Hello Weedie-ga, and thanks for asking a challenging question.
Tracking lawsuits is tricky business, but there are several sources
and tools that can be a real help in keeping tabs on what’s happening
in the courts.
Since you didn’t ask about a specific legal action, I am providing
general guidance on how to search for lawsuits involving Evenflo (or
any other company, for that matter). But the strategies I’m outlining
here can also be used to track actions on a specific case, if that is
your interest.
If anything I present below is unclear, or if you simply need more
information, please let me know through a Request for Clarification,
and I’ll be happy to assist you further.
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First stop is Google News at [ news.google.com ] where you can simply
enter the search term – Evenflo – and you’ll get all recent news
stories about the company, including anything that was published
regarding recalls, negligence, lawsuits, etc. I ran the news search
for you, and you can see the results at:
http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclient&q=evenflo
Although there are no stories right now regarding lawsuits, you should
check back every few days for updated information. Also, there *are*
several stories about unsafe products, and these might be of interest
to you, depending on the type of court action you are tracking.
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Next stop is the main Google search page at [ www.google.com ] where
you can do a search for cases against Evenflo by entering the search
term (including quotation marks) “v Evenflo”.
The “v” is used as a common abbreviation in court cases (e.g. Smith v
Evenflo), so searching on “v Evenflo” will scour the internet for
information on cases. You can see the search results at:
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22v+evenflo%22
and as you can see, a number of cases pop up, including:
Cantwell v. Evenflo (Lansing, Michigan)
Steele v. Evenflo Company, Inc., et al. St. Louis City
Cornette v. Evenflo, State Court, Florida
Thomas v. Evenflo
The search will also take you sites that cover different topics
pertaining to corporate lawsuits, such as the Products Liability Law
Reporter 2002 Annual Index at:
www.atla.org/subs/PLLRindex02.pdf
It’s worth repeating the same search with “vs Evenflo” since “vs” is
occasionally used as well for court cases. When I ran the search, no
additional cases popped up:
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22vs+evenflo%22
but it’s worth trying again in the future.
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Next, take a look at [ www.findlaw.com ], and search on Evenflo...you
can see the results here:
http://lawcrawler.findlaw.com/scripts/lc.pl?entry=evenflo+&sites=findlaw.com
Most of the information that pops up is about recalls involving
Evenflo, but there is a lawsuit or two strewn among the results as
well, such as the Dolly, Inc. v. Spalding & Evenflo Cos., Inc. , 16
F.3d 394 (Fed. Cir. 1994) case mentioned at:
http://library.lp.findlaw.com/articles/00969/008692.pdf
If you want to eliminate the recall information, just repeat the
search with:
Evenflo -recalls
as your search terms.
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LexisNexis is the pre-eminent commercial source of information on
lawsuits, and you don’t need to be a lawyer to access it. In fact,
you can search for cases free of charge, but if you want detailed case
information, they will charge you for it.
Go to [ www.lexisnexis.com ] and, from the pull-down menu on the top
left of the page, select:
“LexisNexis by credit card”
This will take you to a sign in page. I generally use the “Pay as you
go” option when I search, but you may want to consider signing up for
a full day or full week access, depending on your use (remember....no
charge for searching under the “Pay as you go” option....only for
retrieving case information).
Follow the sign up steps, and eventually you’ll wind up at a page to
select your search options:
http://web.lexis.com/xchange/forms/uas/catalog.asp
One of the options is:
Legal Sources
*Your credit card will be charged $9.00 (in U.S. Dollars), plus
applicable taxes, for each document you select from your search
results cite list.
Federal Legal- U.S.
State Legal- U.S.
Secondary Legal
*IGNORE THIS*...instead, on the upper left hand of the page, is an
(almost invisible) link that reads:
“Get a case or statute”
Click on this, which will take you to a new page and a search
box....but ignore that as well. Instead, at the top middle of the
page is some text that says:
“Party Name”
Click on that, and go to a new page with a new search box. Now you’re
in business.
Enter Evenflo in the “Party Name” search field.
Select the courts you want to search....I usually use “combined
courts” to get federal and state cases.
Select the “Dates” from the pull-down menu. I ran this search for the
“Previous 2 Years” and got the following 9 results:
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1. Antonious v. Spalding & Evenflo Cos., 01-1088, UNITED STATES
COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, February 28, 2002, Decided,
Rehearing Denied February 28, 2002, Reported at: 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS
4403.
Although original sanctions motions and argument on appeal were
directed at complaint, letter written after complaint was filed
supplemented the complaint, since motion referred to and specifically
referenced the letter, and it was attached.
2. Antonious v. Spalding & Evenflo Cos., 01-1088, UNITED STATES
COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, February 28, 2002, Decided,
February 28, 2002, Filed, RULES OF THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF
APPEALS MAY LIMIT CITATION TO UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS. PLEASE REFER TO
THE RULES OF THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THIS CIRCUIT.
