Those estimates do not include potential payouts for wrongful death and injury lawsuits, which could reach in the tens of millions each. Still, the sheer volume of cases involving U.S. Toyota owners claiming lost value -- 6 million or more -- could prove far more costly, adding up to losses in the billions for the automaker.

Read the full New York story here.

In a court-trial decision returned Dec. 14, Judge David W. Abbott said the firm that hired Simon Loza Mejia, Freeway Transport Inc., was liable for the girl's injuries.

"Defendant was listed on the shipper's bill of lading as the carrier," Abbott wrote. "Defendant insured the load. Defendant guaranteed delivery of the load."

Read full story here at the Sacramento Bee.

Steve Albala, who was 60 at the time of the accident, was on his motorcycle helping to officiate the bicycle portion of the triathlon. A traffic officer motioned for a vehicle to enter an intersection into the volunteer's path, causing the accident, Albala's attorney contended in the lawsuit.

Read the full story here at the LA Times.

On Aug. 4, John R. "Jack" Yates, 67, was riding his bike behind a truck when he became caught in the vehicle's rear wheels and was run over as it turned right, police said at the time. Yates died at the scene.

The civil suit, filed in Baltimore Circuit Court on behalf of Yates' wife, son and daughter, alleges negligence by driver Michael Dale Chandler of Severn and his employer, Potts & Callahan Inc., a demolition, excavation and equipment rental company, and seeks compensatory damages.

Read full story here at the Baltimore Sun.

In recent years, such devices, known as “metal on metal” implants, have been used in about one-third of the approximately 250,000 hip replacements performed annually in this country. They are used in conventional hip replacements and in a popular alternative procedure known as resurfacing.

The devices, whose ball-and-socket joints are made from metals like cobalt and chromium, became widely used in the belief that they would be more durable than previous types of implants.

Read full story here at the New York Times

According to doctors, Butler suffered immediate cardiac arrest. He was revived by emergency medical technicians who happened to be close by, but his attorneys say his brain was deprived of oxygen for as long as 18 minutes. He is now permanently disabled.

Read the full CNN story here.

The actions included one temporary suspension; 21 violations based on quality of care; five actions based on unprofessional conduct; four nontherapeutic prescribing violations; 17 actions based on inadequate medical records violations; one action based on failure to properly supervise or delegate; two actions based on violation of probation or prior order; two revocations and one action for impairment due to alcohol or drugs; one order modifying a prior order; four actions based on actions by another state or entity; seven voluntary surrenders; one action for failure to provide medical records; and three automatic suspension or revocation orders. In addition, the Medical Board issued one cease and desist order and took action against one surgical assistant.

Read the full report here at the Texas Medical Board.http://www.shezadmalik.com/lawyer-attorney-1374121.html

Mark Saylor, 45, a California Highway Patrol Officer, was killed along with his family after the 2009 Lexus he was driving suddenly accelerated out of control while on Interstate 125 near San Diego.

Read full story here at Law.com

At a news conference in Dallas today, the family's attorney said the family of Sonia Baker decided to sue The Pour House not as a quest for money, but to hold such establishments accountable for over-serving patrons and “placing profits ahead of safety.”

The lawsuit is filed under the state’s Dram Shop Act, which allows those who sell alcohol to an obviously intoxicated person to be held liable for resulting damages.

Read the full story here at the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

Included among the claims are five Yasmin and Yaz class action lawsuits; three filed in the United States and two filed in Canada, according to Bayer’s 2009 annual report released late last month.

Read the full Bayer 2009 Report here

Ryan Murray, who was 13 at the time, was injured in a tumbling class on Dec. 14, 1992, at what was then Bryn Mawr Elementary School, the attorneys said. Murray, now 30, became a quadriplegic after he hit his head as he did a flip off a mini-trampoline onto a mat in the school's gymnasium, the attorneys said.

Read full story here at the Chicago Tribune

Large civil jury verdicts are rare in Fairfax, and Virginia's cap on medical malpractice judgments required the jury's award of $2,933,500 to be cut by more than half, to about $1.25 million.

Read full story at the Washington Post.

The Common Pleas Court jury awarded $3.25 million in compensatory damages and $6 million in punitive damages to Audrey Singleton, a retired school-bus driver from Chatom, Ala. The verdict also included $200,000 to Singleton's husband for loss of consortium.

Read full story here.

On July 9, 2008, Michael Hess was leaning on a metal railing on an elevated walkway outside a store at Echo Plaza in Springfield when the railing gave way. He fell four feet to the pavement below, hitting his head. The railing had broken the day before, but the shopping center used wire to hold it together and did not post warning signs, says the plaintiffs attorney, Raymond Gill.

Hess suffered three fractured vertebrae, dislocated his left shoulder, and suffered nerve problems in his feet from walking on crutches.

“Exxon recklessly put profits above workers' safety,” Frank Buck told jurors in Gretna, Louisiana, in his closing argument at the end of a five-week trial.

Buck told jurors they should award more than $17 million to a group of 16 pipe workers who sued Exxon, claiming they were exposed to high levels of radium in the residue, or “scale,” that built up inside the pipes and now fear they may develop cancer.

Read full story here at the Houston Chronicle.