BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

In this regular feature, Bulletproof interviews top plaintiffs' attorneys for their perspective on the crises likely to affect businesses in the near future. Today we talk to Jonathan S. Selbin, who represents plaintiffs in a class action alleging that Dell shipped faulty laptops with defective cooling fans, power supplies, and other essential materials. At issue are the Inspiron 5160 and 1150 models sold between July 2004 and January 2005. The case has particular relevance because it ... READ MORE

Back in November, New Jersey law firm Levinson Axelrod filed suit against a former employee who established a website from which to lob reputational attacks against the firm that fired him in 2004. In January, a federal judge shut down the former employee’s www.levinsonaxelrod.net (the firm’s actual URL is www.levisonaxelrod.com) due to violations of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, which protects organizations against “gripe sites” that could reasonably be mistaken for a legitimate Web presence. At ... READ MORE

In this regular feature, Bulletproof interviews top plaintiffs' attorneys for their perspective on the crises likely to affect businesses in the near future. Today we talk to Marc R. Levy of Levy, Morse & Wheeler, P.C. in Denver. A lawyer who usually defends insurance companies, Mr. Levy recently won one of the largest plaintiff’s verdicts in Colorado history against Time Insurance (also known as Fortis and Assurant Health). In late January, a jury found for his ... READ MORE

In this regular feature, Bulletproof interviews top plaintiffs' attorneys for their perspective on the crises likely to affect businesses in the near future. Today we talk to Daniel Harris of The Law Offices of Daniel Harris in Chicago and Ann Miller of Ann Miller, LLC in Philadelphia, two of the lawyers representing plaintiffs in Coleman v. Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Co. In late January, 2010 U.S. District Judge Joel H. Slomsky refused to dismiss class action ... READ MORE

Last week, the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) announced that it has voted to initiate an investigation into whether or not Apple Computer products such as the wildly popular iPhone and Macbook illegally infringe upon patents held by Nokia. It’s just the latest development in a dispute that has raged since Nokia filed a complaint in October alleging that Apple broke U.S. intellectual property laws by using ten patent-protected technologies in just about every ... READ MORE

In this regular feature, Bulletproof interviews top plaintiffs' attorneys for their perspective on the crises likely to affect businesses in the near future. Today we talk to Michael Childress, a founding partner of Childress Duffy Goldblatt, a national plaintiff’s trial firm with offices in Chicago and Florida. Mr. Childress’ experience cuts across a wide range of plaintiff’s issues. He has thirty years experience representing corporate and private insureds in bad faith and first-party property damages ... READ MORE

In this regular feature, Bulletproof interviews top plaintiffs' attorneys for their perspective on the crises likely to affect businesses in the near future. Today we talk to Joel A. Kaplan of Kaplan and Freedman, P.A. in Miami, who, with Coral Springs, Fla. Attorney Scott N. Gelfand, has filed suit against Florida Power & Light Co. (FP&L) after a power outage during the second weekend in January ostensibly left 25,000 homeowners in Broward and Palm Beach ... READ MORE

In this regular feature, Bulletproof interviews top plaintiffs' attorneys for their perspective on the crises likely to affect businesses in the near future. Today we talk to Anthony Tarricone, President of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) and a partner in the Boston office of Kreindler & Kreindler, LLP. We asked Mr. Tarricone to address his organization’s legislative agenda, including last month’s action by Congress prohibiting defense contractors from mandating arbitration in their employment contracts. What larger ... READ MORE

In this regular feature, Bulletproof interviews top plaintiffs' attorneys for their perspective on the crises likely to affect businesses in the near future. Today we talk to Matthew Ferguson of Garfield & Hecht, P.C. in Aspen, Colorado. Mr. Ferguson has filed a lawsuit against Related Westpac Real Estate LLC and Base Village Owners LLC on behalf of six buyers of eight units at the Viceroy in Colorado’s Snowmass Village, a hotel condo project. Plaintiffs want their ... READ MORE

We’ve seen this movie before. First it was pet food tainted with melamine; then, it was lead paint in toys; then defective tires; then melamine emerged for a repeat performance – in both toothpaste and baby formula. Now, the latest import scare from China is drywall built into more than 100,000 homes nationwide between 2004 and 2007. As we enter 2010, this sequel is rapidly expanding into what experts predict will be a $15 billion to ... READ MORE