcome.

By Eric Tucker

3 minute read

April 05, 2006 | Law.com

Former lead paint makers went before Rhode Island's Supreme Court on Monday to prevent the state from honoring a contract potentially worth tens of millions of dollars. The attorney general's office hired two private firms to press the suit, filed in 1999, and agreed to pay the outside lawyers more than 16 percent of whatever the state got if it won the case. An industry lawyer told justices the contract was unconstitutional because it gave outside lawyers a financial interest in the case's outcome.

By Eric Tucker

3 minute read