CCL had a banner day today, arguing one case in a federal appeals court in Miami (virtually), filing a reply brief in support of a motion for a preliminary injunction in a federal district court in West Virginia, and filing a reply brief on a stay motion in a federal district court in California.

     The argument in the Eleventh Circuit, sitting in Miami, concerned a personal-injury action on a cruise ship. Edgardo Lebron had tried out the ice rink on a cruise ship, but defective laces on his right skate caused him to fall, fracturing his ankle in three places. After a trial, the jury ruled in his favor, but the trial judge took the verdict away from him. Although he pleaded that the injury was caused by either the defective skate or a failure to maintain the ice, the judge insisted that he prove both and then disagreed with the jury on whether he had proven that the ship had notice of the ice issues and should have corrected them.

     CCL's Robert S. Peck argued that the judge had no authority to change the theory of the case to require both alternate causes of action be proven in combination, that the was sufficient evidence of notice that required a jury, rather than a judge's decision, and that the judge had wrongly excluded evidence of similar incidents on other ships, which would have increased the weight of the favorable evidence. The case was taken under advisement.

      In the West Virginia case, Peck is challenging the constitutionality of a statute that restricts advertising by lawyers concerning medication and medical device cases. On March 13, he filed a motion for a preliminary injunction. Today, he filed a reply brief, arguing that the state Attorney General's office, failed to provide a reason to deny the injunction. The Attorney General was supported by amicus briefs from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the West Virginia Medical Association. The motion will be heard June 23.

      Finally, Peck filed a reply brief in support of a stay pending appeal in the Volkswagen emissions MDL case in San Francisco. Peck is counsel in the appeal and asked the court not to assess attorney fees against the plaintiffs when the verdicts they obtained may change.