Recently in Judgements Category

Tuesday's record-setting 82.5 million dollar verdict in Harris country for the death of a single man killed by a Cleburne natural gas explosion could be the beginning of a trend.

Houston explosion attorney Rob Ammons believes some juries are doing what federal regulators can't do, hitting big business where it hurts when they don't prioritize worker and environmental safety over profits.

"In the wake of two recent Texas natural gas line explosions and the spill in the Gulf, I believe people are sick and tired of the mess," says Houston explosion attorney Rob Ammons. "When companies prioritize profits over responsibility, safety and respect for the environment, I think juries are going to push back in the only way they can -- by awarding precedent-setting verdicts for hard working claimants."

Joshua Wade Petrie, 27, was attempting to start a hot oil heater May 25, 2007, when the heater exploded. A day later the man died, leaving behind a widow, Candee Petrie, and three minor children. Mr. Petrie's father, Mark Petrie, was also a claimant.

Petrie's attorneys, Rob Ammons and Bennett Midlo of the Houston-based Ammons Law Firm argued in court the natural gas processing plant and its equipment were negligently refurbished, as Hanover had agreed to do.

"Hanover Compression sold the gas processing plant in Hood County to Quicksilver Resources in March of 2005," says Ammons. " Hanover was supposed to fully refurbish the plant and the hot oil heater. Hanover failed to refurbish and upgrade the heater to the applicable current industry standards and that is what caused the explosion."

The trial in Judge Robert Schaffer's Harris County Judicial District Court #152 encompassed the three-year anniversary of Petrie's death.

Rob Ammons is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, in addition to being Board Certified in Civil Law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy.  Rob Ammons' law practice, The Ammons Law Firm, is located in Houston, Texas.  The Ammons Law Firm practice is exclusively personal injury law, handling such cases as: tire defects, oil rig explosions, truck accidents, plant explosions, refinery accidents, wrongful death, post-collision fires, seat belt defects, airbag defects, SUV rollovers and workplace negligence.

Mina Mar Group Inc. www.minamargroup.com/ (MMG) and Mina Mar Marketing Group www.minamargroup.net/ (MMMG) inform the public that the courts ruled in the favour of Mina Mar Group in slander lawsuit against Investors Hub.

Mr. Justice Belobaba, Ontario Superior Court Of Justice awarded judgment in favor of Mina Mar Group, and awarded $75,000 in general damages, $10,000 in punitive damages and $20,000 for the trial costs to the company.

This was never about the money but rather principle. These stock bashers should not be allowed to destroy other peoples reputations and businesses with slanderous and malicious posts on the Internet

The court ruling can be seen on this link http://www.minamargroup.com/stock_bashers.php

Mina Mar Group wishes to quote some key declarations of the court:

    "4... THIS COURT ORDERS that all negative, defamatory and libellous
postings, made by Posters and members of Investors Hub.Com Inc web site are
untrue and are and were made without any foundation nor basis for any of their
content

    5... THE COURT ORDERS THAT the Defendants, Robert Zumbrunnen, Matt Brown
and InvestorsHub.com Inc. apologize and publicly retract the libelous
statements made against the Plaintiffs and that they shall send their signed
retraction to the Plaintiffs and publish the same on the web site,
InvestorsHub.com

    6. THIS COURT ORDERS that Robert Zumbrunnen, Matt Brown and
InvestorsHub.com Inc. provide the names and addresses of the following of its
members and posters:
    Stratey, itlogic, Jim Bishop, Janice Shell, Universal Trader, Rtso,
Livingstyle, Soyelpato, AccipiterO, strongtower, snow, peraire, and Fast Flyer
03, Strongtower, 1 summer, AccipiterQ, bob41, Buckley, soyelpato, greedy
malone, rolltide, marine-1, firelane, (and any other poster who makes
negative, libelous or defamatory statements against the Plaintiffs)
anonymously named John Doe (the foregoing collectively known as "The
Posters"). ..."

