Question for our in house Lawyers

[old2soon]

         Seeing more and more I guess class action suites against Roundup Nursing homes The Boy Scouts of America and others. One thing I question is the deadline for filing on some of the claims-Roundup comes immediately to mind. A young yard Man or Woman lets the dead line slide past But they are not diagnosed til after the dead line with the same illnesses that brought the claim in the first place. Do these past the dead line filers have any hope of getting Any financial consideration after the dead line passes? And PLEASE let our in House Lawyers answer this as we all recently have had enough conjecture. Unless of course yer more up on the law than the average biker type!  T I A and RIDE SAFE.

[F6Dave]

Beware of law firms advertising on TV.  Especially when they offer attractive payments from a class action suit.  Often all they do is file a claim for you, for a fee of course.

[Oss]

Dennis  I do not know the answer

What I remember is in NYS (The only state wherein I have a license) the statute is tolled during infancy and that some statutes of limitation have been extended in certain states due to covid19 (I believe June 20 in NYS)

Oss

Better to file even if not sure than to miss the boat

[Jess from VA]

        Seeing more and more I guess class action suites against Roundup Nursing homes The Boy Scouts of America and others. One thing I question is the deadline for filing on some of the claims-Roundup comes immediately to mind. A young yard Man or Woman lets the dead line slide past But they are not diagnosed til after the dead line with the same illnesses that brought the claim in the first place. Do these past the dead line filers have any hope of getting Any financial consideration after the dead line passes? And PLEASE let our in House Lawyers answer this as we all recently have had enough conjecture. Unless of course yer more up on the law than the average biker type!   T I A and RIDE SAFE.

Dennis, I (don't know for sure but) think most of the really huge class actions with potentially bazillions of affected people which are settled for bazillions of dollars may make some provision for that possibility in the final settlement agreement (some procedure may be specified for later claims).

But, if a deadline to receive part of that chunk of money from that class action did pass, and you later manifested disease or injury attributable to that identical causation (and can prove it), you should still have a new and legitimate claim for damages against the same company (if still in business) (and if filed within the applicable statute of limitations from the time you first manifested the disease or injury).  If your claim first arises after that class action is settled and paid in full to deadline.... you were not (ever) a valid member of that class (action), and should therefore not be bound or foreclosed by it's adjudication.

And understand that first diagnosed may not be the same thing (date) as first manifested.  

Disclaimer: I never worked a class action in my life.  I learned about it in school in Torts and Civil Proceedure, freshman year in 1976-7.  So you owe me nothing for the opinion. 

[Hook#3287]

If a class action is filed and settled, does that make the defendant  free of all further lawsuits?

[Oss]

Usually NO

You have to opt into the class  or go your own way

I think the OP was more worried about the statute of limitations on the Tort (personal injury
or wrongful death claim)

I used to do personal injury work but gave it up to focus on my bread and butter work, no regrets
but what made my life better was stopping the criminal and divorce cases. They sucked.

[scooperhsd]

but what made my life better was stopping the criminal and divorce cases. They sucked.

I can only imagine..... which was worse - criminal or divorce ?

[Oss]

That is like asking would you like to be kicked in your left or right gonad

Both sucked about the same

I only represent people now because I want to do so.

They are graded A, B and F

F are the ones I refer to attorneys that I dislike (sometimes)

[Jess from VA]

but what made my life better was stopping the criminal and divorce cases. They sucked.

I can only imagine..... which was worse - criminal or divorce ?

I made little money the year I opened a solo practice.  If I had refused criminal and divorce work, I would have made a buck two ninty-eight the whole year.

As a relative rookie with only a couple years' experience, I did not get assigned (much of my criminal work was court assignments for indigent defendants) big felonies (murder, rape, arson, robbery) but mostly smaller entry level crimes, and some drug felonies.  These defendants were mostly young men scared sh!tless about their future, and they were very glad to have someone (anyone) to go to bat for them.  However I had enough hard case violent types to decide that keeping a .45acp in my office, and occasionally on my person was a good idea.  And you'd get the occasional assignment for a high misdemeanor, but when you got a complete criminal history on the guy, you would discover they had liked him for a couple murders, but there had never been enough evidence to proceed on therm.

The divorce work was less dangerous but far more depressing as a healthy percentage of my women clients (90% were women) had routinely been used as punching bags, with battered faces, broken arms, noses and teeth, and one eye knocked out.  Poor women with no education or job or home, and often with young children/babies.  And there was always the chance that Mr woman beater would drop by to take a shot at me (for ruining his marriage, or having him charged with assault), but that never happened as wife beaters are cowards who can never engage in a fair fight.  And I took a number of the worst cases for little or no money (with hopeful promises to pay later, which was pure fantasy).  This part of the practice took a far greater toll on my psyche than criminal work ever did.

This wonderful career in private legal practice led to my seeking a direct commission in the military, which brought a huge improvement in my psyche and life.  Except I still had to do a lot of legal assistance with jr enlisted and their dependents, which also included many sad stories, though now I was only advising them, not representing them.

If a class action is filed and settled, does that make the defendant  free of all further lawsuits?

That is always the defendant's hope.   If you manifested the disease or injury covered in the class action, during the class action litigation, and failed to perfect your claim during that class action, you would be barred from later seeking legal remedy on your own (unless maybe you were in a coma or otherwise disabled from taking action at the time).  But if you first manifested the injury or disease after the settlement of a class action, you were not legally a member of that earlier class, and could proceed against the defendant in your own right.  

Of course, you understand that as these big class actions for Roundup, or baby powder, or asbestos exposure have made national headlines, these products have long been taken off the market, so over time, it gets harder to prove that you now have (new) injury or disease attributable to them, long after these class actions have been finalized and the products long removed from the market.   

