Articles by David Voreacos

Trucker in Fatal Oklahoma Crash Had History of Synthetic Drug Use

The truck that killed four members of a college women’s softball team in Oklahoma last year was driven by a Texas man with a history of using synthetic marijuana, U.S. safety investigators found. Russell Staley needed help for his dependency …

BASF Case Shows How Liabilities May Emerge Long After Acquisition

When BASF SE acquired Engelhard Corp. nine years ago for $5 billion, executives unknowingly inherited a ticking legal time bomb. It all began decades ago over the seemingly mundane industrial product talc, used in everything from wallboards to handling auto …

Amtrak Concedes to Liability in Philadelphia Train Derailment Cases

Amtrak said it will concede that it’s liable for most damages caused by the May 12 train derailment in Philadelphia that killed eight passengers and injured dozens. The railroad acknowledged Friday in responses to two lawsuits that it won’t contest …

Wal-Mart Driver in Morgan Crash Can’t Halt Civil Suit

The Wal-Mart Stores Inc. driver whose truck crashed into a van carrying actor-comedian Tracy Morgan lost a legal bid to halt a lawsuit against the company while criminal charges are pending against him. Kevin Roper, who is charged with vehicular …

Wal-Mart Settles With Family of Comedian Who Died in N.J. Turnpike Crash

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reached a confidential legal settlement with the family of comedian James McNair, who died in a June 7 accident on the New Jersey Turnpike that also seriously injured actor-comedian Tracy Morgan. The settlement followed months of “often …

Lawyer: Morgan Sustained ‘Traumatic Brain Injury’ in N.J. Turnpike Crash

Actor-comedian Tracy Morgan was in a coma for days with a traumatic brain injury after a highway crash in which his van was struck from behind by a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. truck five months ago, according to his lawyer. Morgan, …

Fireman: Trucker ‘Zombie’-Like After Fatal Bus Crash

Russell Staley stared out his broken windshield as darkness engulfed him and firefighters bearing chain saws cut through fallen trees to reach the passenger door of his tractor trailer. Staley had been heading north on Interstate 35 near Davis, Okla., …

Greenberg’s Lawyer Says U.S. Demonized, Extorted AIG Shareholders in Bailout

The U.S. extorted American International Group Inc. shareholders when it extended a $182 billion taxpayer bailout at the height of the 2008 financial crisis, a lawyer for Maurice “Hank” Greenberg said. Greenberg’s Starr International Co., AIG’s largest shareholder when the …

Occidental to Pay $190M in New Jersey River Pollution Case

Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s chemical unit agreed to pay $190 million to cover its liability for the cleanup of the Passaic River in northern New Jersey, state officials said. Occidental Chemical is the legal successor to Diamond Shamrock Chemical Co., which …

Drugmaker Roche Wins Reversal in Accutane Duty to Warn Case

Roche Holding AG won reversal of a $2.1 million verdict by a New Jersey jury in favor of a California woman who blamed the company’s Accutane acne drug for her inflammatory bowel disease. A judge erred in the 2011 trial …