Mina Mar Group recently introduced the "Get the Facts Right" statement to our clients, which we remind all of our clients' shareholders to review before taking any advice from a stock board chat room. Most advisors have hidden agendas and prey on the unsuspecting.

Get the Facts Right. The issuer works hard to continue to keep our shareholders informed, and news is updated frequently via Press Releases, Pink Sheet http://www.pinksheets.com/ filings, and updates to our websites. Other websites not sponsored, or recognized by the Company may provide misleading or disinformation to investors in order to manipulate trading patterns for a given stock. Always look for original content from trusted sources, rather than relying on 'excerpts' or discussion boards that may not give you the whole story. The Securities and Exchange Commission requires financial institutions or brokerage firms to provide their clients with documentation, describing the risks of investing in penny stocks.

Vigorous enforcement of the court order including motions for contempt of court for any non compliance will commence shortly in Florida.

SOURCE Mina Mar Group

Don Beebe, former NFL star and wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills, testified before the jury about how his brother-in-law, Dave Walker, has been affected by injuries from a 2007 incident where Walker was struck by a waverunner while snorkeling in the Bahamas. Beebe explained Dave's biggest passion was coaching his son's school football team. "He wasn't one of those coaches that stood over there with a whistle. I mean, he was a hands-on guy. He was going to be out there demonstrating how to do it. Well, now he is one of the guys with the whistle. It's very frustrating for him."

Mr. Walker was represented at trial by attorneys Todd McPharlin and Todd Falzone, partners in the Kelley/Uustal Law Firm, along with Attorney Eric Rosen. "This case was all about responsibility," Falzone said. "Despite being in clear violation of the law, the driver of the jetski refused to take any responsibility at all for the terrible injuries he caused. Thankfully, the Jury served justice and held the driver accountable."

Dave Walker, an Illinois drywall contractor, was snorkeling in 6 feet of water in Paradise Island in the Bahamas just off the beach at the Atlantis hotel when he was struck by Eric Elliot of Miami Beach, Florida. The jury found Elliot to be 100% at fault for causing the collision. Mr. Walker's then 14 year old son, who had been snorkeling at his father's side only moments before, watched in horror as the Waverunner ran his dad over at 25 miles per hour. The impact was so severe that it fractured 2 vertebrae in Dave's upper back, and herniated a disc in his neck, which required a fusion surgery.

Dave's injuries have left him unable to work as a drywall contractor. The business he spent nearly 30 years building with his own two hands is now falling apart. Mr. Walker's attorney, Todd McPharlin, went on to explain, "Dave and his company had become a big part of the community. He was a hands-on dry wall hanger who had a reputation for being honest, hardworking and meticulous. He was a perfectionist who loved and was proud of his work and hoped one day to pass his business on to his sons. Now all of that is gone. He can never do that type of physical work again."

At trial the defense tried to argue that the accident was everyone's fault, except the driver of the waverunner. They asked the jury to blame Mr. Walker, his 11 and 14 year old sons, Mrs. Walker, and the Atlantis resort for negligently causing this accident to occur. Yet despite compelling evidence to the contrary, the only person the defense argued was not at fault was the driver who ran Dave over.

The jury awarded $3,378,729.34 in total damages: $845,000.00 in lost earning capacity, $388,729.34 in past and future medical expenses and $2,145,000.00 in pain and suffering.

SOURCE Kelley Uustal PLC

Attorneys with the personal injury law firm of Sheldon J. Schlesinger P.A., won a $14 million jury verdict on behalf of a local father and optometrist left bed-ridden and paralyzed resulting from a botched, unnecessary procedure seven years ago.

According to the suit, heard by Judge Charles Green in Broward County Circuit Court, Francis Ziadie was suffering dizziness and slurred speech when he arrived at the emergency room at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood in May 2002. Doctors there gave him aspirin and the anti-platelet medication, Plavix. His symptoms subsided on medical therapy. Ziadie was admitted overnight for observation.