[F6Dave]

Wow, if I ever know someone I want to discourage from attending law school, I just show them that post by Jess!

It reminds me a bit of a job my sister had.  She worked in the AG office in another state, and for a while handled the appeals of capital cases.  She said she'd receive calls telling her 'we know where you live', and 'we know where your kids go to school'.

[Jess from VA]

Dave, I have advised everyone who ever asked me to seek employment (and education) somewhere else than legal practice.  Mostly, I was asked by parents about their kids in college.

I was drawn to it like a bee to honey (in HS) and it appealed to me as a very challenging career field that fit my personality and psyche perfectly (and still does).  All I ever wanted to do was be a class A govt trial prosecutor putting bad humans away; not an affluent position, but a good solid professional goal (that never worked out).

There are plenty of legal careers outside of human misery, like tax, corporations, business, real estate, copyright/patent, and many government jobs, but nuts and bolts legal work is often about human misery.  People who have screwed up or are in trouble, and not one of those stories is a happy one.  They start off being only mildly annoying, and just go downhill from there.

The career field has historically been and remains one of the original good old boy networks.  Old affluent families (and old established firms) existing for generations taking care of their own.  And of course the top schools like the Ivy Leagues and others which also provide long and deep good old boy network connections that run deep, and oh so social.  Or having a mentor or rabbi to guide you in your early years through the rocks and shoals.  School does not teach you to be a lawyer, only how to think like one.  So once you're out of school, you still have a long way to go and a lot to learn.  

If I had been an engineer, I'd have had top flight help entering the work force.  But I didn't have any of that in the legal profession, just an excellent GPA in school and willingness to work hard.  Which is actually pretty common in most new law grads.  

It's also a pretty long and expensive haul to get through undergrad, then law school, then pass a bar exam, and still pay to live and eat and drive.  And I did it all on my own stick, except for $5K in student loans, which is (very) small potatoes today.  It took me 9 years, by the end of which my younger brother already had a home and a bank account.  

So unless someone has both the smarts, drive and money to get through the long schooling, and the connections to enter the workforce with a good support group and mentoring, I highly recommend against it.

My best descriptive terms for the legal profession are boring, tedious and distasteful (and constant pressure).  

And you are expected to wear a suit and tie all day every day too.  Who hires a lawyer in a pair of comfortable bib overalls and a Tshsirt?  

[Oss]

wow Jess  you have told me some of this before but reading it is something different  Personally I do not recommend being an attorney these days.  I wanted to be an eye surgeon but couldn't handle the chem labs  I took the law boards on a dare.

I took 10 years to pay off loans after making it thru law school and the bar, helped my dad in his practice for 15 years before helping him retire.  Very proud of being able to do that and also taking care of mom and raising the family, all without a net.

You are correct law school teaches nothing about how to run a business. Perhaps that is why the highest earners around are in sales, and running the biggest grossing companies; they figured it out for themselves. They have a mindset that says failure is just a step to success, and also courage to fail and get back up again and again.  Luck favors the well prepared.

Before this covid garbage things were finally good here for this country lawyer from the Bronx.


Now it is different but I found that by calling my list of clients, asking how they are doing
LISTENING more than talking I can be what the attorney should IMHO be, a counselor
A trusted advisor. When this is over I will be very busy. So even though income is down 90%
I am not worried.  The house is paid off, and I just got the payroll loan to cover a couple months payroll   I survived Covid and I am riding the motorcycle to work on a sunny day today and will leave early to ride some more.

And Jess, I am in private practice so I do not ever wear a tie unless in court. (I try to keep a clean spare tie in the radio box on the bmw)   

[old2soon]

       Preciate All the replies specially Evan and Jess. Mucho gracias compadres. Another profession I would Not these days put forward is what I did-drive big truck over the road. Long hours short pay next to No family time and most companies treat you like a mere extension of the machine you drive and easily replaceable. I imagine there are other professions that are not very good to be in these days. And til our fed gubmint and local gubmints git their cranial rectal inversion corrected I do Not see a very good future fer anyone these days.  And at present i still can Not git my head srewed back on straight do to the hip i can NOT trust currently!  Drat darn and kaka poopoo,  RIDE SAFE.

[Jess from VA]

And Jess, I am in private practice so I do not ever wear a tie unless in court.

So no bib overalls then?   

[Oss]

Lol Jess

Ok I would like to know where Mike gets the ones he wears around the homestead on those videos where he is playing guitar   Think we are both 6 3 (at least I was once upon a time)


Oss

Cletus'  I would not like so much (Sorry Stanley)

Dennis you and Joe and MP my hat is off to you  driving those long hours

[G-Man]

Of course, you understand that as these big class actions for Roundup, or baby powder, or asbestos exposure have made national headlines, these products have long been taken off the market, so over time, it gets harder to prove that you now have (new) injury or disease attributable to them, long after these class actions have been finalized and the products long removed from the market. 
  

9/11 was 20 years ago.  Over the years there have been TV commercials from law firms looking for people who lived and worked down there who experienced one form of cancer or another.  Now I am seeing commercials telling folks that if you lived or worked below Canal St. during or after the attack, and have experienced ANY form of cancer, to call the hotline number.

[G-Man]

The career field has historically been and remains one of the original good old boy networks.  Old affluent families (and old established firms) existing for generations taking care of their own.  And of course the top schools like the Ivy Leagues and others which also provide long and deep good old boy network connections that run deep, and oh so social.  Or having a mentor or rabbi to guide you in your early years through the rocks and shoals.  School does not teach you to be a lawyer, only how to think like one.  So once you're out of school, you still have a long way to go and a lot to learn.  

Exactly like medicine.