At Legal Newsline, John O'Brien reports on two cases about to come before the Mississippi Supreme Court.
One involves the discipline of William Guy and Thomas Brock, two attorneys found by a federal jury to have defrauded Illinois Central Railroad in an asbestos case. (Earlier: March 2010, April 5, February 5.)
The other is a lead-paint case where all sorts of evidentiary and jury-selection shenanigans occurred: a (overly-coached?) witness insisted that he saw cans whose label said "lead paint"—which, if true, would rule out defendant Sherwin-Williams as liable, since it never had such labels. The plaintiff, who allegedly had paint chips in his mouth as a child, calculated his damages on the basis of an alleged need for a 24-hour-a-day "life coach" (though he was able to complete high school, compete in varsity athletics, and drives a car), resulting in a $7 million verdict from a Jefferson County jury that included several friends of the plaintiffs' family.