The next morning, Ziadie complained of short-term slurred speech and numbness in his hand. A CAT scan and magnetic resonance angiography showed no evidence of a stroke. Doctors diagnosed transient ischemic attacks caused by left internal carotid artery dissection, or a separation of the inner layer of the carotid artery. The aspirin / Plavix regimen is considered standard of care, as in most cases, the dissection will heal itself within three to six months, said Crane Johnstone, Ziadie's lead trial attorney from Schlesinger Law Firm in Fort Lauderdale. Valerie Conzo was co-counsel on the case.

Hoang Dinh Doung, M.D., an interventional neuroradiologist from Radiology Associates of Hollywood, P.A. was consulted. Doung recommended an immediate procedure to insert a stent into the artery. During the procedure, Doung punctured the arterial wall. Because Ziadie was on large doses of blood thinners, blood flowed from the puncture, pooling around his brain. In the recovery room, Ziadie had slurred speech and right-sided weakness. Instead of addressing his problems, nurses sedated him. By the time doctors realized the problem hours later, the bleeding had caused massive pressure damage to the brain stem and caustic damage to brain tissue. Ziadie, at one time an active 46-year-old optician and father of four, was discharged almost three months later after extensive rehab. Today, he spends his days in a hospital bed and wheelchair in the home of his 76-year-old mother, Olivia, who cares for him round-the-clock.

"The jury realized that this was a preventable injury, and that Mr. Ziadie should never have undergone that procedure," Johnstone said. "His legs are paralyzed, he has no bowel or bladder control. He struggles to string sentences together. He can't even get out of bed or feed himself."

Defense counsel from Bunnell, Woulfe claimed Mr. Ziadie suffered from a rare "reperfusion injury." Another defendant, David M. Feldbaum, MD, a surgeon who was part of the team treating Mr. Ziadie, was found not liable.

The five-man, one-woman jury didn't buy Dr. Duong's argument, and returned a verdict in under six hours. In determining damages, the jury found that Ziadie, now 53, will require skilled nursing care for the rest of his life. Johnstone also argued successfully that the best care will be provided to Mr. Ziadie in his home, as opposed to a nursing facility. The jury awarded $5 million to Mr. Ziadie for his future care needs, and $8 million for pain, suffering and mental anguish. Francis Ziadie's minor sons were each awarded $250,000.

SOURCE Boardroom Communications

The largest cybersquatting judgment ever has been upheld by a federal court in the Northern District of California. The court denied the motion of the defendant -- OnlineNIC, an Internet domain registration company in San Francisco -- to set aside a December 2008 judgment in which Verizon was awarded $33.15 million.

The case is based on OnlineNIC's attempts to take advantage of Verizon and Verizon customers by using Internet names that are easily confused with legitimate Verizon names.

This is the most recent decision in the case against OnlineNIC, which had unlawfully registered at least 663 domain names that were either identical to or confusingly similar to Verizon trademarks. The court had previously found that OnlineNIC's bad faith registrations of Verizon-related domain names were designed to attract Web users who were seeking to access Verizon's legitimate Web sites, and calculated an award based on $50,000 per domain name.

In its most recent decision, on Tuesday (Aug. 25), the court concluded that OnlineNIC is "a serial cybersquatter," that, in "blatant and willful violation" of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, registered Verizon domain names to "prey on consumer confusion." As the court found, "OnlineNIC's intent was to divert consumers searching for Verizon's Web sites." In addition to upholding the original decision, the court also ordered OnlineNIC to pay Verizon its attorneys' fees and costs.

"We hope the court's decision goes a long way toward protecting consumers from becoming targets of Internet abuses and frauds," said Sarah Deutsch, Verizon vice president and associate general counsel. "Verizon is determined to protect our brand and consumers from cybersquatters whose businesses are based on misleading consumers."

Verizon Has Won a String of Similar Cases

In earlier cybersquatting cases, courts granted contested preliminary injunctions against four different violators. Verizon continues to increase its enforcement activities in trademark cases as part of its broader effort to protect its brand and put its intellectual property innovations to work.

In 2008, Verizon's intellectual property legal group was named one of the five best in the world by the International Law Office, with the support of the Association of Corporate Counsel.

SOURCE Verizon