3. Antonious v. Spalding & Evenflo Cos., 01-1088, UNITED STATES
COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT, January 7, 2002, Decided,
Rehearing Denied February 28, 2002, Reported at: 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS
4403.
Court vacated district court's sanctions order. Sanctioned attorneys'
proposed patent claim construction was not frivolous, and it was
unclear whether attorneys had evidence from which objective reasonable
attorney would have inferred infringement.
4. Hare v. Evenflo Co., UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, December 11, 2001, Decided, December
17, 2001, Filed
Where the retailer was allegedly responsible for placing the product
in the marketplace, plaintiffs' motion to join the retailer to the
action was granted. As a result, diversity jurisdiction was destroyed
and the case was remanded to state court.
5. Bankers Std. Ins. Co. v. Suntrust Bank Miami, N.A., Case No.
2D00-1928, COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA, SECOND DISTRICT, May 25,
2001, Opinion Filed, DECISION WITHOUT PUBLISHED OPINION
6. Brown v. Nat'l Presto Indus., SC: 119963, SUPREME COURT OF
MICHIGAN, April 29, 2002, Decided
7. BROWN v. NATIONAL PRESTO INDUS., No. 215056, COURT OF APPEALS
OF MICHIGAN, June 15, 2001, Decided, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS RULES, UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS ARE NOT PRECEDENTIALLY
BINDING UNDER THE RULES OF STARE DECISIS.
8. Stevens v. Spalding & Evenflo Cos., NO. 07-99-0271-CV, COURT OF
APPEALS OF TEXAS, SEVENTH DISTRICT, AMARILLO, June 26, 2001, Decided,
PURSUANT TO THE TEXAS RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE, UNPUBLISHED
OPINIONS SHALL NOT BE CITED AS AUTHORITY BY COUNSEL OR BY A COURT.
OVERVIEW: Medical plan administrator had right to subrogation of
payee's claims from personal injury suit. Payee acknowledged
administrator's right to subrogation and reimbursement and was bound
by agreement.
9. Stevens v. Spalding & Evenflo Cos., Inc., NO. 07-99-0270-CV,
COURT OF APPEALS OF TEXAS, SEVENTH DISTRICT, AMARILLO, June 26, 2001,
Decided, PURSUANT TO THE TEXAS RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE,
UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS SHALL NOT BE CITED AS AUTHORITY BY COUNSEL OR BY
A COURT.
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As you can see, there is some repetition in cases cited. Also, not
all the case have Evenflo in the case title – they may have been cited
elsewhere in the case, but the only way to know is retrieve the entire
case from LexisNexis, at which point, they will charge you for the
privilege.
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One last stop is complicated, but worth the effort. The U.S. Court
system has set up a system called PACER that provides electronic
access to many (not all) cases in U.S. courts.
Signing onto to PACER is cumbersome, because you have to go through a
snail-mail application form. Instructions can be found at:
http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/
by choosing the “Register for PACER” button.
Once you’re signed on, though, the system is powerful, and
inexpensive. I ran a PACER search for Evenflo cases filed since 2000,
and comae up with quite a few results:
All Types Name Search Results
Total Party matches for selection EVENFLO 01/01/2000 to 05/21/2003 for
ALL COURTS
Search Complete
Thu May 22 07:08:30 CDT 2003
Bankruptcy Cases
Name Court Case No. Filed Chapter
1 EVENFLO COMPANY, INC. nysbke 01-13469 06/15/2001 11
EDEN LLC
Civil Cases
Name Court Case No. Filed NOS Closed
3 EVENFLO CO INC ohsdc 3:2000cv00071 02/07/2000 893 02/10/2000
OHIO STATE OF vs. LUNGARD CORPORATION
4 EVENFLO CO INC ilndc 1:2001cv09574 12/14/2001 365 06/05/2002
PREVO vs. EVENFLO CO INC
5 EVENFLO CO., INC. flmdc 3:2000cv01106 10/05/2000 365 05/31/2002
BATES vs. EVENFLO JUVENILE
