Natural gas provides heat and energy throughout the country but gas can be exceptionally dangerous either through its explosive powers or through its products of incomplete combustion–primarily carbon monoxide. Gas which is distributed through aging pipelines in many areas of the country can erupt with explosive force and destroy lives and buildings in seconds. Nationally, over 83,000 miles of distribution lines are untreated to prevent corrosion and are aging. Many of these mains are located in urban or heavily populated areas. (more…)
The plaintiffs in the Kiddie Kollege class action won victory today thanks to Jim Pettit and Pamela Lee of the Locks Law Firm, and counsel from several other firms. Jim Pettit was the Court-Appointed Lead Counsel. The class sought medical monitoring and were not seeking personal injury damages. (more…)
The long-awaited trial for the children of Kiddie Kollege is finally here. Partner, Jim Pettit, is the court-appointed Lead Counsel for plaintiffs, who are members of a class of the children (and their parents and faculty) who attended Kiddie Kollege Daycare in Franklin Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey. The daycare was in a building formerly a thermometer factory, and it was heavily contaminated (sometimes 40 times, or more, than the federal standard) with mercury. Mercury can become vapor even at room temperature and this metal, when inhaled, enters the brain and the central nervous system. Mr. Pettit and his co-counsel seek medical monitoring for the class members. That is, they seek to have the defendants financially support a court-supervised fund for testing of the central nervous system and the immune system. The trial will be a bench trial (not a jury trial) conducted before the Honorable James Rafferty, in Woodbury.
The defendants moved for summary judgment on numerous issues. The government defendants (the State of New Jersey, the County of Gloucester, and the Township of Franklin) argued that they were not liable factually and in any event they could not be held liable because as government entities they could not be sued under the Tort Claims Act. The other defendants argued that they were not liable as a matter of law. Defendants also moved to preclude each and every one of plaintiffs’ experts from testifying. Finally, they moved to de-certify the class actions. The judge denied the motions and ruled that the case is proceeding to trial. The defendants then moved for a stay in order to appeal which was denied.
