Michael Riccardi

March 03, 2008 | The Legal Intelligencer

It's very appropriate that, on the day the state Supreme Court begins its first argument session of 2008, we unveil a new design for the Pennsylvania Law Weekly.

By Michael Riccardi

4 minute read

July 14, 1999 | Law.com

Drug manufacturers must advise health care providers about risks a drug may present to a patient's close contacts, a New York judge has ruled. The ruling came in a case where the father of a child being vaccinated against polio contracted paralytic poliomyelitis. The father alleged that his polio came as a result of contact with his daughter, who in 1979 had received an oral polio vaccine made by Lederle Laboratories.

By Michael Riccardi

5 minute read

February 24, 1999 | Law.com

A Philadelphia jury yesterday returned a verdict against DaimlerChrysler Corp. for nearly $60 million in compensatory damages because it sold 80,000 cars to Pennsylvania motorists between 1988 and 1990 with airbags that, when deployed, could severely burn the hands and wrists of the driver.

By Michael Riccardi

5 minute read

October 15, 1999 | Law.com

Man non-New Yorkers who filed individual complaints in New York State court claiming heart injury from the diet drug, fen-phen, may see their lawsuits dismissed because of a decision by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Helen E. Freedman. The court said it would dispose of all cases filed in Manhattan Supreme Court by out-of-state residents after April 30 of this year, unless they have filed an order to be expedited due to the health condition of the plaintiff.

By Michael Riccardi

3 minute read

August 09, 2000 | Law.com

Internet service providers may continue to use a "spam" tracker to block unwanted e-mail from the accounts of their customers, a federal judge in New York ruled. Chief Judge David G. Larimer refused to grant a TRO to market research firm Harris Interactive to stop Mail Abuse Prevention Systems, or MAPS, and its clients from blocking Harris Interactive's e-mail.

By Michael Riccardi

3 minute read

November 05, 1999 | Law.com

An appellate panel in New York has used an unsigned opinion to admonish trial judges not to stray from the standard jury instructions on "reasonable doubt" in criminal cases, even if a jury asks for a jargon-free definition. In a concurring opinion, one justice wrote that while jurors may be confused by the wording of the standard instruction, the system requires deliberations in criminal trials be governed by a single standard instruction in all cases.

By Michael Riccardi

4 minute read

March 01, 2000 | Law.com

The publisher of Vanity Fair magazine was granted summary judgment in a libel suit brought in Manhattan Supreme Court by a friend of the late painter Salvador Dali. The magazine's publisher, Conde Nast Publications Inc., was sued over an article about Dali that erroneously stated that a friend of the surrealist's wife had died of a drug overdose.

By Michael Riccardi

5 minute read

December 08, 1999 | Law.com

"Battered Syndrome," a broader and gender-neutral version of "battered woman's syndrome," may be introduced as part of a claim of justification in a homicide prosecution, a County Court judge in New York ruled in an ongoing manslaughter trial. The defendant, Carl Colberg, intends to call an expert witness to support a claim that he was the battered parent of the son whom he shot to death. Judge Frank J. LaBuda issued an opinion holding that Colberg could raise "battered syndrome" as a defense in his trial.

By Michael Riccardi

3 minute read

October 17, 2000 | Law.com

A defendant in a defamation case may rely upon the accuracy of a report in a reputable French newspaper in forwarding a translation of the article to a third person, a Manhattan federal judge has ruled. The plaintiff had argued that the republication of translated articles from a French newspaper could give rise to a libel cause of action in New York court.

By Michael Riccardi

3 minute read

December 10, 1999 | Law.com

Film star Leonardo DiCaprio cannot be sued for acting in concert with several cohorts who allegedly assaulted an individual, a judge in Manhattan ruled. But the actor still faces civil charges stemming from allegations that he encouraged his friends to beat a man outside a restaurant. The fight was over the man's girlfriend.

By Michael Riccardi

4 minute read