6 EVENFLO CO., INC. vaedc 2:2003cv00074 01/27/2003 365 04/16/2003
RAGUSEO vs. BABY SUPER STORE
7 EVENFLO COMPANIES INC txsdc 4:2002cv03088 08/16/2002 355
WILLIAMS vs. DAIMLERCHRYSLER
8 EVENFLO COMPANY pawdc 2:2000cv01710 08/29/2000 355 12/11/2001
SLOWIK vs. EVENFLO COMPANY
9 EVENFLO COMPANY mssdc 3:2001cv00552 07/17/2001 365 04/11/2002
GAINEY vs. EVENFLO COMPANY
10 EVENFLO COMPANY nysdc 1:2001cv08723 09/26/2001 365 01/02/2002
HARE vs. EVENFLO COMPANY
11 EVENFLO COMPANY mssdc 3:2002cv00477 05/17/2002 365
GAINEY vs. EVENFLO COMPANY
12 EVENFLO COMPANY ohsdc 3:2003cv00162 05/13/2003 110
EVENFLO COMPANY vs. FEDERAL INSURANCE CO
13 EVENFLO COMPANY INC ohsdc 3:2000cv00590 12/15/2000 442 06/25/2002
SLADEWSKI vs. EVENFLO COMPANY INC
14 EVENFLO COMPANY INC txndce 3:2001cv00366 02/23/2001 365 08/01/2001
ROBLEZ vs. RAMOS, ET AL
15 EVENFLO COMPANY INC inndc 2:2001cv00474 07/30/2001 365 03/18/2003
VARGAS vs. EVENFLO COMPANY INC
16 EVENFLO COMPANY INC ohsdc 3:2001cv00500 12/07/2001 190 04/17/2002
EVENFLO COMPANY INC vs. T S FOLEY & ASSOC
17 EVENFLO COMPANY INC txndce 3:2001cv01858 09/19/2001 190 03/21/2002
CIT GROUP COMMERCIAL vs. VMI INC, ET AL
18 EVENFLO COMPANY INC cacdc 5:2002cv00123 02/15/2002 190 05/10/2002
SCOTT SHEA vs. EVENFLO COMPANY INC
19 EVENFLO COMPANY INC ohsdc 1:2002cv00215 03/29/2002 190 05/15/2002
T S FOLEY & ASSOC vs. EVENFLO COMPANY INC
20 EVENFLO COMPANY INC laedc 2:2002cv00335 02/06/2002 365 01/13/2003
KNIGHT vs. EVENFLO COMPANY INC
21 EVENFLO COMPANY INC wiedc 1:2002cv00406 04/19/2002 190
PARROTT vs. EVENFLO COMPANY INC
22 EVENFLO COMPANY INC wiedce 1:2002cv00406 04/19/2002 190 11/18/2002
PARROTT vs. EVENFLO COMPANY INC
23 EVENFLO COMPANY INC wiedc 2:2002cv00406 04/19/2002 190
PARROTT vs. EVENFLO COMPANY INC
24 EVENFLO COMPANY INC cacdc 2:2002cv01488 02/20/2002 190 03/26/2002
T S FOLEY & ASSOC vs. EVENFLO COMPANY INC
25 EVENFLO COMPANY INC alndc 2:2002cv02001 08/15/2002 365
THOMAS vs. EVENFLO COMPANY INC
26 EVENFLO COMPANY INC txsdc 4:2002cv03088 08/16/2002 355
WILLIAMS vs. DAIMLERCHRYSLER
27 EVENFLO COMPANY INC ohsdc 3:2003cv00162 05/13/2003 110
EVENFLO COMPANY vs. FEDERAL INSURANCE CO
28 EVENFLO COMPANY INC. candc 3:2000cv01983 06/02/2000 365 03/09/2001
ALGER vs. EVENFLO COMPANY INC.
29 EVENFLO COMPANY, INC nyedc 2:2001cv04495 07/03/2001 365
NEGRON vs. EVENFLO COMPANY, INC
30 EVENFLO COMPANY, INC txwdc 2:2002cv00062 10/03/2002 890 10/10/2002
CIT GROUP/COM.SRVC. vs. VMI, INC.
31 EVENFLO COMPANY, INC gamdc 5:2002cv00259 07/26/2002 365
MCGEE vs. EVENFLO COMPANY, INC
32 EVENFLO COMPANY, INC. flmdc 3:2000cv01106 10/05/2000 365 05/31/2002
BATES vs. EVENFLO JUVENILE
33 EVENFLO COMPANY, INC. pawdc 2:2000cv01710 08/29/2000 355 12/11/2001
SLOWIK vs. EVENFLO COMPANY
34 EVENFLO COMPANY, INC. alndc 1:2001cv00487 02/23/2001 355
SMART vs. HYUNDAI MOTOR AMER
35 EVENFLO COMPANY, INC. mssdc 3:2001cv00552 07/17/2001 365 04/11/2002
GAINEY vs. EVENFLO COMPANY
36 EVENFLO COMPANY, INC. ordce 3:2001cv01765 12/07/2001 365 02/19/2003
GARDNER vs. EVENFLO COMPANY, INCORPORATED
37 EVENFLO COMPANY, INC. nysdc 1:2001cv08723 09/26/2001 365 01/02/2002
HARE vs. EVENFLO COMPANY
38 EVENFLO COMPANY, INC. ilndc 1:2001cv09574 12/14/2001 365 06/05/2002
PREVO vs. EVENFLO CO INC
39 EVENFLO COMPANY, INC. mssdc 3:2002cv00477 05/17/2002 365
GAINEY vs. EVENFLO COMPANY
40 EVENFLO COMPANY, INC. alndc 4:2002cv01667 07%
Clicking on any case provides more detail on the case, and a list of
materials filed in the case docket. For some cases, that’s the end of
the on-line information trail, but for others, much of the case
material itself can actually be accessed on-line – each court (and for
that matter, each case) handles things a little differently.
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That about covers the territory. As I said earlier, if anything here
needs additional detail or explanation, just ask, and I’m happy to
assist you further. |
