Madison County Record (Free subscription) | 22/11/2009
... the Edwardsville courthouse. No, it's also a special incentive-to-settle that former Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron added to the "Asbestos Welcome Wagon" five years ago. Byron issued a standing order in 2004, allowing asbestos attorneys to set trial dates more than a year and a half in advance. Trial dates, as both plaintiffs' and defense attorneys know, prompt settlements...
Madison County Record (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
... average close to $2.5 million. The order, which was established in 2004 by former Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron, allows plaintiff firms to submit requests for trial dates and serve the same to defense counsel of record, without specifying cases to be set. "If you have trial dates you will get referrals, is what appears to be going on," Stack said. "It has been expressed,...
Madison County Record (Free subscription) | 13/11/2009
... reasons why Madison County favors asbestos plaintiffs. The order, signed by former Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron, superseded a 1995 order governing all asbestos cases and came at the height of a backlogged docket. "Since that time, various new circumstances have made it difficult for the Court and parties to operate with maximum efficiency and fairness...," Byron's...
Madison County Record (Free subscription) | 08/11/2009
... relating to Edwardsville lawyer Thomas Maag's infamous Pizza Hut suit. Retired Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron had sealed it last year at the request of Maag and his client, attorney Amanda Verett. Verett had sued Pizza Hut and Troy policeman Clarence Jackson in 2007, claiming she suffered injuries due to a faulty restaurant door and/or Jackson's door holding abuse. Pizza Hut had moved...
Madison County Record (Free subscription) | 03/11/2009
Ruth Judges create mystery when they seal documents, and now Madison County Circuit Judge Dennis Ruth creates a mystery by unsealing a document. A brief he unsealed on Oct. 23 contains no secrets, slanders or shocks, leaving readers to wonder why anyone concealed it in the first place. Retired Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron sealed it last year at the request of Edwardsville lawyer Thomas...
