On July 1, the Rhode Island Supreme Court threw out the only jury verdict against lead paint manufacturers based on use of public nuisance laws by a 4-0 decision.
In its decision, the Court said, "Justice is based on the relationship among people, but it must be based upon the rule of law. This Court is powerless to fashion independently a cause of action that would achieve the justice that these children deserve."
Phil Goldberg, a lawyer at Shook, Hardy & Bacon in Washington, D.C., assessed the ruling, saying "The Rhode Island Supreme Court put an important nail in the coffin of recent efforts to expand public nuisance theory into a super tort that can overcome all previous known bounds of civil liability. The rule of law won out."
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
