Binghampton, NY has implemented a fracking ban that some feel is unjust. Pro-drilling stakeholders have hired an attorney to take legal action against the city regarding the ban.

Two weeks ago, the attorney “demanded the city refer its ban to the county’s department of planning for approval,” WICZ News reported. Stakeholders felt the move was necessary because the ban has a definite economic impact for the city and the surrounding areas. More Binghamton NY to Be Sued over Fracking Ban

Mike McQueary has filed a notice of intent to sue Penn State as part of a whistleblower lawsuit that will “seek damages outside the normal arbitration limits,” Centre Daily Times reports.  McQueary has been a key player in the case against former coach Jerry Sandusky, after he testified last year that he witnessed Sandusky in an “extremely sexual” position with a boy in a locker room shower on March 1, 2002. McQueary told the court that he did not intervene in what some sources are calling a rape and others a molestation, but that he did tell Joe Paterno who reported it to the athletic director at the time, Tim Curley. McQueary has since changed his testimony saying the incident occurred on February 9, 2001. An attorney for Sandusky has reportedly said the incident was not sexual in nature.

Penn State put McQueary on administrative leave on November saying that it had “became clear that coach McQueary could not function in this role, under these circumstances,” and has since put his home up for sale. More Whistleblower Lawsuit to be Filed against Penn State

The national law firm of Parker Waichman LLP has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio against DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc and parent company Johnson & Johnson alleging that the DePuy ASR hip implant caused the plaintiff severe pain and injury as well as elevated levels of cobalt and chromium in her blood.

The lawsuit joins thousands of other federally filed lawsuits consolidated under U.S. District Judge David Katz and alleging the defective ASR devices caused serious injury. The lawsuit says that the 51-year-old plaintiff had a bi-lateral DePuy ASR hip implant on February 13, 2007. By October 2010, the cobalt and chromium levels in her blood had elevated, she was in severe pain, and needed risky revision surgery. In June 2011, the plaintiff had the ASR hip replacements explanted. More Virginia Woman Sues DePuy over High Levels of Metal Debris in Blood

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier has given his preliminary approval  of a settlement that will resolve over 100,000 lawsuits brought by businesses and individuals harmed by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

The settlement is made up of two agreements, one that covers medical claims and one covering property and economic claims. Of the agreements, Judge Barbier said they are “fair, reasonable, and adequate,” with “no obvious deficiencies.” More Judge Gives Preliminary OK to BP Oil Spill Settlement

The Pennsylvania municipalities of Cecil, Peters, Robinson, Mount Pleasant, South Fayette, Yardley, and Nockamixon, as well as a Monroeville doctor, activists from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and some municipal officials have filed a lawsuit in the Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, alleging that lawmakers “unconstitutionally intruded on local zoning duties by mandating where drilling can occur,” the Post-Gazette reported.

The lawsuit names the Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer, Public Utility Commission chairman Robert Powelson, and Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly. More Seven Pennsylvania Communities File Lawsuit Against State Agencies over Fracking Law

Approximately 95 federally filed Zoloft birth defect lawsuits are being considered for consolidation by the U.S. Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation. The lawsuits were filed in sixteen federal district courts across the country against Pfizer, alleging the company failed to warn physicians and consumers about the increased risks of birth defects when Zoloft is taken by pregnant women.

According to the complaints, taking Zoloft during pregnancy can cause serious and potentially life threatening injuries to babies, including heart, lung, abdominal, and cranial defects and malformations, spina bifida, and persistent pulmonary hypertension in newborns (PPHN), as well as other defects and injuries. More Panel to Consider Zoloft Consolidation

A lawsuit is to be filed in Ireland against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Othropaedics on behalf of more than 200 patients who had defective ASR hip replacement devices implanted between 2003 and 2010.

An attorney for the plaintiffs stated that approximately 3,500 people were affected by the devices. Their case against DePuy and J&J gained traction after the New York Times reported that one of the defective devices were shipped and sold throughout Europe and India after the FDA rejected them in the U.S. because of their failure rate. More DePuy Lawsuit Filed in Ireland over Defective Hip Implants

The national law firm of Parker Waichman LLP remains committed to their continued representation of 9/11 responders who require assistance with Zadroga Act claims. The New York Times reported that some law firms who have made hundreds of millions of dollars from the World Trade Center Toxic Dust Settlement have refused to continue to represent Ground Zero responders in seeking compensation claims under the federal Zadroga Act because they are unable to further bill those clients.

Matthew McCauley, who is the leading attorney in the WTC/Zadroga group at Parker Waichman LLP and a former NYPD Officer and WTC First Responder said in a statement that, “Many of our clients played an instrumental role in the passage of the Zadroga Act, and they continue to work with us to include Cancer as a covered injury. Just as we have not given up on adding Cancer, we will never give up on any of our clients. More As Law Firms Abandon 9/11 Responders, Parker Waichman LLP Continues to Stand Strong with Zadroga Clients

The manufacturer of Brazilian Blowout, a popular hair-straitening product, has settled a class action lawsuit brought by plaintiffs who said the product caused them harm. Under the terms of the $4.5 million settlement, consumers can receive $35 for each treatment, up to three. Stylists will receive $75 for each bottle of Brazilian Blowout purchased.

Also, the manufacturer can no longer market Brazilian Blowout as “formaldehyde free,” and more detailed safety instructions must be provided. The settlement will go before Judge Elihu Berle of the Los Angeles Superior Court for approval. More Brazilian Blowout Manufacturer Settles Class Action Lawsuit

A three-judge panel of the 5^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a 2009 landmark decision by U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval, that negligence by the Army Corps of Engineers on a shipping channel was the cause of billions of damage during Hurricane Katrina, and is liable for property owners claims.

The panel also commended Judge Duval for his “impressive” rulings and his “careful attention to the law and even more cautious scrutiny of complex facts,” the AP reported. The panel rejected an argument by the government that it is immune from lawsuits that blame flood damage from Katrina on operations of and maintenance by the Army Corps of Engineers on the New Orleans navigation channel MRGO (Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet). More Judge Upholds Army Corps of Engineers Liability in Katrina Disaster